This year’s reading challenge had it’s ups and downs, and I am pleased to share that I surpassed my goal of reading 60 books in 2023 by reading 63!
My nonfiction reads increased by quite a bit, helped by a number of memoirs listened to on audiobook. I also finished several fantasy series and started several others.
There were 6 books I DNF (Did Not Finish), which I find I am more apt to do now that I have a steady rhythm otherwise. Of the 6, I definitely intend to finish two of them (City of Quartz by Mike Davis and Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner) and am open to finishing two more (the memoirs of Viola Davis, Finding Me, and Sabrina Imbler, How Far The Light Reaches, were just too intense for me at the time I was reading them). The final two I just didn’t care to continue.
As always, the vast majority of these books were read on a kindle via the Libby/ Overdrive app letting me use my Los Angeles Public Library card. So I didn’t have to pay for any of these, which is great for a person on a budget. And in several cases, I recommended the book to the LAPL via their hold system because they had not yet purchased the license for the book- recommendations work, people! Do them to help support your favorite authors if you can’t always buy their books!
Many of these rec’s came from Traci Thomas over at The Stacks podcast and former President Barack Obama’s annual list, along with a few from friends!
Before I get to the list, let me mention my favorites, the ones I very much think you should read, if you are interested! And just fyi, any links on titles that take you to Bookshop.org are affiliate links, so I receive a small commission from anything you buy at no cost to you!
Favorites:
Top 5 Fiction:
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
- Starter Villain
- Sea of Tranquility
- Black Sun
- Babel
- Honorable Mentions: The Vaster Wilds, Horse, The Broken Earth Trilogy, The Stormlight Archives and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
Top 5 Nonfiction:
- Four Thousand Weeks
- The Highly Sensitive Person
- Poor People’s Movements
- Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
- Not Too Late
- Honorable Mentions: The Myth of Normal, Moments That Stick, The Art of Gathering and Atlas of the Heart
| Title | Author | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The Last Bookshop in London | Madeline Martin | Fiction |
| Poor People’s Movements | Frances Fox Piven | History |
| Rest Is Resistance | Tricia Hersey | Nonfiction |
| The Binding | Bridget Collins | Fantasy |
| Babel | RF Kuang | Historical Fantasy |
| Words of Radiance | Brandon Sanderson | Fantasy |
| Atlas of the Heart | Brené Brown | Nonfiction |
| Take My Hand | Dolen Perkins-Valdez | Historical Fiction |
| The Myth of Normal | Gabor Maté, MD | Nonfiction |
| The Light We Carry 🎧 | Michelle Obama | Memoir |
| Which Side Are You On? | Ryan Lee Wong | Fiction/ activism |
| Finish | Jon Acuff | Nonfiction |
| The Cloisters | Katy Hays | Fantasy/ thriller |
| Edgedancer | Brandon Sanderson | Fantasy novella |
| Sea of Tranquility | Emily St. John Mandel | Fiction |
| The Obelisk Gate | NK Jemison | Fantasy |
| The Stone Sky | NK Jemison | Fantasy |
| The Rewind | Allison Winn Scotch | Romance |
| Four Thousand Weeks | Oliver Burkeman | Nonfiction |
| The Power of Moments | Chip Heath | Nonfiction |
| Oathbringer | Brandon Sanderson | Fantasy |
| Rhythm of War | Brandon Sanderson | Fantasy |
| Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus | Fiction |
| Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents | Lindsay C Gibson | Nonfiction |
| Uphill 🎧 | Jemele Hill | Memoir |
| Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club | J Ryan Stradal | Fiction |
| The Art of Gathering | Priya Parker | Nonfiction |
| Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Gabrielle Zevin | Fiction |
| Crying in H Mart 🎧 | Michelle Zauner | Memoir |
| Glow in the F*cking Dark | Tara Schuster | Nonfiction |
| The Marriage Portrait | Maggie O’Farrell | Fiction |
| Writing Themselves Into History | Kim Bancroft | Nonfiction |
| The Alice Network | Kate Quinn | Historical Fiction |
| The Once & Future Witches | Alix E. Harrow | Fiction |
| Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies | Tara Schuster | Nonfiction |
| Black Sun | Rebecca Roanhorse | Fantasy |
| Made to Stick | Chip Heath | Nonfiction |
| Daughters of Oduma | Moses Ose Utomi | YA Fantasy |
| The Pillars of the Earth | Ken Follet | Historical Fiction |
| Biting the Hand 🎧 | Julia Lee | Memoir |
| Not Too Late | Rebecca Solnit | Essays (Climate) |
| The Book That Wouldn’t Burn | Mark Lawrence | Fantasy |
| The Creative Act | Rick Rubin | Nonfiction |
| Mistress of Rome | Kate Quinn | Historical Fiction |
| I’m Glad My Mom Died 🎧 | Jeanette McCurdy | Memoir |
| The Centre | Ayesha Manazir Siddiqui | Thriller Fantasy |
| The Highly Sensitive Person | Elaine Aron | Nonfiction |
| Parable of the Sower | Octavia Butler | Fantasy/ Scifi |
| You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty | Akwaeke Emezi | Romance |
| Starter Villain | John Scalzi | Fiction |
| Daughters of Rome | Kate Quinn | Historical Fiction |
| Empress of the Seven Hills | Kate Quinn | Historical Fiction |
| Be Useful 🎧 | Arnold Schwarzenegger | Memoir |
| The Lies of the Ajungo | Moses Ose Utomi | Fiction |
| Wannabe 🎧 | Aisha Harris | Nonfiction |
| Black Cake | Charmaine Wilkerson | Fiction |
| American Whitelash | Wesley Lowrey | Nonfiction |
| Horse | Geraldine Brooks | Historical Fiction |
| The Vaster Wilds | Lauren Groff | Historical Fiction |
| How To Read Now | Elaine Castillo | Nonfiction |
| The Serpent and the Pearl | Kate Quinn | Historical Fiction |
| Congratulations the Best Is Over! 🎧 | R. Eric Thomas | Memoir |
| The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms | NK Jemison | Fantasy |
If you’d like to start a discussion on these books, come and find my Instagram post about my 2023 books and leave a comment!
