I kicked off my 2023 reading year with three 5-star reads in a row! I feel like that very rarely happens, so it’s always a pleasant surprise when it does. Here are three books I would highly recommend!
Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis (★★★★★)
This was such a lovely book to start my 2023 reading year. It’s about Noelle and Sam who find themselves spending eight hours together on a random winter afternoon when a blizzard closes down the roads and they find themselves stuck on a highway, waiting for it to reopen. Noelle needs a phone charger and Sam can help with that. They have a sweet time together, getting to know each other while Noelle charges her phone, but then the roads open and they leave, never to see each other again. Except they do. Over the next few months, chance encounters put them together again and again and again, until Noelle has to ask, “Is this fate?” I love the way Lia Louis writes romances (I rated her other book, Dear Emmie Blue, 5 stars as well!) Noelle’s story just pulled at my heartstrings and I love all of the secondary plots happening in the midst of her love story with Sam, which really didn’t take center stage until late into the book. It’s a slow-burn romance with no sexy scenes, so it’s the perfect one if you’re just looking for a sweet story about a girl trying to find herself.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (★★★★★)
I was hoping to get to this book last year, but I didn’t request it in time. If I had, it most definitely would have been my favorite myster/thriller of the year! (So yes, it’s already a contender for a favorite of 2023.) This book has gotten so much buzz and I was so worried it would fall flat for me, but it lived up to all of my expectations! In this novel, Jen witnesses her 17-year-old son murder a stranger right in front of her. He’s arrested and she goes to sleep that night filled with fear and worry and crushing heartbreak. The next morning, she wakes up and it’s the day before the murder. The next time she wakes up, it’s two days before the murder. Over and over again, Jen wakes up on a day she’s already lived and she soon realizes she’s in a time loop and she doesn’t know why. Is she supposed to stop the murder? Is she supposed to find out why her teenage son becomes a murderer? This novel was filled with so many twists and turns, and I loved every single minute of it. It was such an inventive way to tell the story and the ending was *chef’s kiss*. A must read, if you love thrillers!
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny (★★★★★)
This is the 18th (!!) book in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, and how Louise Penny continues to write such perfect books so far into a series is beyond me. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty details of this book because this series MUST be read in chronological order, and I don’t want to give any plot points away for those of you who are not as far into the series as I am. What I will say about this novel is that the central mystery was excellent and I just love the way Penny plays with these ideas of criminal psychology and fear and love and culture. It all comes together in such a unique way. This book was pretty dark at times, but still, I loved it so very much.
What are you reading?
I’m reading Happy Go Lucky by David Sedaris and it’s pretty dark! I am tearing through it, but it’s not laugh-out-loud funny like many of his others. It deals with his father and their relationship, and I would not recommend this one to you, just FYI!
I am reading Upgrade by Blake Crouch but haven’t been able to really get into it yet. And I’m downloading the audio version of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo which I have been waiting for for years!!!
Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye is the ultimate forced proximity book in which the two characters are trapped in an elevator and when they come out, they’re together. I think about that book so much – I can’t even tell you if it’s good or not, but I love it – and your description of Eight Perfect Hours reminded me of it, so I added it to my romance TRR in hopes that it can live up to Hearts in Darkness.
Everyone is talking about Wrong Place, Wrong Time and now I have to read it! I’m putting a library hold on it. Actually, all three of these sound good. I don’t usually read romance but Eight Perfect Hours seems like something I might like.
Gillian’s Book is on my to-read list. I remember her back from the VEDA days… it’s amazing how far she’s come as an author!
Wow, these all sound so so good! I need to add the first two to my TBR!!!!
What a wonderful to start the reading year. I dont think I ever managed to pick three books with 5 star ratings in a row.
I noted down the first one for my next seasonal reading. And Wrong Time Wrong Place is on my TBR<. I hope I will read it soon.