Writing to you from the most insane six-bedroom villa at Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas with my colleagues, straight off an absolute whirlwind of a work week. If you’re a reader of here on Substack, you know we just finished up our annual CORE summit in Santa Monica with back-to-back days learning amongst some of the finest in the hospitality. More to come over on our channels about the gathering soon! Be sure to subscribe to to get the skinny sent straight to your inbox.

To be honest, amidst this hectic ten-day work trip, I wasn’t exactly sure I had anything left in the tank to show up here today. But I’ve been so encouraged by the growth of our The Sunday Series over this past month, and it felt like sacrilege not to pop into your inbox…albeit with a highly condensed send from our usual TSS cadence. That said, there’s sooooo much content in my back catalogue—particularly for those with their eyes on summer trips that may benefit from consulting with one of my guides.

As a reminder, paid subscribers have access to my entire library of 100+ (!!!) issues of The Sunday Series, including Your Local’s Guide to West Village, A No-Gatekeeping Guide to Mallorca, A Mini Formentera Guide, Your Ultimate Paris Guide, Your Guide to Bozeman, Your Guide to Nantucket, My Holy Grail Rules for an Overnight Flight, 31 Ideas for Your Next Birthday Trip, A Playbook for How to Make Friends As An Adult, 16 Prompts for a Personal Quarterly Review, My 25 Favorite Books of 2025, 155 Hotels So Special They Are the Destination, and The Packing Method that Changed My Life.

Now, straight into what I’m in your inbox to share! I’m over the moon to be partnering with Murray’s Cheese on this first event in our “Conversations on Creativity,” a quarterly community event where we’ll bring in an author to chat about their work with our crew. That said, this first one, of course, needs to go well in order for us to keep them going!!!! It would mean the world to me to have you join us. Grab a ticket and invite a friend to come along. There will be wine, cheese, and lots of fun conversation.

GET YOUR TICKET HERE

And because we truly are aiming to support the author community with our in-person events and content creation, I’m thrilled to share that we’ve also partnered with McNally Jackson to do a special signed pre-order of Jessica Knoll’s forthcoming novel, Helpless. So even if you can’t make it to the event next Tuesday, you can secure a signed copy of her July 7th release—an option currently exclusively available to our WVBC community.

PRE-ORDER HERE

Signing off with this bookish send by sharing both my top reads of the year above, as well as our entire book club’s fave books of the year here.

Considering I’m currently on my laptop in the middle of our kitchen while our crew sips on nightcaps (which is wildly inappropriate!!!!) I’m going to sign off thanking you for the grace in making today’s edition short and sweet. I’ll check back from New York next week with lots of fun updates! In the meantime, please let me know in the comments if I can expect to see you at Murray’s—can’t wait. xxKD

Hello, bookworms!

Since launching The Sunday Series in 2020, my annual reading roundup has become a TSS staple. For the past five years, I’ve used Goodreads to track my reading, both setting a reading goal for the year and using the platform to look back and jog my memory on which titles left the biggest impression. Some years I’ve fallen short of my reading goal, but this year, I managed to polish off 62 titles!

• In 2025, I read 62 books.

• In 2024, I read 56 books.

• In 2023, I read 56 books.

• In 2022, I read 52 books.

• In 2021, I read 37 books.

Which brings us to the purpose of today’s edition of my annual reading roundup: I’m sharing the 25 books that stood out to me most this year. Plus, exclusively for paid subscribers, I’m looking back at over 300 books read in recent years and rounding up 75 of my top reads, making this a robust reference of 100 total books you can dive into with absolute confidence—that is, if we share the same reading taste! Before you dive in, a quick note on the lens with which I pick books…

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At all times, I’m reading something fiction and something nonfiction. But I consume them differently. When it comes to fiction, I read all of my books in physical form, whether that be hardcover, paperback, or Kindle (a new addition to my rotation in the past year). For nonfiction, I listen via Libro.fm, the Libby app, or Spotify. I particularly love listening when the author is the narrator of the audiobook, as most often is the case for memoirs, which just so happen to be my most sought-after nonfiction genre.

