Book Lists
Folks, 2023 was not my year when it came to reading. Having finished 141 books in 2022, I figured it would make sense to set my 2023 goal at 145 books. Well, 2023 brought a handful of pretty major life events, all of which severely cut into my reading time and I managed a mere 91 books. I know, I know! I’m ashamed of myself, too! But, as always, I wanted to share with you the books I enjoyed most from the year, though, to be perfectly honest, this wasn’t my best year in terms of loving the things I read.
1. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo I did my best to avoid spoilers for this book over the years, and I’m glad I did, because parts of it were a major punch in the gut. This book broke my heart, but also gave me hope. It’s one of those I’ll likely revisit several more times in the coming years. 2. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson I love Tiffany D. Jackson and I love Stephen King’s Carrie. So it should come as no surprise that this landed toward the top of my list. It held onto the unique format and several basic plotlines from Carrie while giving it a wonderfully modern twist. I’ve now read almost all of Jackson’s novels, and this is my favorite so far. 3. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins After seeing several TikToks about the Frannie Langton TV series, I knew I had to read it. Collins does a great job of using language that gives the book the feeling of being a classic, but includes way more spicy scenes than anyone from that time period would have allowed in their literature. It gave me Wide Sargasso Sea vibes, and that’s one of my all-time favorite books, so I really enjoyed reading this one. 4. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes In all honesty, I don’t remember as many details about this book as I thought I would since I read it way back in February. I found it the perfect amount of unsettling and liked most of the characters, despite the dumb decisions they often made. One thing I really liked in this book was the amount of detail given to even the most minor of characters. 5. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez My only regret about this book is that I listened to the audio version instead of reading it myself. Normally, that isn’t a problem, but in this case, there were too many narrators. Each of the sisters had chapters from their points of view, and each sister had her own narrator. Unfortunately, the narrators all sounded pretty similar to each other, so it was sometimes difficult to know which sister was the focus of each chapter. 6. The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya This is the third memoir I’ve read about the Rwandan genocide, and is by far the one that had the biggest impact on me. The other memoirs I’ve read on this topic took a more religious and forgiving tone, whereas Wamariya openly struggles with her anger toward the people who wanted her dead. This made her story feel more realistic and relatable. It was a very short book, though, so I hope she writes more about her life in the future. 7. Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson Oh, look! Another Tiffany D. Jackson book! This book has one of those endings that will likely divide readers into either loving it or hating it. Personally, I loved it, because it was genuinely surprising. And, like all of Jackson’s books, this one is pretty heartbreaking, but also leaves you with a lot to think about. 8. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston This book was so much better than I anticipated! I assumed it was going to be a fairly generic (though queer) romance, but it ended up being incredibly well-written, sweet, a little sad, but altogether an absolutely delightful read. 9. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier I’ve been meaning to get to this book for years, and finally decided it was time. I knew the basics of the plot before I read it, but I was actually kind of surprised by who the villain turned out to be. My only complaint is that I wish the narrator had been a bit more strong-willed instead of letting everyone push her around all the time. 10. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat This was the first book I finished in 2023, so I’ll admit I don’t remember all of the details. I do remember, however, that the ending pretty much wrecked me emotionally. There you have my Top 10. Now for the rest of my top 2023 reads in list form: 11. Loud in the House of Myself by Stacy Pershall 12. When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky by Margaret Verble 13. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi 14. Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender 15. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo 16. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan 17. Harvest by Catherine Landis 18. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 19. The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green 20. Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho 21. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver 22. A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos 23. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks 24. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 25. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon 26. River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey As always, I welcome any and all recommendations. Happy New Year and Happy Reading!
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Jacinta M. CarterProfessional Book Nerd Archives
December 2018
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