It's my birthday and I'll recommend books if I want to

Full disclosure that I totally meant to send this yesterday (July 3, my actual birthday), but then I realized that I wasn’t really in the mood to make graphics and pull links on my birthday, so pretend like I’m actually punctual, TYSM.

This time 29 years ago, a reader was born. It’s me, I’m the reader and today is my 29th birthday. Every year for my birthday, I try to find a creative way to round up my favorite books. For the big 2-9, I thought it would be fun to break down my reading taste by genre. Of course, my type-A self had to take it one notch further and come up with 29 subgenres that define my taste—and bring you two recs for each. Think of it as my birthday gift to you.

Without further ado (to the surprise of no one, this is a long newsletter!), let’s get into it.

1. 1980s: Despite the fact that I wasn’t even a thought in the 1980s, I’ve always been drawn to media from the era or that pays homage to it (See my love for all thing John Hughes, yacht rock playlists and Stranger Things). Two of my personal favorite novels set in the 1980s are THE SHARDS, Bret Easton Ellis’s prep school debauchery-meets-slasher-meets-faux memoir and SAG HARBOR, a charming coming of age tale.

2. Alternate history: While I’ve slowly been coming around to historical fiction over the years, novels that play with history have always been my jam, whether it’s a whimsical YA series that imagines what might happen if the US was ruled by a royal family aka AMERICAN ROYALS or 11/22/63, Stephen King’s genre-bending epic in which a teacher goes back in time to stop Kennedy’s assassination.

3. Art world: In another life, I’m working in an art museum with near encyclopedic knowledge of the world’s greatest works. For now, I’ll settle on reading books set in musuems or novels that follow artists. Two I’ll always recommend? THE GOLDFINCH, Donna Tartt’s epic that opens with an explosion and a stolen painting and PORTRAIT OF A THIEF, which is a must if you were glued to the Louvre heist.

4. Baltimore romance: You can take the girl out of Baltimore, but you can’t take the Baltimore out of the girl. I’ll always have a soft spot for books set in my home city (Hellllo Laura Lippman mysteries), but the latest crop of romances by my fellow Baltimorons (said with love) are as good as it gets. My faves? FIRST TIME CALLER, a riff on Sleepless in Seattle and CHARM CITY ROCKS, a love story as charming as its name would suggest.

5. Beach read: Mark my words: At some point in the future, I will live at the beach. For now, I’ll get my fix during the 50-51 weeks of the year I’m not oceanfront with books set at the beach. Of course, Elin Hilderbrand is my go-to—THE BLUE BISTRO is my favorite!, but SUMMER SISTERS, Judy Blume’s decades-spanning friendship story, is also wonderful.

6. Biographical fiction: I read a lot of nonfiction, a habit that eventually lent itself to loving biographical fiction or “ripped from the headlines” books with a fictional twist on a famous person’s life. AMERICAN WIFE, Curtis Sittenfeld’s novel based on the life of Laura Bush will be one I always recommend, but I recently read and adored IT GIRL, which explores the life of Gilded Age starlet Evelyn Nesbit.

7. Campus novel: If you’ve been here for a while, then you likely know that I adore campus novels, no matter if they’re set at a public school, a ritzy boarding school, or an Ivy League university. I reread Curtis Sittenfeld’s PREP every single September and I’m tempted to kick off a similar tradition with Nash Jenkins’ FOSTER DADE EXPLORES THE COSMOS, which plays with format in a delightful way.

8. Career girl: Before I moved to New York and got the media job I had long dreamed of, I devoted an ample portion of my reading diet to novels that followed people following their dreams in a big city. For a while there, I was convinced I was law school bound, which lead me to THE BOYS’ CLUB, but THE BEST OF EVERYTHING is one I find myself coming back to again and again.

9. Decades-spanning epic: Something about a novel that spans years, keeping us with the same characters through both real events and their own personal traumas has always appealed to me. I devoured BUCKEYE —which taps into American history—over the holidays, while THE INTERESTINGS follows a group of friends from camp into adulthood.

10. Family drama: Family—can’t live with ‘em and can’t live without ‘em. There are so many novels that tap into the ups and downs of both the family you’re born into and the family you choose. Ann Patchett is one of my all-time favorite writers so COMMONWEALTH is a must rec, while LAKE EFFECT might just be one of my favorite titles of 2026 so far.

11. Foodie lit: Despite the fact that I’m a disaster in the kitchen, I adore any type of book that centers around food, whether its nonfiction from a chef or a novel that focuses on the whims of restaurant workers. Two I always recommend? FOOD PERSON, in which a food writer ghostwrites a cookbook for a celebrity and KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL, Anthony Bourdain’s iconic memoir about restaurant life.

12. Genrebenders: Come December, my list of yearly favorites always includes a handful of books that don’t fit squarely into one genre. We all contain multitudes, right? BROKEN COUNTRY and REAL AMERICANS are two of my favorites in this vein thanks to the way they seamlessly transcend genre.