When it comes to fiction, I’m drawn to complex women, messy friendships, complicated family dynamics, ambition, secrets (did someone say double life/hidden family??), and reinvention, with a particular soft spot for upmarket fiction and literary suspense. If there’s sharp social commentary, a beautifully rendered setting, or a twist that feels inevitable in hindsight, even better. I’m also a sucker for an unlikeable narrator and mulit-POV novels that really get you in the head of the storyteller.

With nonfiction, I’m most compelled by voice. I love memoirs and essays that feel intimate, self-aware, vulnerable, and culturally attuned—books that explore identity, creativity, power, pleasure, food, work, media, and modern relationships through a personal lens. I tend to favor writers who are thoughtful without being precious, reflective without being didactic, and who make you feel like you’re in conversation with them rather than being taught a lesson. I particularly gravitate towards memoirs set in New York.

Okay, let’s get into it!!! If there’s an asterisk, that indicates it was a pick. In case you’re new here, I launched WVBC in 2022, and we collectively launched our book club Substack on January 1st. In it, each month, the six of us round up a review of our meeting and recap what we each read. Subscribe below if you’re interested…we have some fun stuff coming in 2026!!

West Village Book Club

six voracious readers sharing their book recs, book club hosting tips, and love for New York City

By Kayla Douglas

• All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (2024)* | This was a WVBC pick earlier this year, and we all were drawn into this heart-pounding literary thriller that manages to blend gritty suspense with gut-punch emotion. It’s a longer read, but it paces quickly! FWIW, we all finished the 500+ pages, which says something.

• The Art of Vanishing by Morgan Pager (2025)* | A smart literary novel about a woman who discovers she can actually enter the paintings in the museum where she works. Pager explores art, love, and longing through a quietly surreal lens, using the museum as a space for both escape and self-reckoning. Thoughtful, inventive, and emotionally restrained.

• The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand (2005) | I picked this one up ahead of our Nantucket trip because its beachfront restaurant was inspired by Galley Beach, a spot we dined at in June. This quintessential Nantucket novel combines romance, reinvention, and all the drama behind the doors of an iconic seaside restaurant. Written in 2005, it was fun to do one of Hilderbrand’s backlist books!

• Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors (2024) | Easily one of the most touching stories I’ve read in years, this one is about three estranged sisters reuniting in the wake of tragedy. Mellors’ sophomore novel delivers a sweeping, stylish family drama about grief, identity, and love. I loved her writing style so much that I ran out to get her debut (on my list below) right away.

• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (2025) | Easily one of the best books I’ve read in recent memory, this sweeping second-chance romance is an atmospheric dual-timeline novel set in mid‑20th‑century UK countryside. It follows Beth—a farmer’s wife—whose quiet marriage begins to unravel when her teenage first love, Gabriel, returns to town with a young son. Their reconnection reopens old grief, sparks a love triangle, and culminates in a gripping murder and courtroom drama. I loved it for its emotional twists and murky moral terrain!

• Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors (2022) | A messy, modern love story about a whirlwind marriage between a British painter and an older, successful American man in New York City. Mellors captures intimacy, power imbalance, and emotional dependency with brutal honesty, making this a sharp portrait of how love can both save and slowly undo you. Complicated, stylish, and deeply human.

• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025) | A clever, voice-driven novel told through letters, emails, and professional exchanges that reveal the quiet interior life of a woman whose job is to stay observant—but emotionally removed. As her carefully structured world begins to crack, the book becomes a meditation on loneliness, connection, and the stories we tell (or withhold). It had me sobbing on my flight home from Sydney!!!!

• Discontent by Beatriz Serrano (2025) | A darkly funny, sharply observed novel originally written in Spanish and translated into English about a woman unraveling under the pressures of modern work, capitalism, and emotional burnout. Serrano skewers corporate culture and personal dissatisfaction with biting wit, making this feel both painfully specific and uncomfortably universal. Perfect if you like your social commentary with teeth.

