Recs if you like Jacob Have I Loved...

For when you need to wallow in melancholy and misery: a collection of pessimistic, cynical, downbeat, depressing, doom and gloom fiction for my disillusioned friends.

More to come!

Got the holiday blues? Check out my list Christmas with the Cranks!

Bring on those Gen Y memories! A list of books likely to give people born between 1981 and 1996 a lot of feelings.

This list is for those of us who grew up eagerly awaiting the Scholastic Book Fair, watching Reading Rainbow (or Wishbone!), and dreaming of a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

Note: these are not books published in 1981-1996, but books that had a hold on the millennial generation.

Also check out the Dear America series, American Girl series & Royal Diaries series.

YA fiction about teens struggling to fit into (or leave!) their religions or faith communities.

The books your teacher made you read between the ages of 11-14. They changed the way you saw the world, they made you realize books were more than just goofy or sentimental stories you gobbled up before bedtime, and they stuck with you, all these years later.

Suggestions welcome, especially from non-American readers!!

Note: this list was made by a Millennial, so I'd love to hear from some different generations! What did your teachers assign you?

Complete as of August 2026.

The BBC’s 100 Greatest Children’s Books of All Time as published in May 2023.

Other items used: "Sonlight's College and Career Planning Kit" (includes "Finding the Career that Fits You", "Sheet of Book Labels 600", "Career Planning Guide" and "College Admission and Scholarships"), "Electives 400" (includes "Thinkwell Public Speaking" and "The Non-Designer's Design Book"), "Sheet of Book Labels 400", "Safety Glasses", "Berean Physics Science Supply Kit", "Sonlight Personal Journal", "Thinkwell Economics Internet Course", "Sonlight's Economics Program Instructor's Guide", "Literature 430 Student Guide", "Literature 430 Parent Guide", "History/Bible 420 Student Guide", "History/Bible 420 Parent Guide", "Math-U-See Calculus DVD" and "Binders + Tabs for High School Packages".

Winners of the award for "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children."