What I’ve Read So Far in 2023
With all my new paperback and hardcover books from book box subscriptions over the past few years, I have a lot of unread books! One thing I always dreamed of was having a home library and extensive book collection, and so I’ve experienced joy just from owning a lot of books, especially ones with pretty covers. Book box subscriptions tend to release books with special covers, signed editions, and other perks, and so my shelves are filled with aesthetically pleasing books.
Not to mention, I also read ebooks and listen to audiobooks, and so I have quite the digital collection, too. Plus, I frequently peruse the Libby app, and sometimes I even use Scribd, which is my favorite way to read books digitally because it’s only $9.99 a month and I can read as many books as I want* each month.
*If there’s a monthly reading limit, I’ve never hit it personally, and can only speak to that. You’d have to check Scribd’s policies to determine if they do have a monthly reading limit.
Here’s a big fun-to-scroll collection of what I’ve read this year, which I’ll summarize at the end of this post:
As you can see, I’ve read various genres in these first six months of 2023: romance, fantasy, poetry, nonfiction. I’ve read memoir and books on writing and shapeshifter and fairy tale retelling and so many different types of stories.
It was interesting to scroll through my 2023 Goodreads challenge and see that I started out this year by reading fantasy, then a bit of poetry and nonfiction, and lately I’ve been speed reading romance novels. I’m a total mood reader, and even though I’ll make big plans for ‘books I’ll read this year’ or whatever, unless I owe someone an ARC review, I read whatever appeals to me the most at the time.
What about you: Are you a mood reader or do you stick to a planned TBR?
As of today, I’ve read 43 books this year! My goal was 52 books for the year (one a week seemed like a lofty goal at the beginning of the year) and I’m already 83% complete. So, I might end up stretching my goal to 60, 65, 70… or I might just go over and leave the goal at 52, because who knows how busy the second part of the year could end up.
Anyway.
Out of the 43 books I’ve read so far, I have some favorites:
Red, White, and Royal Blue
by Casey Mcquiston
I listened to this one as an audiobook and it was so lovely all the way through. Fantastic characterization, fascinating political plot, and beautiful love story that persisted even across an ocean.
Book Lovers
by Emily Henry
Um, a novel about books and romance? As a book lover myself, yes please! This was brilliantly plotted and full of mystery, sweet characters, and small town goodness.
Monk of Death
by Katherine D. Graham
Graham’s world building always catches my attention, which is one reason why she’s one of my favorite indie fantasy authors. This was an interesting novel with fantastic world building, characterization, and lots of mystery (with more to be revealed in future installments of The Lords’ Gambit series).
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