• Heart the Lover by Lily King (2025)* | A quiet, emotionally precise novel about longing, betrayal, and the complicated aftermath of love that doesn’t resolve neatly. King excels at interiority here, tracing how desire and restraint coexist within long-term relationships. It’s tender, thoughtful, and devastating in a very restrained way. I hosted WVBC last month when this was our pick and had so much fun gathering our crew to discuss it!!

West Village Book Club

WVBC monthly: chapter 11

Hi, dear readers…

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5 months ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · Kayla Douglas

• Once and Again by Rebecca Serle (2026) | Out in March, I got my hands on an early copy of this time-bending love story that explores fate, grief, and the possibility of getting a second chance at a life-defining relationship. Serle blends romance with her classic magical realism in a way that feels grounded rather than gimmicky. If you like emotional what-ifs that make you reflect on timing and choice, this one hits.

• Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore (2025) | A reverse Great Gatsby, I’ve been recommending this beach read to so many friends. Set on Shelter Island, sun, sand, and simmering secrets collide in this sharp coastal drama about privilege, ambition, and the price of reinvention.

• Set Piece by Lana Schwartz (2025) | A modern second-chance romance set on a movie set, following a breakout TV star and the no-nonsense production designer he once fell for—back when she was bartending. When their paths cross again years later, chemistry reignites, complicated by fame, motherhood, and very real adult baggage. Breezy, romantic, and a quick, fun read.

• The Tenant by Frieda McFadden (2025) | A fast-paced psychological thriller that wastes no time pulling you into a web of suspicion, secrets, and escalating paranoia. As a seemingly straightforward rental situation turns sinister, McFadden delivers twist after twist that makes this incredibly bingeable. Perfect if you want something propulsive and addictive.

• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (2025)* | A haunting, atmospheric novel set on a remote coastline on a fake island between Antarctica and Tasmania, where isolation amplifies grief, family bonds, and environmental threat. McConaghy blends literary prose with mounting suspense, creating a story that feels both intimate and expansive. Nature plays a central role here, almost as a character itself.

• The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024)* | A powerful historical novel about women who served as nurses during the Vietnam War, told with Hannah’s signature emotional sweep. This book shines a light on a group long overlooked in war narratives, exploring trauma, friendship, and resilience. It’s heartbreaking, absorbing, and deeply human.

• Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever (2025) | I just finished this book this week and am sure it’s going to stay with me for quite some time. Woolever’s sharp writing paints a moving portrait of food, grief, marriage, cheating, and life after loss. Her work with both Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain as a longtime collaborator puts equal parts candor and heart into this story.

• Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams (2025) | A revealing memoir from a former Facebook insider that chronicles the company’s early idealism—and its moral unraveling. Wynn-Williams offers a clear-eyed look at power, tech culture, and the personal cost of working inside one of the most influential platforms of our time. Disturbing, fascinating, and hard to put down.

• More: A Memoir of Open Marriage by Molly Roden Winter (2024) | A raw and riveting deep dive into love, desire, and the complexities of non-monogamy—this memoir is equal parts confessional and cultural critique. It was my first time listening to such a detailed chronicle of an open marriage and definitely kept me sucked in at a level that’s difficult for a memoir written by a ‘regular person’ (versus a celebrity).

• The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin (2025) | This book was all over the internet earlier this year, and with good reason. Griffin, a high-achieving investor and mother of four, honestly depicts her journey facing deeply buried childhood trauma as she uncovers an assault while undergoing a controversial MDMA-assisted therapy session. She uses this experience to explore themes of ambition, perfectionism, healing, and what happens when secrets unravel decades later.

• We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay: Tips, Tales, Travels by Gary Janetti (2024) | If you’re new around here, this one is a bit biased as Gary is a friend of West Village Book Club and someone I’ve been able to collaborate with professionally, but funny enough, this book was my entry point to getting to know him! It’s hilarious, biting, and self-aware, as he infuses his signature wit into recounting travel stories spanning decades.

I think of the below grouping less as standalone memoirs and more as a case study of a cultural era—specifically, the glossy, ego-driven, wildly influential world of American media from the 1980s through the early 2000s, and its long afterlife today. These books trace how taste was made, how power circulated, how ambition was rewarded (or punished), and how entire cultural narratives were shaped by a relatively small group of people with outsized platforms.

