A Look Back at My Best of Lists - Sarah's Version
Let's see if my top ten lists of the past few years still hold up.
Top ten book lists of the year really capture a moment in time. Sometimes the books will mean something to us over a lifetime, but often it seems as if they’re capturing us at a particular time - whether something has happened in our lives, or it’s a type of reader that we are in that year. So we thought it would be fun to look back on our top ten lists of the past few years to see if those are still books we think back on fondly.
Today: Sarah’s Version. And here is Mia’s Version!
Sarah’s Top Ten of 2020
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist
My number one book, we all know, is still my number one book. My love for The Idea of You will not die. So that’s a given. But taking a look at the rest of these, I stand by the majority of them - they are ones that I’ve thought about often over the last few years and refer to as some of my favorites of all time. The two books by Kristin Hannah remain my favorites of hers, the Seven Husbands is likely still my favorite TJR book, Jessica Simpson’s memoir is still my favorite celebrity memoir, and the others are ones that I sometimes contemplate re-reading.
Sarah’s Top Ten of 2021
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar
This list is still pretty good, but there are less favorites on here than in 2020. My top three are ones that I’m still very much in love with and have re-read each of them since my first read. Numbers four through six are ones I can still recall a lot about (which says a lot since I have a terrible memory for books), and for seven through ten, I’d say that I still think really fondly of these books, but I don’t often think ABOUT them, if you know what I mean. They’re books I really loved at the time, but haven’t really stood up to ones I’ve gone back to time and again.
Sarah’s Top Ten of 2022
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella
Unprotected by Billy Porter
Scandalized by Ivy Owens
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Okay now we’re getting into some interesting feelings - I stand by books one through five here. These are some of my very favorite books. The Measure still sticks out for me as one of the most unique books I’ve ever read. I’m planning to re-read Secret Society at the start of this spooky season, I re-read Every Summer After each summer (and cannot wait for the sequel next summer!!), The Age of Miracles is a perfect intro to cli-fi and one I’m always trying to replicate, and Ethan Joella is forever my comfort author. But then I get into the back half of the list and I’m like WHAT WAS I THINKING?! How was Book Lovers, my second favorite EmHen novel ever at the very bottom? And while I loved Unprotected and think it should definitely be on the list, it certainly didn’t win out over the others. Carrie Soto is a good TJR but definitely not my favorite (wondering if it should even be on this list?!). And while I also loved Scandalized - number seven?! 2022 Sarah had some interesting thinking.
Sarah’s Top Ten of 2023
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin
Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
Out of Love by Hazel Hayes
Talking at Night by Claire Daverly
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
Door to Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn
And last year… each of these books should absolutely be on this list. I loved (and still often think about and recommend) each of these. So, good job last year me. But I don’t think they’re in quite the correct order. My top two, those are good and can stay where they are. But I think Ready or Not needs to move up to spot three, Hello Beautiful to spot four. The Last Love Note, while good, should not be in the 6th spot, maybe more like spot 10. So if I was re-ordering, this is what I’d do from 1-10: (1) Shark Heart, (2) The Wedding People, (3) Ready or Not, (4) Hello Beautiful (5) I Could Live Here Forever, (6) Pete and Alice in Maine, (7) Talking at Night, (8) Out of Love, (9) Door to Door Bookstore, (10) The Last Love Note.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with my past year choices. The majority of books on each of these list deserves to be there and are ones that I still love and still highly recommend to people. Sometimes the order needs to be swapped to reflect the ways that they’ve stuck with me (or not), but overall - I’m proud of you, Past Sarah.
I’d love to hear what you think:
What do you think of my lists in general?
If you go back and look at YOUR top lists, do you still agree with your past self?