2025
Eric Klinenberg
Palaces for the People
★★★★
Good food for thought on how important libraries, schools, and public parks are for our communities.
Legacy Russell
Black Meme
★★★★
So good, I want a copy of this.
Charlie Engman
Hello Chaos A Love Story: The disorder of Seeing and Being Seen
★★★★★
One of my favorite books.
Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Us
★
Worst read ever.
Claire Keegan
So Late in the Day
UNRATED
Vincent Delecroix
Small Boat
★★★
I found it difficult to read stream of consciousness (hence, 3 stars), but it introduced me to a heated issue I was pretty unfamiliar with in Europe.
Hettie Judah
Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood
★★★★★
I can't believe I had JUST missed this exhibition by a few days. Anyway, really glad I got this book (it got damaged in the rain, however).
Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappé
On Palestine
★★★★
Rachel Dedman
Stitching the Intifada: Embroidery and Resistance in Palestine
★★★★★
Short but sweet.
Satoshi Yagisawa
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
★
Margaret Atwood
My Evil Mother
★★★
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Yellow Wallpaper
★★★★
I can't believe I had never heard of this.
Laura Bates
Men Who Hate Women: From Incels to Pickup Artists: The Truth about Extreme Misogyny and How It Affects Us All
★★★★
Kate Elizabeth Russell
My Dark Vanessa
★★★★
Claire Keegan
Foster
★★★★
Claire Keegan
Small Things Like These
UNRATED
Vincenzo Latronico
Perfection
★★★★
Also the cover image being by Wolfgang Tillmans...
Bora Chung
Cursed Bunny
★★★★
The first story about the skibidi toilet head was my favorite.
Alex Michaelides
The Silent Patient
★
Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon
★★★★
Dave Cullen
Columbine
★★★
Toni Morrison
Beloved
★★★★
Sally Rooney
Intermezzo
★★★★
Rachel Yoder
Nightbitch
★
Christina Lauren
The Unhoneymooners
★
I think this is a sign that romance novels are just not for me.
Alison Espach
The Wedding People
★★★★
Surprisingly funny. Not laugh out loud funny but good levity.
David D. Burns
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
★★★★
Hehe.
Min Jin Lee
Pachinko
★★★★
Elena Ferrante
The Lying Life of Adults
★
Alec Leach
The World Is On Fire But We’re Still Buying Shoes
★★★★
Kazuo Ishiguro
Klara and the Sun
★
A little disappointed by my first Ishiguro but I'm not giving up on him!
Jenny Lawson
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
★
Really not my sense of humor, unfortunately...
( DID NOT FINISH )
Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go
★★★★★
The ending completely unraveled me, even though I saw it coming. So much to say about longing, missed opportunities, and the inevitability of things bigger than you. I loved the way Ishiguro explored relationships without judgement. Tommy's description of a strong river current is so poignant.
2024
Matthew Desmond
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
★★★
I think this storytelling format didn't work for me. Maybe it's better for people who lack a basic level of empathy and need help stepping into other people's shoes.
Ruben Pater
The Politics of Design: A (Not So) Global Design Manual for Visual Communication
★★★★
Basic but a good crash course on the politics of design.
Olivia Laing
Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency
★★★★
Reminds me of why I liked art history. Now I want to read her other book.
Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch
★★★★
R.F.Kuang
Yellowface
★★★
Legacy Russell
Glitch Feminism
★★★★
Paul Rand
Thoughts on Design
★★★★
2023
Tara Westover
Educated
★★★★
I can't believe her brother is a Purdue grad.
Bret Easton Ellis
American Psycho
★★★
Ali Hazelwood
The Love Hypothesis
★
Fiona Mozley
Hot Stew
★★★
I genuinely don't remember what happens in this...
Jennette McCurdy
I’m Glad My Mom Died
★★★★★
Grace M. Cho
Tastes Like War
★
I originally gave this a 3, but the accusations from her brother and sister-in-law made me reconsider my initial rating due to ethical concerns that they have raised.
Michelle Obama
Becoming
★★★★★
Clint Smith
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
★★★★★
Mona Awad
Bunny
★
Ling Ma
Bliss Montage
★★★★
Kendra Adachi
The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done
★★★
Elliot Page
Pageboy
★★
One time I tried to visit his talk but the line was too long and they had to turn people away (including me...). Also this book was lowkey a disappointment anyway.
Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Sympathizer
★★★
Liane Moriarty
Big Little Lies
★★★★
Colleen Hoover
Verity
★
Colleen Hoover
All Your Perfects
★
Emily Ratajkowski
My Body
★★★★
Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life
★
If A Little Life has no haters, it means I'm dead.
Samira Bouabana
Hall of Femmes: Tomoko Miho
★★★★
Read for Doug's History of Graphic Design class. Love this designer.