• The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992 by Tina Brown (2017) | A front-row account of Tina Brown’s rise at Vanity Fair, capturing the excess, ambition, and cultural dominance of magazines at their peak. Equal parts gossip, strategy, and self-mythology, this diary reads like a masterclass in power and taste-making. Essential context for this entire media-era grouping.

• When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines by Graydon Carter (2025) | This irresistible peek into glossy magazine culture showcases the Vanity Fair days at their peak—full of name-dropping, mischief, and the unapologetic glamour of a bygone media era. Would be a good one to read following Tina Brown’s memoir!

• Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America by Michael Grynbaum (2025) | A deeply reported cultural history of Condé Nast and the people who shaped its mythos. Grynbaum traces how influence, aesthetics, and hierarchy operated behind the scenes, offering a more analytical counterpoint to the memoirs in this section. A must-read for understanding the machinery behind the gloss.

• Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean (2025) | A charming, reflective memoir that blends personal storytelling with Orlean’s signature curiosity about people, passions, and obsession. Moving fluidly through her life and career, she explores what it means to stay open to wonder over time. Warm, thoughtful, and quintessentially Orlean.

• I Regret Almost Everything by Keith McNally (2025) | Another epic memoir from the hospitality world, this unapologetic, darkly funny tell-all comes from the legendary restaurateur behind Balthazar and chronicles the chaos of New York dining and a life lived loudly. For anyone who appreciates the NY dining scene, I think this is a must-read. The impact his stroke had on his business, marriage, and writing life is particularly poignant.

Exclusive to paid subscribers, I’m now thrilled to roundup a backlist of my top 50 fiction picks and top 25 nonfiction picks beyond what I read this year.

• 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand (2020)

• Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler (2023)

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)*

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (2022)

• Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll (2023)

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I’ve never been shy about the fact that bringing a book to a restaurant and dining solo is one of my favorite ways to fill up my cup. This weekend, as I sat cozied up at Commerce Inn with our October pick, Wild Dark Shore, I was struck by how well this Shaker-inspired restaurant met the mood of my atmospheric title in hand. Just as Commerce Inn’s menu harks back to simpler times (right down to their refusal to make espresso drinks—instead opting for that old school diner feel of constantly topping off your drip coffee), the book is set on a remote island where everything is rooted in simplicity. There was something beautiful in that connection.

So, an idea was born—not necessarily about pairing specific books with where to read them on a solo outing, but on a broader scale, about matching stories to the aura of a place. For someone who loves both reading and eating out as much as I do, the parallels between a book’s personality and a restaurant’s spirit are endless. Whether a New Yorker, planning to visit soon, or a reader, consider this roundup that serves as both a restaurant guide and bookish reference point. Every restaurant and story here earned its place—if it’s on the list, trust that I love it.

In today’s edition of The Sunday Series, I’m serving up a guide to 40 of my favorite places to dine in New York, each spot matched to a book that I feel serves a similar emotional temperature. Considering that there are nearly 50,000 restaurants in New York, it’s no small feat to narrow down my list of favorites, but I’ve done my best to keep the curation tight (!!) and break the restaurants down into seven categories:

• For Slow Burn Date Nights (5 favorites)

• For Nostalgic, Reflection-Filled Nights (7 favorites)

• For Creative Plotting and Inspiration (5 favorites)

• For Something Understated and Dependable (5 favorites)

• For When You’re Craving Classic and Chic (6 favorites)

• For Buzzy and Boozy Nights Out (5 favorites)

• For Sunday Softness (7 favorites)

As ever with my guides (Your Local’s Guide to West Village, A No-Gatekeeping Guide to Mallorca, A Mini Formentera Guide, Your Ultimate Paris Guide, Your Guide to Bozeman, Your Guide to Nantucket), this one will be accessible only to paid subscribers.

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p.s. This one is too long for email! Click through to the Substack app or desktop version to read the whole thing. And if you are feeling extra generous, please give it a heart on Substack, or better yet, share it with a friend! 🤍

Restaurant criteria: For this category, I wanted to highlight places where a single glass of red magically turns into three. These are slower burns, just like many of the books I’ve chosen to match up.

• Anton’s (West Village): A warm, candlelit-filled cozy spot in the heart of the West Village, Anton’s serves seasonal American cuisine with a European influence and an impressive wine list. // Pairs well with The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller for the way it connects you to the ache of a first love that never truly left.

• Evelina (Fort Greene): Sleek yet intimate, Evelina blends Mediterranean-Italian fare with natural-wine energy in a Fort Greene setting; ideal for a creative dinner that feels both comfortable and elevated. // Pairs well with Tell Me Everything by Minka Kelly for the simple reason that I once dined at a table next to her here! And yes, she’s an absolute stunner in person, just like the fare at Evelina.

• Lucien (East Village): A retro Parisian-style bistro, Lucien is beloved by the art and influencer crowd, featuring classic French dishes, cozy wood-panel ambiance, and effortless charm. // Pairs well with Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors because I can just imagine Cleo and Frank eating here amongst the cool downtown artsy set. I miss these characters so much.

• Raoul’s (SoHo): Legendary since the 1970s, Raoul’s is a SoHo institution known for its steak au poivre, tin-ceiling bar, candlelight, and old-school cool. // Pairs well with Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’ by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina, because, amongst other institutions he worked at, Cecchi talks about his salacious time as the maître d’ at Raoul’s in this epic foodie memoir.

• Via Carota (West Village): A West Village trattoria by the acclaimed duo Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, Via Carota is more than just a celeb favorite; it’s the kind of no-reservations, no-cut-corners place you can rely on for an incredible meal every single time. // Pairs well with Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton, a modern-friendship-as-love story that mirrors the warmth and conviviality of Sodi and Williams’s hospitality.

Restaurant vibe: So many legendary spots in New York are institutions with patina—mirrors slightly fogged, waiters who’ve seen generations fall in and out of love. In this section, I’m rounding up places you return to when you need a version of yourself that still believes in ritual.

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This week, we get to look forward to flipping the calendar to October. I’ve long been a fan of the promise that comes with a fresh month, but this one in particular is stacked, including the release of Taylor Swift’s The Life of A Showgirl, cooler mornings that beg for a run, farmers market apples tucked into totes, a cozy Practical Magic rewatch, the ritual of pulling out our fall sweaters, and of course, pumpkin-flavored everything. I’m not going to apologize for being ‘basic’ with that list, because chances are if you enjoy my content, you’re not a contrarion either. It is, after all, fun to be just a girl who likes what all the other girliepops like: silly little coffee walks, getting the shot, listening to pop music, rewatching Sex and the City, and reading the books all the other women are buzzing about!!!!!!

If we’re connected on Instagram (@curatedbykayla), you may have seen that I shared my picks for fall books in the newest issue of my neighborhood newspaper, The District Tea. In this season’s edition, I themed “Kayla’s Bookish Corner” around art-filled stories—particularly those with a 60s setting—in celebration of the Sixties Surreal exhibit that just opened this week at The Whitney. Pairing books with a mood and sense of place is my love language, so I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to share the reads on my radar through the rest of the year!

But before we get into those picks, I wanted to share a fun interview I was able to do with a fellow Substacker, in her “Thirties on Thursday” series. Susie asked such thoughtful questions, and I loved getting the chance to chat with her about my perspective on being in my early thirties. From my love for serendipitous vintage finds to indulgences I’ll never give up (hint: artisanal grocers), we had so much to chat about. It’s my hunch that readers of The Sunday Series would very much be interested in Susie’s newsletter, Since Tuesday, so be sure to check it out.

Since Tuesday

Thirties on Thursday, Vol. 7: Kayla Douglas on "sinking in," secret Balearic caves, and the frequencies she wants to tune into.

Psst… this is too long for email! Tab over to web or the app to make sure you can see it all. 🫶This is Thirties on Thursday: a bi-weekly interview series from Since Tuesday, spotlighting women in their 30s as they reflect on the rhythms, rituals, and lessons shaping their Jenna Rink decade…

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8 months ago · 11 likes · 1 comment · Susie | Since Tuesday

Of course, another thing Susie and I chatted about was books! Since launching the newsletter in 2020, literary content has always been a pillar of The Sunday Series. So it’s not surprising that one of my most popular editions of 2025 so far was a mid-year check-in, sharing my 13 top books of the year.

The Sunday Series

I've read 33 books so far this year...here are my 13 faves (and 13 on my list).

Hello, gorgeous humans…

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10 months ago · 28 likes · 5 comments · Kayla Douglas

I’ll do another roundup at the end of the year, analyzing where I net with my all-time faves, but in the meantime, did you know we share a recap of what each of our members read in our newsletter that goes out on the 1st of each month? That’s right! Alongside my girls , , , Laura, and Jenna, we review every single book we read, so be sure to subscribe to WVBC’s newsletter if you aren’t already but want those more thorough recaps!

West Village Book Club

six voracious readers sharing their book recs, book club hosting tips, and love for New York City

By Kayla Douglas

Okay, now let’s get into it! Looking to the end of the year wanted to do a little clean up of my reading priorities based on what book-to-film adaptations are on the horizon, the new releases I’m eager to dive into, and titles that feel cozy for this fall and early winter season. I’m on track to hit my 60-book goal for the year if I’m able to prioritize 16 more titles, but I’ve rounded up 30 (!!!!) books that have my eye. I’m approaching this as somewhat of a pick list for myself next time I’m in a bookstore, so that I can stay focused and I hope it can serve to help you do the same.

Speaking of reading goals, do you participate in the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge? I have for the past five years, and in turn, have seen my reading increase quantifiably, which has been fun. And while I’m generally annoyed that Goodreads is owned by Amazon, and like so many, wish it were a more robust platform, I haven’t successfully converted myself to using StoryGraph yet. So, if you too [begrudingly] use Goodreads, I’d love to be connected there!

Add Me On Goodreads

On the anti-Amazon front, note that whenever I link to books, I use Bookshop.org. Their mission is to support independent bookstores by sharing profits directly with local shops, which means every purchase helps sustain the kind of community spaces we’d all be devastated to lose. What’s fun about buying here is that you actually can choose which Indie bookstore you want to support with your purchases! For instance, all of my purchases or any gifting I do through the platform supports ’s store, Books Are Magic. And, when you buy through my Bookshop links, I make a small commission, which is an easy way for you to support the work I’m doing here on TSS.

When it comes to what motivates me to pick up a backlist title, knowing there is an adaptation coming is at the top of that list. I’m firmly in the camp of “but the book was better” 99.9% of the time, and how could I declare that annoying, Type A assessment if I hadn’t read said book? Exactly. So, here are the ones on my radar right now!

• The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware: coming to Netflix on October 10, 2025. Starring Keira Knightley. I’ve actually already read this one and it’s pretty spooky. But I love a good thriller in a closed-door setting, and this one being set on an expedition cruise ship really did it for me, but, I wouldn’t recommend while reading on a solo trip to Paris as I did…NOT the right vibe!!! You live and you learn.

• Regretting You by Colleen Hoover: in theaters on October 24th, 2025. Starring Allison Williams and Dave Franco. I’m going to an early screening of this next Sunday with Meta and Paramount Pictures and am super excited!! I have loved Allison Williams since Girls and am looking forward to seeing her in this role. Going to try and squeeze in the book (which is currently on Kindle Unlimited) because it’ll pain my ‘book first’ purist mindset not to have a reference point when watching.

• The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden: in theaters December 19, 2025. Starring Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Brandon Sklenar. I just read my first Frieda McFadden (The Tenant, highly recommend!) and feel like she’s now going to be a thriller staple for me. The trailer to this film looks way scarier than my usual film comfort zone, but I will 100% be reading and watching anyway.

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and, on that note, becoming a paid subscriber is the ultimate way to support my work! I’ll let a generous reader chime in about why she chose to upgrade her subscription to the sunday series…

hi, bookworms!

this annual send of my top reads of the year is always a fun one—it’s an excuse to review and relish all the stories I’ve pored over for the last twelve months. I still have a couple of books that I’m in the throes of as we wrap the year (helllllllo, Fourth Wing, and the just-released The Let Them Theory), but it’s looking like I’ll come up just short of my sixty-book goal. I’m set to net out somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty-six books for 2024, and I’m plenty happy with that!

I’m particularly pleased with the fact that this year, I DNF-ed (did not finish) more books than ever. it was less about the goal of finishing sixty books than making sure I was enjoying what I was reading. I threw in the towel on probably a dozen books that I was collectively hundreds of pages into—something that goes against all of my perfectionist tendencies. but hey, here’s to PROGRESS, people!!!!

I’ll come back to some of the DNFs, but I just wasn’t in the headspace to devour these particular stories at the moment I picked them up. for instance, I got about a hundred pages into The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a classic I’ve long aspired to read. I simply wasn’t able to fully immerse myself in the nearly six-hundred-page campus novel at the time, but I’ll go back and try again when I think life feels slow enough to dive in once more. and knowing me, I’ll start from the beginning when I do.

that said, this was a year of reading what felt good. it was also a year of attending as many New York book events as I could possibly manage. I got to meet some of my most beloved authors IRL and get signed copies of their books, including Rebecca Serle, Carola Lovering, Zibby Owens, Alison Espach, and Dolly Alderton!!!! I even got to attend debut author Mai Sennaar’s book launch hosted by moderator Sarah Jessica Parker. so many of these events were beside one of my bookish besties, Laura, and we truly had moments where we looked at one another and asked if we were in an episode of Younger. it was glorious.

of course, buying all the books means you have to make some time to read them. and I did that too. since 2021, I’ve tracked my reads with the Goodreads Challenge—a feature where you set an annual reading goal for yourself within the app—and the Virgo in me loves the data. as you can see below, I really got back into reading post-pandemic.

with the help of a lot of listening to nonfiction on Libby (an app that allows your local library card to get you free audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines from your local library!) and Libro.fm (an app I use for more new releases that aren’t available at the library yet—by purchasing credits here, you support your local bookstore of choice), I’m typically finishing about a book a week. and while some of the creators I follow in this space seem to do a book a day, a book a week is about the maximum I’m ever going to be able to read given the pace of my life right now. but it’s not about consuming more for me so much as it is about loving what I spend my time reading.

• so far in 2024, I’ve read 54 books (goal was 60)

• in 2023, I read 56 books (goal was 60)

• in 2022, I read 52 books (goal was 52)

• in 2021, I read 37 books (goal was 26)

with this intention to really have fun with each book I pick up, I’ve gotten pretty clear on what I enjoy reading and what I don’t.

our tastes may vary, so I wanted to put some notes together on what I like before you review my recommendations. I struggle to describe my own reading taste, so I actually turned to AI for some help here! I popped in all the titles I loved best this year and asked the model for the common threads. I fear the robots have once again won because this analysis feels so on point that I’m unwell…

AI’s assessment of my reading taste

Your reading taste spans emotionally rich and deeply human stories. Here’s how I’d describe some common threads in your 2024 favorites:

Fiction

Complex Characters: You gravitate toward character-driven narratives, exploring personal struggles, flawed relationships, and moments of transformation.

Emotional Depth: Whether it’s love, loss, ambition, or self-discovery, your favorites dive into the heart of what it means to connect and grow.

Cultural Relevance: Many picks feel timely, reflecting themes like generational shifts, societal expectations, and modern love.

Engaging Writing: You value prose that’s both accessible and literary, striking a balance between entertainment and poignancy.

Nonfiction

Personal Storytelling: Memoirs and essays dominate, showing your love for real-life insights from vibrant, creative voices.

Themes of Joy and Purpose: Food, travel, creativity, and pleasure often shine through as ways to savor life’s richness.

Intellectual Curiosity: You enjoy thoughtful perspectives on modern challenges, from overthinking to embracing serendipity.

so, if you’re looking for contemporary fiction that sometimes skews literary, relationship-focused fiction, domestic thrillers, and novels filled with suspense sprinkled with a dash of fantasy, I’m your girl. in the nonfiction space, I devour memoirs, self-improvement books, and anything with a food or hospitality setting.

I’ve gone ahead and cleaned up my Goodreads Favorites Shelf and widdled it down to my 48 all-time faves, as well as popping in the recaps from my 2021, 2022, and 2023 favorites before we get into the fun of 2024!

my 48 all-time faves

top 16 fiction reads of 2024

and without further ado, here are my favorite fiction reads of the year, in alphabetical order!

• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)*

• Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering (2024)*

• Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (2024)*

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023)

• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024)*

• Good Material by Dolly Alderton (2024)*

• Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein (2025)

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (2024)

• The Most Famous Girl in the World by Iman Hariri-Kia (2024)

• The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine (2024)

• The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller (2021)

• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue (2023)

• Sandwich by Catherine Newman (2024)

• The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand (2015)

• The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza (2024)*

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach (2024)*

  *indicates it was a West Village Book Club pick!

8 non-fiction favorites of 2024

again, alphabetized, here are my favorite books of 2024 in the nonfiction realm.

• The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell (2024)

• Be Ready When The Luck Happens: A Memoir by Ina Garten (2024)*

• The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (2024)

• I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris by Glynnis MacNicol (2024)

• No Time Like The Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox (2021)

• Setting the Table by Danny Meyer (2008)

• What I Ate In One Year: (And Related Thoughts) by Stanley Tucci (2024)

• Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York Maître D’ by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina (2022)

  *indicates it was a West Village Book Club pick!

[BIG] West Village Book Club news…

notably, eight of my favorite reads of the year were books we selected for West Village Book Club. I like to think we have good taste! over two years into WVBC and we’ve received countless requests to expand—but due to an unfortunate lack of space given the New York of it all (hello, studio and one-bedroom apartment limitations!), we’ve begun to brainstorm about how to make our recommendations, book discussions, and even hosting tips accessible to a wider community. while our @westvillagebookclub Instagram is a super fun tool to share reels and snapshots of our monthly meetings, there is an untapped element that seems to call for long-form content…

so, I’m beyond excited that you’re the first to hear we’re going to have our own monthly WVBC newsletter! once a month, subscribers will hear from us about what we read this past month, how we approached hosting (we LOVE a theme), and any other reading-related tidbits on our minds. there are now eight of us in the club, so it’ll be a fun mix of personalities and voices. I can’t wait for us to launch here on Substack on January 1st with a recap of everything WVBC read in 2024. we’d be SO honored if you subscribed below! xxWVBC

West Village Book Club

eight voracious readers sharing their book recs, book club hosting tips, and love for New York City

By Kayla Douglas

and with all of this fun data in mind, I’ve gone ahead and consulted my real-life—and nearly toppling over—TBR (to be read) pile. I’ve got a whole lot I need to work through in my own apartment before I dare go flirt with an indie bookstore! so, this is me reminding myself of that.

I thought it might be fun to share with you the culmination of my backlist (catalog of previously published works that authors are marketing alongside new frontlist titles), priority reads, and the new releases I have on my radar for 2025. paid subscribers will be starting the year with 40 more titles—18 of which are new releases set to hit shelves between January and July—to consider in addition to the 24 I loved this year!

my backlist priority reads for 2025

here are 22 titles that I didn’t get to this year that I’m reprioritizing for next year! (again, alphabetized)

• All Fours by Miranda July (2024)

• All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (2024)

• The Astrology House by Carinn Jade (2024)

• A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (2024)

• The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath (2005)

Read more

top five fiction reads of 2022

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

• Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

• Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

• Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering

• Verity by Colleen Hoover

top five non-fiction reads of 2022

• Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

• Going There by Katie Couric

• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

• Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl

• Taste: My Life Though Food by Stanley Tucci

and as a recap, my top five fiction reads of 2021

• 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

• The Idea of You by Robinne Lee

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

my top five non-fiction reads of 2021

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama

• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

• Destination Wellness: Global Secrets for a Better Living Wherever You Are by Annie Daly

• The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition by Brené Brown

• You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero