I am so glad that I’ve gotten back into reading. I used to love reading as a child, but slowed down my reading after college (stressful job where I worked too much) and then when I gave birth to my oldest son. But somehow, reading found me again after I gave birth to GM, and in 2021 I renewed my reading journey. In 2021, I read 36 books, and in 2022 I read 43 (see here for my list of books I read in 2021 and here for my 2022 reading list). This year, my book club reunited and with that plus my own reading, I breezed through 55 books!

This year’s list is relatively diverse – I read some memoirs, YA, historical fiction, romance, thrillers, fantasy and more.

Here’s a look at everything I read in 2023 – in order of most recently read to first read. And scroll down for some of my favorites:

• It Starts With Us – Colleen Hoover
• The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
• Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Watership Down – Richard Adams
• The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams
• Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros
• It Ends with Us – Colleen Hoover
• The Woman in Me – Britney Spears
• Tom Lake – Ann Patchett
• The Things We Leave Unfinished – Rebecca Yarros
• The Many Lives of Mama Love – Lara Love Hardin
• Misfit – Gary Gulman
• Mrs. Nashes’ Ashes – Sarah Adler
• My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry – Fredrik Backman
• You, Again – Kate Goldbeck
• Yellowface – R. F. Kuang
• Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
• Time Shelter – Georgi Gospodinov
• Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt
• The Humans – Matt Haig
• Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano
• The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
• Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo
• Black Cake – Charmaine Wilkerson
• Horse Barbie – Geena Rocero
• Between Two Moons – Aisha Abdel Gawad
• Hang the Moon – Jeannette Walls
• Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld
• Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
• Same Time Next Summer – Annabel Monaghan
• Fairy Tale – Stephen King
• Young Jane Young – Gabrielle Sevin
• The Sentence – Louise Erdrich
• The Secret Service of Tea and Treason – India Holton
• The Measure – Nikki Erlick
• Signal Fires – Dani Shapiro
• The Paris Architect – Charles Belfoure
• Babel – R. F. Kuang
• The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai
• The League of Gentlewomen Witches – India Holton
• Spare – Prince Harry
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• I Have Some Questions for You – Rebecca Makkai
• Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
• Peace Like a River – Leif Enger
• Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney
• A Court of Silver Flames – Sarah J. Maas
• A Court of Frost and Starlight – Sarah J. Maas
• Nightbitch – Rachel Yoder
• Assembly – Natasha Brown
• The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels – India Holton
• Less is Lost – Andrew Sean Greer
• A Court of Wings and Run – Sarah J. Maas

Here are some of my thoughts on the books:

The sequels that were (dare I say) better than the first?  

Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros: After being surprised about how much I enjoyed the ACOTAR series, (I’ve never been a fantasy reader) I had to get onto the next fantasy trend and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed reading Fourth Wing, but LOVED Iron Flame (Book #2 of the Empyrean series) and could not put it down. I can’t wait for the next book and have so many questions, theories, and more that I guess will have to wait.

Less is Lost – Andrew Sean Greer: My brother introduced me to Less and I enjoyed reading his story. But the second book was even more entertaining for me. It was a good read, and the characters are so well done that you can just imagine them being your friends.

Surprising reads:

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt: Oh, I loved this book. Is it strange to talk about reading a book that has parts written from the POV of an octopus? Maybe. But I truly enjoyed this book and the way the characters’ stories come together.  I never would’ve thought I’d be so emotionally invested in the life of an octopus!

Better as an audiobook:

Spare – Prince Harry: Having Prince Harry read his own account of his life growing up as a Prince is a no brainer. Listen to this – don’t read it.

Tom Lake – Ann Patchett: I love me some Ann Patchett (if you haven’t read Bel Canto, go read it ASAP), but this book was made for audiobook. It’s read by the amazing Meryl Streep and she truly IS the main character (she even has three daughters in real life!). The story itself was just okay in my opinion, but if you want to feel like Meryl Streep is your mom telling you a story of her life, try the audiobook.

My favorite four I read this year (in no order)

I know not everyone will like these books. Some of my friends thought the Covenant of Water was too long, but I thought it was beautifully written and I loved the interweaving of all the stories (but yes, it’s LONG!). Some people I know didn’t care for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and I didn’t anticipate loving a “book about video games” so much (it’s about so much more!) but I teared up when it was finished because I loved it so much. And The Great Believers and Demon Copperhead. Both were hard for me to read but I loved them both so much! Demon Copperhead took me a little while to get into and some thought it was longer than it should be, but I truly loved the story.  If you only read a few books from my list, these are the ones I recommend.

The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese  

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow –  Gabrielle Zevin

The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai

Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver

Some questions for you:

• What are you reading right now?
• What book did you recently read that you recommend?