The Books of 2023

I Passed My Reading Goals for 2023

It was a weird year, but not a bad year for reading. I certainly had ups and downs, sometimes I just could not focus on reading anything in print so I relied heavily on audiobooks. Six of the 74 books I read were re-reads. I mostly stuck to fiction, but did read 12 non-fiction books. I read across many different genres, but fantasy took the lead with 34 books. I read some books with friends (one in London, one in Tennessee) based on a Nashville bookstore's reading challenge. I read other books with friends in my local book group. I completed the Popsugar Reading Challenge for the year.

I love books. I love going to the library. I love getting free kindle first reads. I love logging my reading on Goodreads and StoryGraph. I love talking about books with friends and reading books that friends share with me. I don't watch a lot of tv or movies. I escape into books. 

Apparently I like to read adventurous, emotional, dark, and mysterious books. 

Here are a few of my very favorite reads from the year:

• This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel - My first read of 2023 and I still think of it from time to time. The family connection, the struggle, the acceptance, and the love. A well written heartwarming story. 
• Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - Lighthearted, silly, adventurous, with the character development and storytelling I've come to expect from Sanderson. If you read anything from my list, read this one. Please. 
• Hail Mary by Andy Weir - A reread for me, but I just have to mention it again because the audiobook version of this tale is so very good. 
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - Beautiful storytelling! Historical fiction set in Renaissance Florence following a daughter in the Medici family. 
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - A story that shines a light on the people surviving institutional poverty, the foster system, and our present day opioid crisis with lovable characters that I keep thinking about weeks later. A heavy topic presented in a way that is truly beautiful. 
• Belladonna and Foxglove by Adalyn Grace - Murder mystery ghost story type fairytales with fun characters and plot twists. Not too heavy, easy to digest tales. I just really loved the audiobooks of these. 

All of the books, in reverse order to how I read them...

Did you read any books in 2023? Any recommendations for me? What books or stories do you love?

I'm hoping 2024 brings me many happy hours with books for company, and I hope your new year is filled with the hobbies that bring you joy and relaxation. :) 

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*Currently Reading: A Power Unbound by Freya Marks (audiobook) & slowly working my way through The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (paperback)