Some Books I've Read (and Should Feature at Some Point)

I've read over a hundred books a year since starting Words Like Silver in 2011, so have over two thousand titles to cover and reference—whether writing a new review or transferring old thoughts (some of which were composed by my 13-year-old self so—bear witness.) This is by no means exhaustive, but I'll just throw a title on here whenever I think of one I haven't mentioned yet.

As I restore my review archive, books to write about are constantly crossing my mind. So as I build out my list of books read in 2024 and my lists of books read every year prior, I figured I'd also share with y'all the reads I'm excited to write about someday but haven't gotten around to yet. As I update the archive, I'll delete titles off this running tally. But feel free to reach out should we have titles in common, and I'm happy to share my thoughts and opinions on each.

A

• Halo (all) by Alexandra Adornetto
• The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Leah on the Off-Beat by Becky Albertalli
• Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando
• Beach Blondes (all) by K.A. Applegate
• In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
• The Beautiful (all) by Renée Ahdieh
• Flight by Sherman Alexie
• Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum
• The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
• I'm Still Here by Clelie Avit

B

• In Praise of Love by Alain Badiou
• Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang
• Shadow and Bone (all) by Leigh Bardugo
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• The Inheritance Games (all) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow
• To the End of June: The Intimate Life of American Foster Care by Cris Beam
• The Looking Glass Wars (all) by Frank Beddor
• Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
• The Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé
• The Night We're Not Sleeping In: Poems by Sean Bishop
• The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
• Tithe by Holly Black
• How Pleasure Works by Paul Bloom
• Lore by Alexandra Bracken
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
• Private (all) by Kate Brian
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
• The Road to Character by David Brooks
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide by Leah Buley
• Your Brain is a Time Machine: the Neuroscience and Physics of Time by Dean Buonomano
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

C

• Six Memos for the Next Millennium by Italo Calvino
• Bittersweet by Susan Cain
• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
• The Big Picture by Sean Carroll
• Dear Ally, How do You Write a Book? by Ally Carter
• I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You (all) by Ally Carter
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories by Raymond Carver
• Graceling (all) by Kristin Cashore
• Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
• The Selection (all) by Kiera Cass
• A Study in Charlotte (all) by Brittany Cavallaro
• The Final Solution by Michael Chabon
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• The School for Good and Evil (all) by Soman Chainani
• The Portable Beat Reader by Ann Charters
• Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer by Victor Cherkashin with Gregory Feifer
• Oh. My. Gods (all) by Tera Lynn Childs
• Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
• Somnium Scipionis by Cicero
• City of Bones (all) by Cassandra Clare
• Clockwork Prince (all) by Cassandra Clare
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot by Jane K. Cleland
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Rave On: Global Adventures in Electronic Dance Music by Matthew Collin
• The Hunger Games (all) by Suzanne Collins
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• How to Love by Katie Cotugno
• Birds of California by Katie Cotugno
• Top Ten by Katie Cotugno
• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
• Nightshade (all) by Andrea Cremer
• Story Genius by Lisa Cron
• Look Alive Out There: Essays by Sloane Crosley
• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert

D

• The Maze Runner (all) by James Dashner
• The 13th Reality (all) by James Dashner
• The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver
• The Undoing of Thistle Tate by Katelyn Detweiler
• Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
• Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
• Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
• The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
• Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
• What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
• Astro Poets by Alex Dimitrov and Dorothea Lasky
• The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli
• A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
• I Hate Everyone But You by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin

E

• How We Are Hungry: Stories by Dave Eggers
• Southern Lady Code by Hellen Ellis
• Spartak Moscow: A History of the People’s Team in the Worker’s State by Robert Edelman
• Mindwise: Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want by Nicholas Epley
• Emotion: A Very Short Introduction by Dylan Evans
• How Language Began by Daniel L. Everett

F

• Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field
• Barbarian Days by William Finnegan
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Hush, Hush (all) by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Who's Your City? by Richard Florida
• Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
• If I Stay (all) by Gayle Forman
• I Was Here by Gayle Forman
• Just One Day (both) by Gayle Forman
• Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
• Sea Change by Aimee Friedman
• The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman
• In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth by Tikva Frymer-Kensky

