01

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

One of those Hallmark royal-family Christmas movies, but without the Christmas and DECIDEDLY hotter. The first female US President's son takes a hate-to-love journey with the Prince of Wales and it is EVERYTHING. Please make your life exponentially better and read this immediately. 

 

02

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Set in the same community as The Hate U Give, On the Come Up introduces us to Bri, a talented rapper trying to navigate school, a complicated family history, her family's financial setbacks, and a record company that will make her dreams come true if she changes everything about herself. Angie Thomas is a genius with words!

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03

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

Close your eyes. Pretend you're reading Game of Thrones, with its themes of good and evil/light and dark, its complex worldbuilding, magic systems, and families. Now pretend you're reading Game of Thrones, but it has beautifully diverse characters and relationships and no women are sexually assaulted to spice up the plot and force the male characters to feel things. Open your eyes! You're reading The Priory of the Orange Tree. And you are LOVING it.

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04

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

A King Arthur retelling set in a future where the Earth has been ruined, so everyone lives on planets that have been colonized by an Amazon-like corporate entity with its own army, so definitely a time in need of the reincarnation of King Arthur. When that reincarnation, a girl named Ari, finds Excalibur, she wakes up Merlin (who has been aging backwards and is now a snarky teenager) and sets things in motion that will seem both very familiar and delightfully new. 

 

05

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

This story of isolation, dreams lost and courage found, the trickiness of memory, and what women both sacrifice and sustain in strict patriarchal cultures is told in three twisty timelines that lead to an incredible ending that I still can’t stop thinking about.

 

06

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

By focusing on the lives of three individuals, Wilkerson tells the story of the migration of black citizens from the south to the north and west in search of better lives in the early part of the 20th century. This is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read and one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. It should be taught in every school. 

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07

The Music Of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

This story of two teen boys trying to come to terms with secrets while working on a food truck in the Arizona summer heat is both a sweet romance and an up-close look at toxic masculinity, consent, stereotypes, and mental illness -- as only the best YA books can accomplish.

 

08

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

This 20-year correspondence between a book-loving playwright in New York and a bookseller in London will delight anyone who loves books (and, I mean, why else would you be here) while also giving an intimate glimpse into the years following WWII.

 

09

Becoming by Michelle Obama 

When I finished listening to this audiobook I was completely bereft. For two weeks I'd had one of the world's most accomplished and eloquent women telling her story to me in a way that made me feel like I could possibly be some of those things. A comfort and an inspiration.

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10

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I loved this epically readable, compelling story of people who are so flawed but still so lovable. The hype is strong with this one, but 100% warranted.

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11

Ayiti by Roxane Gay

When I read Roxane Gay's short fiction, the stories never leave me. I'll be walking through a room and an image from one of her stories will just show up in my head, unbidden. These stories about Haiti and the Haitian diaspora are in no way easy stories to have with you forever, but here they are and I'm grateful for them.

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12

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

When Helen Russell's husband lands a job at the LEGO headquarters in a tiny town in Denmark, the British journalist decides to find out exactly why the Danish people are known as the happiest on Earth. Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook and you, too, will laugh your head off at her journey. 

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13

Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

Set in 1989 in NYC, and following three high school seniors as they try to imagine a future during the height of the AIDS crisis, this historical YA novel made me cry at least five times and will definitely save more than a few lives. Read it.

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14

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob

I loved this unique graphic memoir - the conversational style, the repetitive use of sketched portraits with photographic backgrounds, and the increasingly ominous realizations of the people in Mira Jacob's life as the 2016 election grew closer. All told with a wicked sense of humor.

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15

Birthday by Meredith Russo

There are definitely some serious content warnings for homophobia, transphobia, depression, suicide & self-harm, but this was one of the most beautiful love stories I've read. Even before it becomes romantic, the love these two friends have for each other is just everything. And Morgan's story is so important as she becomes who she knows she's been all along.

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16

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Believe me when I say you need to listen to Neil Gaiman tell you stories about Odin and Thor and Loki and their ridiculous relatives. It will increase the good in your life by at least 75%, and these days that's nothing to sneeze at.

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17

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrice Khan-Cullors

Patrisse Khan-Cullors weaves her story and the story of her family with the larger cultural, historical, and social history that led to the Black Lives Matter movement in a memoir that’s in turns beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful..

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