Book List 2016

2016 was not my best year for reading. Even though I enjoyed pregnancy, my body definitely felt the effects and often I went to bed early - either not reading at all, or falling asleep after only reading a page or two of a book. Because of this, and the arrival of a certain beautiful baby girl, my goal to read 75 books was not met. However, I did read 55 books and I'm happy that I did that! 


Here are the books that I read in 2016, in the order that I read them. My favorites are in hot pink, and the few books that I listened to on Audible are marked with an "(A)" next to them. 

1. All Fall Down | Jennifer Weiner
2. Dept. of Speculation | Jenny Offill
3. China Rich Girlfriend | Kevin Kwan
4. Uglies | Scott Westerfield
5. Paddle Your Own Canoe | Nick Offerman (A)
6. Pretties | Scott Westerfield
7. Dear Mr. Knightley | Katherine Reay
8. Everything, Everything | Nicola Yoon
9. Cry, the Beloved Country | Alan Paton
10. Openly Straight | Bill Konigsberg
11. Specials | Scott Westerfield
12. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Irin Carmon & Shana Knizhnik
13. The Ice Twins | S.K. Tremayne (A)
14. Did I Mention that I Love You? | Estelle Maskame
15. Did I Mention that I Need You? | Estelle Maskame
16. Rats Saw God | Rob Thomas
17. Expecting Better | Emily Oster
18. Americanah | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
19. Her | Harriet Lane
20. Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage | Molly Wizenberg
21. Pretty Baby | Mary Kubica (A)
22. In The Woods | Tana French
23. The Hypnotist's Love Story | Liane Moriarty
24. Kindred Spirits | Rainbow Rowell
25. Dumplin' | Julie Murphy
26. The Summer I Learned to Dive | Shannon McCrimmon
27. Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun & Be Your Own Person | Shonda Rhimes (A)
28. Pretty Girls | Karin Slaughter
29. Big Magic | Elizabeth Gilbert
30. Every Last Word | Tamara Ireland Stone
31. Why Don't Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What it Means for the Classroom | Daniel Willingham 
32. The Rent Collector | Camron Wright
33. When the Moon is Low | Nadia Hashimi
34. Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher
35. Did I Mention I Miss You? | Estelle Maskame
36. In the Unlikely Event | Judy Blume
37. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You | Peter Cameron
38. News of a Kidnapping | Gabriel Garcia Marquez
39. Not My Father's Son | Alan Cumming (A) 
40. The Little Paris Bookshop | Nina George
41. Eight Hundred Grapes | Laura Dave
42. A Separate Peace | John Knowles
43. My Name is Lucy Barton | Elizabeth Strout
44. The House on Mango Street | Sandra Cisneros
45. Bad Feminist | Roxanne Gay
46. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend | Katarina Bivald
47. Rich and Pretty | Rumaan Alam
48. Every Exquisite Thing | Matthew Quick
49. 12 Hours Sleep by 12 Weeks Old | Suzy Giordano
50. Love, Loss & What We Ate | Padma Lakshmi
51. If I Was Your Girl | Meredith Russo 
52. Goodnight Moon | Margaret Wise Brown (And countless other children's books...)
53. Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of an Underground Resistance in Afghanistan | Jenny Nordberg
54. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things | Jenny Lawson
55. The Sisters Rosensweig | Wendy Wasserstein

For one of the first years in awhile, I really didn't read more than a few books that I absolutely loved. I definitely branched out in my reading this year as I tried to complete the Read Harder Challenge (check out the 2016 challenge and the new 2017 challenge) but I found myself trying to read books that fit the challenge requirements so much that I forced myself to finish books I didn't enjoy. Because of this, I took forever to read some books that I didn't really enjoy, and missed out on reading books I might have loved. I am glad I read some new genres, and more nonfiction than I would have in the past, but this year I'm just going to focus on making it through the pile of books next to my bed. (Yes, it still exists.)

I did read some books that I enjoyed, but didn't love enough to highlight above, and those would include Rich and Pretty (#47), In The Unlikely Event (#36), The Rent Collector (#32), and Every Last Word (#30). I also did really enjoy two YA series this year - the Pretties Series by Scott Westerfield and the Did I Mention... Series by Estelle Maskame. I would recommend all of these titles if you're looking for something new to read and have already read the others I've mentioned. 

Want to join along in my literary adventures? You can follow along with me on Goodreads (just search for Sara Levine)! Did you meet your reading goals in 2016? What were your favorite books of the year? I'd love to see your recommendations!
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