The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson - I know that Bryson is known for his travelogues like A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, but I'm finding that I like his "focus on one topic" books. Last year, one of my favorite books was One Summer: America, 1927 and it was an in-depth look at all the major events happening in that year. This was a complete look at the entire human body, from head to toe and every organ in between. It was FASCINATING. I highly recommend this new one by him, and the audio worked really well!
Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller - This was heartbreaking to read, but so moving and SO well-written. For those of you who don't know, Chanel Miller was known as Emily Doe for years as she was the victim in the Stanford sexual assault case. I HIGHLY recommend the audio as Chanel narrates her own book, which makes this highly personal memoir even more personal. Please read this, it's so important and hard-hitting.
Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 by Mitchell Zuckoff - Apparently some of my favorite reads of the year were super light reading...jk. But really, this was a complete and very personal account of the terror that occurred on 9/11 from the first plane's takeoff from Logan Airport to the North Tower collapse. He follows the stories of individual people who were on the planes and in the towers to make an already horrifying attack even more devastating. I also listened to this on audio (clearly my preferred medium for nonfiction), and I definitely recommend it in that format.
Recursion by Blake Crouch - Yay for a fiction title! I'm now officially obsessed with anything that Blake Crouch comes out with as this was as good as (maybe even better) than Dark Matter from a few years ago. This is a science fiction time-travel alternate reality combination thing that is hard to explain, but trust me that it immediately hooked me and it reads like a thriller.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - There was hype around this, and it delivered! This is essentially a VH1 Behind the Music documentary about a fake 1970's band loosely based off of Fleetwood Mac. It reads really quickly and oh I just wanted to listen to the songs so bad, but of course, they don't actually exist. I did a review and post on this novel that you can read right here.
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren - This was my first novel by this increasingly popular writing duo. This was a friends-to-lovers romantic comedy that was just so fun and I had a great time reading about Josh and Hazel trying not to date each other. I'll be reading more by Christina Lauren for sure!
Heir of Fire, Queens of Shadows, and Empire of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - I read three more novels in this awesome YA fantasy series by Sarah J. Maas that really MUST be made into a movie at some point. This fantasy series involves a badass heroine, assassins, fairies, witches, and more!
Unbroken by Maisey Yates - I haven't read a cowboy romance from Maisey Yates that I haven't loved yet and this one was no exception. Another friends-to-lovers trope that was VERY steamy and fun!
Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare - I love me some Tessa Dare historical romance. She may not be the truest to historical era, but they sure are a damn good time. Funny, sexy, and addictive.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase - I finally read this classic historical romance and it was delightful. This couple together was treat and their banter was fantastic.
The Passengers by John Marrs - This was a fast-paced thriller right from the get-go when 8 people in the UK get in their self-driving cars (this is set just a bit in the future), and are told that it's re-routing them and in 2.5. hours they will be dead. Pretty interesting hook and it had a lot of moral abiguity that makes you question just about everything you thought or would do in certain situations. This one was also great on audio!
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang - Loving these diverse character romances these days! This is the second in a loosely-connected series by Hoang, and it stars a young Vietnamese woman who is brought over to the US to meet a young Vietnamese - American man who his mother wants married off. He also happens to be on the spectrum. It's a heartfelt romance and surprisingly quite steamy as well.
11/22/63 by Stephen King - It says a lot about this giant tome that I remained interested in the book the entire 30 hours of it playing in my car on an audiobook CD. Now, I listen to a lot of audiobooks, but when they are on my Libby app, I can speed them up to 1.5x or 1.75x the speed. On an audiobook CD, you've only got the one speed, which is slower than I'm used to, yet I still was captivated. This is a time-traveler/alternate history of JFK's assassination and I highly recommend a read (or listen). Don't let the length intimidate you.
And there you have it - my decently varied list of fiction and nonfiction favorites that I read in the last year!