Books – Page 19

Best of 2023 | My Favorite Reads

Ah, it’s finally time for my favorite “Best of” posts—the reading recaps! Today, I’m revealing some of my favorite reads of 2023. I break this post into three sections: My overall favorites (which includes my #1 book of the year!), my favorites by genre, and some superlatives (I got most of these categories from Sarah’s Book Shelves yearly superlatives episode). I want to note that these books are the ones I read in 2023—they were not necessarily published in 2023. This is a long post, so let’s dive in!

Overall Favorites

Favorite Overall Book

We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres-Sanchez – When I think about my favorite overall book of the year, I think about the book that impacted me the most. What’s the book I can’t stop thinking about? What’s the book I want everyone to read? In 2023, We Are Not From Here is that book. This is a hard, heavy book about three Guatemalan kids who make the arduous journey to the U.S. border, and it is a book that taught me so much. It taught me about the light and darkness that is in people, what our immigrants go through to get to the border, and how we as a country need to do so much better for them. It’s not an easy book, but it will be impactful.

Favorite Fiction

Falling by T.J. Newman – This book came so very close to being my favorite of the year. It was such a unique, fast-moving story that was so hard to put down! This is not a book for anyone who gets nervous about flying because it’s about a pilot who starts a flight and then finds out his family has been taken hostage. To save his family, he must crash the plane. I loved this book and I cannot believe it is Newman’s debut and that she wrote while she was working as a flight attendant! I could never. I loved Newman’s follow-up, Drowning, almost as much as this one. I haven’t flown since reading these books, so we’ll see how I feel about them the next time I have to step foot on an airplane.

Favorite Nonfiction

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – What a sensational memoir this was! I read this in early February and I’m still thinking about this book and the way George told their stories. It’s maddening at times because I just felt so sad for George and what they went through to come to terms with their queerness and coming out. I listened to this book on audio, which George narrates, and I highly recommend taking in this story that way. It made their words so much more impactful.

Favorite Romance

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld – This was such a fun romance, and I love the way it was structured. It’s about a comedy writer (Sally) working on an SNL-style show and the celebrity (Noah) who was hosting for a particular week. The first act follows the two of them as they prepare for the show, and there’s definitely some flirtiness happening. The second act happens during 2020 and Covid times; Sally is now living at home since the show is on hiatus and Noah is quarantining in Los Angeles. They exchange lots of emails during this time. And then the third act is Sally deciding to drive to see Noah, and the culmination of their romance. I thought it was an inventive way to not only tell a romance, but also a Covid-era romance. I loved it!

Favorites by Genre

Favorite Contemporary Fiction

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin – This is one of the final books I read in 2023, and I am so glad it made this list! This is a book about a girl who is just trying to survive and the people she meets along the way. I found the main character to be such an easy person to root for. I just wanted all of the best things for her. The ending made me cry happy tears, which rarely happens for me!

Runner-up: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Favorite Historical Fiction

Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon – The historical fiction genre is littered with WWII novels, but I always love getting a new view of this time period from my reading. This book is a fictionalized retelling of Nancy Wake, a real-life spy during the war. The novel was fascinating and heartbreaking, and I learned a whole lot.

Runner-up: The Henna Artist by Alki Joshi

Favorite Contemporary Romance

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker – I have never been disappointed by a Lucy Parker novel and this one was no exception. It follows two employees of the royal family—a personal assistant to the princess’s husband and the head of security—and the fake relationship they have to fool the press. It’s sweet and funny and, dare I say, charming.

Runner-up: Something Wild and Wonderful by Anita Kelly

Favorite Historical Romance

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera – I didn’t read any GREAT historical romances this year, but I’m choosing this book as my favorite historical romance because I appreciated what the author tried to do with the representation elements and discussing colonialism and slavery within the novel.

Runner-up: Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian

Favorite YA

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – It’s hard to put into words how much this book meant to me. It’s about a 17-year-old girl growing up in 1950s and discovering her queer identity… and the girl she falls in love with. It’s a sweet story, but also heartbreaking. I just loved it.

