I decided not to list any books that I quit before reading at least 100 pages.

However, this year’s books also provided me so much solace, silence and escape in a particularly challenging year. Novelists deserve all our acclaim and reverence if they can whisk us away for a few hours of immersion in other worlds and other times.

My faves are asterisked, sometimes twice. But if you asked me to give you just three recommendations from those below, here they are: Emperor of Gladness, A Marriage at Sea and Isola. These moved me and remain memorable months later.

Happy reading in the new year. I hope my list inspires some new ones on your list. And, please, feel to share your favorites in the comments. I am starting my 2026 list and welcome your recommendations .

An Inside Job By Daniel Silva.  Stolen art from the Vatican.  This is a job for art restorer/ spy Allon.  Always fun.

Fever Beach By Carl Hiaason.  Couldn’t finish this one. A fever dream more wild than winning!

*Three by Valerie Perrin. 3 inseparable childhood friends cope with daunting adulthoods. 

Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten.  A lot of hard work went into the Barefoot Contessa’s “charmed” life.  

*Tin Man by Sarah Winman. A lovely story about love, loss and friendship

*You are Here by David Nichols. A countryside walk, a cast of English characters.  Wit and romance ensue. A light but lovely read.

*The Great Divide by Christina Henriquez. A Michner-esque multi-generational tale centered on building the Panama Canal.

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida. A mysterious doctor in Japan prescribes cats to solve human crisis.

*Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Prison life in all its mercilessness for a young woman whose life went way off track. Quite compelling.

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast. Unflinching graphic memoir of the acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist’s aging parents. Relatable, funny and sad.

**33 Brugmann Place by Alice Austen. An extraordinary feat of storytelling capturing Belgian residents of one apartment building coping with WWII.

**Isola by Allegra Goodman. Page-turning historical novel of a woman stranded on an island in the new world of Canada. Have recommended this to many.

The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abby Waxman. Amiable but innocuous chick lit.

*The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bojalian. Deeply researched , compelling civil war tale of a rebel woman and a union officer’s unlikely relationship.

*Maud’s Line by Margaret Verble. Trapped by family ties, a young Cherokee girl struggles to find her own way.

Book of Extraordinary Tragedies by Joe Menos. Beautiful story of a family of siblings trying to make sense of life’s tragedy , hope and music in Chicago. Haunting.

Orphans of the Storm by Celia Imrie. Based on historical incident, this novel explores an Italian mother’s frantic search for her kids including a kidnapping on the Titantic. Unmemorable.

Dream State by Eric Pichner.  An exhausting look at marriage over decades. Wasn’t my jam though it got rave reviews.

*The Safekeep by Yael Van der Woudin. Two women and a house of secrets. A quietly burning gem that lingers.

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich. A coming of age story in a North Dakota farming community. 

Transatlantic by Columbia McCan. Perhaps better read than heard as the mixed time periods made it hard to follow.

The Names by Florence Knapp.How a name can change your destiny. Three stories, one root.

All the colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.  If you are a fan of kidnap and depravity mysteries maybe you’d like it. I’m not and quit midway through this long book.

Fonseca by Jessica Francis Kane. Slow-paced and not much point. Quit reading,

*Peggy by Leslie Jamieson. Bohemian art collector Peggy Guggenheim’s  life novelized

Zorrie by Laird Hunt. Exquisite, spare novel of the Kansas life of one of the ”Radium Girls.”

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan. Disturbing stories.

Summerwater by Sarah Moss.  The weather is a character in this dark tale of a Scottish summer cottage getaway

The end of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylvainen.  A mesmerizing historical story of the collision of Norwegian Sami culture and their cruel Christian conquerors.

Confidential by Micolaj Grynberg.  Three generations of a Polish family dealing with the aftermath of war. Dark yet warm.

*The Hummingbird by Sandro Veronesi. . A multi-generational meditation on love, grief, family and enduring life.

*I’ll be Right Here by Amy Bloom. The family we have and the family we create. Powerful.

**Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong.  Devastating, beautiful exploration of love,  friendship, family, and kindness on society’s fringes.  

**A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhurst.  Riveting, true tale of a daring– but difficult couple– shipwrecked for 118 days at sea. The title pun is intended!

*Heart the Lover by Lily King. Wise and tender story of love, life and choices.

*Solito by Javier Zamora. Experience a 9 year old boy’s harrowing “coyote” journey from El Salvador to Estatos Unidos. A powerful memoir by the now adult author.