1. The Astonishing Color of After
2. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
*3. The Vanishing Half
​4. The Black Flamingo​
5. The Ten Thousand Doors of January
​6. Varina
7. Tightrope
8. Notes on a Silencing (see caveat in review)
9. The Weight of Ink
10. One Long River of Song
11. Cemetery Boys
​12. Caste
​13. Tokyo Ueno Station
​14. Deepest South of All
15. The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay
​*16. Heavy
17. The Eyes of the Dragon
​
Bonus Recommendations
1. Detransition, Baby
​2. Snitch
3. The Happily Ever After Playlist
​4. While Justice Sleeps
​5. What Child Is This?
6. When Harry Met Harry
​7. Love & Estrogen
8. Sunset Springs
​9. Bridesmates
​10. The Dream Guy Next Door
​11. Townie 
12. Part-Time Lover
13. Something That Cannot Die
14. Call Me Maybe
15. How Democracies Die
16. Believing
17. Normal People
​*18. Not That Bad
19. Authentically Mexican
20. Confessions of Sociopath
21. Fresh Water for Flowers
22. One Last Stop
23. State of Terror
​24. Life's Too Short
25. Nick & Noel's Christmas Playlist  
26. There is Something About Merry
27. The Stand-In
​​​
​*Favorites for the year
​

There is a lot of interesting policy discussion here, but this author is so full of himself.  He spends so much time taking jabs at specific people (mostly journalists and politicians) and institutions (especially the NYT) that the book reads like a personal vendetta.  I just found it petty and a distraction from the issues, important issues about open boarders versus controlled immigration and what we as a nation want an what the unintended consequences, both economically and socially, of unfettered immigration policies would be.  Lots of good points and food for thought, but it could have been delivered so much more professionally.  It was disappointing. 

​Not recommended. 

This is a ridiculously cute young adult read with a surprising amount of depth.  Set in Toronto about a Chinese-Canadian woman who looks so much like a Chinese movie star that she gets hired by her to be her double, the story is surprisingly believable and has an upbeat tempo and tone while dealing with some hard issues, like depression, highly controlling parents, and managing aging parents.  While there is a romance angel, the real story here is the friendships, both the ones with and without sexual tension and romance.  
​Definitely recommend.

This is a really light and cute little Queer romance.  Strong sibling relationships amongst adults combined with strong, smart women in positions of power in business as a backdrop for a romance.  It is fun and quirky, but there isn't enough there to recommend unless you are really a huge fan romance.
​Not not recommended.

I really love Tina Turner's life story and I first read I, Tina, which is the basis of the movie, What's Love Got To Do With It?, years ago.  As with this book, the story is so compelling, but the writing just isn't strong.  I just come away wanting so much more depth because it seems like it is right there beneath the surface.  It is a substantial improvement over the original memoir, but still not what it could have been

Not recommended.

This is a short love story between the bah humbug scrooge and high power, Christmas-loving doctor going through a divorce.  It is cute and fun, with more sexual tension than romance, but still cute.  The writing is concise and the plot moves quickly, keeping me interested.  Cute holiday story, even if it was on the lighter side and had some plot holes.
Not not recommended.

A "romance" novel that is the epidemy of everything I hate about how culture glorifies the aggressive pursuit of someone who does not want to be pursued until her defenses are warn down by the stalking and she changes her mind and realizes he was right that she was in love with him the whole time.  Vomit.
Not recommended.

A companion story to Nick & Noel's Christmas Playlist, this story has all the features of a good Hallmark holiday movie: a farm, a Jeep, a dog, and flannel shirts.  It even has one person who is estranged from a dysfunctional family and another one whose family is willing to embrace them.  It is simple and lovely, uncomplicated, and light.
​Recommend.

Well, yes, I am reading a bunch of free holiday romance books.  This one has an unusual premise and a couple uncommon twists that make it somewhat endearing, but the character development was really lacking and the writing itself just didn't pull me into the story, which is too bad because parts of the story could have been pretty solid.

​Not recommended.

This is a very cute little Christmas romance.  It has a good mix of humor, sexual tension, drama, and romance.  It has some plot, but not so much that you have to pay too much attention or think too hard about.  

Recommend.