As most of you gals know; I’m a book girl. It’s ebbed and flowed with the seasons of life (insert, young kiddos) but my ideal date has ALWAYS been a bookstore gander after a coffee shop stop. This year my goal was to start incorporating more genres. I grew up on Harry Potter so you know i’m livin’ for my fantasy novels; this year I wanted to broaden those horizons a bit. I tried my first thriller novels, some fun loving quick romance novels, religious books, and self development. As per usual with my ADHD I didn’t keep track of alllll of the books I read, and there were a handful I didn’t finish. I’m going to break this list down by genre and do my very best to represent everything I LOVVVVEEED this year.
Fantasy Fiction: Fourth Wing
I had a love hate relationship with this book. (who am I kidding, I’m still in it.) This book has my very favorite elements of a fantasy fiction; dragons, romance, politics, near death experiences, female heroines, the works. Violet is thrust into a world that is both familiar and foreign to her as she begins her time at Basgiath War College; with hopes of becoming a certified dragon rider. She battles her classmates, the classes, her own limitations, and her attraction for a certain morally grey male character. Literally whats not to love? well I’ll tell ya, its the writing. Its an epic plot idea; but it doesn’t compare to the likes of Sarah J Maas. When you consider that this is Rebecca Yarros’ first book in the YA world; its pretty impressive!
Thriller: The Paris Apartment
This genre is 100000% new to me. I’m not in the true crime girlies club! But, Lucy Foley may change my mind. Not only was this phenomenal; but I also love all of her cover art. (thats how we all pick books right??) Anyways, Jess is a down on her luck gal that reaches out to her sort of estranged half brother Ben to see if she can crash with him for a bit, just until she gets on her feet! He’s a grump on the phone but she heads to Paris anyways….only to find his very nice apartment empty with no trace of Ben. So she starts to do a little investigating and finds that Ben’s life, and this weird apartment complex, are not what they seem. (Spooooky right??) This genre certainly wont take over my
Self Development: Atomic Habits
When I tell you this book changed the game; I am as serious as I can possibly be. Self help is one of my least favorite genres. This book took me so long to get through BUT that is only due to the sheer amount of GOLD it contains. James Clear walks the reader through the science of habits; why we have them, and how to change them, for good. and he does so in such a digestible and applicable way; using clear language, and anecdotal stories. I haven’t used so many sticky notes since college! This book is going on my annual end of year reading list. Atomic Habits is the perfect book to read before that January reset.
Religion/Spirituality: Why We’re Catholic
As the title suggests; this one is very niche. Here’s the shortest back story every; I was born and raised in the Catholic Church and have found my way back in my late 20’s. Trent Horn walks through a central Catholic belief in each chapter; expertly explaining where it comes from and why they believe it in a very engaging way. While this is a book I suggest every Catholic should read, it would be incredibly beneficial for any Christian. As the story beings with Trent sitting down to a discussion with an Atheist; I think its a great book for anyone curious about the Christian religion. If I’m being honest, I started sooooo many religious books this year and didn’t finish them. This one I read in less than 2 days!
There ya have it! my favorite book in each genre from 2023. I am sooo excited to keep the ball rolling in 2024 and hopefully do more monthly updates over on my instagram page. And perhaps… maybe even start a local Redmond, Oregon book club?!
