Layered, ambitious, and gripping, The Bee Sting is 500 pages of family saga followed by 150 pages of literary thriller that we absolutely need. I hope it wins the Booker!

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is absolutely going to be one of my favorite reads of the year. Somehow, It’s both heavy and feels like a big literary hug at the same time. McBride, I’m coming for your backlist!

Godkiller is a well-written, well-built start of a new fantasy series with characters you’ll love and worldbuilding you’ll swoon over. I definitely recommend it!

Beach Read was exactly what I wanted: fun, fast, steamy, heart-wrenching, with true-to-life characters and conflicts. (Basically everything we’ve come to expect from Emily Henry!)

Shy is a tiny book that packs a gigantic punch like only Max Porter can. Dark but emotionally poignant, this book will break your heart in the best way. I loved it.

Family Lore was right up my alley: beautiful, heartbreaking, and crackling with life. These characters are so well written, and Acevedo’s talent as a poet shines.

Summer is a fantastic finale to this hopeful, poignant quartet about the kindness of strangers during troubling times. It tied all four books together in a fun, impactful way.

Please Unsubscribe, Thanks! is full of useful, actionable tips plus astute economic and cultural commentary — and it’s very funny! Highly recommend it as a way to find your post-COVID normal.

Spear is a gender-bent, queer, Arthurian/Percival retelling that’s rich, stunning, and timely. It’s especially good on audio. I’m so glad I read it!

Wolfish, inspired by Romulus and Remus, is a lovely, gorgeously written book that I only wish had been a bit shorter.

Legends & Lattes is a warm and fuzzy book about the healing power of friendship and found family that pulls on the heart strings and offers a respite from the real world. I loved it.

Red, White & Royal Blue is a feel-good story with left-wing political fanfiction, lots of spice, and a rare and deep emotional punch. I loved it.

Fourth Wing doesn’t do much that’s new — it’s a tropey hero’s journey — but it was super bingeable and a hell of a fun time. Can’t wait for book two.

Booth is part historical fiction, part family saga focusing on the family of John Wilkes Booth. I felt pretty neutral about it, but definitely recommend audio over print if you read it.

The Vaster Wilds is another work of genius from Groff, intimate and visceral. You have to be in the mood for a book like this (it has almost no dialogue), but if you are, I think you’ll love it.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass, an adult fantasy romance Giselle retelling, was definitely not perfect, but I had a ton of fun reading it and can’t wait for book two.

The Fragile Threads of Power is everything I hoped it would be. V.E. Schwab is a master plotter, a master of the details, a master of sentences — just a master of everything

Part memoir, part manifesto, Good for a Girl is perspective-shifting and deeply important, all while deftly carrying the narrative of Fleshman’s memoir. I loved it.

Like, Literally, Dude is a joyfully fun, delightfully nerdy book that I absolutely loved. In the running for a top nonfiction of the year for sure!

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy is the first business book I’ve read in years that didn’t feel like it should have been a TED Talk instead. It really lit my brain up and energized me — highly recommend!