Runner-up: The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow

Favorite Mystery/Thriller

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister – This book was on my list to make my “Overall Favorite” of the year because it was just so good. Inventive and clever with a really excellent ending. It’s a time travel book, except a woman is traveling back in time to solve the mystery of why her son murdered a man right in front of their home.

Runner-up: A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Favorite Memoir/Essay Collection

Finding Me by Viola Davis – This memoir was exquisite. Viola Davis had a really tough life growing up and she doesn’t shy away from talking about how hard it was. It was a difficult book to read, but a beautiful one as well. This one is a must on audio, too!

Runner-Up: The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar

Superlatives

The Most Disappointing DNF

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley – I loved Rowley’s previous novel The Guncle, and I had hoped his newest release would have the same magic as that book. But this one just didn’t. I tried this on audio and gave up after a few hours. I just didn’t love any of the characters and the story felt convoluted. And with its low Goodreads rating (3.67 compared to 4.15 for The Guncle), I think I made the right choice to abandon it.

The Most Disappointing Book I Read

Have I Told You This Already? Stories I Don’t Want to Forget by Lauren Graham – The reason this book was the most disappointing one I’ve read is because… it started to make me dislike Lauren Graham. Lorelei Gilmore! How can I dislike Lorelei Gilmore?! Alas, it just wasn’t a great set of essays. I think she wrote this book too soon after her breakup with Peter Krause because her signature humor just wasn’t there. I found the collection to be a bit tepid, honestly.

The Book I Was Surprised to Love

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb – Typically, I am not someone who is interested in books about classic music nor am I normally drawn to slow-burn mysteries. But I decided to give this book a shot, since so many of my trusted recommendation sources loved it. And I loved it, too! It was such a compelling story and somehow, Brendan Slocumb made me care deeply about his main character and his precious violin. I found myself on the edge of my seat until the end, and I found the ending to be particularly poignant and lovely.

The Book I Thought I Would Love More Than I Did

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker – I had such high hopes for this novel. It sounded so interesting: an oral history of the disappearance of a teenage girl and the TV docu-series that followed along. But it just didn’t work for me. It was hard to be invested in the mystery when everything was revealed early on, and some of the commentary on the true crime genre felt heavy-handed.

Most Deserving of the Hype

The Measure by Nikki Erlick – This novel came out in 2022 and I heard a lot of buzz about it, but it sat on my TBR list for a while. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a novel that had such a heavy premise. (One day, everyone finds a box on their doorstep. Inside the box is a string that indicates how long—or short—your life will be.) But this book was so, so good! I loved it and highly recommend it.

Least Deserving of the Hype

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak – Gah. This book was awful. It was filled with fatphobia, which is just uncalled for in 2022 (when this book was published). And the ending was so over-the-top and fat-fetched; it didn’t work for me. It somehow won a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Horror in 2022 and has a 4.14 rating, which I just do not understand.

The Book I Loved That Other People Hated

If We’re Being Honest by Cat Shook – This book has a 3.5-star rating on Goodreads, which is very low for Goodreads. But I really liked this novel! It’s one of those large family stories where everyone converges for an event, and we learn about the inner lives and secrets and lies of different members of the family. I thought it was a well-written, well-paced, and well-plotted book.

The Book I Hated That Other People Loved

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes – This book has a 4.3 rating on Goodreads but it’s not one that worked well for me. The writing was clunky and the book was poorly structured and way too long. I appreciated the representation elements of this book, but the rest of it didn’t work for me.

The Underrated Gem of the Year

Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer – With less than 4,000 ratings on Goodreads, this book qualifies as my underrated gem of the year. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (and so did everyone in my book club!) and thought it was such an interesting love story.

Favorite Reading Experience of the Year

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – This year, the wonderful Engie hosted our first-ever Cool Bloggers Book Club when we read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. For many of us, this was a reread and it was so much fun to read this book alongside so many other bloggers. I love this book and I loved our discussions.

