Red Rising by Pierce Brown was recommended by a colleague. I really wanted to enjoy it, but I didn’t. It was like The Hunger Games but not as good. I did finish, though I blew through most of it since I wanted to finish more than anything else. “Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power.  He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.” (Amazon) I was sorry I didn’t like it more, but now I have saved myself from hours more of the series! 🙂

Every year, at the end of the year, I look back on all the books I have read the year before and list my favorites overall. This year, my goal was again 100 books. I made it slightly above goal. The added bonus of this post is that you don’t have to bother to read any of my other posts over the course of the year. I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the blog in November (though I forgot to actually celebrate). This year I had six 5-star books and twenty 4.5-star choices.

2023 reading stats:

Books finished: 119
Fiction: 103 (87%)
Non-fiction: 28 (13%), including 11 memoirs
Authors of color: 23 (19%)
Male/Female authors: 91 female (77%), 26 male (22%)
Audiobooks:  18
Average rating: 3.9
Repeat authors: 46 (39%)

5-Star Books

4.5-Star Books

Links to my past years in review:

2022 Best Books
2021 Best Books
2020 Best Books
2019 Best Books
2018 Best Books
2017 Best Books
2016 Best Books
2015 Best Books
2014 Best Books
2013 Best Books

The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man by David Von Drehle was a sweet, sweet story of Von Drehle’s neighbor, Charlie White. Amazon: “When a veteran Washington journalist moved to Kansas, he met a new neighbor who was more than a century old. Little did he know that he was beginning a long friendship—and a profound lesson in the meaning of life. Charlie White was no ordinary neighbor. Born before radio, Charlie lived long enough to use a smartphone. When a shocking tragedy interrupted his idyllic boyhood, Charlie mastered survival strategies that reflect thousands of years of human wisdom. Thus armored, Charlie’s sense of adventure carried him on an epic journey of the Jazz Age, racing aboard ambulances through Depression-era gangster wars, improvising techniques for early open-heart surgery, and cruising the Amazon as a guest of Peru’s president. David Von Drehle came to understand that Charlie’s resilience and willingness to grow made this remarkable neighbor a master in the art of thriving through times of dramatic change. As a gift to his children, he set out to tell Charlie’s secrets. The Book of Charlie is a “genuinely original, formula-shattering” (Bob Woodward) gospel of grit—the inspiring story of one man’s journey through a century of upheaval. The history that unfolds through Charlie’s story reminds you that the United States has always been a divided nation, a questing nation—a nation of Charlies in the rollercoaster pursuit of a good and meaningful life.” It’s a truly lovely biography/memoir and an interesting tale.

Don’t judge. I LOVED Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major. Shallow? Yes. But, like “Sliding Doors,” it had real rom-com appeal and hit me at a moment when that was really great. “Dan is Emma’s person. She’s known it since the first time she saw him dressed in lederhosen on the tube. On their fifteen year ‘dateversary’, Emma texts a list of everything she should have told Dan that morning. Tell the kids to remember their homework…And their gloves. Can you defrost some sausages? Emma just forgets to write the most important words of all – I love you – and by the end of the day everything changes. Or does it? Emma is given the chance to rewrite their future – if she can just figure out their past…” (Amazon). This is a good cheesy read and one I really enjoyed.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell was a great thriller. I read it very quickly and enjoyed the premise and the fast-pace of the story. Amazon: “Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home. But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.” Parts weren’t entirely plausible, but overall, one could overlook those small pieces since the story was so sinister and compelling.

Loot by Tania James has been all over the place this fall. While I had it on Kindle, the cover is so pretty. Amazon: “Abbas is just seventeen years old when his gifts as a woodcarver come to the attention of Tipu Sultan, and he is drawn into service at the palace in order to build a giant tiger automaton for Tipu’s sons, a gift to commemorate their return from British captivity. His fate—and the fate of the wooden tiger he helps create—will mirror the vicissitudes of nations and dynasties ravaged by war across India and Europe. Working alongside the legendary French clockmaker Lucien du Leze, Abbas hones his craft, learns French, and meets Jehanne, the daughter of a French expatriate.  When Du Leze is finally permitted to return home to Rouen, he invites Abbas to come along as his apprentice. But by the time Abbas travels to Europe, Tipu’s palace has been looted by British forces, and the tiger automaton has disappeared. To prove himself, Abbas must retrieve the tiger from an estate in the English countryside, where it is displayed in a collection of plundered art.” I enjoyed the second half of Loot a lot. I almost gave up about 50% of the way through, but am glad I persevered because the second half was much better.

I am not sure where I read about The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross, but I’m glad I picked it up – it was a good read. Amazon: “What if there was a town that history missed? For decades, the tiny Jewish shtetl of Kreskol existed in happy isolation, virtually untouched and unchanged. Spared by the Holocaust and the Cold War, its residents enjoyed remarkable peace. It missed out on cars, and electricity, and the internet, and indoor plumbing. But when a marriage dispute spins out of control, the whole town comes crashing into the twenty-first century. Pesha Lindauer, who has just suffered an ugly, acrimonious divorce, suddenly disappears. A day later, her husband goes after her, setting off a panic among the town elders. They send a woefully unprepared outcast named Yankel Lewinkopf out into the wider world to alert the Polish authorities. Venturing beyond the remote safety of Kreskol, Yankel is confronted by the beauty and the ravages of the modern-day outside world – and his reception is met with a confusing mix of disbelief, condescension, and unexpected kindness. When the truth eventually surfaces, his story and the existence of Kreskol make headlines nationwide. Returning Yankel to Kreskol, the Polish government plans to reintegrate the town that time forgot. Yet in doing so, the devious origins of its disappearance come to the light. And what has become of the mystery of Pesha and her former husband? Divided between those embracing change and those clinging to its old world ways, the people of Kreskol will have to find a way to come together . . .  or risk their village disappearing for good.” The interwoven stories and the idea that this might have happened made it a compelling read. I enjoyed it.

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter was a recommended audiobook. It has a great start and you get right into it. “It’s the middle of the night in the middle of Paris and a woman just woke up with no memory. She only knows three things for certain: 1. She has a splitting headache. 2. The hottest guy she has (probably) ever seen is standing over her, telling her to run. And oh yeah… 3. People keep trying to kill her. She doesn’t know who. Or why. But when she sees footage of herself fighting off a dozen men there’s only one explanation: obviously. . . she’s a spy! Except, according to Mr. Hot Guy, she’s not. She’s a spy’s identical twin sister. Too bad the only person who knows she’s not the woman they’re looking for is this very grouchy, very sexy, very secret agent who (reluctantly) agrees to help her disappear. Which is easier said than done when a criminal organization wants you dead and every intelligence service in the world wants you caught. Luckily, no one is looking for a pair of lovesick newlyweds on their honeymoon. And soon they’re lying their way across Europe—dodging bullets and faking kisses as they race to unravel a deadly conspiracy and clear her sister’s name. But with every secret they uncover, the truth shifts, until she no longer knows who to trust: the twin she can’t remember or the mysterious man she can’t let herself forget…” (Amazon) This was a really fun listen and a good story. My only complaint was that the voices were annoying when the woman read the man’s part and vice versa.

I was really excited when North Woods by Daniel Mason became available from the library. I have read so many positive reviews. Amazon: “When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we’re gone?” I liked this one, as I do love stories that span generations, but the magical element meant that I didn’t LOVE it.