Best of Novel Readings
Best of Novel Readings 2007
Best of Novel Readings 2008
Best of Novel Readings 2009
Best of Novel Readings 2010
Best of Novel Readings 2011
Best of Novel Readings 2012
Best of Novel Readings 2013
Best of Novel Readings 2014
Best of Novel Readings 2015
Best of Novel Readings 2016
Best of Novel Readings 2017
Best of Novel Readings 2018
Best of Novel Readings 2019
Best of Novel Readings 2020
Novel Readings 2021
Novel Readings 2022
Remembering Owen
My son Owen died on December 30, 2021. These posts follow and explore my experience of grief and mourning, often in relationship to my reading.
Owen Maitzen (1997-2021) (December 31, 2021)
Days (January 8, 2022)
Firsts, After (January 11, 2022)
That Thought’s Return (January 24, 2022)
My Absent Child (January 31, 2022)
Unfurled (February 9, 2022)
Seasons (February 19, 2022)
Still (March 6, 2022)
Time Passes (March 21, 2022)
Unwilling (March 30, 2022)
No Words (April 12, 2022)
My Dear Bright Child – Rereading Margaret Oliphant’s Autobiography (April 27, 2022)
Everybody Hurts (May 18, 2022)
That Extraordinary Extinction – Reading Woolf’s Diaries on the Death of Julian Bell (June 11, 2022)
Half A Year (June 30, 2022)
In This Room (July 7, 2022)
An Unwilling Elegy – Rereading Yiyun Li (July 26, 2022)
In A Dark Wood: William Styron, Darkness Visible (August 11, 2022)
Hands of Water (August 31, 2022)
Teaching Again:
This Week: Classes (September 6, 2022)
The First Week (September 14, 2022)
Reading Week Reflections (November 11, 2022)
What Am I To Do With These? (November 22, 2022)
Still the World: This Term In My Classes (December 22, 2022)
Fiction and Non-Fiction
All of the links on this page have now been updated, but internal links within individual posts may still try to take you to my old site at Open Letters Monthly (it’s archived but the archive itself is not fully functional). You can always find a post you’re interested in by using the ‘search’ function or the drop-down categories list.
A
- Abbott, Karen. The Ghosts of Eden Park (October 31, 2020)
- Abbott, Megan. You Will Know Me (July 29, 2018)
- Al Aswany, Alaa. The Yacoubian Building (May 31, 2012)
- Al Aswany, Alaa. The Automobile Club of Egypt (August 21, 2016)
- Al-Tahawy, Miral. Brooklyn Heights (March 18, 2015)
- Alameddine, Rabih. An Unnecessary Woman (January 10, 2015)
- Alameddine, Rabih. The Wrong End of the Telescope (November 13, 2021)
- Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women (February 8, 2016)
- Alexis, Andre. Fifteen Dogs. (December 16, 2015)
- Ali, Monica. Brick Lane (July 28, 2007)
- Aslam, Nadeem. Moral Tourism: The Wasted Vigil (July 26, 2009)
- Athill, Diana. Stet (April 2, 2013)
- Atkinson, Kate. Case Histories (June 13, 2015)
- Atkinson, Kate. Transcription (October 21, 2018)
- Atwood, Margaret. Hag-Seed (February 17, 2017)
B
- Baker, Jo. The Body Lies (February 27, 2021)
- Baker, Jo. A Country Road, A Tree (May 2, 2021)
- Baker, Jo. Longbourn (June 6, 2021)
- Baker, Jo. The Undertow (June 21, 2021)
- Baker, Jo. The Telling (November 29, 2021)
- Balzac, Honoré de. Eugenie Grandet (March 31, 2015)
- Barker, Pat. The Silence of the Girls (October 3, 2021)
- Barnes, Margaret Campbell. My Lady of Cleves (September 30, 2015)
- Barry, Lynda. Syllabus (April 15, 2018)
- Bayley, John. Elegy for Iris (August 9, 2015)
- Beha, Christopher. What Happened to Sophie Wilder (October 14, 2014)
- Bennett, Alan. The Uncommon Reader (April 30, 2011)
- Bennett, Arnold. The Old Wives’ Tale (June 11, 2021; July 9, 2021; August 6, 2021)
- Benson, E. F. Mapp and Lucia (November 30, 2014)
- Bowen, Elizabeth. The Heat of the Day (May 31, 2011; June 1, 2011)
- Bowen, Elizabeth. The Last September. (August 11, 2011)
- Bowen, Elizabeth. Essays. (June 2, 2011)
- Boyd, William. Any Human Heart (October 10, 2009)
- Boyd, William. Love Is Blind (January 12, 2020)
- Brittain, Vera. The Dark Tide. (August 21, 2011)
- Brittain, Vera. Honourable Estate (April 19, 2012; July 1, 2012)
- Brittain, Vera. Testament of Youth (March 27, 2011; March 30, 2011; April 1, 2011)
- Brittain, Vera. Testament of Friendship (June 6, 2011)
- Brittain, Vera. Testament of Experience. (November 26, 2011; December 18, 2011)
- Brittain, Vera, and Winifred Holtby. Testament of a Generation: The Journalism of VB and WH. (July 10, 2011)