What were some of your favorite books of 2023? Or, pick a superlatives category and answer it!

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.10.24)

Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Amazon) • Fiction • 2023

Short synopsis: Sara Parcell disappeared without a trace on a crisp April morning in Frederick, Maryland. Her tragic story was a national obsession and the centerpiece of a controversial television docu-series that followed her disappearance in real time–but is it possible that everyone missed the biggest secret of all? Ten years after these events, the people who knew Sara best are finally ready to talk.

This book has been getting a ton of buzz lately, and I thought for sure it was going to live up to the high expectations I had for it. Unfortunately, I finished the book feeling rather let down by the novel. The book is told as an oral history, which is a format I usually like, but I don’t think it worked well for a novel like this. For one, it meant revealing key plot points upfront (like what actually happened to Sara). There was a huge reveal even in the character bible on the first page! I think this book would have worked much better as a traditional novel with just a few points of view, perhaps Sara’s father, the producer of the docu-series, and one of the neighbors or friends. Then, things could have been revealed in a more organic way that would have made the novel feel more exciting. I appreciated what the author tried to do here, but it just didn’t work for me.

Drunk on Love by Jasmine Guillory (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (gifted) • Contemporary Romance • 2022

Short synopsis: Margot just had the best night of her life: She picked up a sexy stranger at her local bar and had a night of mind-blowing sex. And then she finds out that the guy she just had sex with is her new employee, Luke. She’s determined to keep things professional, but the chemistry between them is sizzling and it’s hard to keep her hands to herself.

Jasmine Guillory isn’t an author that works for me, but I was given this book in a book swap so I decided to give it a try. And it was actually pretty good! Better than some of the other books I’ve read from her, but it’s still not at the level that I want my romances to be at. For example, the phrase “burst out laughing” was used approximately 1,000 times. And it was still way too long (nearly 400 pages). She needs a better editor. (There was one scene in the book where Margot hears a knock at her door and we all know it is Luke, but Margot spends two paragraphs contemplating who it could be. We don’t need all of that!) All that aside, this romance was pretty fun and I really enjoyed the banter between Margot and Luke. They had such a sweetness to their relationship and I love the way they communicated. It’s not a romance that will blow your socks off, but it’s a good way to pass the time.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (★★★☆☆)

Print • Owned (Barnes & Noble) • Mystery • 2020

Short synopsis: In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

I had high hopes for this novel, and I can’t say that this novel lived up to them. While I enjoyed the banter between the four retirees and thought the premise was clever, there was just something missing. Perhaps it was the array of characters that were introduced and it was hard to keep them all straight and figure out if they were important enough to the story to remember. Maybe it was the convoluted way the killer was revealed that had me rereading pages to make sure I understood it all. I may try the second book on audio (although I worry I’ll be even more lost with all the characters in that format!), but alas, this book was a bit of a lackluster read for me.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (1.4.24)

Hi, friends! Happy 2024! I am back from my wonderful Tennessee vacation and I can’t wait to detail all the fun we had. I promise those vacation recaps are coming soon! I have some book reviews for today, though. These were some of my final reads of 2023, and one of them may end up as my favorite of the year!

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Libby • YA • 2015

Short synopsis: Suffering from mental illness, Audrey doesn’t leave the house and doesn’t go anywhere without her signature dark glasses. She had to leave high school after a particularly troubling incident and now stays at home, only leaving for her regular therapy appointments. And then Linus stumbles into her life and helps her embrace the world again.

This was a sweet YA story, but it was definitely written for a YA audience. Some plotholes and storylines didn’t work with my mid-30s sensibilities, but I’m sure most teenagers reading this wouldn’t mind them. This book felt like a serious departure from what Kinsella normally writes, but there were still some signature Kinsella elements, like the over-the-top mom who seemed almost like a caricature of a person. I liked the focus on mental illness and I really loved the way the author explored forgiveness—and the way that we don’t necessarily need to forgive everyone for everything. Sometimes, people hurt us in irrevocable ways and the best thing we can do for ourselves is leave the relationship. A sweet story with a lot of heart!

