4 parents (2 gay, 2 lesbian), their children, and a grandparent in the midst of dementia. This is a family. They all count. (The pets too.) The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donahue, illustrated by Caroline Hadilaksono (which makes it a #clientbook).

Waited awhile to read this one after loving The Middlesteins so much. It was worth the wait to meet feisty and fierce Mazie and her ticket booth on the Bowery during the Depression (pictured here with Buster Keaton)

I was reading this novel about African American children going missing / being kidnapped / being killed in Atlanta while there was underreported news of Black girls missing around D.C. It made reading the novel harder and even more important. This book has been sitting on my shelves for years. What made me pick it up just then? Reading fiction builds bridges, enhances empathy, makes us better.

I loved this debut novel (and not just because my mother already owned the perfect props for this photo). Begold the Dreamers is portrait of a Cameroonian immigrant couple and the Lehman Brothers exec and his wife that employ them. Yes, it is about class and race but also about power, trust, and sacrifice. I've read a lot of New York City stories but this one is singular. Loved it.

Spoiler alert: when people of one land go to war against each other because one group no longer believes the same thing as the other, nobody is right, no one is blameless, and no one wins.

MERVIN THE SLOTH IS ABOUT TO DO THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD tells the truth, especially now, that hugging your best friend is the best thing in the world. #clientbook

ONE FAMILY shows us tht we can count a family in so many ways & with so many people. As the book concludes, "One is one and everyone. One earth. One World. One family." #clientbook #IllustratedByBlancaGomez

I thought this would be the most vivid account of the apocalypse that I would experience this year.

I am really between pan and so-so, but I have THE GIRLS as a so-so, therefore...This was supposed to be a breezy read after more serious fare. It took weeks to get through. Maybe I am too old to appreciate this... after all, the past her prime/outstayed her welcome nemesis is (gasp) 37. Happy to discuss with readers who feel differently about this debut (and those who agree). Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler, 38th book of 2016.

My goodness. Elizabeth Strout is some writer. A surprise of a novel (novella?) largely about the relationship between a grown daughter and her mother as the daughter unexpectedly ends up in the hospital with no one else to stay at her bedside. It might not have impacted me the way My Name is Asher Lev did when I read it at 14, but My Name is... books are 2 for 2 with me.

Make all three required reading. #NationalBookAwardLonglist #YoungPeoplesLiterature

Weeks later I am still sorting through my feelings about this book. I'd certainly recommend it and would love to discuss it more with other readers. Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, Cline is a strong writer with a compelling premise and argument. Looking forward to seeing what's next from her. Didn't love this as much as I wanted to (granted the expectations were high).

I don't know what took me so long to read this book (maybe it was the terrible cover. Even the seal couldn't save it), but I wholeheartedly loved this life story - from birth to death - of Daisy Goodwill. I've been on a streak of only reading novels by women, and I am still processing how reading this just after Emma Cline's THE GIRLS influenced the read.

John Lewis is a hero and a treasure and his story is important, but these books are also to be celebrated because they use the graphic form so well, maximizing the impact of this history. Kudos to co-author Andrew Aydin and illustrator Nate Powell is due.

Good trouble. Great Book.

The story of a family, a home, and of Detroit. If an author can create a large cast of characters, each with purpose, who interact in compelling and real ways, I'm sold. #ReadingWomen #ReadingPeopleofColor #ReadingAdult #ReadingDebuts

Reading more adult books. Reading more books by people of color. Reading more books by women. All makes for some pretty exemplary reading.

I realized I don't read enough debut YA novels set in the 70s in Alaska with 4 alternating POVS. Ohhhh... That's because none other would be written this well. Right.

This is the middle grade debut read of the year. Elyse has had a rare skin disorder since childhood which makes the words others call her appear on her body like itchy temporary tattoos. But now she's in middle school, and the names she calls herself are appearing too. #magicalrealism #clientbook

Borrowed All the Light We Cannot See and now I'm lending out The Interestings to the latter's owner. Hope she loves my pick as much as I loved hers. Both so wonderfully, prominently feature kids/teens but are very much adult books.