- Brittain, Vera, et al. Letters from a Lost Generation. Ed. Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge (March 14, 2012)
- Brookner, Anita. Hotel du Lac (June 7, 2009)
- Brookner, Anita. Strangers (October 7, 2015)
- Brookner, Anita. Providence (July 6, 2017)
- Brookner, Anita. Dolly (May 19, 2019)
- Bruneau, Carol. A Circle on the Surface (September 29, 2018)
- Burns, Anna. Milkman (March 5, 2019)
- Burrows, Steve. A Siege of Bitterns (August 2, 2015)
- Butler, Octavia. Kindred (December 18, 2018)
- Byatt, A. S. The Children’s Book (November 20, 2010)
C
- Callaghan, Morley. Such is My Beloved (November 25, 2010)
- Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (January 12, 2013)
- Caspary, Vera. Laura (January 26, 2019)
- Castle, Terry. The Professor (May 25, 2011)
- Cather, Willa. My Mortal Enemy (March 31, 2012)
- Cather, Willa. My Ántonia (September 1, 2020)
- Chandra, Vikram. Sacred Games (April 11, 2014)
- Chevalier, Tracy. Remarkable Creatures (February 25, 2010)
- Chiaverini, Jennifer. The Quilter’s Apprentice (October 29, 2008)
- Clarke, Susanna. Piranesi (September 4, 2021)
- Clare, Kerry, ed. The M Word (July 22, 2015)
- Clare, Kerry. Mitzi Bytes (March 16, 2017)
- Clare, Kerry. Waiting For A Star to Fall (November 27, 2020)
- Clayborn, Kate. Love Lettering (January 7, 2020)
- Clayborn, Kate. Love At First (February 21, 2021)
- Cohen, Paula Marantz. Jane Austen in Boca; Jane Austen in Scarsdale (May 11, 2012)
- Colford, Ian. Evidence (August 15, 2009)
- Collins, Sara. The Confessions of Frannie Langton (May 29, 2019)
- Collins, Wilkie. No Name (January 12, 2014)
- Colwin, Laurie. A Big Storm Knocked It Over (July 16, 2017)
- Comyns, Barbara. The Vet’s Daughter (January 14, 2015)
- Comyns, Barbara. Our Spoons Came From Woolworths (August 29, 2015)
- Connolly, Cressida. After the Party (August 15, 2019)
- Conroy, Frank. Body and Soul (July 9, 2012)
- Cooper, Susan. The Dark Is Rising (December 24, 2017)
- Cossé, Laurence. A Novel Bookstore (October 6, 2013)
- Cotter, John. Under the Small Lights (July 9, 2010)
- Crewe, Lesley. The Spoon Stealer (December 23, 2020)
- Cross, Amanda. [Carolyn Heilbrun] Honest Doubt (September 3, 2016)
- Crusie, Jennifer. Anyone But You (October 10, 2011)
- Cusk, Rachel. Arlington Park (October 29, 2008)
- Cusk, Rachel. Outline (September 17, 2018)
D
- Darwin, Emma. The Mathematics of Love (June 7, 2009)
- Darwin, Emma. A Secret Alchemy (April 25, 2010)
- de Giovanni, Maurizio. I Will Have Vengeance. (December 9, 2016)
- de Giovanni, Maurizio. Everyone In Their Place (June 19, 2016)
- de Giovanni, Maurizio. By My Hand (December 5, 2020)
- de Lampedusa, Giuseppe. The Leopard (June 9, 2013)
- Deraniyagala, Sonali. Wave (February 4, 2014)
- de Waal, Edmund. The Hare with Amber Eyes (December 26, 2014)
- DeWitt, Helen. The Last Samurai (October 16, 2011)
- DeWitt Helen. Lightning Rods (March 5, 2012)
- Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking (January 18, 2007)
- Doerr, Anthony. All the Light We Cannot See (February 1, 2015)
- Doerr, Anthony. Cloud Cuckoo Land (November 18, 2022)
- Donoghue, Dennis. The Practice of Reading (April 3, 2007)
- Donoghue, Emma. Slammerkin (March 21, 2007)
- Donoghue, Emma. Room (May 11, 2012)
- Donoghue, Emma. The Pull of the Stars (April 7, 2021)
- Drabble, Margaret. The Radiant Way (May 17, 2018)
- Drabble, Margaret. The Pattern in the Carpet (November 27, 2020)
- Drabble, Margaret. The Dark Flood Rises (April 24, 2021)
- Du Maurier, Daphne. Frenchman’s Creek (July 28, 2010)
- Du Maurier, Daphne. Jamaica Inn (January 14, 2014)
- Du Maurier, Daphne. The Scapegoat (December 12, 2013)
- Du Maurier, Daphne. My Cousin Rachel (June 20, 2014)
- Dunnett, Dorothy. Niccolo Rising (July 23, 2014)
- Dunnett, Dorothy. The Spring of the Ram (September 26, 2015)
- Dunnett, Dorothy. King Hereafter (July 10, 2014)
- Dunnett, Dorothy. Race of Scorpions (June 18, 2016)
- Durrell, Gerald. My Family and Other Animals (December 19, 2016)
E
- Ebershoff, David. The Danish Girl (May 8, 2016)
- Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad (May 19, 2011)
- Egan, Jennifer. Manhattan Beach (February 7, 2018)
- El Saadawi, Nawal. Woman at Point Zero (June 7, 2009)
- Ellmann, Lucy. Things Are Against Us (September 18, 2021)
- Endicott, Marina. The Difference (October 10, 2020)
- Enright, Anne. The Gathering (January 23, 2021)
- Enright, Anne. Actress (May 9, 2021)
