My favorite books of 2023 (and how to read more in 2024)
I’ve loved reading my whole life, and 2024 was no exception! I completed my goal (for the fourth year in a row!) of 100 books in a year. I read mostly fiction, mostly by female writers, mostly somewhat modern–but I also reread a few of my absolute favorites (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Power of One) and some high school literature classics I never read in high school (Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird).
Below are the books that I loved the most this year, although honestly: I quite enjoyed most of the books that I read. My general rule of thumb is that if it has a 4+ rating on Goodreads, it’s probably going to be pretty good–and so I try to start with those higher rated options.
Fiction
The Bee Sting: the 100th book I read, and man! Way to end on a high note.
Bright Young Women: I read a lot of true crime and listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, and this perspective from an almost-victim totally turned the true crime industry on its head for me.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store: gorgeous character-driven writing.
Shark Heart: wholly original and beautiful and strange and wonderful. Some lyrical turns of phrase, and it’s just weird and yet, hard to put down. I loved it.
Hello Beautiful: a layered family drama with great characters.
What Strange Paradise: told through the perspective of a child, this illuminated the refugee
Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver can do no wrong in my opinion, but this is a true masterpiece of our generation:
Non-fiction
These Precious Days: this collection of essays was the first book I read in 2023, and it was a truly perfect start to the year.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder: full of fun facts about scurvy that I have been quoting in everyday conversation ever since reading it.
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and A Dangerous Obsession: hard to put down, and hard to believe this happened just 20ish years ago.
A Heart That Works: this is written by a father about his small child who dies, and it is just as absolutely heart-wrenching as you could imagine.
Jojo’s Picks
Do Cows Meow?: lift the flap, learn all of the sounds of the animals. What’s not to love?
Who Am I?: another interactive way to learn all of the sounds of the animals.
Mail Duck: if there is a theme for Jojo’s reading this year, it’s that we love a flap to lift. This ode to the USPS is also full of shapes, and Jojo is deeply obsessed right now with finding ALL of the apples on the circle page.
The Littlest Family’s Big Day: a beautiful little day with a very nice ending at home: one of our favorite before-bed books.
Pug is Happy: we are biased because it looks *just like Gertie* but also a great way to talk about all of our different feelings!
You Are New: Jojo is currently a big fan of saying “BABY” to all of the babies in this book, of which there are many.
Jojo & Dada: I made a custom Artifact Uprising book for Father’s Day (and another one of all of our family for Christmas) and it is a BIG hit.
How to Read More in 2024
Always have a book with you. Instead of scrolling your phone, have a book on hand. Manicures, doctors appointments, waiting for a barre class to start, waiting to grab a coffee, standing in line, any waiting room ever: I do my best to read a book whenever I have a few spare moments. This is why I do love having a Kindle: I use it exclusively for library books, but it’s so much lighter and easier to always have in my bag.
Join the library. I use it mostly for free books on my Kindle, but I also discovered the joy of the express book stand! Basically, all of the popular books that are generally on the waitlist are available for a shorter check-out period if you manage to snag them. I’ve started popping into my local library just to do a quick scan to see if any books on my to-read list are available, and I’ve been very lucky this year. And again: all free! The magic!
Set up a bedtime routine. This is 100% the reason why I’m able to read as much as I do. I start my bedtime routine an hour before I want to go to sleep every night, and the first thing I do is leave my phone in another room: the first 30 minutes is generally washing my face and brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, but then I generally have 30 minutes or so to read before I go to sleep. The key part of this: leaving my phone in another room. I am just as guilty of getting distracted by my phone if it’s right next to me, so if I really want to read, I do my best to put it somewhere else.
Read good books. Alternate title: read books you like. If you hate a book, don’t force yourself to finish it. If you know you hate fantasy books–even though everyone is saying this new fantasy book is the best–know thyself and don’t force yourself into it. And if you know you love romance books: read those!
If you are looking for somewhere to start, these are my most recommended books with a 10/10 success rate: Lonesome Dove (don’t be intimidated by the length–it takes a second to get into, but then you’ll never want to leave the plains), Pillars of the Earth (similar to Lonesome Dove, it’s long but easy to read and hard to put down), Great Circle (historical fiction with a fantastic woman protagonist), Still Life (immediately, and still, makes me want to be sipping a spritz on a sunny Italian courtyard–just brilliant characters), Being Mortal (it’s about death, but I found it to be a gripping and necessary read) and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (a classic for a reading–some of my favorite sentences ever).
Use a service like Book of the Month. If you struggle with finding new books to read, I love something like Book of the Month. It’s easy to skip if nothing speaks to you, but I have found so many great books through this–especially outside of the normal genres I read.
Find a local bookstore you love and support them! My personal favorites: The Book Catapult in San Diego, and Books are Magic and Strand in New York City. Honestly, it makes it so much more fun to read and discover new books in a place that you love with people you like.
What was your favorite book of 2023? What are you most looking forward to reading in 2024?