Hanya Yanagihara
The People in the Trees
★★★
John Green
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
★★★★
Coco Mellors
Cleopatra and Frankenstein
★
2022
Rebecca Serle
In Five Years
★★
Sarah Richards
Content Design
★★★★
Rupi Kaur
The Sun and Her Flowers
★★
Rupi Kaur
Milk and Honey
★
Ocean Vuong
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
★★
Richard Thomson
Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night
★★★
Ann Temkin, Nora Lawrence
Claude Monet: Water Lilies
★★★★
Carolyn Lanchner
Andy Warhol
★★★
Anne Umland
Picasso: Girl Before a Mirror
★★★
Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
★
Caren Stelson, Akira Kukasa (Illustrator)
A Bowl Full of Peace: A True Story
★★★★★
Mieko Kawakami
Breasts and Eggs
★★★
James Clear
Atomic Habits
★★★★
YZ Chin
Edge Case
★
Amanda Montell
Cultish
★★★
Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus
★
Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar
★★★
Raven Leilani
Luster
★★
Nico Walker
Cherry
★★
Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist
★
Sally Rooney
Beautiful World, Where Are You
★★★★
Miss Unpopular Opinion over here.
Matt Haig
The Midnight Library
★★
Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake
★★★
Cliff Kuang
User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play
★★★★★
Sandra Jackson-Dumont
Kerry James Marshall: A Creative Convening
★★★
I love Kerry James Marshall.
Sally Rooney
Normal People
★★★★
Ian Reid
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
★★★
Gillian Flynn
Dark Places
★★★
Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere
★★★★
Lionel Shriver
We Need to Talk About Kevin
★★★★★
Chelsea G. Summers
A Certain Hunger
★
Albert Camus
The Stranger
★★★
Jennifer Dasal
ArtCurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History
★★★★★
Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
★★
Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code
★★
In retrospect, I'm surprised I gave this a 2.
Ottessa Moshfegh
Death in Her Hands
★★★
Caleb Azumah Nelson
Open Water
★★
Cassandra Khaw
Nothing But Blackened Teeth
★
Ling Ma
Severance
★★★★
Allie Brosh
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened
★★★
Paul Kalanithi
When Breath Becomes Air
★★★★
Haruki Murakami
Norwegian Wood
★★★
Haruki Murakami
The Strange Library
★★★
Rebecca Skloot
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
★★★★
Haruki Murakami
Men Without Women
★★★
Michelle Zauner
Crying in H Mart
★★★★★
Ottessa Moshfegh
Lapvona
★★★★
Jeffrey Eugenides
The Virgin Suicides
★★★
Lillian Fishman
Acts of Service
★
Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects
★★
2021
Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl
★★★★
Meg Jay
The Defining Decade
★★★★
Lindsay C. Gibson
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents
★★★★★
Kerri L. Richardson
What Your Clutter Is Trying to Tell You
★★★
Ann Handley
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
★★★★★
Ellen Lupton
Graphic Design: The New Basics
★★★★★
E. Lockhart
We Were Liars
★★
2020
Haruki Murakami
1Q84
★★★★
Ottessa Moshfegh
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
★★★★
Ottessa Moshfegh
Homesick for Another World
★★★★
John Berger
Ways of Seeing
★★★
Ottessa Moshfegh
Eileen
★★★★
Junji Ito, Osamu Dazai
No Longer Human (Graphic Novel)
★★★
Amparo Dávila
The Houseguest and Other Stories
★★★
Halle Butler
The New Me
★★★★
2018
Osamu Dazai
The Setting Sun
★★★
Junji Ito
Tomie 1
★★
Junji Ito
Tomie 2
★★★★
Junji Ito
Flesh-Colored Horror
★★★★
Kyōko Okazaki
Helter Skelter
★★★
Osamu Dazai
No Longer Human
★★★★
2017
William Shakespeare
Othello
★★★★
Euripides
The Bacchae
★★
Alexa Chung
It
★★
Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale
★★★★
Chinua Achebeb
Things Fall Apart
★★★
2016
Anonymous, Herbert Mason
Gilgamesh
★★★★
Junji Ito
Gyo, Volume 2
★★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 1
★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 2
★★★★★
Lisa Preston
Orchids and Stone
★★★
Junji Ito
Uzumaki, Volume 1
★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 3
★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 4
★★★★
Junji Ito
Uzumaki, Volume 2
★★★★
Junji Ito
Uzumaki, Volume 3
★★★★
Naoko Takeuchi
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 2
★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 5
★★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 6
★★★★★
Koushun Takami
Battle Royale
★★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 7
★★★★
Hitoshi Iwaaki
Parasyte 8
★★★★★
Kathryn Stockett
The Help
★★★
I would probably give it a 2 if I read it in 2025.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
★★★★
Stephen Chbosky
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
★★★★
Albert Camus
The Plague
★★★★
Unknown, Seamus Heaney (Translator)
Beowulf
★★★
2015
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
★★★
George Orwell
Animal Farm
★★★★
Arthur Miller
The Crucible
★★
Naoko Takeuchi
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Volume 1
★★
Elizabeth L. Cline
Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion
★★★
Tim Blanks, Susannah Frankel
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
★★★
James McBride
The Color of Water
★★★★
Sonia Nazario
Enrique's Journey
★★★★
2014
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
★★★
2013
Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
UNRATED
Jeannette Walls
The Glass Castle
★★★
Marissa Meyer
Cinder
★★★★
(2nd Time Reading)
2012
Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games
★★★★
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
★★★★★
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
★★★★
J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
UNRATED
2010
Stephanie Meyer
Twilight
★★