- Ephron, Nora. Heartburn (January 11, 2018)
- Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides (June 4, 2007)
- Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex (January 24, 2007)
- Evans, Lissa. Old Baggage (April 28, 2019)
- Evans, Lissa. Their Finest [Hour] (April 7, 2019)
F
- Fadiman, Anne. Ex Libris (September 5, 2012)
- Fallada, Hans. Every Man Dies Alone (December 8, 2018)
- Farrell, J. G. Troubles (July 31, 2011)
- Farrell, J. G. The Siege of Krishnapur (May 9, 2012)
- Federico, Meg. Welcome to the Departure Lounge (July 13, 2010)
- Ferrante, Elena. The Days of Abandonment (June 26, 2014)
- Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend (February 12, 2014)
- Ferrante, Elena. The Story of a New Name (March 8, 2014)
- Ferrante, Elena. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (August 4, 2014)
- Ferraris, Zoe. Finding Nouf (August 8, 2014)
- Fitzgerald, Penelope. The Bookshop (June 5, 2010)
- Flanagan, Richard. The Narrow Road to the Deep North (April 28, 2015)
- Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary (May 16, 2012; May 22, 2012)
- Flournoy, Angela. The Turner House (June 2, 2016)
- Foer, Jonathan Safran. Everything Is Illuminated (January 18, 2007)
- Ford, Ford Madox. The Good Soldier (February 11, 2012)
- Forster, E. M. A Room with a View (December 22, 2014)
- Forster, E. M. Howards End (December 8, 2014)
- Francis, Dick. The Top 10! (June 18, 2013)
- Franklin, Ariana. Mistress of the Art of Death (February 3, 2011)
- French, Tana. The Secret Place (March 22, 2015)
- French, Tana. The Trespasser (August 18, 2017)
- French, Tana. The Witch Elm (January 7, 2020)
G
- Gainza, Maria. Optic Nerve (February 28, 2021)
- Galgut, Damon. Arctic Summer (February 22, 2015)
- Galsworthy, John. The Forsyte Saga: The Man of Property (August 7, 2017); Indian Summer of a Forsyte (August 8, 2017)
- Gardam, Jane. Old Filth (July 14, 2011)
- Gardam, Jane. The Flight of the Maidens (August 4, 2017)
- Gawande, Atul. Being Mortal (June 23, 2015)
- George, Elizabeth. Just One Evil Act (July 21, 2014)
- George, Elizabeth. What Came Before He Shot Her (October 3, 2007)
- Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love (March 16, 2011)
- Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed. (April 3, 2011)
- Gissing, George. The Odd Women (May 13, 2014)
- Godwin, Gail. Old Lovegood Girls (June 4, 2021)
- Goldstein, Rebecca. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God (April 25, 2010)
- Goodings, Lennie. A Bite of the Apple (November 27, 2020)
- Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (February 25, 2014)
- Graton, Sue. T is for Trespass (August 16, 2008)
- Grafton, Sue. ‘W’ is for Wasted (August 24, 2014)
- Grant, Jessica. Come, Thou Tortoise (December 4, 2019)
- Graves, Robert. I, Claudius (July 16, 2011)
- Graves, Robert. Goodbye to All That. (January 7, 2012; January 10, 2012)
- Greene, Graham. The Power and the Glory. (January 18, 2011)
- Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (October 26, 2014)
- Griffith, Nicola. Hild (May 31, 2015)
- Groff, Lauren. Fates and Furies (January 25, 2016)
- Gunaratne, Guy. This Mad and Furious City (February 13, 2019)
- Guo, Xiaolu. A Lover’s Discourse (June 5, 2021)
- Guo, Xiaolu. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (September 5, 2021)
- Gyasi, Yaa, Transcendent Kingdom (March 6, 2021)
H
- Hadley, Tessa. Free Love (August 17, 2022)
- Hall, Sarah. The Wolf Border (September 1, 2019)
- Hardwick, Elizabeth. Selected Criticism. (October 9, 2010)
- Harris, Michael. Solitude (July 8, 2017)
- Haruf, Kent. Benediction (May 2, 2016)
- Haruf, Kent. Plainsong (June 23, 2016)
- Haruf, Kent. Our Souls At Night (July 9, 2016)
- Haslett, Adam. Imagine Me Gone (May 30, 2017)
- Hazzard, Shirley. The Evening of the Holiday (September 3, 2010)
- Hazzard, Shirley. The Transit of Venus (April 4, 2011)
- Healey, Emma. Elizabeth Is Missing (January 31, 2019)
- Heilbrun, Carolyn. The Last Gift of Time. (February 13, 2011)
- Hellenga, Robert. The Sixteen Pleasures (July 28, 2013)
- Helprin, Mark. In Sunlight and In Shadow (April 15, 2014)
- Herron, Mick. Slow Horses (February 8, 2020)
- Herron, Mick. Down Cemetery Road (April 24, 2021)
- Hession, Ronan. Leonard and Hungry Paul (January 23, 2021)
- Heyer, Georgette. The Grand Sophy (January 30, 2013)
- Heyer, Georgette. Cotillion (August 5, 2013)