13. Gothic and eerie: Although I don’t read a ton in the thriller or horror space these days, I’m a sucker for fiction that gets creepy. THE ALIENIST, which follows a group of crime fighters in Gilded Age New York, easily became an all-time favorite for me. And if you love YA, might I recommend ANATOMY, the first in an atmospheric duology about a med school hopeful and a grave digger.

14. Hyperspecific nonfiction: Remember how I was waxing poetic about nonfiction a few bullets above? Turns out, the more niche and specific, the better, whether its BARBIELAND, a deep dive into the history of Barbie and Mattel or WHEN WOMEN RAN FIFTH AVENUE, which explores the rise of women in retail.

15. Juicy memoir: And to round out the nonfiction love, allow me to recommend two of my favorite memoirs—FROM THE CORNER OF THE OVAL which follows a White House stenographer during the Obama era and WILD GAME, a Cape Cod-set story of a young girl forced to carry the weight of her mother’s affair.

16. Literary love stories: I read a lot of romance, but there’s something about a love story that’s a little toxic and gorgeously written that really gets me going. INTO THE BLUE deserves all of the flowers for being one of the most heart-wrenching portrayals of soulmates I’ve ever read, while CLEOPATRA AND FRANKENSTEIN is as inventive as it is hard to put down.

17. Long reads: This year, I’ve challenged myself to read one 500+ page book a month. While I’m faltering a bit on that challenge (I need some motivation to get back on the horse!), if you’re so inclined to follow in my footsteps, I’d suggest I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS or THE ART OF FIELDING, both of which should appeal to my fellow campus novel lovers.

18. Magazine world BTS: You might think that I’m dying to get away from all things magazines once I clock out of my 9-5, but I’m here to say that I can’t get enough! WORKHORSE is truly the DEVIL WEARS PRADA meets TALENTED MR. RIPLEY mashup I didn’t know I needed, while EMPIRE OF THE ELITE is a must for media book lovers.

19. New York City: I’m coming on five years in New York and have yet to tire of books that namedrop the restaurants I frequent or the subway lines I commute on every day. I could seriously recommend dozens of great New York Novels, but I’ll leave you with SUMMER FRIDAYS, a ‘90s-set publishing world romance and TUESDAY NIGHTS IN 1980, which taps into both the gritty and glossy sides of the art world.

20. Retellings: I always say I need to read more classic lit, but for now, these fantastic retellings do the trick. THE GREAT MANN is an absolutely unsung riff on THE GREAT GATSBY, while Jenny Lee’s ANNA K (and its extremely fun sequel) read like Gossip Girl meets ANNA KARENINA.

21. Rich people problems: Me, suggesting books about rich people behaving badly? If you’re looking for New York City-based drama, I’d suggest PINEAPPLE STREET, while THESE SUMMER STORMS is truly Succession meets Elin Hilderbrand.

22. Satire: I adore books that poke fun at the media world (and get wackier as they go on). COLORED TELEVISION skewers race in Hollywood, while YELLOWFACE is a bonkers look at race, identity, and ownership in publishing.

23. Saturn Return: As Kacey Musgraves once sang “My saturn has returned//when I turned 27, everything started to change.” If you’re also in this second coming of age boat, start with ADELAIDE, a novel about a girl who finds herself after a toxic relationship, then proceed to GIRLS OUR AGE, which I read a few months ago and loved.

24. Sister stories: I have two sisters (I’m the oldest of four!) and find sister stories both infinitely relatable and often hard to read, as they mirror the ups and downs of my bonds with my own sisters. For anyone looking for novels that truly embody sisterhood, try SPECTACULAR THINGS (Feels apt for the World Cup!) or YOLK—just make sure you have tissues.

25. Southern drama: I went to college in Mississippi (HOTTY TODDY!), which means I’ll forever be looking for books that capture the South. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL might be as wild as it gets, while I recently adored THE CALAMITY CLUB, which takes place in Great Depression-era Oxford, Mississippi.

26. Steamy thriller: I know I said I’m not much of a thriller reader, but I’ll make an exception for thrillers that are as steamy as they are twisty. THE WINNER was the book that piqued my interest in this rather niche subgenre. I just (as in last night) finished HELPLESS and its truly Jessica Knoll at her finest.

27. Time travel: I’m not much of a fantasy or sci-fi reader, but time travel will always be the exception to the rule. THIS TIME TOMORROW solidified my status as a forever Emma Straub fangirl, while THROWBACK was a YA novel that made my heart grow three sizes.

28. Weird girl lit: I’m a weird girl (when it comes to book taste) and I’m proud! Whether its SKY DADDY, a novel about a woman who is quite literally sexually attracted to planes or A GOOD PERSON, which follows a woman who places a hex on her ex hookup, if the narrator is a bonafide weirdo, I’m sure to love it.

29. Writers in love: And last—but certainly not least—comes in writers in love, or romances that follows novelists, screenwriters, and the like. Both HOW TO END A LOVE STORY and SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE are as emotional as they are steamy.

That was fun! If we have any genre faves in common—or if you have any titles that fit in these niches to rec—would love to hear about ‘em! TTYL, I’m off to drink dirty martinis and celebrate the final year of my 20s!