Category: reading

Books are my drug of choice. That being the case, my friends tend to appreciate my book recommendations and devour my reading lists. The following is the sum of a year of literary indulgence, not ranked in any particular order. The only books on the list I would not advise reading are Go Set a Watchman and I Wrote This for You and Only You. For the sake of analysis, devout Harper Lee fans should read Go Set a Watchman, but you will be left bored and disenchanted by the protracted end. All sociological qualms aside, it’s a rough, poorly written story, understandably rejected by her publishers. The juxtaposition of this poor cousin to To Kill a Mockingbird is that of the sacred to the profane.  The book of poetry, I Wrote This for You and Only You, is a mawkish, lazy attempt of a book. I would like to give special recognition to Haruki Murakami, whose incomparable opus, 1Q84, restored my faith in contemporary literature when I read it in 2014. I would also point out that Natasha Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street was the most underrated and overlooked work of genius of the 2015 new releases.

1. The Goldfinch-Donna Tartt
2. Colorless Tsukuru Tszaki and his Years of Pilgrimage-Haruki Murakami
3. After Dark-Haruki Murakami
4. After the Quake-Haruki Murakami
5. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World-Haruki Murakami
6. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman-Haruki Murakami
7. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle-Haruki Murakami
8. The Strange Library-Haruki Murakami
9. Sputnik Sweetheart-Haruki Murakami
10. South of the Border, West of the Sun-Haruki Murakami
11. The Fuck-Up-Arthur Nersesian
12. Gladyss of the Hunt-Arthur Nersesian
13. The Secret History-Donna Tartt
14. The Elephant Vanishes-Haruki Murakami
15. Euphoria-Lily King
16. The Little Friend-Donna Tartt
17. Neverwhere-Neil Gaiman
18. Dance Dance Dance-Haruki Murakami
19. The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern
20. The Graveyard Book-Neil Gaiman
21. Perfume: The Story of a Murder-Patrick Suskind
22. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore-Robin Sloan
23. Kafka on the Shore-Haruki Murakami
24. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry-Gabrielle Zevin
25. Suicide Casanova-Arthur Nersesian
26. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell-Susanna Clarke
27. All the Light We Cannot See-Anthony Doerr
28. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
29. Go Set a Watchman-Harper Lee
30. The Windup Girl- Paolo Bacigalupi
31. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay-Michael Chabon
32. The Devil in the White City-Erik Larson
33. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children-Ransom Riggs
34. Hollow City-Ransom Riggs
35. The Library of Souls-Ransom Riggs
36. The Ocean at the End of the Lane-Neil Gaiman
37. Hear the Wind Sing-Haruki Murakami
38. Pinball, 1973-Haruki Murakami
39. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street-Natasha Pulley
40. A Wild Sheep Chase-Haruki Murakami
41. American Gods-Neil Gaiman
42. The Halloween Tree-Ray Bradbury
43. The Supernatural Enhancements-Edgar Cantero
44. A Monster Calls-Patrick Ness
45. The Once and Future King-T.H. White
46. We Have Always Lived in the Castle-Shirley Jackson
47. Ghostly-an anthology compiled by Audrey Niffenegger
48. Something Wicked This Way Comes-Ray Bradbury
49. Cleoopatra, A Life-Stacy Schiff
50. The Haunting of Hill House-Shirley Jackson
51. The Shadow of the Wind-Carlos Ruiz Zafon
52. Norwegian Wood-Haruki Murakami
53. The Lodger-Marie Belloc Lowndes
54. The Angel’s Game-Carlos Ruiz Zafon
55. I Wrote This for You and Only You-anonymous
56. The Cure for Dreaming-Cat Winters
57. Kitchen-Banana Yoshimoto
58. Hyde-Daniel Levine
59. Night Shift-Steven King
60. The Golem and the Jinni-Helene Wecker
61. Hell House-Peter Matheson
62. The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky
63. On the Road, the Original Scroll-Jack Kerouac
64. The Magicians-Lev Grossman
65. Chinese Takeout-Arthur Nersesian