Tracy Chevalier – Books I’ve read since 20022020January The Unfinished Palazzo: Life, Love and Art In Venice Judith MackrellOnce Upon a River Diane SetterfieldWhat It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man’s Blues Clifford Thompson

February Pachinko Min Jin LeeLong Bright River Liz MooreGirl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo

March Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line Deepa AnapparaBrixton Hill Lottie MoggachAdults Emma Jane UnsworthWeather Jenni Offill

April I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith (reread)The Wheelwright's Daughter Eleanor PorterRed at the Bone Jacqueline WoodsonRedhead by the Side of the Road Anne TylerGirl with Green Eyes Edna O’Brien

May The Great Godden Meg RosoffThe Seduction Joanna BriscoeLost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli

June 1234: The Beatles in Time Craig BrownThe Golden Rule Amanda CraigAn American Marriage Tayari JonesThe Courage to Care Christie WatsonWriters & Lovers Lily King

JulyQueenie Candice Carty-WilliamsThe Confessions of Frannie Langton Sara CollinsGirl A Abigail DeanCassandra at the Wedding Dorothy Baker*Rodham Curtis Sittenfeld

AugustSilence Is a Sense Layla AlAmmarPatch Work Claire WilcoxCorrigedora Gayl JonesThe Enchanted April Elizabeth von ArnimMexican Gothic Silvia Moreno-GarciaSome Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me Kate Clanchy*

SeptemberSmall Pleasures Clare ChambersThe Girl with the Louding Voice Abi DareHow Much of These Hills Is Gold C Pam ZhangLove After Love Ingrid Persaud

OctoberThe Emperor's Babe Bernardine EvaristoClean: A Story of Addiction Michele KirschSuch a Fun Age Kiley ReidReal Life Brandon Taylor

NovemberThe Mother Hunt Rex StoutGhosts Dolly AldertonThe Home-Maker Dorothy Canfield FisherThe Street Ann PetryThe Morning Gift Eva Ibbotson

December 2020A Thousand Moons Sebastian BerryThe Startup Wife Tahmima AnamThe Vanishing Half Brit BennettHow to Stay Sane in an Age of Division Elif Shafak

*My books of the year (fiction and nonfiction)

2019January The Mars Room Rachel KushnerMy Sister, the Serial Killer Oyinkan BraithwaiteMa'am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret Craig Brown Liar Ayelet Gundar-Goshen Less Andrew Sean GreerWar and Peace Leo Tolstoy (continued)

February How to Own the Room Viv Groskop The Doll Factory Elizabeth Macneal The Cut Out Girl Bart van EsThe Gifted, the Talented and Me Will Sutcliffe War and Peace Leo Tolstoy (continued)MarchLate in the Day Tessa HadleyThe Cleaner of Chartres Salley VickersWar and Peace Leo Tolstoy (finished!)AprilSweet Sorrow David NichollsThe Familiars Stacey HallsPillars of the Earth Ken Follett

May The Mercies Kiran Millwood Hargraves (published Jan 2020)Ghost Wall Sarah MossTwo Girls Down Louisa Luna The Carer Deborah Moggach Holy Disorders Edmund CrispinJuneOrdinary People Diana EvansThe Dutch House Ann PatchettThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Bronte (reread)Miss Garnet's Angel Salley Vickers (reread)Glass Town Isabel GreenbergJulyAmerican Dirt Jeanine CumminsHow to Change Your Mind Michael Pollan A Month in the Country J.L. CarrVenice Jan MorrisThe White Road Edmund de WaalAugustFleishman Is in Trouble Taffy Brodesser-AknerKindred Octavia ButlerAnother Fine Mess Tim Moore Three Women Lisa Taddeo Flaubert's Parrot Julian BarnesSeptember The Nickel Boys Colson Whitehead The Testaments Margaret Atwood Mothership Francesca Segal The Secret Commonwealth Philip PullmanOctober Notes to Self Emilie Pine The Water Cure Sophie Mackintosh Hamnet Maggie O'Farrell The Country Girls Edna O'BrienNovemberMidnight's Children Salman Rushdie (reread)The Wych Elm Tana French On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean VuongDecemberOlive, Again Elizabeth Strout* Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga TokarczukAnd Then There Were None Agatha Christie Girl Edna O'Brien My Dark Vanessa Kate Elizabeth Russell*my book of the year. Amazing writing.