- Heyer, Georgette. Friday’s Child (August 10, 2014)
- Heyer, Georgette. These Old Shades (April 6, 2016)
- Heyer, Georgette. Regency Buck (October 22, 2017)
- Highsmith, Patricia. The Talented Mr. Ripley (October 30, 2013)
- Highsmith, Patricia. Edith’s Diary (January 27, 2019)
- Hill, Susan. The Woman in Black (October 21, 2011)
- Hillenbrand, Lauren. Unbroken (May 9, 2015)
- Holeman, Linda. The Linnet Bird (February 10, 2007)
- Hollinghurst, Alan. The Line of Beauty (April 29, 2014)
- Holtby, Winifred. Anderby Wold (March 1, 2012)
- Holtby, Winifred. The Land of Green Ginger (October 30, 2012)
- Holtby, Winifred. South Riding (April 27, 2011)
- Holtby, Winifred. The Crowded Street (April 3, 2012)
- Holtby, Winifred. Virginia Woolf: A Critical Memoir (July 6, 2012)
- Homer. The Odyssey (translated Emily Wilson) (June 11, 2019)
- Honeyman, Gail. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (December 12, 2018)
- Hornby, Nick. The Polysyllabic Spree (March 4, 2013)
- Horowitz, Anthony. The Magpie Murders (November 9, 2019)
- Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns (April 5, 2009)
- Howard, Elizabeth Jane. The Beautiful Visit (February 4, 2016)
- Hughes, Dorothy B. In A Lonely Place (June 23, 2017)
- Hunter, Clare. Threads of Life (March 26, 2020)
- Huth, Angela. Wanting. (December 12, 2010)
I
- Indriðason, Arnaldur. Silence of the Grave (August 18, 2015)
- Indriðason, Arnaldur. Jar City (August 16, 2015)
- Indriðason, Arnaldur. Arctic Chill (July 4, 2017)
- Ishiguro, Kazuo. Rereading Never Let Me Go (August 20, 2022)
J
- Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived In the Castle (July 2, 2017)
- James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady (January 3, 2016) (Also November 17, 2015 and December 26, 2015)
- James, Julie. Suddenly One Summer (August 16, 2015)
- James, P. D. Time To Be In Earnest (February 27, 2008)
- James, P. D. Talking About Detective Fiction (October 8, 2013)
- James, P. D. Death in Holy Orders (April 29, 2018)
- Jansson, Tove. The Summer Book (January 31, 2011)
- Jemisin, N.K. The Fifth Season (November 18, 2018)
- Jenkins, Elizabeth. The Tortoise and the Hare (August 3, 2019)
- Jessome, Phonse. Disposable Souls (October 1, 2016)
- Jobb, Dean. The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream (July 17, 2021)
- Johnson, Adam. The Orphan Master’s Son (September 2, 2013)
- Johnson, Diane. Persian Nights (August 9, 2010)
- Jones, Amy. We’re All In This Together (February 29, 2020)
- Jones, Lloyd. Mister Pip (July 3, 2009)
- Jones, Tayari. An American Marriage (June 25, 2019)
K
- Kaan, Michael. The Water Beetles (April 7, 2019)
- Kalanithi, Paul. When Breath Becomes Air (July 7, 2016)
- Katona, Cynthia Lee. Book Savvy (January 24, 2007)
- Keefe, Patrick Radden, Say Nothing (October 31, 2020)
- Keene, Carolyn. The Secret of the Old Clock (May 6,2010)
- Keneally, Thomas. Shame and the Captives (May 2, 2015)
- Kennedy, Margaret. The Ladies of Lyndon (January 30, 2011)
- Kennedy, Margaret. The Outlaws on Parnassus (November 1, 2012)
- Kennedy, Margaret. Together and Apart (February 2012)
- Kent, Hannah. Burial Rites (May 26, 2014)
- Kent, Hannah. The Good People (October 8, 2018)
- Kerr, Philip. March Violets (January 29, 2020)
- Khan, Ausma Zehanat. The Unquiet Dead (February 28, 2015)
- King, Lily. Writers and Lovers (October 23, 2021)
- Kinsella, Sophie. Confessions of a Shopaholic (January 28, 2008)
- Kirby, Emma Jane. The Optician of Lampedusa (August 21, 2017)
- Kress, Susan. Carolyn Heilbrun: Feminist in a Tenured Position (May 26, 2013)
L
- Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Lowland (November 3, 2014)
- Lahiri, Jhumpa. Whereabouts (July 4, 2021)
- Lalami, Laila. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. (August 29, 2010)
- Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterley’s Lover (September 12, 2014)
- Lawson, Mary. The Other Side of the Bridge (October 23, 2021)
- Le Carré, John. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (December 29, 2017)
- Le Carré, John. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (February 12, 2018)
- Le Carré, John. The Honourable Schoolboy (March 31, 2018)
- Le Carré, John. Smiley’s People (July 7, 2019)
- Le Carré, John. The Little Drummer Girl (July 12, 2019)
- Lehmann, Rosamond. The Weather in the Streets (July 22, 2011)
