I decided to go back and make a list of my 15 favorite stand-alone books that I have reviewed on Reading Matters from 2015 – 2025. Each of these novels affected me deeply and I highly recommend all of them. In no particular order here are my favorites

Life and Other Near Death Experiences by Camille Pagan.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
New Grub Street by George Gissing
Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
Earth Abides by George Stewart
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
Middlemarch by George Elliot
Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Last talk with Lola Faye by Thomas Cook
The Shining by Stephen King
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
Call of The Wild by Jack London