2018

JANUARY While You Sleep Stephanie MerrittThe Explorer Katherine Rundell Lullaby Leila Slimani The Circle Dave Eggers

FEBRUARYThe Girl in the Window AJ Finn Midwinter Break Bernard MacLavertyPrairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder Caroline FraserAnything Is Possible Elizabeth Strout

MARCH Force of Nature Jane HarperEducated Tara WestoverThis Is London Ben Judah Kintu Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

APRIL*The Western Wind Samantha HarveyThe Hog's Back Mystery Freeman Wills CroftsFun Home Alison Bechdel Property Lionel ShriverThe Mermaid and Mrs Hancock Imogen Hermes Gowar

MAYLogical Family Armistead Maupin The Language of Kindness Christie Watson Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward Tangerine Christine Mangan

JUNEWhen I Hit You Meena KandasamyThe Weather in the Streets Rosamund Lehmann The Binding Bridget CollinsSmall Country Gael Faye

JULY*The Salt Path Raynor Winn The Overstory Richard PowersWill Self and I Matthew De Abaitua

AUGUSTSabrina Nick Drnaso West Carys Davies

House of Glass Susan FletcherSnap Belinda Bauer

SEPTEMBER Hold Michael DonkorWashington Black Esi Edugyan All Among the Barley Melissa Harrison

OCTOBER Transcription Kate Atkinson Milkman Anna BurnsA Different Drummer William Melvin Kelley

NOVEMBER There There Tommy Orange Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata Threads of Life Clare HunterWar and Peace Leo Tolstoy

DECEMBER War and Peace Leo Tolstoy (continued)Close to the Edge Toby FaberBecoming Michelle Obama Turbulence David Szaly

*My books of the year

2017

JANUARYThank Heaven Fasting EM Delafield The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers (reread)My Name Is Leon Kit de WaalLolly Willowes Sylvia Townsend WarnerBorn to Run Bruce SpringsteenAmnesia Michael Ridpath

FEBRUARYTestament of Youth Vera BrittainThe Awkward Age Francesca SegalHomegoing Yaa GyasiWaking Lions Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

MARCHThe End of Eddy Edouard LouisIdaho Emily RuskovichMothering Sunday Graham SwiftGolden Hill Francis Spufford

APRILFive Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain Barney NorrisThe Hate U Give Angie ThomasThe Improbability of Love Hannah Rothschild

MAYChasing the Stars Malorie BlackmanThe Waters and the Wild DeSales HarrisonThe Siege Helen Dunmore

JUNEEleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Gail HoneymanStay with Me Ayobami AdebayoThe Dark Circle Linda GrantThe Lie of the Land Amanda Craig

JULYPoor Caroline Winifred HoltbyHillbilly Elegy JD VancePersuasion Jane AustenMissing, Presumed Susie SteinerCaleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks

AUGUSTPersons Unknown Susie SteinerThe Fact of a Body Alexandria Marzano-LesnevichI Am, I Am, I Am Maggie O'Farrell**Diary of a Wartime Affair Doreen BatesThe Good People Hannah KentThe Dry Jane Harper

SEPTEMBERThe Natural Way of Things Charlotte WoodThe Resurrection of Joan Ashby Cherise WolasSugar Money Jane HarrisLine of Sight AC Konig

OCTOBERMy Absolute Darling Gabriel TallentWhat We Lose Zinzi ClemmonsLa Belle Sauvage Philip PullmanHome Fire Kamila Shamsie

NOVEMBERDear Mrs Bird AJ PearceAnna Niccolo AmmanitiReunion Fred UlmanA Spell of Winter Helen Dunmore

DECEMBERMissing Fay Adam ThorpeConversations with Friends Sally RooneyHow Hard Can It Be? Allison PearsonThe Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper (reread)Reservoir 13 Jon McGregor*The Shepherd's Hut Tim Winton

*my book of the year**my runner-up book of the year

2016

JANUARYShirley Charlotte BronteDifferent Class Joanne HarrisExposure Helen Dunmore

FEBRUARYThe Loney Andrew Michael HurleyThe Bronte Myth Lucasta MillerVinegar Girl Anne TylerMARCHThe Lie Tree Frances HardingeThe Mandibles Lionel ShriverMy Name Is Lucy Barton Elizabeth StroutThis Must Be the Place Maggie O'Farrell