- Leonard, Elmore. Valdez is Coming (March 6, 2016)
- Lessing, Doris. The Good Terrorist (April 5, 2015)
- Levi, Primo. Survival in Auschwitz (April 14, 2012)
- Levy, Andrea. Small Island (November 12, 2016)
- Levy, Andrea. The Long Song (April 14, 2020)
- Li, Yiyun. Where Reasons End (July 1, 2019)
- Lindbergh, Anne Morrow. Gift from the Sea (July 17, 2013)
- Lively, Penelope. Perfect Happiness (October 29, 2008)
- Lively, Penelope. Cleopatra’s Sister. (August 24, 2009)
- Lively, Penelope. How It All Began (April 28, 2013)
- Lively, Penelope. Oleander, Jacaranda (March 29, 2015)
- Lively, Penelope. Moon Tiger (April 12, 2015)
- Lively, Penelope. Dancing Fish and Ammonites (July 16, 2015)
- Livesey, Margot. The Hidden Machinery (January 15, 2021)
- Lodge, David. Deaf Sentence (August 24, 2009)
- Lodge, David. Nice Work (October 30, 2016)
M
- Macaulay, Rose. Crewe Train (November 11, 2012)
- Macaulay, Rose. The Towers of Trebizond (April 19, 2015)
- MacLeod, Alistair. No Great Mischief (June 16, 2018)
- Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (February 14, 2009)
- Malik, Rachel. Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves (July 28, 2019)
- Mandel, Emily St. John. Station Eleven (May 20, 2015)
- Mandel, Emily St. John. The Glass Hotel (May 16, 2020)
- Mandel, Emily St. John. Sea of Tranquility (August 26, 2022)
- Mankell, Henning. Faceless Killers. (February 8, 2011)
- Manning, Olivia. The Fortunes of War (May 10, 2008)
- Mantel, Hilary. A Place of Greater Safety (April 13, 2010)
- Mantel, Hilary. Eight Months on Gazzah Street (April 25, 2010)
- Mantel, Hilary. Beyond Black (June 23, 2010)
- Mantel, Hilary. The Giant, O’Brien (July 7, 2010)
- Mantel, Hilary. Bring Up the Bodies (July 14, 2012)
- Mantel, Hilary. A Change of Climate (April 23, 2014)
- Mantel, Hilary. Giving Up the Ghost (January 2, 2015)
- Mantel, Hilary. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher (April 12, 2017)
- Mantel, Hilary. The Mirror and the Light (May 2, 2020)
- Marra, Anthony. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (August 27, 2016)
- Maugham, W. Somerset. Cakes and Ale (June 30, 2011)
- Maugham, W. Somerset. The Painted Veil (January 18, 2015)
- Mawer, Mawer, The Glass Room (October 14, 2019)
- McBain, Ed. Cop Hater. (February 14, 2011)
- McCann, Colum. Let the Great World Spin (May 31, 2014)
- McCarthy, Cormac. The Road (February 16, 2013)
- McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men (March 30, 2013)
- McCarthy, Mary. The Group (March 19, 2018)
- McEwan, Ian. Saturday (January 19, 2007)
- McEwan, Ian. Atonement (March 26, 2010)
- McEwan, Ian. Solar (May 2, 2010)
- McEwan, Ian. Sweet Tooth (March 29, 2014)
- McEwan, Ian. The Children Act (March 11, 2015)
- McEwan, Ian. Lessons (December 2, 2022)
- McGuire, Ian. The North Water (October 20, 2016)
- McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife (December 10, 2011)
- McMurtry, Larry. Lonesome Dove (August 30, 2021)
- McTiernan, Dervla. The Scholar (January 23, 2021)
- Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick (May 29, 2016; June 7, 2016; July 16, 2016)
- Mendelsohn, Daniel. The Lost (August 28, 2009)
- Mendelsohn, Daniel. An Odyssey (September 30, 2017)
- Meno, Joe. “People are becoming clouds” (September 1, 2010)
- Messer, Susan. Grand River and Joy. (April 7, 2012)
- Messud, Claire. The Woman Upstairs (August 25, 2013)
- Miller, Andrew. Now We Shall Be Entirely Free (September 24, 2019)
- Miller, Andrew. Pure (October 23, 2019)
- Miller, Andrew. The Slowworm’s Song (June 5, 2022)
- Miller, Nancy K. My Brilliant Friends (February 4, 2020)
- Mina, Denise. Field of Blood (July 7, 2010)
- Minot, Susan. Evening (July 2, 2007)
- Mitchell, David. Black Swan Green (August 5, 2012)
- Mitford, Nancy. The Pursuit of Love (January 27, 2015)
- Mitford, Nancy. Love In A Cold Climate (May 30, 2021)
- Montgomery, L.M., The Blue Castle (April 23, 2013)
- Moore, Brian. The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (March 25, 2011)
- Morante, Elsa. Arturo’s Island (February 8, 2021)
- Mosley, Walter. Devil in a Blue Dress (April 11, 2011)
- Moss, Sarah. The Tidal Zone (July 1, 2018)
- Moss, Sarah. Names for the Sea (July 26, 2018)
- Moss, Sarah. Night Waking (August 23, 2018)
- Moss, Sarah. Cold Earth (October 14, 2018)
- Moshfegh, Eileen (June 18, 2018)
- Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (June 2, 2017)
- Murdoch, Iris. Under the Net (June 27, 2015)
N
- Neely, Barbara. Blanche On the Lam (February 2, 2019)
- Nelson, Sara. So Many Books, So Little Time (January 21, 2007)
- Nemirovksy, Irene. Suite Francaise (August 30, 2018)
- Newman, Sandra. The Heavens (July 11, 2020)
- Ng, Celeste. Everything I Never Told You. (November 26, 2016)
- Ng, Celeste. Little Fires Everywhere (September 9, 2017)
- Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer (July 30, 2017)
- Niffenegger, Audrey. Her Fearful Symmetry. (January 16, 2010)
- Nordstrom, Ursula. Dear Genius: Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (September 14, 2010)
- Norman, Howard. What Is Left the Daughter (June 21, 2015)
O
- O’Brien, Edna. The Little Red Chairs (May 29, 2018)
- O’Brien, Edna. Girl (January 15, 2021)
- O’Farrell, Maggie. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox and Instructions for a Heat Wave (July 23, 2017)
- O’Farrell, Maggie. I Am, I Am, I Am (March 1, 2018)
- O’Farrell, Maggie. Hamnet and Judith (July 23, 2020)
- Obreht, Tea. Inland (August 10, 2019)
- Offill, Jenny. Dept. of Speculation (April 25, 2015)
- Ólafsdóttir, Auður Ava. Butterflies in November (July 18, 2015)
- Ozick, Cynthia. The Puttermesser Papers (July 16, 2007)
P
- Painter, Nell. Old in Art School (July 15, 2018)
- Panter-Downes, Mollie. One Fine Day (September 16, 2015)
- Papadiamantis, Alexandros. The Murderess (March 22, 2014)
- Paretsky, Sara. Fire Sale (March 14, 2007)
- Parker, Robert B. The Godwulf Manuscript (May 21, 2011)
- Parker, Robert B. Promised Land (July 23, 2016)
- Parker, Robert B. School Days (April 9, 2007)
- Patchett, Ann. Bel Canto (July 10, 2008)
- Patchett, Ann. Commonwealth (January 20, 2017)
- Patchett, Ann. The Dutch House (December 19, 2019)
- Peacock, Molly. The Paper Garden (June 17, 2012)
- Peacock, Molly. Flower Diary (November 25, 2021)
- Pennacchi, Antonio. The Mussolini Canal (November 16, 2017)
- Penny, Louise. Bury Your Dead (July 28, 2015)
- Perry, Sarah. Melmoth (March 12, 2019)
- Peters, Ellis. A Morbid Taste for Bones (August 15, 2014)
- Peyton, K. M. Flambards (July 23, 2012)
- Peyton, K. M. The Edge of the Cloud (July 28, 2012)
- Porter, Max. Grief Is the Thing With Feathers (August 1, 2017)
- Portis, Charles. True Grit (January 21, 2016)
- Powers, Richard. Bewilderment (December 9, 2022)
- Price, Steven. Lampedusa (November 27, 2020)
- Prose, Francine. Reading Like A Writer (August 22, 2007)
- Prose, Francine. A Changed Man (May 4, 2007)
- Pullinger, Kate. The Mistress of Nothing (December 20, 2009)
- Pym, Barbara. Excellent Women (August 25, 2013)
- Pym, Barbara. Quartet in Autumn (April 3, 2016)
Q
- Quindlen, Anna. Black and Blue (January 31, 2007)
R
- Raddall, Thomas H. and Stephen Kimber. Warden of the North (July 19, 2012)
- Rakoff, Joanna Smith. An Unfortunate Age (August 7, 2018)
- Rankin, Ian. Standing in Another Man’s Grave (January 19, 2013)
- Rankin, Ian. Even Dogs in the Wild (July 30, 2016)
- Rankin, Ian. Exit Music (October 27, 2007)
- Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front (September 2, 2012)
- Rendell, Ruth. A Judgment in Stone (December 8, 2019)
- Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. (November 26, 2012)
- Robinson, Marilynne. Housekeeping. (November 7, 2017)
- Rooney, Kathleen. Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk (February 13, 2017)
- Rooney, Kathleen. Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey (August 16, 2020)
- Rooney, Sally. Conversations with Friends (May 5, 2019)
- Rooney, Sally. Beautiful World, Where Are You (October 27, 2021)
- Rooney, Sally. Normal People (March 6, 2021)
- Rubenhold, Hallie. The Five (July 31, 2021)
- Rusbridger, Alan. Play It Again (April 20, 2014)
S
- St. Aubyn, Edward. The Patrick Melrose Novels (July 31, 2012)
- St. Aubyn, Edward. At Last (August 14, 2012)
- Sand, George. Indiana (September 16, 2012)
- Sarton, May. The Educaton of Harriet Hatfield (February 21, 2011)
- Sarton, May. The Small Room (October 31, 2010)
- Sarton, May. Plant Dreaming Deep (May 22, 2013)
- Sarton, May. The Journal of a Solitude (September 8, 2013)
- Sarton, May. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing (December 27, 2016)
- Sarton, May. A Reckoning (October 28, 2017)
- Sarton, May. At Seventy: A Journal (August 6, 2016)
- Sarton, May. The House by the Sea (February 23, 2020)
- Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. (October 25, 2015)
- Saunders, George. Lincoln in the Bardo (October 25, 2018)
- Saunders, George. Tenth of December (May 25, 2019)
- Sayers, Dorothy L. Strong Poison. (November 19, 2017)
- Sayers, Dorothy L. Murder Must Advertise. (August 4, 2011)
- Sayers, Dorothy L. Busman’s Honeymoon (Part I: March 2, 2015; Part II: March 4, 2015)
- Sayers, Dorothy L. Have His Carcase (July 19, 2016)
- Sayers, Dorothy L. Gaudy Night (October 11, 2012)
- Schumacher, Julie. Dear Committee Members (March 22, 2015)
- Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. Leaving Brooklyn (August 26, 2010)
- Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. The Writing on the Wall (January 19, 2007)
- Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. Disturbances in the Field (The Second Pass, March 10, 2011)
- Schwartz, Lynne Sharon. Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books (June 21, 2012)
- Scott, Paul. The Jewel in the Crown (August 21, 2012)
- Seraji, Mahbod. Rooftops of Tehran (May 31, 2009)
- Seth, Vikram. An Equal Music (June 5, 2007)
- Seth, Vikram. A Suitable Boy (June 4, 2008; Part 1, January 30, 2010; Part 2, February 12, 2010)
- Sjowall and Wahloo, The Martin Beck Mysteries (February 24, 2011)
- Sjowall and Wahloo, The Terrorists (April 16, 2011)
- Shamsie, Kamila. Home Fire (June 8, 2018)
- Shields, Carol. Unless (July 9, 2007)
- Shields, Carol. Small Ceremonies (July 11, 2015)
- Shields, Carol. Swann (August 4, 2015)
- Shields, Carol. The Stone Diaries (August 24, 2015)
- Shipstead, Maggie. Great Circle (December 23, 2021)
- Silva, Samantha. Mr. Dickens and His Carol (December 19, 2017)
- Simonson, Helen. The Summer Before the War (March 14, 2017)
- Sittenfeld, Curtis. Eligible (May 21, 2016)
- Smiley, Jane. Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (July 20, 2007)
- Smiley, Jane. Private Life. (August 7, 2011)
- Smiley, Jane. Some Luck (November 8, 2016)
- Smith, Ali. Autumn (January 25, 2018)
- Smith, Zadie. White Teeth (January 18, 2007)
- Smith, Zadie. On Beauty (April 16, 2007)
- Soderberg, Hjalmar, Doctor Glas (January 22, 2013)
- Solnit, Rebecca. The Faraway Nearby (May 19, 2014)
- Solow, Harrison, Felicity and Barbara Pym (June 24, 2013)
- Soueif, Ahdaf. The Map of Love (May 23, 2007)
- Soueif, Ahdaf. In the Eye of the Sun (“Why Always George Eliot? Ahdaf Soueif’s In the Eye of the Sun and Middlemarch,” May 26, 2009)
- Soueif, Ahdaf. Cairo: My City, Our Revolution (February 23, 2012)
- Spark, Muriel. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (June 23, 2013)
- Spark, Muriel. A Far Cry From Kensington (September 17, 2013)
- Spark, Muriel. Curriculum Vitae (September 22, 2013)
- Speller, Elizabeth. The Return of Captain John Emmett (September 27, 2012)
- Spiegelman, Art. Maus (October 12, 2015)
- St. James, Simone. An Inquiry Into Love and Death (September 7, 2015)
- Steiner, Susie. Missing, Presumed (January 23, 2021)
- Stegner, Wallace. Angle of Repose (June 8, 2014)
- Stegner, Wallace. The Spectator Bird (June 26, 2016)
- Stevens, Nell. The Romantic and the Victorian (June 22, 2021)
- Stewart, Mary. This Rough Magic (February 8, 2014)
- Stewart, Mary. Wildfire at Midnight (November 11, 2019)
- Stout, Rex. A Right to Die (March 9, 2015)
- Strout, Elizabeth. My Name is Lucy Barton (November 1, 2016)
- Sutherland, John. How to Read a Novel (March 27, 2007)
- Sweeney, Emma Claire. Owl Song At Dusk (July 1, 2016)
- Szabo, Magda. Iza’s Ballad (May 10, 2019)
T
- Talaga Tanya. Seven Fallen Feathers (October 15, 2017)
- Tartt, Donna. The Goldfinch (July 4, 2015)
- Taylor, Elizabeth. Angel. (March 23, 2013)
- Taylor, Elizabeth. A Game of Hide and Seek (June 12, 2013)
- Taylor, Elizabeth. Palladian (October 22, 2013)
- Taylor, Elizabeth. A View of the Harbour (December 17, 2017)
- Tey, Josephine. Brat Farrar (November 9, 2013)
- Tey, Josephine. Miss Pym Disposes (January 5, 2014)
- Tey, Josephine. The Franchise Affair (December 27, 2014)
- Thirkell, Angela. High Rising (September 25, 2016)
- Toews, Miriam. All My Puny Sorrows (July 14, 2014)
- Thornton, Rosy. The Tapestry of Love. (February 19, 2011)
- Thornton, Rosy. Hearts and Minds (April 25, 2017)
- Toews, Miriam. All My Puny Sorrows (July 14, 2014)
- Toews, Miriam. Women Talking (April 11, 2020)
- Toibin, Colm. Brooklyn. (August 29, 2011) (Reconsidered April 28, 2016)
- Toibin, Colm. The Master (April 17, 2016)
- Tobin, Colm. Nora Webster (March 27, 2021)
- Tokarczuk, Olga. Drive Your Plow Over the Remains of the Dead (February 14, 2020)
- Tolstoy, Leo. “The Death of Ivan Ilych” (April 17, 2010)
- Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina (December 6, 2012; December 9, 2012; December 29, 2012; December 30, 2012)
- Tomalin, Claire. A Life Of My Own (February 19, 2019)
- Toth, Susan Allen. My Love Affair With England (May 14, 2010)
- Towles, Amor. A Gentleman in Moscow (April 11, 2018)
- Tremain, Rose. Restoration (August 29, 2013)
- Tremain, Rose. Music and Silence (September 2, 2014)
- Trevor, William. The Story of Lucy Gault (August 21, 2019)
- Trevor, William. Love and Summer (July 18, 2020)
- Trollope, Joanna. A Village Affair (June 15, 2007)
- Trollope, Joanna. Balancing Act (July 26, 2015)
- Tursten, Helene. An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good (March 23, 2020)
- Tursten, Helene. Detective Inspector Huss (May 14, 2020)
- Tyler, Anne. Noah’s Compass (April 6, 2011)
- Tyler, Anne. Ladder of Years. (February 2, 2012)
- Tyler, Anne. A Spool of Blue Thread (January 6, 2017)
- Tyler, Anne. Vinegar Girl (April 14, 2017)
- Tyler, Anne. Clock Dance (February 18, 2020)
V
- Van Es, Bart. The Cut Out Girl (March 16, 2019)
- Vermette, Katherena. The Break (June 18, 2017)
- Vermette, Katherena. The Strangers (October 11, 2021)
- Vickers, Salley. Dancing Backwards (May 2, 2011)
- von Armin, Elizabeth. Father (December 23, 2020)
W
- Wade, Francesca. Square Haunting (May 7, 2020)
- Wagamese, Richard. Indian Horse (July 2, 2021)
- Walter, Jess. Beautiful Ruins (November 6, 2013)
- Walton, Jo. Ha’Penny (December 13, 2014)
- Walton, Jo. My Real Children (August 7, 2015)
- Walton, Jo. Tooth and Claw (April 3, 2021)
- Warner, Sylvia Townsend. Summer Will Show (May 24, 2014)
- Warner, Sylvia Townsend. Lolly Willows (August 27, 2017)
- Warner, Sylvia Townsend. Mr. Fortune’s Maggot (November 27, 2020)
- Waters, Sarah. The Night Watch (March 5, 2007)
- Waters, Sarah. The Little Stranger (January 16, 2010)
- Waters, Sarah. The Paying Guests (October 7, 2014)
- Waters, Sara. Affinity (May 14, 2021)
- Watson, Winnifred. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (December 23, 2010)
- Weinberg, Kate. The Truants (February 27, 2021)
- Weiner, Jennifer. In Her Shoes (February 8, 2015)
- Weisberger, Lauren, The Devil Wears Prada (March 17, 2007)
- Weisgall, Deborah, The World Before Her (May 12, 2013)
- West, Rebecca. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon III (September 11, 2016)
- West, Rebecca. The Return of the Soldier (January 16, 2012)
- West, Rebecca. The Fountain Overflows (November 14, 2013)
- West, Rebecca. This Real Night (December 3, 2013)
- West, Rebecca. Writings: 1911-1917 (December 21, 2013)
- Westlake, Donald / Levi Stahl. The Getaway Car (September 30, 2014)
- Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth (February 13, 2016)
- Whipple, Dorothy. Someone At A Distance (August 17, 2019)
- White, Emily. Lonely (September 12, 2015)
- White, T. H. The Once and Future King (June 27, 2012)
- Whittall, Zoe. The Right Kind of People (September 15, 2021)
- Williams, John. Stoner. (September 24, 2011; September 26, 2011)
- Wolf, Inger Ashe. The Calling (September 1, 2008)
- Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway (August 6, 2009)
- Woolf, Virginia. Three Guineas. (May 14, 2012)
- Woolf, Virginia. Orlando (June 11, 2014)
- Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse (August 1, 2016)
- Woolf, Virginia. The Years (March 29, 2019)
- Woolf, Virginia. The Years: Woolf’s Interesting Failure (June 4, 2019)
- Woolf, Virginia. Flush (August 28, 2020)
X
- Xiaolong, Qui. Death of a Red Heroine (October 31, 2019)
Z
- Zier-Vogel, Lindsay. Letters to Amelia (October 4, 2021)
And one movie:
- Sex and the City 2 (January 11, 2011)
And Some TV shows:
- Angel (September 27, 2016)
- Bones (June 29, 2018)
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (May 16, 2016)
- Friday Night Lights (June 12, 2011)
- Foyle’s War (January 26, 2014)
- House of Cards: American (July 9, 2014), British (July 19, 2014)
- Craving Creativity: Baking, Glass Blowing, Pottery and More (March 8, 2020)
Updated December 31, 2022
Novel Readings 