Top 10 Reads of 2023
Another year is over, and that means it’s time to reflect on my favorite books I read (or listened to in the middle of the night while nursing, as the case often was) in 2023. I didn’t read as much as I would have liked in 2023 — in fact, if it hadn’t been for my online book club, I don’t think I would have read anything between January and July. While pregnant I found that I didn’t just not have the attention to read, thanks to my anxiety, but I honestly didn’t have the capacity. After a day (or week) of work, staring at a computer screen or presenting to clients on Zoom, I just couldn’t take in the written word. Sure, I would listen to the occasional audiobook, but I struggled to read. That said, thanks to the bookclub, I still persevered my way through a few, and then once our son arrived, the number of books I read tripled.
As I’ve gotten back into reading over the last 6 months, and I’ve found my way back to the bookish corners of the internet, joined additional book clubs, and bonded over the latest, greatest buzzy books, I’ve been thinking a lot about reading challenges. Generally speaking, reading challenges aren’t for me. I’m all too familiar with life going topsy-turvy out of the blue, pushing aside plans and goals. Reading challenges often feel like setting myself up for failure. After all, is my life so very different this year for only reading 59 books versus 60 or 70? Obviously not. That said, comparing the first half of the year, when I read very little, to the half of the year where I couldn’t stop consuming books (thanks to midnight feeds and the wonders of the Libby app), the quality of my life improves when I made time to read. Perhaps I’ve misunderstood the point of reading goals. Perhaps setting a reading goal isn’t about reading x amount of books. Perhaps it’s a tool to help prioritize one’s time, to declare the written word to be a core value, and to make time for that value. Will I set a defined reading goal of my own this year? I haven’t decided yet, but maybe. That said, I did decide to jump on the Goodreads bandwagon (and Storygraph — testing both to see which I like best) so anyone curious to keep up with my reading journey in real-time, feel free to follow along.
That all said, looking back on this year, I read some good ones and my love of fantasy shines through. One of the biggest surprises for me this year was discovering several imaginative fantasies that didn’t feel like anything I’d read before. Anyway, here’s my top 10, in the order in which I read them:
(Curious what Austin read in 2023? Here’s his list!)
Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo (fantasy):
The much-anticipated sequel to Bardugo’s The Ninth House did not disappoint. Picking up where the first book left off on the grounds of Yale and its secret societies, Hell Bent opens with Galaxy “Alex” Stern facing the consequences of losing Daniel “Darlington” Arlington and desperate to save him. At the same time, mysterious deaths plague the campus. As Alex and her (somewhat reluctant) friends work to hold back the doors of hell and the demons behind it, they also have to face the ghosts and demons of their pasts. It’s dark, it’s brutal, but I found it absolutely captivating.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (fantasy):
Imagine that you set off to a remote Scandinavian country to study the (very real) Fae and your frustratingly beautiful and mysterious academic colleague/rival shows up. Such is the setting of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, where Emily Wilde shows up in the fictional village of Hrafnsvik. Having visited Scandinavia, I can confidently say that it doesn’t take much imagination to believe that communities of fae do wander the woods and watch from behind fjords. This book was everything I wanted: fairytale references, captivating characters, romantic tension, beautiful setting, wonderful plot.
Vicious, V. E. Schwab (science fiction/ fantasy):
I truly admire that no one of V. E. Schwab’s books feels the same. I loved the Invisible Life of Addie Larue and her Darker Shade of Magic series — Vicious felt completely different. Taking the stereotypical superhero origin story and turning it on its head, this book explores the definitions of heroes and villains and the tenuous boundary between the two. The characters and their choices made me question what makes someone a hero, and whether they really exist at all. I couldn’t put it down.
Everything Happens For a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved), Kate Bowler (memoir/theology):
Kate Bowler reflects on the various personal tragedies in her life, ultimately focusing on her stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis and treatment journey and how to make sense of these tragedies alongside the reality of an omnipotent God. As a researcher of the Prosperity Gospel, Bowler shares both its appeal and its flaws, gently reminding the reader that sometimes life is hard. Really, really hard. But God remains good and present. We’ve all had our own tragedies, our own despair. That’s the power of this book — we all know what it feels like for our very world to fall out of alignment and wonder where God is in all of it. And the answer to our question is that He’s there, in the middle of our despair with us. It’s a beautiful, brutal, faithful, relateable, heartbreaking, and yet, somehow, hopeful book.
Educated, Tara Westover (memoir):
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Educated since it splashed onto bookstore shelves and bookclub reads a handful of years ago. Since then it’s held a place of honor at the top of my ever-growing TBR, and this summer I finally crossed it off. It did not disappoint. Challenging to read and yet impossible to put down, this memoir of family and abuse, love and loss, and the education the author found in between had me rooting for her from page one.
