44. Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman – a mixed race, painfully shy teenager with a self-absorbed hot mess of a mother hopes her fortunes will change when she leaves for art school – her dreams are crushed when her application is rejected, so she struggles to find Plan B for her life – sweet and charming story with a very endearing main character
45. The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende – an old woman looks back on her life and especially on the time she spent with the son of her family’s Japanese gardener – told in the author’s trademark non-linear style but with minimal magical realism – touching story about family, secrets, and acceptance
46. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino – a nerdy high school teacher helps his pretty neighbor when her ex-husband dies during a visit – interesting game of cat-and-mouse ensues and builds to an unexpected climax
47. Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin – my favorite non-fiction read of the year – the author was working as a journalist and becoming dissatisfied with her life when she answered a Craigslist ad for a carpenter’s assistant – nice mix of personal memoir, information about the carpentry trade and her learning curve, and a love note to the city of Boston
