Wolf Hall is a pretty dense historical fiction about Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII. But it’s an incredible accomplishment of a book, and I’m really glad I read it.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a deeply unsettling but ultimately brilliant book about the mother of a psychopathic kid who commits a school shooting.

Sabrina & Corina is a collection of really, really good short stories about Latinas of indigenous ancestry. There wasn’t a single one I didn’t enjoy, and many I truly loved.

The Obelisk Gate is a fantastic sequel to The Fifth Season that promises SO MUCH to come.

A Thousand Ships is just so good. It’s easy to read and to love, but it also packs a big punch of metaphor and meaning.

Lanny was exactly my kind of literary magical realism — visceral, full-bodied, whimsical, a little weird, and deeply resonant.

The Man Who Saw Everything is so creative. You’ll spend most of the book feeling lost … but you’re actually supposed to, and it pays off in the end.

Property forces white women to take an uncomfortable look at their role in the history of slavery. It’s not exactly “fun” to read, but it is masterfully crafted and effective.

The Empire of Gold is the incredible conclusion to the Daevabad Trilogy that we’ve been waiting years for!

Bel Canto is beautiful and devastating, and as you’d expect from the title, it flows like music. This might be my favorite Ann Patchett so far.

This is a beautiful literary story about two Chinese-American siblings surviving on their own near the end of the gold rush. Like everyone else, I loved it.

This is a beautiful novel. It shows us the most important moments of a murdered woman’s life, told through flashes of memory, in the minutes before her brain function stops.

The Fifth Season is not just entertaining, it’s masterful. Between that and the unflinching racial allegory, it is not to be missed.

I fell so hard for The Idea of Perfection. The plot does move pretty slowly, but that’s because you’re busy falling in love with the characters and setting (and having your heart broken).

You Exist Too Much is an engaging story about a young Palestinian-American bisexual woman that raises all sorts of questions about depiction, family trauma, and mental health.

The Wall reads like a classic, with an unapologetic dystopian allegory, vivid setting, and memorable narrator. It’s gripping and gritty and hard to look away from.

Weather is not so much a story as a series of linked vignettes that, together, give us a glimpse into Lizzie’s life. I liked it, but it won’t be for everyone.

A Burning is an emotionally ravaging and poignant story about a young girl accused of terrorism. And it absolutely earns the hype it’s gotten.