Hey bookworm friends. Today’s post is one I’ve been working on for a long time because it’s a sort of timeline of my life in book-form. I read one book published in every year I’ve been alive. I was born in 1990 and it’s wild to think I almost have 4 decades worth of books 😲! Most of the books I picked are favourites but sometimes that wasn’t possible. I’ve read far more books for some years than for others. And for some weird reason, I found it really hard to find a book published in 1994 that I wanted to read! That’s the last year that I finally finished for this project. I also did my best to select books that accurately represent what I was reading at the time, generally (except for the 90s books which I read years later). Alright, let’s get into it: One book per every year I’ve been alive!
One Book Per Every Year I’ve Been Alive
1990s
- 1990: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan – Enjoyed but not invested enough to continue the series.
- 1991: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder – Assigned reading in high school.
- 1992: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis – So bleak but the medieval atmosphere is top notch, great book.
- 1993: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – I really liked it & still intend to read the rest of the series at some point.
- 1994: Something Rich and Strange by Patricia A. McKillip – Read this novella as part of Dreams of Distant Shores & did not like. Review.
- 1995: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire – I remember loving this one.
- 1996: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin – Loved it, got up to the 4th book and will only continue if it’s ever finished.
- 1997: Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klaus – Probably one of the first romance books I ever read and where I fell in love with werewolves.
- 1998: Beyond the Deepwoods by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell – The start of my absolute favourite middle grade series!
- 1999: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – Destroyed me when I read it (probably when the movie came out, I think).
2000s
- 2000: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot – I was obsessed with the movie but didn’t get far in the book series.
- 2001: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve – This was a fun series.
- 2002: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale – The start of another all-time favourite series that scales super well from middle grade to young adult as it goes along.
- 2003: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray – I read this in high school and really liked it but don’t remember anything about it.
- 2004: Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott – Read this during my very short-lived contemporary romance phase.
- 2005: Zorro by Isabel Allende – I read this in Spanish and absolutely loved it!
- 2006: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – I was gifted this by a friend and loved the trilogy. Still meaning to get to era 2 of Mistborn one day.
- 2007: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – Also gifted by a friend. Loved it so much it became my personality.
- 2008: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer – This out of my comfort zone read paid off a lot, what a beautiful story.
- 2009: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld – Discovered as a teen, loved it but I only recently finally finished the series. Review.
2010s
- 2010: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – My teenage & early adulthood years were consumed by the Shadowhunters.
- 2011: The Martian by Andy Weir – I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this one as much as I did.
- 2012: Avatar The Last Airbender: The Promise by Michael Dante DiMartino, Gene Luen Yang et al. – As a huge fan of ATLA, I adored reading the graphic novels.
- 2013: A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan – I’ve been reading this series for the first time recently but it’s so good!
- 2014: Think of England by KJ Charles – A really great but short historical romance, also read recently.
- 2015: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins – A really weird read that worked for me!
- 2016: Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan – This was a really fun graphic novel series, I ate it all up quickly.
- 2017: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden – Another favourite series, so atmospheric with excellent characters.
- 2018: Circe by Madeline Miller – This book is where I fell in love with myth re-tellings.
- 2019: Fireborne by Rosaria Munda – I need everyone to read this series, it’s incredible and it deserves so much more attention.
2020s
- 2020: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – I read during early during the shutdown and it was one of the things that helped keep me sane.
- 2021: The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec – This debut is stunning, I love anything by this author.
- 2022: When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd-Banwo – Another out of my comfort zone read that I was surprised by, I enjoyed this one a lot. Review.
- 2023: The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz – A really unique sci-fi that I fell in love with. It didn’t get a great average rating but I think it’s a very “love it or hate it” kinda book. Review.
- 2024: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler – A novella that I enjoyed because it made me think. Review.
- 2025: Once Was Willem by M. R. Carey – My favourite read from last year, it felt so deeply me.
- 2026: A Ghastly Catastrophe by Deanna Raybourn – Veronica and Stoker have my heart. As does this series as a whole.
Link-ups
A Good Book & Cup of Tea is hosted by Lisa R. Howeler @ Boondocks Ramblings, Erin @ Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs, & Cat @ Cat’s Wire
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read any of these books or series? Or, out of these decades which one have you read the most books from? 🖤.
What an interesting challenge for yourself! I like the idea.
I loved the Doomsday Book! 🙂