The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Book of the Month) • Fiction • 2021

Short synopsis: It’s 1994 and April is failing out of high school and living by herself in a motorless motorhome while her father is living with his new family. On a whim, she goes to an open mic at a bar where she sings the songs she’s been writing for a while. It’s there that she discovers her life could be much bigger than she imagined.

There’s a reason why I wait until the beginning of the year to consider my favorite books of the previous year, and that’s because you never know if you’ll finish reading your favorite book of the year on December 28th. Will this end up being my #1 favorite? I’m not exactly sure yet, but it’s possible! This book was outstanding. Even though it’s largely a character-driven novel, I found it to be compulsively readable and hard to put down. I fell in love with April and the grit and determination she had to succeed in every place she landed. She was a character who was so easy to root for, and I found myself crying happy tears as I finished the novel—something that so rarely happens to me. This is a hard, sad story but ultimately, it’s an uplifting one about the power of relationships. I loved this story so much and I want everyone I know to read it. If the found family trope is your kryptonite like it is mine, you’ll love this one.

Love at First by Kate Clayborn (★★★★☆)

Print • Owned (Amazon) • Contemporary Romance • 2021

Short synopsis: An unexpected inheritance brings Dr. Will Sterling to an eclectic apartment building where he encounters a whole cast of characters, including Nora Clarke, a woman his own age who wants to make this building the best it can be with fun events. What she does not want is Will to start using his apartment as an Airbnb-type place.

This was a pretty good romance, although I had some issues with it. I love a found family trope (see above!) and this one had it in spades. I loved all of the quirky characters in this novel and the way they all rallied together when someone needed them. This novel has an enemies-to-lovers vibe between Will and Nora, which is normally a trope I love, but I’m not sure it worked for me in this instance. And I think it was due to all of the childish pranks that Nora played on Will at the beginning of the novel. This was her way of getting Will to understand how important this apartment community was, but I just cannot with 30-something adults playing pranks like this. It was so silly and over the top, and it just didn’t feel like authentic. Thankfully, those pranks aren’t a huge part of the novel and I really love the way the story turned in the second half of the book, which fully redeemed the first half. A nice, fun romance—one I would recommend!

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.26.23)

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (★★★☆☆)

Audiobook • Libby • Fiction • 2011

Short synopsis: After Dr. Marina Singh finds out that her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, has died while working in the Amazon on a valuable new drug, she embarks on a journey to find out exactly what happened to him.

I’ve had this book on my TBR for quite a long time because the premise didn’t really excite me. I’m not one for adventure stories like this, but plenty of reviews said the same: It wasn’t an enticing premise but was well worth the read. I listened to the audiobook, which was probably the best way for me to consume this novel. I think I would have abandoned it if I were reading it in print. This was a hard book for me to rate and I found myself waffling between 3 and 4 stars. It was an intriguing story and I found myself looking forward to listening to it, but I also finished the book with a feeling of, “Meh.” I don’t think it’s a story that will stick with me and it’s not one I’m rushing out to recommend to everyone. It was a fine story, but nothing outstanding.

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde

E-Book • Libby • Nonfiction (Memoir) • 1982

Short synopsis: Zami is a chronicle of Audre Lorde’s life, from her vivid childhood memories in Harlem to her coming of age in the late 1950s.

I’m choosing not to rate this memoir because I just feel weird about rating memoirs. The synopsis of this novel gives absolutely nothing about the plot so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into. What I didn’t expect was to get a glimpse into the queer culture of the 1950s, and it was fascinating in that respect. It was so interesting to read more about how gay women were navigating life at this time—how they were finding community, finding love, finding themselves. I loved reading about all of the women Audre Lorde loved during this time in her life. She also had a lot to say about how gay women were dressing themselves and styling their hair, which was a fascinating time capsule. While I wouldn’t say this is an outstanding memoir, it was a good one and I’m glad I read it.

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (★★☆☆☆)

E-Book • Libby • Historical Romance • 2006

Short synopsis: The youngest Bridgerton sibling, Gregory, has finally fallen in love. Only the woman he’s in love with is betrothed to another man. Can he convince her that they are meant to be together?

Ugh, okay. Let’s discuss this book. It started off rough, with Gregory falling in lust with our heroine Lucy’s best friend, Hermione. This is nothing new; men are forever falling in lust with Hermione because she is an ethereal beauty, and many times, they are also trying to befriend Lucy so she’ll put in a good word. It’s a bit of a shallow start for our guy. It’s not until later in the book, after Gregory realizes that Hermione is in love with someone else, that he starts to notice Lucy. And I’ll be honest, I did love the sweet love story between Lucy and Gregory once that plotline picked up. But then things went completely off the rails at the end of the novel, and I just found myself rolling my eyes and skimming paragraphs because I just wanted it all to be done. All in all, a lame ending to this series.

What are you reading?

Categories: Books

What I’m Reading (12.15.23)

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Audiobook • Spotify • Nonfiction (Memoir) • 2023

Short synopsis: For the first time ever, Britney Spears speaks out about her life as a pop star: how she got her big break, her relationship with Justin Timberlake, her conservatorship, and more.

I chose not to rate this book because it’s not a book that’s meant to be rated. Is it well-written? Absolutely not. But did it need to be? Was that the point of this memoir? I don’t think so. This was Britney finally able to be free and talk candidly about her life. What this book taught me is that Britney has had a really, really sad life. Sure, she got to be a pop star, but at what price? There were revelations in this book that were eye-opening and most of this book was just so difficult to read. I hope she found the process of working through the highs and lows of her life to be cathartic and healing.

A Lot Like Love by Julie James (★★★★☆)

E-Book • Owned (Amazon) • Romatic Suspense • 2011

Short synopsis: When Jordan Rhodes is approached by the FBI to help with an undercover assignment, she’s originally not too keen on the idea. But then they sweeten the deal: If she helps them out, they can coordinate her brother’s early release from prison. So she teams up with undercover agent Nick McCall. They have to be a pretend couple, but after more than a few weeks in each other’s presence, it’s starting to feel less pretend and more real.

This is my third or fourth time reading this romantic suspense novel; Julie James used to be one of my go-to romance novelists but she hasn’t written a new novel in 6 years and it is such a travesty. So, instead, I get my Julie James fix by rereading her novels! Some parts of this novel didn’t quite age as well as I’d hoped (there was a tinge of toxic masculinity to Nick’s nature at times), but overall, it was a fun ride and one of those easy, brainless romance novels that I love. I didn’t have to think too hard; I just had to enjoy the story and developing romance.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi (★★★★★)

Print • Owned (Indie Bookstore) • Historical Fiction • 2020

Short synopsis: When Lakshmi was 17, she escaped from a brutal marriage and found a new life in Jaipur where she became a renowned henna artist to the wealthy elites. Fifteen years later, her husband finds her and he has a surprise in tow: a sister she never knew she had.

I loved this book! It had such a lyrical writing style and it was so easy to get sucked into these scenes in India. I was also deeply grateful to the author for including a character bible at the front of the book. I skipped over it to begin with but then as characters were introduced (or re-introduced), I would flip over to that page to familiarize myself with who they were and their relation to other characters in the story. So helpful! This book takes place in the 1950s during an interesting time in history—most especially, a time when divorce was officially legalized in India. This was a novel that focused on women—Lakshmi, her younger sister, and some of the wealthy women she hennaed—and I found all of their stories compelling. While parts of this novel made me frustrated, it wasn’t due to the writing or the plot—it was the characters making silly decisions. To me, it’s the mark of a great book when an author can get me to feel strong emotions about made-up people! All in all, a fantastic book that I highly recommend!

What are you reading?