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (fiction):
You know a book has become more than a darling of booklists and bookclubs everywhere and become a cultural phenomenon when Apple TV decides to make a mini-series of it. That said, this is a popular book for good reason. What begins as a reflection on being a woman in a man’s world quickly becomes a tragic love story, the journey of motherhood, and the search for family and self. Ultimately it’s the story of a brilliant woman’s unshakeable belief in herself and the women around her. It’s touching and funny and sad and wonderful all at once. 2023 was for the girlies, after all, and Lessons in Chemistry got the memo.
Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (fantasy):
If you spend any time on the infamous booktok, chances are you’ve stumbled across Fourth Wing and its much-anticipated sequel, Iron Flame. I read both back to back this fall and, while this might be a hot take, I preferred the sequel. It has everything I was looking for in a fast-paced fantasy romance — dragons, geopolitical drama, and a magical secret that people are willing to do anything to keep hidden. Oh and romance too. Admittedly, I could have used a bit less spice, but fans of the genre love it. Its use of fantasy tropes kept the story familiar, but still used them in interesting ways, keeping the narrative fresh, and the cliffhanger left me desperate for more.
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (fiction):
Another book I read with my local new mom book club, this novel features an older woman on the brink of retirement, a wayward millennial looking for family, and a remarkably bright octopus who unites them. It’s a story about the ties that bind, and how the ones we love never truly leave us. The first two-thirds of the book is quite sad, but the payoff in the final third is absolutely beautiful. It’s one of the year’s buzziest books, and all for good reason.
The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert (fantasy):
If you’re anything like me and half believe that the mountains and woods of upstate New York hold magical secrets, in the world of The Hazel Wood, you’d be right. Alice spends her whole life on the run from the mysterious bad luck that pursues her and her mother Ella, who refuses to share any information about Alice’s reclusive author grandmother until the malevolent characters from her grandmother’s stories show up on the streets of New York. A gripping tale where stories have power, but where we also have power over what our stories are and to change the ones in which we find ourselves. It’s dark, it’s sad, it’s beautiful; I loved every bit of it.
Curious Tides, Pascale Lacelle (fantasy):
Described by Goodreads as a cross between The Ninth House and A Deadly Education (two of my favorite books of the last few years), it’s no shock that this was my absolute favorite book I read in all of 2023. I stumbled across the title, heard it was good and was intrigued. I borrowed it from Libby knowing next to nothing about it, and I’m so glad I did. Combining elements of dark academic with a dark ocean aesthetic, Curious Tides relates the story of mediocre magical student Emory coping with the guilt of surviving a secret ritual in notoriously dangerous sea caves, a ritual that no one else, including her best friend, survived. In the following months, she realizes that the ritual changed her fundamentally and that perhaps there was even more to the ritual than she thought. Desperate to figure out what happened to her, and to her friend, Emory discovers a whole lot more than she bargained for — including, possibly, the origin of the world’s drowned gods. It’s a magnetic story, combining breathtaking aesthetics and a unique magic system, based on the tides and phases of the moon, resulting in a story unlike anything I’d ever read before.
Honorable Mentions:
Thought I’d borrow from my husband’s book round-up of the year and include one-sentence reviews of my runner-ups for my top ten reads. Unlike the previous list, this one is ranked in terms of favorites.
Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry (literary fiction): An older woman reflects on her life in the small town of Port William, KY, all its sorrows and joys, its twists and turns, at the end of her life.
Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes (fiction): Another fantastic (if depressing) installment in the Greek mythology told from the women’s perspective sub-genre, this retelling of the legend of Medusa reduces the terrifying tale to that of a mistreated girl, who ends up more an object in her own myth, tossed around by stronger personalities, which is, perhaps, the whole point.
Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doer (literary fiction): A gripping, dreamlike tale woven across centuries about a story so wonderful and transformative that it changes, shapes, and redeems those who pay attention to its words.
Library of the Unwritten, A. J. Hackwith (fantasy): I have a soft spot for the fantasy niche of books about books, so needless to say I was intrigued by this tale of fallen angels, ambitious demons, stubborn librarians, curious muses, and forbidden books, who race across pantheons and worlds to control one of the most powerful books in existence.
The Fifth Trimester (The Working Mom’s Guide to Style, Sanity, & Big Success After Baby), Lauren Smith Brody (non-fiction): I so wish I’d read this sooner than the week before my maternity leave ended but still glad I squeezed it in at all — funny, relatable, inspiring, and empowering!