APRILThe Year of the Runaways Sunjeev SahotaAt Hawthorne Time Melissa HarrisonNews of the World Paulette JilesThe Butcher's Hook Janet Ellis

MAYThe Trouble with Goats and Sheep Joanna CannonEligible Curtis SittenfeldUnexploded Alison MacleodThe Gustav Sonata Rose TremainPreparation for the Next Life Atticus Lish

JUNEThe Green Road Anne EnrightMadonna in a Fur Coat Sabahattin AliThe Essex Serpent Sarah PerrySister Sebastian's Library Phil Whitaker

JULYAnatomy of a Soldier Harry Parker1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare James ShapiroThe Outrun Amy Liptrot

AUGUSTNotes from No Man's Land Eula BissThe Muse Jessie BurtonEnemy Women Paulette Jiles (reread)

SEPTEMBERThe Girl in the Red Coat Kate HamerNutshell Ian McEwan

The Wonder Emma DonoghueSigns Preceding the End of the World Yuri Herrera

OCTOBERTake Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life Samantha EllisHag-Seed Margaret AtwoodCommonwealth Ann PatchettThe Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett

NOVEMBERThe Underground Railroad Colson WhiteheadThe Vegetarian Han KangThe Optician of Lampedusa Emma Jane Kirby*Days Without End Sebastian Berry**

DECEMBERThe Sellout Paul BeattyRhapsody in Green Charlotte MendelsonGreenbanks Dorothy WhippleHostages to Fortune Elizabeth Cambridge

*My nonfiction book of the year**My novel of the year

2015JANUARYH Is for Hawk Helen MacdonaldThe Professor Charlotte BronteJane Eyre Charlotte Bronte (reread)

FEBRUARYPrayers for the Stolen Jennifer ClementMy Brilliant Friend Elena FerranteVillette Charlotte BronteGilead Marilyn Robinson

MARCHAgnes Grey Anne BronteThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne BronteWuthering Heights Emily Bronte (reread) 

APRILAll My Puny Sorrows Miriam ToewsRe Jane Patricia ParkHow to Be a Heroine Samantha Ellis

MAYNeither Here Nor There Miriam DroriNora Webster Colm ToibinThe Story of a New Name Elena FerranteThe Life of Charlotte Bronte Elizabeth Gaskell

JUNEHow to Be Both Ali SmithOutline Rachel CuskThe Good Liar Nicholas SearleWonder R.J. Palacio

JULYTwin of Blackness: A Memoir Clifford ThompsonTo Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee (reread)Go Set a Watchman Harper LeeDo No Harm Henry MarshThe Ballad of Peckham Rye Muriel SparkCanada Richard FordPride and Prejudice Jane Austen (reread)

AUGUSTAll the Light We Cannot See Anthony DoerrThe Bronte Cabinet Deborah LutzA God in Ruins Kate AtkinsonThe Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins

SEPTEMBERThe Red Notebook Antoine LaurainA Little Life Hanna YanigiharaThe Driver's Seat Muriel SparkThe Gap of Time Jeanette Winterson

OCTOBERSuite Francaise Irene Nemirovsky (reread)South Sea Tales Robert Louis Stevenson The Versions of Us Laura Barnett

NOVEMBERThe Story of the Lost Child Elena FerranteAll the Birds, Singing Evie WyldGrief Is the Thing with Feathers Max PorterMy Name Is Shylock Howard JacobsonThe Road to Little Dribbling Bill Bryson

DECEMBERCharlotte Bronte: A Life Claire HarmanJane Steele Lyndsay FayeSisterland Curtis Sittenfeld

2014

JANUARYThe Luminaries Eleanor CattonLongbourn Jo BakerThe Invention of Wings Sue Monk Kidd

FEBRUARYHappenstance Carol ShieldsSkios Michael FraynThe Bees Laline PaullAlias Grace Margaret Atwood (reread)

MARCHThe Night Guest Fiona McFarlaneMrs Hemingway Naomi WoodBark Lorrie MooreThe Woman Upstairs Claire Messud

APRILWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy FowlerThe Professor of Poetry Grace McCleenTouched Joanna BriscoeThe Pinecone Jenny Uglow

MAYThe Town Conrad RichterThe Fault in Our Stars John GreenAmerican Rust Philipp MeyerMe Before You Jojo MoyesMother's Milk Edward St. Aubyn

JUNEElizabeth Is Missing Emma HealeyMy Salinger Year Joanna RakoffAmericanah Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHow to Be a Woman Caitlin Moran

JULYHer Harriet LaneThe Miniaturist Jessie BurtonUs David Nicholls

AUGUSTThe Paying Guests Sarah WatersAll True Not a Lie in It Alix HawleyWuthering Heights Emily Bronte (reread)Othello William Shakespeare (reread)

SEPTEMBERA Girl in Winter Philip LarkinNeverhome Laird HuntSwimming Studies Leanne ShaptonThe Rosie Effect Graeme Simson

OCTOBERThe Taxidermist's Daughter Kate MosseStation Eleven Emily John St MandelThe Secret Place Tana FrenchOn the Banks of Plum Creek Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)By the Shores of Silver Lake Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)

NOVEMBERThe Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)Little Town on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)These Happy Golden Years Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)The First Four Years Laura Ingalls Wilder (reread)Prairie Girl (autobiography) Laura Ingalls Wilder Charlotte Bronte: A Passionate Life Lyndall Gordon

DECEMBERBeing Mortal Atul GawandeTo Rise Again at a Decent Hour Joshua FerrisSelected Letters of Charlotte Bronte (going through a CB kick)A Spool of Blue Thread Anne Tyler

2013

The Innocents Francesca SegalBring Up the Bodies Hilary MantelThe Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Rachel JoyceFlight Behaviour Barbara KingsolverWhere’d You Go, Bernadette Maria SempleThe White Princess Philippa GregoryLife After Life Kate AtkinsonThe Road Home Rose Tremain (reread)Apple Tree Yard Louise DoughtyMay We Be Forgiven AM HomesThe Son Philipp MeyerStoner John WilliamsThe Interestings Meg WolitzerGossip from the Forest Sara MaitlandThe Goldfinch Donna TarttCity of Thieves David BenioffBurial Rites Hannah KentSedition Katharine GrantSense and Sensibility Joanna TrollopeThe Silent Wife ASA Harrison

2012

JANUARY The Art of Fielding Chad HarbachThe Land of Decoration Grace McleenCapital John LanchesterThe Old Curiosity Shop Charles Dickens

FEBRUARY The Radleys Matt HaigAlys, Always Harriet Lane

MARCH There But For The Ali SmithAwait Your Reply Dan ChaonPure Andrew Miller

APRIL How I Live Now Meg Rosoff (reread)Alone in Berlin Hans FalladaThe Lifeboat Charlotte RoganAnatomy of a Disappearance Hisham Matar

MAY To the End of the Land David Grossman

JUNE Foreign Bodies Cynthia Ozick

JULY The Age of Miracles Karen Thompson WalkerWuthering Heights Emily Bronte (reread)The Colour of Milk Nell Leyshon

AUGUST Run Ann PatchettThe Book in the Viola (US: The House at Tyneford) Natasha SolomonsA Monster Calls Patrick NessImportant Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris Leanne ShaptonThe Hunger Games Suzanne CollinsThe Dinner Herman Koch

SEPTEMBER Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace Kate SummerscaleMerival Rose TremainSwimming Home Deborah Levy

OCTOBER The Yellow Birds Kevin PowersThe Shock of the Fall Nathan FilerBig Brother Lionel ShriverNOVEMBERThe Tree: A Natural History Colin TudgeThe Go-Between L.P. HartleyTigers in Red Weather Liza KlaussmannThe Sound of Things Falling Juan Gabriel VasquezDECEMBERMotherland William NicholsonThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark

Instructions for a Heatwave Maggie O’FarrellGone Girl Gillian FlynnBehind the Beautiful Forevers Katherine Boo

2011

JANUARY Until May I will be reading books as a judge for the Orange Prize. There are too many to list here.

MAY Huckleberry Finn (reread) Mark Twain

JUNE A Fine Balance by Rohinton MistryThe Wilder Life by Wendy McClure (a must-read for Laura Ingalls Wilder fans!)In-Flight Entertainment (short stories) by Helen Simpson

JULY The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin HamidDissolution by C.J. Sansom

AUGUST The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David MitchellWench by Doren Valdez-PerkinsGillespie and I by Jane Harris (excellent!)

SEPTEMBER The Submission by Amy WaldmanThe Sisters Brothers by Patrick de WittThe Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

OCTOBER Tony and Susan by Austin WrightThe Sense of an Ending by Julian BarnesThe Butterfly Isles by Patrick Barkham

NOVEMBER State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

DECEMBER Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? by Jeanette WintersonCharles Dickens: A Life by Claire TomalinThe House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

2010

JANUARY The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg LarssonSong Yet Sung - James McBride

The Help - Kathryn StockettPeople of the Book - Geraldine Brooks

FEBRUARY The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg LarssonBeloved by Toni Morrison (reread)Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

MARCH Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCannThe Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

APRIL The Book Thief by Markus ZusakSolar by Ian McEwanThe Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall SmithUncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reread)

2009

JANUARY The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscalea bit of Don Quixote(my New Year's resolution is to read it throughout the year, and finish it)Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain and Andrew Thomson

FEBRUARY Believe Me by Nina KillhamCoal Black Horse by Robert OlmsteadCouples by John Updike

MARCH The Secret Scripture by Sebastian BarryThe Post Office Girl by Stefan Sweig

APRILOne Big Damn Puzzler by John HardingGirl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor ArnoldA Mercy by Toni Morrison

MAY The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stig LarssenThe Little Stranger by Sarah WatersHearts and Minds by Amanda CraigJUNEMolly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre MaddenMarch by Geraldine Brooks

JULY Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey NiffeneggerListening Below the Noise by Anne LeclaireThe Glass Castle by Jeannette WallsAUGUSTThe Children's Book by A.S. ByattThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie BarrowsSmall Wars by Sadie JonesOne Day by David NichollsThe Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo GiordanoA Book of Silence by Sara MaitlandSEPTEMBEROlive Kitteridge by Elizabeth StroutDirt Music by Tim WintonA Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie MooreDeaf Sentence by David LodgeOCTOBERWolf Hall by Hilary MantelNOVEMBERAdrian Mole: The Prostrate Years by Sue TownsendThe Hare and the Tortoise by Elizabeth JenkinsAnimals in Translation by Temple GrandinAny Human Heart by William BoydThe 10pm Question by Kate de GoldiDECEMBERWhen Will There Be Good News? by Kate AtkinsonLegend of a Suicide by David VannBrooklyn by Colm ToibinThe Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'FarrellThe Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson

2008

JANUARY Things Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeThe Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams(in US as The Sister)The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

FEBRUARY The Outcast by Sadie Jones

MARCHNo record

APRIL Revolutionary Road by Richard YatesHoles by Louis SacharBlue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall SmithLoving Frank by Nancy Horanfirst eighth of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

MAY Once upon a Time in the North by Philip PullmanDry Store Room No.1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard ForteyThe Spare Room by Nancy GarnerA Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

JUNE The Custom of the Country by Edith WhartonThe Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca MillerNo Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod

JULY One Good Turn by Kate AtkinsonWhen We Were Romans by Matthew KnealeEnglish by Wang GangFat Girl by Judith MooreHorseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry

AUGUST The People on Privilege Hill by Jane GardamEve Green by Susan FletcherAngel by Elizabeth TaylorAway by Amy Bloom

SEPTEMBER Netherland by Joseph O'NeillHow to Be Good by Nick Hornby

OCTOBER Emma by Jane Austen (reread)The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy

NOVEMBER A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas HardyI, Coriander by Sally Gardner

DECEMBER Annie's Box: Charles Darwin, His Daughter and Human Evolution by Randal Keynes (an excellent introduction to Darwin, esp if you struggle with the science; it talks about Darwin via his relationship with his daughter, who died age 10)The Believers by Zoe HellerNothing to Be Frightened Of by Julian BarnesShakespeare by Bill Bryson

2007

JANUARY Oscar and Lucinda by Peter CareyOther Sorrows, Other Joys by Janet Warner

FEBRUARY Suite Francaise by Irene NemirovskyFather and Son by Edmund GosseJust in Case by Meg Rosoff

MARCH second half of David Copperfield by Charles DickensThe Monsters of Templeton by Lauren GroffThe Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth by Frances Wilson

APRIL The Secret History of Lost Things by Sheridan HayThe Post-Birthday World by Lionel ShriverThe Tent by Margaret AtwoodOn Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

MAY The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman (reread)The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (reread)A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu GuoA Long Way Gone by Ishmael BaehThe Spellman Files by Lisa LutzIn the Dark by Deborah MoggachI was on a book tour of the US, and had a lot of time to read in airports!JUNEHalf of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieThe Lollipop Shoes by Joanne HarrisMichael Tolliver Lives by Armistead MaupinThe Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (reread; a favorite book and author from my childhood)JULYThe Road Home by Rose TremainThe French Lieutenant's Woman by John FowlesThe Tenderness of Wolves by Stef PenneyAUGUSTPersuasion by Jane Austen (reread)Alberta and Jacob by Cora SandelAlberta and Freedom by Cora SandelAnnette Vallon by James TiptonSEPTEMBERAstrid and Veronika by Linda OlssonMr. Pip by Lloyd JonesAlberta Alone by Cora SandelThe English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (reread)

OCTOBERNursery Crimes by Ayelet WaldmanThe Year of the Hare by Arto PaasilinnaFar from the Madding Crowd by Thomas HardyThe Frozen Thames by Helen HumphreysSepulchre by Kate MosseNOVEMBERThe Journal of Dora Damage by Belinda Starling(Funny how some months I read several books, others just one. Maybe I'm slowing down because it's getting colder - does one's reading metabolism change the way our physical metabolism does?)DECEMBERRestless by William BoydCase Histories by Kate AtkinsonThe Kiwi's Egg: Charles Darwin and Natural Selection by David QuammenThe Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester

2006

JANUARY On Beauty by Zadie SmithConstitutional (short stories) by Helen SimpsonA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina LewyckaThe Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd

FEBRUARY The Night Watch by Sarah WatersTess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas HardyClose Range (short stories) by Annie ProulxRapture (poems) by Carol Ann Duffy

MARCH The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (reread, aloud with my son)The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas HardyParadise Lost by John MiltonAPRILSpies by Michael FraynDisobedience by Naomi AldermanThe Dark Room by Rachel SeiffertStuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander MastersMAYSo Many Ways to Begin by Jon McGregorDigging to America by Anne TylerVernon God Little by D.B.C. PierreJUNEBeyond Black by Hilary MantelTouching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness by John T. Hul

JULYA Factory of Cunning by Philippa StockleyTheft by Peter CareyAUGUSTGentlemen and Players by Joanne HarrisSpecial Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha PesslNever Let Me Go by Kazuo IshiguroOn Writing by Stephen KingSEPTEMBERThe Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia HighsmithAnne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (reread – comfort read!)half of Untold Stories by Alan BennettOCTOBERA Vicious Circle by Amanda CraigThe Thirteenth Tale by Diane SetterfieldThe Vanishing of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’FarrellNOVEMBERThomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man (biography) by Claire TomalinWhen We Were Bad (not yet published) by Charlotte Mendelson

DECEMBER Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris (had to read it for a cultural radio program)The Accidental by Ali SmithThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

2005

JANUARY I am currently judging a literary prize and so won't list the books I am reading during these two months.

FEBRUARY Small Island by Andrea LevyThe Men in My Country by Marilyn AbildskovThe Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa GregoryThe Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall SmithIn the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall SmithMARCHSleep with Me by Joanna BriscoeWolf Brother by Michelle PaverThe Price of Water in Finistere by Bodil MalmstenSaturday by Ian McEwanLondon Born by Sidney Day

APRILThe Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey NiffeneggerUnder the Skin by Michel FaberProdigal Summer by Barbara KingsolverMAYThe Widow of the South by Robert HicksLabyrinth by Kate MosseJUNEMounting Desire by Nina KillhamNickel and Dimed by Barbara EhrenreichJULYCloud Atlas by David MitchellThe Wonder Spot by Melissa BanksBird by Bird by Anne LamottAUGUSTHavoc in Its Third Year by Ronan BennettThe History of Love by Nicole KraussSEPTEMBERThird Girl on the Left by Martha SouthgateLarry's Party by Carol ShieldsReading, Writing, and Leaving Home by Lynne FreedBookmark Now, edited by Kevin SmoklerOCTOBERThe Historian by Elizabeth KostovaRestoration by Rose Tremain (reread)Our Hidden Lives: The Everyday Diaries of a Forgotten Britain by Simon GarfieldNOVEMBERThe Great Fire by Shirley HazzardThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (reread)DECEMBERWe Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Not for the faint-hearted!)The Plot Against America by Philip RothArthur and George by Julian BarnesTattycoram by Audrey Thomas

2004

JANUARY Dispatches from a Not-So-Perfect Life by Faulkner FoxTouching the Void by Joe Simpson

FEBRUARYL'Affaire by Diane JohnsonNegotiating with the Dead by Margaret AtwoodEats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

MARCH What Was She Thinking?Notes on a Scandal by Zoe HellerTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (reread)Blake by Peter Ackroyd

APRILThe Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownJarhead by Anthony SwoffordThese Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach

MAY So Many Books by Gabriel ZaidStradivarius by Toby FaberThe Sewing Circles of Herat by Christina LambVenus as a Boy by Luke Sutherland

JUNE According to Queeney by Beryl BainbridgeSomething Might Happen by Julie MyersonThe Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

JULY Candyfreak by Steve AlmondNorthanger Abbey by Jane AustenThe Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Jay FowlerPassion by Jude Morgan

AUGUST How I Live Now by Meg RosoffThe Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

SEPTEMBER A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies (short stories) by John MurrayDaughters of Jerusalem by Charlotte MendelsonOCTOBERReading Lolita in Tehran by Azar NafisiChasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett

NOVEMBER Jane Austen by Claire TomalinA Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (reread)Lionboy by Zizou CorderThe Sad Truth about Happiness by Anne Giardin

DECEMBER I am currently judging a literary prize and so won't list the books I am reading during this month.

2003

JANUARY The Gift by Danielle Steele (er, just checking out the competition!)The Accomplice by Kathryn HeymanEnglish Passengers by Matthew Kneale

FEBRUARY The Nautical Chart by Arturo Perez-ReverteBel Canto by Ann PatchettKitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

MARCH The Blind Assassin by Margaret AtwoodThe Gift by David FlusfederAPRILThe Bitch in the House, edited by Cathy Hanauer (most likely to appeal to women 30-50; everyone else will be irritated)Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow (reread)

MAY Come Home, Timoleon Vieta by Dan RhodesOver Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper(Reread - this was a favorite during my childhood, and is set in Cornwall, where I was just on vacation)Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

JUNE The Colour by Rose TremainThe Devil Wears Prada by Lauren WeisbergerThe Summer Book by Tove JannsonThe Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (reread, for nostalgia; it's kind of overwrought but I still love it)

JULY The Voices by Susan ElderkinProperty by Valerie MartinBrick Lane by Monica AliMr Golightly's Holiday by Salley Vickers

AUGUST The Preservationist by Dave MaineThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonOld Man Goya by Julia BlackburnTears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

SEPTEMBER Starter for Ten by David NichollsMorality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall SmithCaravaggio (a novel) by Christopher Peachment

OCTOBER If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregorThe Flanders Panel by Arturo Perez-ReverteThe Kalahari School of Typing for Men by Alexander McCall SmithNOVEMBERThe Human Stain by Philip RothAstonishing splashes of Colour by Clare MorallThe Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

DECEMBER The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan LethemLove in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia MarquezDon't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

2002

MARCH Fingersmith by Sarah WatersThe Orchard on Fire by Shena MackayLittle Boy Lost by Marganita LaskyInterpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa LahiriThe Bad Beginning by Lemony SnicketNorthern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) by Philip PullmanAPRILThe Subtle Knife by Philip PullmanThe Amber Spyglass by Philip PullmanMAYThe House of Mirth by Edith WhartonDriving over Lemons by Chris StewartBalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

JUNE The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola KrausThe Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

JULY Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran FoerDisturbance of the Inner Ear by Joyce HackettDaughter of Venice by Donna Jo NapoliA Parrot in the Pepper Tree by Chris Stewart

AUGUST Affinity by Sarah WatersI Don't Know How She Does It by Allison PearsonWe Made a Garden by Margery FishSEPTEMBEREnemy Women by Paulette JilesAbout the Author by John Colapinto

Embers by Sandor Marai

OCTOBER Bad Blood by Lorna SageThe Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor GrahamThe Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin

NOVEMBER The Little Friend by Donna TarttLife of Pi by Yann Martell

DECEMBER Mansfield Park by Jane AustenThe No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall SmithUnder the Eagle's Shadow by Mark HertsgaardThe Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton