2022 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Favorite Novels

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Again, as with my non-fiction list, I just wish I had read more last year. Fortunately, this year, I plan to do just that!

The It Girl by Ruth Ware
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perotta
The Maid by Nita Prose
The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
Heat 2 by Meg Gardiner and Michael Mann
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
Electric Idol by Katee Robert
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Be sure to check out my picks for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011!

Lisa Marie’s 2022 In Review:

2017 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Ten Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2017

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

A word about Paperbacks From Hell, my favorite nonfiction book of 2017. One of my goals for 2018 (and probably 2019, as well) is to read every single book mentioned in Paberbacks From Hell. I’ve been told that it won’t be easy because several of the books are apparently no longer in print. But that’s okay. I’m looking forward to searching for them almost as much as I’m looking forward to reading them!

On Wednesday, I’ll be listing my picks for the best of Lifetime and then, on Friday, I’ll finally wrap up my look back at 2017 with my picks for the best 26 movies of the year!

Previous entries in the TSL’s Look Back at 2017:

2016 in Review: Lisa Marie’s 20 Favorite Novels of 2016

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Right now, I’m in the process of taking a look back at some of my favorite things from the previous year. Yesterday, I posted a list of my favorite non-fiction books of 2016. Today, I post my 20 favorite novels!

All of these are worth reading and in fact, I insist that you do. Let’s enjoy the written word while we can because, sadly, the future holds only illiteracy and propaganda.

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
Moonglow by Michael Chabon
Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
The Girls by Emma Cline
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
The Widow by Fiona Barton
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp
The Empty Ones by Robert Brockway
The Regional Office is Under Attack! by Manuel Gonzales
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
The Gloaming by Melanie Finn

Tomorrow, it’s the list that you have all been waiting for: my picks for the best films of 2016!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2016:

2016 in Review: Lisa Marie’s 10 Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2016

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

My look back at the previous year continues with 10 of my favorite non-fiction books of 2016! Now, it should be noted that, because this is an entertainment-related website, I’m only listing my favorite entertainment-related books. There was a lot of good nonfiction published last year but the majority of it had nothing to do with either the movies or television so who cares?

Anyway, all of these are wonderful and well-worth the money!

The Godfather Notebook by Francis Ford Coppola
TV: The Book by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall
The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling
Natalie Wood: Reflections on a Legendary Life by Manoah Bowman
The Purple Diaries: Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s by Joseph Egan
In Search of Lost Films by Phil Hall
Down from the Attic: Rare Thrillers of the Silent Era through the 1950s by John T. Soister and Henry Nicolella
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
The Curse of Beauty: The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America’s First Supermodel by James Bone
A Thousand Cuts: The Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies by Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph

Finally, I have to give an honorable mention to two books that were published in 2015 but which I didn’t read until 2016. These two books were definitely my favorite non-fiction reads in 2016 and there’s no way that I couldn’t mention them. Troy Howarth’s So Deadly, So Perverse and So Deadly, So Perverse Volume 2 contain everything you could possibly want to know about the giallo genre!

Tomorrow, my look back at 2016 continues with my favorite novels of the year!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2016:

2015 In Review: Lisa’s 20 Favorite Novels of 2015!

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Right now, I’m in the process of taking a look back at some of my favorite things from the previous year. Yesterday, I posted my 10 favorite non-fiction books of 2015. Today, I post my 20 favorite novels!

All of these are worth reading and in fact, I insist that you do. Let’s enjoy the written word while we can because the future is looking more and more like it’s going to be dominated by illiterates.

(Speaking of which, I should probably point out — before someone else does — that Barbara The Slut and The State We’re In are both collections of short stories, as opposed to being novels. So be it.)

Barbara The Slut And Other People by Lauren Holmes
Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre
Confess by Colleen Hoover
Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
The Green Road by Anne Enright
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Asking For It by Lilah Pace
Alice by Christina Henry
The State We’re In By Anne Beattie
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
Calf by Andrea Kleine
The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young
Follow You Home by Mark Edwards
You’re the Earl I Want by Kelly Bowen
Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Tomorrow, I will be concluding my look back at 2015 with the list that you’ve all been waiting for — my picks for the best 26 films of the year!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2015:

2014 In Review: Lisa’s Top 10 Non-fiction Books of 2014

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I should admit that the title of this post is misleading. While it is true that listed below are 10 of my favorite non-fiction books of 2014, I’ve specifically limited my picks to books that dealt with entertainment, pop culture, and the creative process. With that in mind, here are my 10 favorite non-fiction books of 2014:

(And yes, you should read everyone of them.)

Tomorrow, I conclude my look back at the previous year with the list that everyone has been waiting for: my 26 top films of 2014!

Previous Entries In TSL’s Look Back At 2014

Lisa Marie’s 12 Favorite Novels of 2013

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing TSL’s look back at the year that was, here’s my 12 favorite novels of 2013!

(And yes, you should read them all.)

Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Theresa Ann Fowler
The Flamethrowers by Racel Kushner
The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb
Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
Red Hill by Jamie McGuire
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Just One Day by Gayle Foreman
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

Tomorrow, my look back at 2013 continues with the list that everyone’s been waiting for — my top 26 films of 2013!

Other Entries In TSL’s Look Back At 2013:

Lisa Marie’s 12 Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2013

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I should admit that the title of this post is misleading. While it is true that listed below are 12 of my favorite non-fiction books of 2013, I’ve specifically limited my picks to books that dealt with entertainment, pop culture, and the creative process. With that in mind, here are my 12 favorite non-fiction books of 2013:

(And yes, you should read everyone of them.)

1) The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissell

2) Crab Monsters, Teenage Caveman, and Candy Stripe Nurses: Roger Corman: King of the B-Movies by Chris Nashawaty

3) 100 Works of Art That Will Define Our Age by Kelly Grovier

4) The Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz

5) Odd Type Writers by Celia Blue Johnson

6) Mad Girl’s Love Song: Sylvia Plath and Life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson

7) The Reckoning: Women Artists of the New Millennium by Eleanor Hartney, Helaine Posner, Nancy Princethal, and Sue Scott

8) Difficult Men by Brett Martin

9) A Story Told Lately by Anjelica Huston

10) Slimed: An Oral History of Nickelodeon’s Golden Age by Matthew Klickstein

11) The Secret History of Vladimir Nabakov by Andrea Pitzer

12) Norman Mailer: A Double Life by J. Michael Lennon

Honorable Mention: Lost Cat by Caroline Paul, my favorite non-entertainment related nonfiction book.

Tomorrow, my look back at 2013 continue with my 12 favorite novels of 2013.

Other Entries In TSL’s Look Back At 2013:

Lisa Marie’s Ten Favorite Novels of 2012

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing my series on the best of 2012, I now present my 10 favorite novels of the previous year. For a lot of reasons, I didn’t get to read quite as much as I wanted to over the past year. My New Year’s resolution — well, one of them — is to do better in 2013.

Without further ado, here’s my list. All 10 of the novels provided an entertaining, thought-provoking read over the past year and you should read them all.

1) The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

2) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

3) Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

4) Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

5) This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz

6) The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall

7) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

8) Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

9) Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate

10) On Demon Wings by Karina Halle

Coming up tomorrow, it’s the list that we’ve all been waiting for — my favorite 26 films of 2012!

Lisa Marie’s 10 Favorite Novels of 2011

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing my series on the best of 2011, I now present my 10 favorite novels of the previous year. For a lot of reasons, I didn’t get to read quite as much as I wanted to over the past year. My New Year’s resolution — well, one of them — is to do better in 2012.

Without further ado, here’s my list. All 10 of the novels provided an entertaining, thought-provoking read over the past year and you should read them all.

1) The Art of Forgetting by Camille Noe Pagan

2) Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

3) Bumped by Megan McCaffrey

4) The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

5) There is No Year by Blake Butler

6) Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

7) Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

8) The Forgotten Waltz by Ann Enright

9) Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany

10) The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

Coming up tomorrow: The list we’ve all be waiting for — my top 26 films of 2011.