Books and character | Books by topic
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books by decade
the 2010s
books I’ve enjoyed, broken down by decade
adult fiction
2010
And Thereby Hangs a Tale (short story collection) by Jeffrey Archer
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Stories: All-New Tales - edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio
2011
Reamde - Neal Stephenson
2012
Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
2014
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
2015
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (read 3/23)
2016
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Morning Star by Pierce Brown
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu (short stories)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2017
Alive in Shape and Color: 17 Paintings and the Stories They Inspired - edited by Lawrence Block (wonderful collection that is rooted in the mystery genre, but meanders out thoughtfully and broadly from there. A handful of gems, and very few skips).
Tell Tale (short story collection) by Jeffrey Archer
2018
You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld (short story collection)
2019
Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang (short story collection)
The New Voices of Science Fiction - edited by Hanna Rajaniemi and Jacob Weisman
short stories
2011
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman
2012
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition by Ken Liu (2012, the different choices parents make for their children, as set against the backdrop of essays on cognition and memory and following a scientist who’s written a letter to his daughter about his wife).
Black Box by Jennifer Egan. One of my favorite short stories of this century. An onslaught of feelings as character, setting, and plot are revealed, one bit at a time.
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu (2012, literally, the ways that six different alien species record and remember their stories)
2014
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Eddie Campbell
2018
Bad Latch by Curtis Sittenfeld. Moms, envy, jealousy, the complexities of being a modern mother amidst social media and always-on living.
Who Killed the Mayor? by Jeffrey Archer
non-fiction
2012
Almost Invisible - Mark Strand (collection of prose, Pulitzer Winner)
2013
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman
2014
Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans
2016
But What If We’re Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
2018
Calypso by David Sedaris
2019
Mary Magdalene Never Wore Blue Eye Shadow: How to Trust the Bible When Truth and Tradition Collide by Amanda Hope Haley
The School of Life : An Emotional Education by Alain de Botton
YA / middle
2010
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
2011
Divergent by Veronica Roth
2012
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
2013
The 100 by Kass Morgan
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
children : elementary
coming soon
children : picture books
2010
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Art & Max by David Wiesner
I Am Going by Mo Willems
I Really Like Slop by Mo Willems
The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers
Pigs to the Rescue - John Himmelman
Shadow by Suzy Lee
The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi
Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers
2011
A Ball For Daisy by Chris Raschka
The Bear and the Wildcat - written Kazumi Yumoto and illustrated by Kodak Sakai
Blackout by John Rocco
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers
2012
Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Extra Yarn - Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2012)
Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems - Gail Carson Levine, illustrated by Mathew Cordell
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs - as retold by Mo Willems
Listen To My Trumpet! by Mo Willems
Olivia and the Fairy Princess by Ian Falconer
The Other Side of Town by Jon Agee
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Vote for ME! by Ben Clanton
2013
! Exclamation Mark - Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenfeld (2013)
The Boy and the Ocean by Max Lucado, paintings by T. Lively Fluharty
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt & illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Dusk by Uli Shulevitz
Fog Island by Tomikas Ungerer
The Fort That Jack Built by Boni Ashburn, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Friends by Eric Carle
if you want to see a whale - words by Julie fogliano, pictures by erin e. stead
Journey by Aaron Becker (Caldecott Honor, #1 in series)
Locomotive by Brian Floca
Madeline and the Old House in Paris by John Bemelmans Marciano
Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner (Caldecott Honor)
One Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein - Jennifer Berne, pictures by Vladimir Radunsky
That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems
This Is the World: A Global Treasury (collection of M Sasek’s travel books)
Troll and the Oliver by Adam Stower
Uh-Oh, Baby! written by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Scott Nash
2014
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
Chicken Little: the Real and Totally True Tale by Sam Wedelich
The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak
How to Cheer Up Dad by Fred Koehler
Imagine a City by Elise Hurst
Me First! by Max Kornell
My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems
Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers
Pom and Tim by Lena and Olof Landström
Quest by Aaron Becker (#2 in series)
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (2014)
Rupert Can Dance by Jules Pfeiffer
Sebastian and the Balloon by Philip C. Stead (2014, pastels, oil paints, pressed charcoal)
2015
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Goodnight Already! by Jory John & Benji Davies
L is for London by Paul Thurlby
Once Upon a Rainy Day by Édouard Manceau
Roger is Reading a Book by Koen Van Biesen
Scratch Scratch Screw Plop! by Kitty Crowther
Teacup by Rebecca Young & Matt Ottley
This is a ball: books that drive kids crazy by Beck & Matt Stanton
The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi
2016
A Small Thing…but Big - Tony Johnson, pictures by Hadley Hooper
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston
An Excessive Alphabet: Avalanches of As to Zillions of Zs by Judi Barrett
If You Ever Want to Bring a Piano to the Beach, Don't! by Elise Parsley
Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol (Caldecott Honor)
Little Big Girl by Claire Keane
My Baby Crocodile by Gatean Doremus
Penguin Problems by Jory John & Lane Smith
Pond by Jim LaMarche
The Not So Quiet Library by Zachariah Ohora
Return by Aaron Becker (#3 in series)
This Is My Dollhouse by Giselle Potter
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
Three Little Monkeys - Quentin Blake & Emma Chichester Clark
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
2017
Accident by Andrea Tsurumi
After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat
The Bad Seed - Jory John, illustrations by Pete Oswald (big hit with age 3 especially)
The Berenstain Bears’ Show-and-Tell by Mike Berenstain (about valuing “old treasures” 😊 )
Bob, Not Bob! *to be Read as Though You Have the Worst Cold Ever written by Liz Garton Scanlon & Audrey Vernick, pictures by Matthew Cordell
The Boring Book by Sinsuke Yoshitake
Emma & The Whale by Julie Case
Feather by Rémi Courgeon
His Royal Highness, King Baby: A Terrible True Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by David Roberts
Imagine That! How Dr. Seuss Wrote The Cat in the Hat by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
Pete the Cat and the Cool Cat Boogie by Kimberly and James Dean
This Beautiful Day - Richard Jackson, illustrated by Suzy Lee
The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi
Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell (winner of 2018 Caldecott Medal)
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse - Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
2018
A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano
A Very Late Story by Marianna Coppo
Anna at the Art Museum - Hazel Hutchins & Gail Herbert, illustrated by Lil Crump
The Better Tree Fort by Jessica Scott Kerrin, pictures Qin Leng
Get On Your Bike by Joukje Akveld & Philip Hopman
I Feel Teal by Lauren Rille, illustrations by Aimee Sicuro
Lots More Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. written by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett
My Bison by Gaya Wisniewski
The Old Man by Sarah V, illustrated by Claude Dubois, translated by Daniel Hahn
Pie is for Sharing - Stephanie Parsley Ledyard, illustrations by Jason Chin
The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
2019
16 Words: William Carlos Williams & “The Red Wheelbarrow” - Lisa Rogers & Chuck Groenink (2019)
A Normal Pig by K-Fai Steele
A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel
Bear Came Along - Richard T. Morris, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Explorers by Matthew Cordell
The Fisherman and the Whale by Jessica Lanan
Fly! by Mark Teague
Grown-ups Never Do That - Davide Cali & Benjamin Chaud
Iced Out - written by CK Smouha, illustrated by Isabella Bunnell
Lenny the Lobster Can’t Stay for Dinner…or can he? You decide! by Michael and Finn Buckley, illustrated by Catherine Meurisse
Non stop by Tomi Ungerer
The Piano Recital by Akiko Miyakoshi
Red Riding Hood - retold by Beatrix Potter, illustrations by Helen Oxenbury
River by Elisha Cooper
Room on our Rock - Kate & Joe Temple, Terri Rose Baynton
The Serious Goose - written and illustrated by Jimmy Kimmel
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
coffee table books / other
coming soon
special category
coming soon
haven’t read
2014
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
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