G

• Caraval by Stephanie Garber
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder
• Dialectic of Pop by Agnès Gayrau
• The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
• It Becomes You: Poems by Dobby Gibson
• Ruby Red (all) by Kerstin Gier
• The Black Maria: Poems by Aracelis Girmay
• 1962-2012: Poems by Louise Glück
• All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
• Real Artists Don't Starve by Jeff Goins
• Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant Brilliant by Joel Golby
• The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer by David Goldblatt
• I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
• The Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
• Evernight (all) by Claudia Gray
• Fateful by Claudia Gray
• Strange Graces by Tessa Gratton
• The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin
• Talking God: Philosophers on Belief by Gary Gutting
• They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
• The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

H

• The Summer I Turned Pretty (all) by Jenny Han
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before (all) by Jenny Han
• Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
• How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
• No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Remote: Office Not Required by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried
• Mind Fixers: Psychiatry’s Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness by Anne Harrington
• Saving June by Hannah Harrington
• Speechless by Hannah Harrington
• The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• My Brief History by Stephen Hawking
• Hex Hall (all) by Rachel Hawkins
• Royals by Rachel Hawkins
• Insomniac City: New York, Oliver Sacks, and Me by Bill Hayes
• Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers by Chip Heath and Karla Starr
• The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
• For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
• The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
• Let’s Go Exploring: Calvin and Hobbes by Michael Hingston
• Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
• Fascinate by Sally Hogshead
• Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense by Bob Holmes
• The Odyssey by Homer
• The Iliad by Homer
• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• All About Love by bell hooks
• Book Architecture by Stuart Horwitz
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I

• We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby

J

• Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide by Kay Redfield Jamison
• Need (series) by Carrie Jones

K

• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
• The Iron King (all) by Julie Kagawa
• Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
• Fallen (all) by Lauren Kate
• Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman
• The Power Paradox by Dacher Keltner
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely (all) by Brigid Kemmerer
• The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language by Christine Kenneally
• On the Road by Jack Kerouac
• Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
• The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
• Origin by Jessica Khoury
• On Writing by Stephen King
• Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
• Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby
• The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby
• Golden by Jessi Kirby
• You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein
• I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein
• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
• Mastermind by Maria Konnikova
• The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It Every Time by Maria Konnikova
• On Love and Loneliness by Jiddu Krishnamurti
• Slowness by Milan Kundera
• The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

L

• We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
• The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
• Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
• Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour
• Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky
• Bird by Bird: Some Thoughts on Writing and Life by Anne LaMott
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Lullabies by Lang Leav
• You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour
• Every Day by David Levithan
• The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan
• Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
• Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan
• Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
• This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
• The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levithin
• Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
• Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew D. Lieberman
• Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
• Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman
• Souls and Bodies by David Lodge
• I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
• The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
• Legend (all) by Marie Lu
• Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

M

• Throne of Glass (some) by Sarah J. Maas
• A Court of Thorns and Roses (some) by Sarah J. Maas
• The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
• The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
• Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy
• Shatter Me (all) by Tahereh Mafi
• Cities I've Never Lived In by Sarah Majka
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
• The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
• Wicked Lovely (all) by Melissa Marr
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
• Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson
• Save the Date by Morgan Matson
• The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
• One of Us Is Lying (all) by Karen M. McManus
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
• The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
• Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Amy McNamara
• Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
• Vampire Academy (all) by Richelle Mead
• Bloodlines (all) by Richelle Mead
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund
• When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
• Changing Light at Sandover by James Merrill
• A Killer’s Wife by Victor Methos
• Cinder (all) by Marissa Meyer
• Heartless by Marissa Meyer
• Twilight (all) by Stephanie Meyer
• The Host by Stephanie Meyer
• Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• Bras and Broomsticks (all) by Sarah Mlynowski
• Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• Fablehaven (all) by Brandon Mull
• Dragonwatch (all) by Brandon Mull
• Absolutely on Music by Haruki Murakami
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
• Puddin' by Julie Murphy
• The Candy Shop Wars (all) by Brandon Mull
• Eleven (all) by Lauren Myracle
• Shine by Lauren Myracle
• The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
• Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia
• People Like Us by Dana Mele

