Recs if you like Tom Lake...

When the narrator(s) makes the book even better. For new listeners and audiobook elites, here is a range of different genres and narrators that excel at audio perfection.

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!

It’s a cruel irony that taking a sick day means being at home with nothing to do, but very little brain power with which to read.

Enter this list, a collection of books from various genres that don’t require too much brain power but are still GOOD. Accessible prose, storylines that aren’t overly convoluted, and often short chapters or frequent break points. And of course, easy to pick back up after dozing off!

Suggestions welcome!

A mix of reader favorites and editorial picks from The New York Times—100 books that defined the 21st century.

recs from @leahsfigtree and @emmareadstoomuch on substack + personal recs

NYT Top 100 of the 21st Century: Reader's Choice. In order as published in 2024

I'm a huge fan of Maisie's music and her newest album Florescence has been playing nonstop since it came out. She's a passionate reader, so over the years many books recommendations have accumulated and I thought it would be cute to make a list out of them. Info taken from her Goodreads and Instagram accounts, newsletter, podcast, and various interviews she did. I will update this list as new recs come up, but if I miss something feel free to suggest it in the comments.

bildungsroman if ya nasty

Each month Reese Witherspoon picks books she loves with a woman at the center of the story.

reese's complete picks- trying to read as many of these as i can... but we shall see

fiction where the drama is baked in, as the plot or setting involves the theatre.

Goodreads 80 of the Past Decade’s Very Popular Fiction from 2016 - 2025

2025 Broken Country - Isola 2024 The Women - Real Americans 2023 Tom Lake - Weyward 2022 Demon Copperhead - Diamond Eye 2021 Reading List - Cloud Cuckoo Land 2020 My Dark Vanessa - Vanishing Half 2019 Giver of Stars - Girl, Woman, Other 2018 Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - Where the Crawdads Sing 2017 Stay with Me - 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 2016 Lilac Girls - Behold the Dreamers

some book recs that involve the complexities of motherhood: the tough and tender, chaotic and beautiful, exhausting and full of purpose.

I used to be a physical-only girlie, but I've changed my tune.

I’m an audiobook lover, and I’m always looking for great audiobooks! Rather than just listing my favorites, I thought I’d make a list of audiobooks that have won Audie Awards from 2021-2026.

There are so many, so I stuck to specific categories. Not all categories are in all years, so there is some inconsistency. I included the following categories:

• Audiobook of the year
• Autobiography/Memoir
• Erotica
• Spanish
• Fantasy
• Fiction
• History/Biography
• Humor
• Horror
• Literary Fiction
• Classics
• Middle Grade
• Mystery
• Nonfiction
• Romance
• Science Fiction
• Short Stories/Collections
• Thriller/Suspense
• YA/Teens
• Paranormal

More info in the comments!

Happy listening!

Fresh coast, best coast 🌊 For anyone who is also obsessed with the upper Great Lakes: Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario, etc. Suggestions are welcome!

How many have you read?

Let’s hear it for the flyover states! Fictional books set in the Upper Midwest. Apparently we’re only worthy of being flown over but those who know, know.

Perfect summer reads