The 19 Books I Read in 2023
Another year over, another year I fell a little short of my reading goal. For the past few years I have used Goodreads to set a reading goal for the year to come. In 2023, my goal was to read 23 books (you know, the whole “23 in 23” thing). I didn’t quite get there but I did manage to read 19 books this past year. And while I may not have a good track record for actually making my reading goal; setting a goal and keeping track of what I read still does help me read more than I think I would without it.
In case you’re curious, here’s how I did with the challege and everything I read last year in 2022.
If you want to see how I rated these books and keep up with what I am reading now follow along with me on Goodreads.
Something else that has helped me read more these past few years (maybe more than anything) is finally investing in a kindle.
Trust me, I was so resistant to this idea, swearing that I would miss turning those pages and feeling a book in my hands. Turns out, I don’t really. And while I still love a good browse through a book shop and picking up the occasional book; I haven’t actually read a “real deal” book from start-to-finish since I got my Kindle.
I have the Kindle Paperwhite which is perfect for all the places I read the most…in the bathtub, in bed with the lights off, or on the beach (with no glare).
This list feels like a bit more of a mix than I typically read. Usually my reading list is filled with mostly historical fiction and fantasy reads; this year there are a few more general fiction books and lighter reads (perfect for all those sunny beach days I mentioned).
Last week though, I went to my first Silent Book Club meetup with a friend (which I totally recommend by the way) and afterwards we were talking about some of our favorite reads of the past year. I honestly had a hard time choosing one. While, this list is filled with a lot of books that I really enjoyed reading there wasn’t one book that was standing out in my mind.
I thought about it a bit more though and if I had to choose a favorite from 2023, I probably would pick Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Not a surpising historical fiction choice from me. As a close second on the fantasy side of things, I would go with The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (probably no surprise there either - especially if you’ve been following along on Instagram). I’m actually reading the sequel Iron Flame now and really enjoying it - at nearly 900 pages though, it’s taking me a while to get through it.
So ANYWAY, here they are….the 19 books I read in 2023.
As always, a note: Items in this blog post may contain affiliate links. This does not cost you anything additional to order through these links but may provide me with a small commission which allows me to keep sharing these type of posts.