These are books from the articles linked above. They are from summer 2019, and I didn’t get to most of them. I have gotten to some, though, and I agree that they are great books!

SPOTLIGHT AUTHORS

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Wedding Party, by Jasmine Guillory

The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead

Is There Still Sex in the City?, by Candace Bushnell

Inland, by Téa Obreht

BREEZY READS

Very Nice, by Marcy Dermansky

How Could She, by Lauren Mechling

Reasons to Be Cheerful, by Nina Stibbe

The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J. Ryan Stradal

Bunny, by Mona Awad

Going Dutch, by James Gregor

Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes

FAMILY SAGAS

The Travelers, by Regina Porter

Mrs. Everything, by Jennifer Weiner

In West Mills, by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

Fleishman Is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong

Mostly Dead Things, by Kristen Arnett

Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn

REAL-WORLD STORIES

Three Women, by Lisa Taddeo

Chaos, by Tom O’Neill with Dan Piepenbring

The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom

The Tenth Muse, by Catherine Chung

MIND-BENDING NOVELS

Recursion, by Blake Crouch

FKA USA, by Reed King

The Warehouse, by Rob Hart

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The History of Living Forever, by Jake Wolff

CRIME MASTERS AND THRILLERS

Never Have I Ever, by Joshilyn Jackson

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone, by Felicity McLean

Girl in the Rearview Mirror, by Kelsey Rae Dimberg

The Whisper Man, by Alex North

Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman

Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson

The Turn of the Key, by Ruth Ware

16 Classic Children's Books

16 classic children’s books

The above linked article names 16 classic children’s books that remind us of why we love to read. I have read most of these, and loved them. I have a few more to read, but it won’t be hard work, I suspect.

Peter Pan

By J. M. Barrie

Little Women

By Louisa May Alcott

Anne of Green Gables

By L. M. Montgomery

A Wrinkle in Time

By Madeleine L’Engle

The Golden Compass

By Philip Pullman

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

By J.K. Rowling

Charlotte’s Web

By E.B. White

The Giving Tree

By Shel Silverstein

Harriet the Spy

By Louise Fitzhugh

Matilda

By Roald Dahl

Bridge to Terabithia

By Katherine Paterson

Where the Red Fern Grows

By Wilson Rawls

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

Ramona Quimby, Age 8

By Beverly Cleary

Where the Wild Things Are

By Maurice Sendak

The Outsiders

By S.E. Hinton

Retelling of Classics

Retelling of classics

These 23 books are told about in the above linked article. They are all retellings of classic books.

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

A retelling of: Frankenstein

Destroyer by Victor LaValle

A retelling of: Frankenstein

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore

A retelling of: “The Red Shoes”

Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany

A retelling of: Orpheus/Eurydice

Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera (September 1, 2020)

A retelling of: Orpheus/Eurydice

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

A retelling of: Persephone/Hades

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

A retelling of: Hansel and Gretel…sort of

A Blade So Black and A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

A retelling of: Alice in Wonderland

Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (May 12, 2020)

A retelling of: The Shahnameh

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (June 30, 2020)

A retelling of: Every crumbling, haunted, Gothic house tale

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang (September 29, 2020)

A retelling of: Red Riding Hood and the Hou Yi myth

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

A retelling of: One Thousand and One Nights

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

A retelling of: The Count of Monte Cristo

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

A retelling of: Dark Norse myths

Boy Snow Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

A retelling of: Snow White

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

A retelling of: Snow White

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

A retelling of: Pride and Prejudice

Ash by Malinda Lo

A retelling of: Cinderella

Of Curses and Kisses Sandhya Menon

A retelling of: Beauty and the Beast

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

A retelling of: The Wizard of Oz

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas

A retelling of: Mulan

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

A retelling of: “The Horror of Red Hook”

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

A retelling of: Korean Gumiho Tales

The Most Inspirational Children's Book Characters

(most inspirational character)

I know most of these characters, but I think I still need to read a few of the books. The above linked article tells about why the characters are inspirational. I am also looking at this as a TBR list, though.

Top 50 inspirational characters from children’s books:

Harry Potter
Matilda
Charlie Bucket, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling
Mary Poppins
Winnie the Pooh
Peter Pan
Paddington Bear
Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Peter Rabbit
Alice, Alice in Wonderland
The Gruffalo’s mouse
Mowgli, The Jungle Book
Miss Honey, Matilda
Tracey Beaker
Aslan, The Chronicles of Narnia
Mr Fox, Fantastic Mr Fox
The very Hungry Caterpillar
Charlotte, Charlotte’s Web
Gandalf, The Hobbit
Lucy, The Chronicles of Narnia
Tigger
Christopher Robin
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy
Danny, Danny, the Champion of the World
Piglet
George, The Famous Five
Stuart Little
Josephine March, Little Women
George, George’s Marvellous Medicine
Pippi Longstocking
Adrian Mole
Topsy and Tim
Hazel, Watership Down
The Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland
Wilbur, Charlotte’s Web
Barney, Stig of the Dump
Babe
Jim Hawkins, Treasure Island
Little Bear
William Brown, Just William
Tom Gates
Arrietty Clock, The Borrowers
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, How to Train Your Dragon
Chloe, Mr Stink
Alex Ryder
Lyra Belacqua, His Dark Materials trilogy
Max, Where the Wild Things Are
Christopher John Francis Boone, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Stanley Lambchop (a.k.a. Flat Stanley)

Popular Books With No Literary Value

Popular books with no literary value

How many of these books have you read? I have only read 9 of them, but quite a few of them are on my list of books to never read, so I won’t be finishing this collection.

Near Perfect Reviews

Near perfect reviews

These books, discussed in the above linked article, have great reviews. I have read some of them, and I agree. They are great books, and deserve their near perfect reviews.

Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Girl He Used to Know Tracey Garvis Graves

The Island of Sea Women Lisa See

Things You Save in a Fire Katherine Center

Under Currents Nora Roberts

Recursion Blake Crouch

Red, White & Royal Blue Casey McQuiston

The Oysterville Sewing Circle Susan Wiggs

The Huntress Kate Quinn

Beard with Me Penny Reid

Lock Every Door Riley Sager

Window on the Bay Debbie Macomber

The Institute Stephen King

Meet Cute Helena Hunting

Run Away Harlan Coben

The Wicked King Holly Black

The Bride Test Helen Hoang

The Kingmaker Kennedy Ryan

The Flight Girls Noelle Salazar

The Whisper Man Alex North

Bodyguard to the Billionaire Nana Malone

Standalone Fantasy Books

Standalone fantasy books

Many books in the fantasy genre are parts of series. Here’s a list of books that are complete on their own. I have some of these books, and look forward to reading others. Some I know only by author, but they are still worthwhile.