Top Nine

Presented in no particular order, though my favorite non-fiction this year was Dessa and my favorite novel was Ayobami Adebeyo’s.

• Charmed me in a way that I wasn’t expecting: Chemistry by Weike Wang
• Straight up goosebumps while reading about her & Aby Wolf singing together: My Own Devices by Dessa
• So relatable it made my heart hurt: All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
• Showed us how nostalgia can literally kill us: Severance by Ling Ma
• Gave me all the (non-killer variety) nostalgia: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
• Greek myths retold by a woman, more please! Circe by Madeline Miller
• Kick you in the teeth good: There There by Tommy Orange
• Made me super afraid to blink: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
• Came out in 2017, but probably the best novel I’ve read in the past five years: Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo

Other Notable Reads

Woulda made the Top Nine except I couldn’t forgive the easy ending: Vox by Christina Dalcher

Like a shitty, shitty episode of “Orange is the New Black:” The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner.

All the nopes down in Nopeville could not nope this one enough: Leave No Trace by Mindy Meija.