Library Lore: Books that I read in 2023

In 2023 I read 44 books. For my in-coherent and jumbled thoughts and opinions; see below. If you have read any of these please share your thoughts in the comments!

Feb 27, 2024

January

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin

3.5

This book was too long and over hyped, but I am trying to rate it without that in mind. I like reading a story that explores a theme I am unfamiliar with or don’t see often in writing. The main 2 characters I found unlikeable but was still interested to see where their storylines would go. The writing was clever and used some devices that you don’t normally see. Glad I read but wouldn’t run out to recommend.

Love & Virtue – Diana Reid

4.5

A bit late to the party on this one but absolutely loved it. The plot doesn’t cover too much but I loved the deeper examinations of the themes of consent, sexuality, morality and the university experience. It was serious but still felt light which I love. Highly recommend just trigger warning for SA.

Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

4.5

Also loved this and it is now being made into a movie, I also recommended this to my Mum and she loved it too. Don’t be scared off by the title it’s less science-y and more women power but in an epic way that’s not at all cheesy.

February

No Hard Feelings – Genevieve Novak

A similar vibe to Love & Virtue in that it’s based on a young woman in Australia but this is a bit more of an easy read. Super light, fun and relatable a perfect palate cleanser book covering the well-known track of sorting your life out in your 20’s. (or trying to)

A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

2.5

Sigh, I’m sure this may be a decisive one as I know a lot of people love this book, but for me I just did not get why people like it. It was 800 pages of heavy trauma dumping that felt like an absolute slog. I will admit the writing is beautiful (the only thing that carried me through other than not being able to give up once I’d already invested so much time in this book). After the first part where it introduced the characters in detail and set the scene, it felt like all I was reading was never-ending description of self-harm and child abuse. This was just too much for me and I am someone who enjoys heavier content so that’s saying something. Honestly, I would give this a miss but 2.5 for the writing style.

March

The Seven Sisters – Lucinda Riley

This was recommended to me by my Mum as a light between books kind of read (she did not mention it was almost 500 pages and of a series of 7). This was a really fun read it brings you to lots of places plot wise and in the locations. Some aspects kind of give me a child-like feel reminiscent of an Enid Blyton just in the way everything is just so, if you know what I mean. A bit whimsical with a touch of mystery, I’m hooked in now and will slowly be making my way through the series.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach

3.75

It’s not a 4 for me but 3.5 just felt a bit mean. This was recommended to me by my fiancé and is a kind of fable/spiritual metaphor type book. It is just over 100 pages so can read in a day or 2 depending on your speed and I enjoyed the story it was telling. Great for what it was but I would be reaching to call it a novel due to the style but one of those books I’ll probably pick up again in a few years.

Magpie – Elizabeth Day

4.5

I love How to Fail her podcast and hadn’t read any of her books so I picked this up from the bookshop without really reading the blurb. But I loved it. Very fresh and captivating. A beautiful exploration of fertility and the complexities of the mind. Highly recommend and I’m dying to talk to someone else whose read this because there’s points I want to discuss so if you’ve read this or when you do send me a DM.

April

Ikigai – Hector Garcia Puigcerver

4.5

This was gifted to me by my partner for Christmas last year. I’m just now realizing that this was my first non-fiction of the year and it was super light and digestible. As far as “self-help/spiritual development” books go I really loved this one. I find myself still using some of the lessons taken from this book today. It gives some great insights into Japanese culture of well-being and in particular an area where they have a high concentration of centenarians so a lot of the information is based around longevity.

Untamed – Glennon Doyle

This book was gifted to me by a friend which I’m super grateful for. It has super short chapters which I find always makes me fly through a book. It gives lots of lessons through bite sized memoir style writing. It was super fun and interactive and you definitely come away from this book feeling like a bad ass bitch.

After I Do – Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is one of Jenkins Reid’s older novels and definitely felt a different style to some of her newer books that I have read previously (Malibu Rising and Daisy Jones and the Six). It was an easy page turner on the difficulties of marriage and long-term relationships as well as the need for self-discovery and development within those relationships. If you’re looking for something light, I would recommend picking this up.

May

How Do We Know We’re Doing it Right – Pandora Sykes

4.75

I’ve had this book on my TBR list for a long time. I am a huge fan of Pandora and have listened to all of her podcast projects and am particularly loving her new venture called ‘Book Chat’. Anyway, safe to say that this book absolutely delivered lots of insightful takes on our current culture. I am actually glad I only read this now as this book is a few years old now so I find it more interesting to be able to reflect on some of the topics which were pertinent to the time that they were written.

The Storm Sister – Lucinda Riley

3.75

I find it really hard rating books because I generally love them all. But I just didn’t quite enjoy this as much as the first in this series which I gave a 4 so had to reflect that by knocking it back just slightly. This was still a good book and I am definitely invested in this series and will keep going to the end. I have just noticed that as the series progresses the number of pages increases so it feels a little daunting (I’m talking 7-800 +). I like how with each of the sisters’ stories she takes you to what feels like polar opposite places, I’m talking from extreme yacht racing in the UK and Greek Islands to the life of a struggling musician in Finland and Germany.

Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert

I felt called to read this book for 2 reasons. In ‘Untamed’ by Doyle she mentions her friendship with Gilbert which drew me to it and also, I listen to a podcast ‘House of Herby’ by Queen Herby where they talk about living a creative life and self-discovery and she has mentioned this book several times. It absolutely delivered. It’s one of those ones you can’t even put your finger on what it is specifically but every time you pick it up you get a wow moment and you just want to devour it. If you consider yourself a creative person or wish to be then I would highly recommend it.

State of Wonder – Ann Patchet

Ok this is another fun one. I am loving the journey how some of the books I’ve read intersect. So, I feel like Ann Patchet’s name has popped up a bunch of times for me but I have never picked up any of her books yet. So, when I was reading Big Magic (the book I read previous to this) Elizabeth Gilbert retells both her meeting with Ann and how she had an idea for a book that got overtaken by another and how she believes the idea got transferred to Ann. You’ll have to read big magic for the full story it’s one of friendship and artistry. Anyway, this was the book that manifested from that interaction. I recommended this to my Mum and I’m loving chatting to her about it. It’s very different in terms of plot lines to other books that I’ve read and just something to take you outside of your comfort zone.

It Starts with Us – Colleen Hoover

3.5

The sequel to ‘It ends with us’ which I read last year. I did absolutely smash through this just because she writes in such a digestible way. It definitely felt like it was written in a fairytale like manner as it was wrapping up the storylines of the first book but there were a few extra twists just to spice it up a little but still a mostly vanilla book. Perfect as a palate cleanser book between heavier reads.

The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint Exupery

This was another recommendation from Luca my husband which I found in a book store in the classics section. It is kind of like a children’s fable that you are meant to take a lesson from. Think kind of a mix between Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist and The Rainbow fish. That’s the vibe that it gave me anyway. It was a fun read and enjoyed it. The version that I had also came with an additional excerpt about the writer who made a kind of dedication to a friend in the form of a short story named ‘Letter to a Hostage’ which from what I can glean was a good friend of his who was taken to a concentration camp in WWII. I liked how the story made me think about the world and thinks it’s a worthwhile read that you could also share with children.

Our Missing Hearts – Celeste Ng

This was my first 5-star fiction book of the year. I absolutely LOVED this book. It was giving some similar themes from ‘Wild Swans’ which I read last year and also themes from the pandemic but in a fictionalized format. It was kind of scary in the ways society can be influenced but also heartwarming in the ways that it comes together and finding those helpful, loving and creative pockets of society who work for the greater good.

The Wolf Den – Elodie Harper

This was a recommendation where I was really excited about the premise but it didn’t play out quite as I had imagined in my head so partly due to higher expectations. I was a bit uninterested at the start but grew to enjoy the characters and was hooked to see how it would all pan out in the end. I won’t be finishing this trilogy but if the idea of girls working at a brothel in ancient Pompeii entices you then pick this up.

June

Grown Ups – Marian Keys

I picked this up based on a recommendation by Em Clarkson from ‘should I delete that’ as one of her favourite books and she reads a lot. Plus, I had not previously read anything by Marian Keys. This was a great book. Its length may seem daunting at 550 pages but I flew through this relatively quickly. Covering three families connected by 3 brothers and showing each of their different perspectives. It does take a bit of getting used to who is who at the beginning but once you’ve got that it becomes very enjoyable.

The Hidden Life of Trees – Peter Wohlleben

I really loved the first few chapters of this book which were more related to human aspects and deeper philosophical concepts. However, as it went on it did become more scientific and I got a little bored with the occasional interesting nugget of interesting information peppered throughout that kept me going till the end.

The Rachel Incident – Caroline O’Donoghue

A golden goose of a book. Loved it from start to finish. I may be slightly biased because I am a huge fan of Caroline’s work. This had a delicious blend of that dirty messy time in your early 20’s that all millennials can relate to and mixed in with a gorgeous friendship and juicy twists. I’ve also got a soft spot for anything set in Ireland. I would recommend this to everyone.

July

Yellowface – R.F Kuang

4.5

The other big book of the Summer, I remember reading about this book in a newsletter last December and have been eager to read it since then. I loved this book and tore through it. I really enjoyed the stream of consciousness way the book is written. I also listened to an interview with the writer recently at the age of 27 she has written 5 novels and is studying a PhD at Yale. Very impressive. This story was unlike anything else I have read and I believe the written is very talented. Definitely a storyline that kept me hooked.

Breasts and Eggs – Mieko Kawakami

I have been enjoying Japanese literature in the past couple of years and also have a new found appreciation for book translators after listening to a podcast on them by the New York Times. This book follows one main protagonist and documents some of the things women face and think about in their twenties and thirties but in a different world that we are used to. The writing feels very beautiful almost dream-like, like there’s something not quite connected but I kind of loved that.

The Perfumist of Paris – Alka Joshi

3.5

The third and final book in the ‘Henna Artist’ trilogy. The first book was by far my favourite and the others didn’t quite match up to my expectations particularly as it hardly featured the best characters Malik and Lakshmi. The first half of the book felt quite slow and didn’t have me hooked but I did enjoy that the ending wrapped up the storylines of all of the characters nicely. I definitely recommend picking up the first edition.

August

Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Copote

3.5

The classic. I have had this on my bookshelf a long time. I remember buying it when I was younger because the orange penguin cover was cute. It was entertaining to read and short and sweet and a fun read. Like a bit of a flash back in time.

The Shadow Sister – Lucinda Riley

Ok I started this one off with high expectations. I was excited to find out about the most mysterious of the three sisters, and a cute old-timey bookshop with an eccentric well-dressed man. I was hooked, but this was not to last. I saw someone on Goodreads say that the characters in this book were insufferable except for the little boy and honestly, I can kind of agree. Particularly the way that Star was treated by the men in her new family and that just because she was a good cook, she was expected to make extravagant meals all the time and little details like that just made me a bit uncomfortable. It also wasn’t clear how in her family line the clue her father left for her actually got passed down. All that being said for a 721-page book I still did read it pretty fast so it is still very readable even if some aspects ground my gears. I think I will be taking a longer break from this series or possibly skipping ahead.

What you are looking for is in the library – Michiko Aoyama

This is my favourite book I have read this year. Another Japanese novel that has recently been released. It is 5 short stories following different characters whose paths all lead them to the same library and librarian who gives them the recommendation they didn’t know they needed in that exact moment. This book was like a warm hug with an air of magic. Even though all of the chapters were told by people of different ages, stages and genders I could see a bit of myself in each of their stories. A heartwarming and inspiring book that took me back to my own school library.

The Faraway Tree – Enid Blighton

A childhood favourite that I was re-reading for a project. I just really love this book and all of its magical, whimsical aspects and characters.

Intimacies – Lucy Caldwell

This is a collection of short-stories on women-hood and relationships. Some of the stories were haunting, but only because they reflect such real and human emotions and complexes. The writing was lovely and a joy to read.

September

Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift

DNF

My first DNF in a while. I know that it is a classic but the pacing, the story, the language. It just wasn’t for me. Maybe I will return and try again at another date.

Isaac and the Egg – Bobby Palmer

This story was a little strange particularly at the start and took a minute to get on-board. But the way that it approached the tender subject matter was really sweet. It definitely kept me guessing and just when I thought I had figured out what was going on there was a new piece of information to keep me guessing.

Bluets – Maggie Nelson

I had heard a lot of people speak about this book and how inspiring it is. Particularly as I am such a blue girl myself, I was excited to dive into this world. I think that I was just expecting something different. I can appreciate what it is, but it was just a bit over my head.

When We Were Birds – Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

I adored this book so much. The writing, the subject matter, the characters. It had a great blend of different literary aspects. From the magical realism to spiritual and cultural references. I got a snapshot into Trinidad and I am very keen to read and learn more. It was seeped in tragic moments but that did not feel heavy but hopeful.

October

Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret – Judy Blume

I have been enjoying diving back into books written for children as a bedtime story for myself, hence this choice. It was such a light and fun read with a reminder of a time of life and a moment in time.

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt

I read this book at the beach and it was a real joy. Aspects of an unsolved mystery. Insights from a wise creature. A strong-minded woman. It was just cute and fun, not too serious. Plus, the octopus and the main character were very likable. That sounds funny.

This is your mind on plants – Michael Pollan

An interesting deep dive into plant medicine. I was just hoping for a bit more information and deep dive into history, biology and cultural uses of the plants rather than being mainly focused on his own experimentations. I do also recommend the Netflix series which I enjoyed a bit more than the book.

Heartburn – Nora Ephron

Had heard so much about Nora Ephron and obviously love the rom-coms but had never read this book. I read it in a day, as it is a novella so a bit shorter, on the couch when I was sick. It is fun and bouncy. Also, a product of its time so some references are a bit outdated but all in all a classic.

November

Anne of Green Gables – L.M Montgomery

Carrying on with my children’s book series. This was actually quite a long book so be prepared. I am a sucker for anything growing up on a farm describing that cottage core life. Plus, her little anecdotes and the strife, she would find herself in were very entertaining.

The lost bookshop – Evie Woods

3.5

The first part of the book was strong for me and I really enjoyed. Particularly the back-and-forth parallels between present day and Opaline’s life in the past in Paris and across Europe. However, for me it really fell apart at the end where the plot lines were to be pulled together and the mystery explained. It just didn’t read well thought out or really made any sense at all which was a bit of a letdown.

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Had been recommended this recently by a friend and had been on my TBR list forever so it was time. Very glad that I finally read this classic. It really is so cleverly written and a frustratingly accurate depiction of human behavior. Love these books which force you to consider the ugly aspects of our society.

Everything I know about love – Dolly Alderton

This also had been on my TBR for a long time and I actually read her first fiction book ‘Ghosts’ a few years ago. I did personally prefer this to ghosts. It lived up to the hype for me and was just such a fun and engaging read. I do like to read books that have a lot of hype after it has died down so that I can gage my real feelings about it.

December

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

Another classic novel that I heard being thrown around a lot and needed to know what it was all about. I picked it up not knowing anything about what the plotline was. It definitely feels like a book of two halves, when she is in New York and when her internship ends. I enjoyed this look back on how mental health was viewed and treated in this time period. She felt like a very unique narrator and I felt I fully understood her. Obviously, the treatment and misunderstanding of what she was going through was distressing, I was grateful there was a resolution.

The Illustrated Mum – Jacqueline Wilson

Another ode to childhood. When I was young, I never read any of Wilson’s novels so it felt time. I was more of a mystical or fantasy lover. This was fun to read and to me could have passed as an adult book as I didn’t feel like I was being pandered to like some other children’s novels. It was fun and interesting for a young reader but had also the layers and details that appeal to a more mature reader also.

The Last Unicorn – Peter S Beagle

Rounded out the year with a classic. Considering the word Unicorn is in the title I was expecting a bit more rainbows and sparkles vibes. But unfortunately, I found this book very dark both in the plot and the setting. It was giving Grimms Tale vibes. So, if you are into dark fantasy then you may like this, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

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