This year has been a year of tremendous personal growth for me. I tackled some new responsibilities and finally embraced much more of a Type B approach to life than I ever have. I have enjoyed life a lot more as a result. One thing that still remained steady in my life is reading - both physical / kindle books and of course, audios. I managed to get through 80 titles this year, with 42 of them being audio books. I love to have books going as a backdrop while I work, run, or do household tasks. It's a comfort to me. I set out the year with grand intentions of doing a blackout Bingo board, and that didn't happen. I did get one row of it near the end of the year, but I didn't feel compelled to try some of the squares. So in 2024, I will be tackling some specific categories (A book written in 1986, 1996, 2006, & 2016; 4 historical fiction titles; 4 biographies; 4 backlist titles from some beloved authors; 4 re-reads of previous 5-star reads; and 4 missed classics) to get some direction in my reading next year. I will, of course, also scour bookstagram and complete book club reads at work, but I am excited to branch out some. In my 80 books this year, goodreads tells me I have consumed over 26,000 pages, which is mind-blowing.
Here are my Top 10 Reads of 2023:
1. The Frozen River - Ariel Lawhon. Historical fiction is not my go-to for comfort, but this shocked the socks right off of me. It is our January read for faculty book club, and I lucked up with the local library copy the first day of break and devoured this 400+ pager in 10 days (including a week of vacationing in which I drove over 1200 miles in 8 days). There was drama, scandal, heart, wit, and one of the boldest female leads I've read since Lisbeth Salander. I was not expecting this to sweep in as a top read of the year, but it did. And this has inspired me to tackle more historical fiction this year - maybe I will find some without women walking away on a cobblestone street for cover art. Ha!
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures - Sarah Van Pelt. I know what you're thinking - an octopus as a narrator. How could it be good? It just was. Marcellus is the snarkiest, wittiest narrator. And there was some found family ideas to boot. On audio, Michael Urie (Marc from Ugly Betty) was perfection as Marcellus. He captured the snark from start to finish.
3. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy - Jamie Ford. I don't really know where to begin. It was hard and beautiful and complex all at once. Dorothy is a future-time woman who is undergoing therapy and discovers how deep generational trauma goes. In doing so, she discovers her many ancestors' voices and how she got where she is while trying to overcome her difficulties. The audio version was good in having a full cast but also hard at times because of the number of characters. I have heard that it's been picked up for a TV series, which would be lovely to see on screen.
4. Becoming Free Indeed - Jinger Duggar Vuolo. If you have watched Shiny, Happy People on Prime, you will want to read this and get some insight into how hard it was to be a Duggar. Jinger takes off her gloves and truly lays it all on the line. I lived most of my formative years of school in a fundamentalist (not as extreme as hers but still similar in a lot of ways #iykyk) environment in which fear and following the rules dictated behavior way more than faith. Jinger so eloquently put into words so many emotions I didn't realize I had been feeling since I was a young child. You will be challenged to know what you believe and why. I spent almost an entire counseling session unpacking all I realized in reading this.
5. None of This is True - Lisa Jewell. I don't want to really go into the plot because it would give a lot away, and you just have to experience this for yourself without knowing much of anything that is happening. The backdrop is a podcast, there's some mentally unstable people, and the ending is nicely ambiguous. If you're a fan of a psychological thriller, you'll want to add this to your TBR.
6. Circe - Madeline Miller. I randomly walked into our library at school near Halloween and asked our LMC (who knows my reading taste really well) for a rec, and she handed me this sweeping tale set against the backdrop of Greek mythology. It is not a quick or easy read, but if you ever studied any mythology in school, you'll appreciate the way a minor character is made into a major player in this one.
7. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - Suzanne Collins. I had tried the Hunger Games trilogy multiple times and finally dove in during 2022 before finishing it in 2023. This prequel was wonderful. There was so much good background info as well as so many good Easter eggs toward the series. I appreciated this look into why Snow was a terrible person. We are hopeful that the movie is as good as we have heard. Maybe one day we will have an at-home date night to watch it.
8. Hello Beautiful - Ann Napilatano. Sweeping generational tale plus sketchy choices from siblings? Yes please. It is true literary fiction, in that it is prose and character driven versus plot driven (that's not to say there is no plot in this one). There were many lines that made me sigh with glee. Just so nice. It was very Elin Hilderbrand without the beach and pop culture references.
9. Someone Else's Shoes - Jojo Moyes. A study of class and relationships by the master herself, this was a lovely listen (British narrators are one of my favorite things aside from Julia Whelan as a narrator). A lost bag results in newfound confidence for a down-on-her-luck woman and some unfortunate events for the owner of the bag. It makes you think a lot about how much of someone is based on who they are compared to what they present to others.
10. The Last Devil to Die - Richard Osman. I love love love the Thursday Murder Club series. Who doesn't love a retirement village full of amateur sleuths? The characters are strong and fun, and the plot delivers and keeps you coming back for more. I don't want these octogenarians to die any time soon.
So, what were your favorite reads of 2023? Did you read any of these and love them? Did you read any of them and hate them or just meh them? What are you looking forward to trying in 2024?
