books of 2023
ah yes, the time of the year when we round up our favorites into a nice little list. it may seem cliche, but i really like it! and how better to embrace my nerdiness than with my top books of the year.
first of all, i have to say that this past year was the year i’ve read the most books and pages in my goodreads challenge. so that means that my list of recommended 5-star books this year is long!
carrie soto is back – taylor jenkins reid
at this point, i will read anything written by TJR. even her early books, which are not as good (IMO) as her more recent, i still enjoyed. anyway, my review for this book was that only she could get me to read 350 pages about a tennis star. her way with words and storytelling just wins me over every time i pick up a book of hers. this is a stand-alone story, but it’s set in the same world as malibu rising, daisy jones, and the 7 husbands of evelyn hugo. well, each of those are their own stand-alone story, but they each reference characters from the others.
sea of tranquility – emily st. john mandel
this is a gorgeous little book about the circular, mind-boggling nature of time travel that starts in the forests of canada in the 1800s and goes to the moon in the future.
mandel’s prior book, station eleven, was also a 5-star read for me, so as soon as i saw this was released, i had to pick it up to read. it does not disappoint! it’s a calm sort of mystery and concludes with such satisfaction. time is a construct!
the house in the cerulean sea – tj klune
every now and then, you just need a little grown-up fairy tale to give you a rush of happiness, and klune tends to be able to do this with everything he writes. this is my second book of his i’ve read, and when i say grown-up fairy tale, i mean that it’s fantastical and whimsical in a thick book with small type. we follow the story of linus as he finds out that there’s more to life than the city and a neatly organized collection of records.
such a happy, fun read to page through when you feel like you need a little pick-me-up.
the invisible life of addie larue – VE schwab
another time-drifting story in my 5-star pile this year. we follow addie’s life over hundreds of years as she figures out how she can make a mark because no one remembers her the day after they meet her (she made an unfortunate deal when young). then she meets someone who does remember her! we get flashbacks to her past life as she wandered the world interspersed with the current plot of how does this person remember her? in the end, all the questions are answered.
fire keeper’s daughter – angeline boulley
BOOK OF THE YEAR.
and it takes a lot to beat taylor jenkins reid. i LOVED this book. it addresses so much about life as an american indian in sault ste. marie in michigan.. it’s set in 2008 and follows daunis, a biracial 18-year-old, whose life is derailed by a murder and all the events that follow. from murder, to drug use, to traditions, to feeling like an outsider, to misogyny, this book is FANTASTIC. it’s dense, for a YA novel, but i could not put it down.
if you want to read more native authors, this is a great place to start.
warrior girl unearthed – angeline boulley
boulley’s “sequel” to fire keeper’s daughter, warrior girl unearthed is also an excellent read (tho not my book of the year quality) that follows daunis’ niece perry in a more present day time. we watch perry as she learns about her ancestors and artifacts, and how she tries to get back what is rightfully her tribe’s. reading this and learning more about how much of natives’ property is still in museums and especially personal collections just makes me so angry at people. and i’m going to try to be very particular about what museums i visit going forward.
ink blood sister scribe – emma torzs
oh, would you like a little witchy mystery book with enchanted magical books, family secrets, rich housebound dudes, and creepy old men who use a femur as a piece of a frame for a portrait? this book is for you!
i really dove into the fantasy genre again this year, what with reading fourth wing and addie larue, which was really weird after taking a very long break to ready contemporary, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic books for many many years. ink blood sister scribe is one of the best ones i read this year!
from the viewpoint of two sisters and the housebound richie rich, we figure out how things wind together while the secrets unravel.
braiding sweetgrass – robin wall kimmerer
i attribute my high book read rate this year to reading a lot more fiction than i normally do, as when i read books to learn, i don’t generally champ at the bit to get home to read. but, this book i wanted to drag out. i read braiding sweetgrass in bed before i went to sleep, one essay at a time.
kimmerer’s lyrical writing really makes the wisdom and knowledge of the natural world come alive and really drives home how we are not so much stewards of the earth but one of and with the earth and all its inhabitants. this is the second book this year where i read about the mass extinction that’s happening right now among bugs and amphibians (have you noticed as much bug splatter on your windshield?), but in such a way that you want nothing more than for humans to sit in communion with nature and the wild. because we are nature and the wild. big recommend on this one if you’re up for essays about science, nature, and american indian knowledge.
the end!