Favorite Books of 2018

1. There, There by Tommy Orange (Stunning. I’ll remember it forever.)
2. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara (Worth all the nightmares.)
3. An American Marriage, Tayari Jones (Should be required reading, even if I did think it got a little soapy in the end.)
4. Educated, Tara Westover (Captivating. Smart. Language a little mechanical but still, a great read.)
5. Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan (Technically published in 2017, but the paperback is out now and you should all sit down and enjoy the hell out of it, even when it gets a bit ridiculous)
6. Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, Oliver Jeffers (my favorite childrens book. Something to give a new baby!)
7. Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs (Read it in less than a day. Exquisite character studies. Will make you wish you grew up in California.)
8. Calypso, David Sedaris (His best yet. I borrowed it at the patient library and then bought it to treasure. Funny as always but with a sharp view of aging and death. I wish I wrote like this, and I’ll spend forever trying!)
9. You Think It, I’ll Say It, Curtis Sittenfeld (thoroughly enjoyable!)
10. The Final Voicemails, Max Ritvo (stunning, daring poetry. Heart wrenching meditations on loss and illness and our fucked up, beautiful lives. Ritvo died of cancer at 26, and it’s a huge loss. This is final collection and holy moly, it’s really something.)