N

• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior by Joe Navarro

O

• A Prayer Journal by Flannery O'Connor
• A Good Man Is Hard to Find (and Other Stories) by Flannery O'Connor
• The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
• Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction by Keith Oatley
• A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts by J.W. Ocker
• Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
• The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater by Alanna Okun
• Upstream: Essays by Mary Oliver
• Evidence (Poems) by Mary Oliver
• Devotions by Mary Oliver
• Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
• Blue Horses by Mary Oliver
• Delirium (all) by Lauren Oliver
• Panic by Lauren Oliver
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Amores by Ovid
• Metamorphoses by Ovid

P

• Eragon (all) by Christopher Paolini
• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
• Dead Is the New Black (all) by Marlene Perez
• Anna and the French Kiss (all) by Stephanie Perkins
• There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
• I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laure Philpott
• On Kindness by Adam Phillips
• Wings by Aprilynne Pike
• When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel H. Pink
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
• Die for Me (all) by Amy Plum
• Figuring by Maria Popova
• Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic
• How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick by Letty Cottin Pogrebin
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Books by Leah Price
• How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
• Insomnia: Poems by Linda Pastan

R

• Every Song Ever: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty by Ben Ratliff
• All I Want to Do Is Live by Trace Ramsey
• Siren by Tricia Rayburn
• The Season: The Social History of the Debutante by Kristen Richardson
• The 22 Immutable Effects of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
• How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis
• The Lightning Thief (all) by Rick Riordan
• Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
• Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson
• Neon Gods by Katee Robert
• Electric Idol by Katee Robert
• Writing the Intimate Character by Jordan Rosenfeld
• Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
• Inland by Kat Rosenfield
• Divergent (all) by Veronica Roth
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (all books) by J.K. Rowling
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories by Karen Russell
• An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
• The Sea We Swim In: How Stories Work in a Data-Driven World by Frank Rose

S

• Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
• Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
• Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
• The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
• The Edge of Every Day: Sketches of Schizophrenia by Marin Sardy
• The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry
• The Archived (both) by V.E. Schwab
• The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• Challenger Deep by Neil Shusterman
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
• Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
• Juicing the Orange by Fred Senn and Pat Fallon
• Famous in Love (all) by Rebecca Serle
• Transformations by Anne Sexton
• The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot
• The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others by Tali Sharot
• Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically by Peter Singer
• Switched on Pop: How Popular Music Works, and Why It Matters by Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding
• The Statistical Improbability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
• Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith
• You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith
• Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith
• Stretch by Scott Sonenshein
• On Photography by Susan Sontag
• Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
• The Unfinished World: Stories by Amber Sparks
• May We Shed These Human Bodies: Stories by Amber Sparks
• The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
• Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
• The Mysterious Benedict Society (all) by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Shiver (all) by Maggie Stiefvater
• Lament (all) by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Raven Boys (all) by Maggie Stiefvater
• Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better by Will Storr
• 16 Ways to Break a Heart by Lauren Strasnick
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The New Nobility: The Restoration of Russia's Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan
• X: The Experience When Business Meets Design by Brian Solis
• Fairies: A Dangerous History by Richard Sugg
• You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon
• pretty much every Shakespeare work but I don't feel like listing them out

T

• Daughter of Smoke and Bone (all) by Laini Taylor
• An Ember in the Ashes (first two) by Sabaa Tahir
• Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
• The Lord of the Rings (all) by J.R.R. Tolkein
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (all) by April Genevieve Tucholke
• The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke
• The Art of Talking to Yourself by Vironika Tugaleva

U

V

• You May Also Like by Tom Vanderbilt
• The Consequence of Loving Colton (all) by Rachel van Dyken
• Gossip Girl (all) by Cecily von Ziegesar
• Burn for Burn (all) by Siobhan Vivian and Jenny Han
• The List by Siobhan Vivian
• Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

W

• The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays by Esme Weijun Wang
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
• The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson
• Useless Magic by Florence Welch
• Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• Impossible by Nancy Werlin
• Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin
• Paranormalcy (all) by Kiersten White
• Hardwired (all) by Meredith Wild
• Altered States of Consciousness: Experiences out of Time and Self by Marc Wittman
• Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf
• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

X

• The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Y

• The Replacements by Brenna Yovanoff
• Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff
• The Anatomy of Curiosity by Brenna Yovanoff, Tessa Gratton, Maggie Stiefvater

Z

• Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
• The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr
• How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
• Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando