Hello, fellow readers and bibliophiles! It's somehow that time again, the most wonderful time of year...my end-of-year reading recap!
Since I started tracking my reads by year, I usually hit around 40 books. But this year, I was able to devour over 60!
From thrillers to historical fiction to celebrity memoirs—including my first complete audiobook listen, thank you Britney Spears & Michelle Williams—I read about 5 books a month on average this year.
Many of my 2023 reads were inspired by my amazing workplace book club through the employee resource group Women@Disney. Via a Slack channel 1,000+ readers strong, I enjoyed many a book recommendation and animated discussion thread.
As always, here are some fun learnings from my reading year:
- I love a good memoir, especially by a celeb! Shout outs to Britney Spears, Elliot Page, Viola Davis, Prince Harry, Glennon Doyle and Ashley C. Ford.
- Collections of fictional short stories are rarely my thing. Not never (Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions was fantastic) but I am often left underwhelmed by short stories that feel disjointed. Neither The Haunting of Hajj-Hotak nor Cat Brushing did it for me this year.
- My brain was happily challenged by deeply researched and endlessly illuminating nonfiction titles: "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People; The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind; and Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.
- Re-reads are great for a comfy dip back into favorite waters, and a fresh take on beloved titles! This year I revisited (and re-loved) You Are A Badass; Queenie; and A Knight in Shining Armor.
Below are bite-sized reviews of some of my absolute favorites from this year, plus the complete list of all the books I read!
- How to Fall Out of Love Madly by Jana Casale: Searingly relatable tale of three 30ish women navigating and surviving a male-dominated world. Girl power energy.
- Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford: Honest, heartbreaking, remarkable coming-of-age memoir of a girl experiencing love, abuse, joy, depression, hope and growth, bookended by stories of her father upon his release from prison.
- Babel by R.F. Kuang: Speculative fiction meets magical realism through the lens of a young Chinese man in a world where translation, silver and colonialism reign supreme. Think Harry Potter, if Harry Potter was socially conscious, actually diverse and just all around smarter and cooler.
- "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon: This extensively researched, soulfully written collection of articles challenges the societal and "scientific" standards of shame, blame and oppression to unlock the humanity and compassion required to fight for and live in a just world.
- Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld: This superbly written and excellently paced novel examines: What if Hillary never married Bill? Well, she runs for president three times and...I won't spoil the rest. It's too good to not read for yourself.
- Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? by Zach Zimmerman: Funny, fast collection of essays about leaving religion; Korean spas; teenage angst at the mall; love and sex in Paris; cats; dating Satan; and many more topics ranging from totally real to completely zany.
- The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke: An extraordinary memoir of unexplainable chronic health issues, interwoven with a plethora of stats, studies and interviews, resulting in a compelling and relatable story of one woman's health and quest for answers.
- The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff: Laugh-out-loud humor brightens heavy themes of abuse, murder and casteism. It's made all the sweeter with friendship, feminism, perfect characters and lightning-fact pacing. I loved this book so much, not least because I had little idea what would happen next.
- The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff: An utterly captivating, vivid, suspenseful tale of a girl attempting to survive alone in the wild, after fleeing the colonial fort where she faced famine, disease and certain death. At times grotesque, hopeful and breathtaking. A love letter to perseverance, nature and the human need for companionship.
Books listed in chronological order of when I read them. Bolded titles are my 5-star rated!
- How to Fall Out of Love Madly by Jana Casale
- Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
- Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell
- Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
- Hurricane Girl by Marcy Dermansky
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar
- Spare by Prince Harry
- People Person by Candice Carty-Williams
- The Haunting of Hajj-Hotak by Jamil Jan Kochai
- The Four-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
- The End of Men by Karen Rinaldi
- You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
- Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi
- The Guncle by Steven Rowley
- The Latinist by Mark Prins
- The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward
- Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
- The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
- All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
- Wifey by Judy Blume
- Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Kline
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
- Is It Hot in Here (Or Am I Suffering for All Eternity for the Sins I Committed on Earth)? by Zach Zimmerman
- Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
- And Then He Sang A Lullaby by Ani Kayode
- Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
- Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls
- Happy Place by Emily Henry
- The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O'Rourke
- Queenie by Candace Carty-Williams
- The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
- The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
- Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
- A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
- Pageboy: A Memoir by Elliot Page
- Once More with Feeling by Elissa Sussman
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
- Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
- Daydreams by Laura Hankin
- Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
- Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
- The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
- Velvet was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
- The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
- All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
- Prom Mom by Laura Lipman
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
- Finding Me by Viola Davis
HR Learning & Talent Solutions @ Disney ??
1 年Britney’s was my first ever full audiobook too!! I’m grateful to have been in the W@D book club with you and alongside for our reading journeys this year! ??
Founder, What You Do Matters - Career & Leadership Development | Helping leaders conquer challenges & find joy in what they do | Speaker, Workshop Facilitator, Talent Development Consultant ??
1 年So many great reads!
Communications Professional| People Person|Performance-Driven
1 年So impressive!
Grew a $30M graduate cybersecurity program to $117M annual revenue in 3.5 years!
1 年That's an amazing pace! For a new one, explore "Bring Inner Greatness Out: Personal Brand." This book teaches people to discover themselves, find their purpose, understand their perceived limitations and instead of lamenting them, make these the foundations of their greatness. Ebook or audiobook on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAED8oTfh2M Print version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L5Y7DF1