As we approach the end of the year, there’s nothing I love more than taking the time to categorize and analyze and summarize all 365 days as best I can. Of course, that includes books! 2023 was a pretty good year as far as reading goes, and I’m ending the year with 12 5-star reads. That definitely feels like a win.
It took me a long time to come around to rating books with stars, and I still don’t do it for every book I read. But in general, my system looks like this:
⭐️ — Hated it. I never give a 1-star rating, because I always stop reading the book before I get to this point. I can’t actually imagine a scenario in which I would finish a book that I dislike this strongly.
⭐️⭐️ —Didn’t like it. This is also rare because, again, I don’t hesitate to DNF a book that isn’t working for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I liked it! It wasn’t the best, but it was an enjoyable read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — I really loved it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Loved it, plus a little extra something special. The “something special” might vary from book to book, but 5 stars might mean I count in among my all-time favorites, or I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to almost anyone, or the circumstances in which I read it made the experience really meaningful. So, to have averaged one 5-star read per month this year feels pretty wonderful.
(I track all my reading on Storygraph, which is like GoodReads but better and not affiliated with Amazon. Come join me over there!)
Poetry
Above Ground by Clint Smith: Clint Smith has been on my radar for awhile, from but this is the first I’ve read. My book club friend, Greta, recommended it, and the audiobook was immediately available from the library. This is a really lovely, poignant collection of poetry about fatherhood, the African-American experience, COVID, and more. It’s rare that I read much from a father’s perspective, let alone from a black man, and I was so grateful to have read this. I highly recommend the audio, which Smith reads himself. (You can also catch him on recent episodes of On Being, where he does read some poems.) (Content warnings: racism, COVID, high-risk pregnancy)
How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, edited by James Crews. I picked up this poetry collection on a whim at Barnes & Noble last year. I kept it on my nightstand and have slowly worked my way through it. This is a lovely collection, and the included poems really do what the title promises: help you notice and love the good in the world. Highly recommend to anyone looking for small shots of hope. Reflection/journaling prompts are sprinkled throughout, making this an ideal choice early-morning, devotional-type reading sessions.
Indy Moms Book Club
The Indianapolis Moms book club is one of my very favorite things in life, and this year, two of our books earned 5 stars from me. (Several others earned 4 or 4.5!)
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister: A slow-placed, character-driven book that follows moments from the lives of several different people as they each encounter a particular novel. This is a book for book lovers and was 100% right up my alley, but probably not for you if you prefer something more plot-driven or want all the loose threads tied up. (Content warnings: suicide, grief, child abuse)
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, but it explores so many of my favorite things: creativity, inter-generational relationships, New York City, female friendship, and larger themes around family and the choices we make. The writing is also excellent, full of insight and interesting observations. If you liked The Midnight Library, you’d probably enjoy this. (CW: death/illness of a parent, drug/alcohol use)
From the TBR
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Last year at this time, Annie Jones (along with some other friends) hosted a Little Women read-along. It began on Christmas Eve, as that’s when the story starts, and continued at a pace of a chapter-a-day, which meant it was a 2023 read in the end. This remains one of my most beloved stories, in any form. I was delighted that it held up, and also meant more and different things to me in my mid-thirties than as a child.
Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Hayley Barton: This book sat on my bookshelf for years, and I finally made time to read it as part of a book study with a group from church. Barton writes about spiritual practices and a relationship with God in a way that reflected my own life and my desires for deepening those experiences.
Romance
I hesitate to even include this category, because I still feel a little squirmy when it comes to sharing about romance novels on the internet. But alas—if you know me and my reading habits, you probably know I almost always have a spicy romance novel in-progress.
Mixed Signals by BK Borison: This is the third book in Borison’s Lovelight Farms trilogy, and I think it’s my favorite of the bunch. Very spicy. Caleb and Layla are adorable, and I want to spend all my December days sipping coffee and eating pastries at the bake house.
Scandalized by Ivy Owens: A celebrity romance is one of my favorite tropes, and the set-up here makes this the most believable I’ve read. Be warned: This is very, very spicy. So spicy I can’t believe I’m talking about it on the internet. Got it? VERY SPICY. It checked a lot of boxes for me, with a very well-developed female lead, some diverse representation, and a believable third-act conflict. “Ivy Owens” is a pen name for the “Lauren” of Christina Lauren, and the writing is high quality. If you like The Idea of You, I think this should be your next read. (Content warning for sexual assault.)
Mood Reads
A random assortment of other 5-star reads that didn’t exactly fit into those other categories.
Foster by Claire Keegan: Before we left for Ireland, I was looking for some books by Irish authors that were quickly available on Libby. I heard about this one on the Ireland episode of Strong Sense of Place, and so I grabbed it. It is a novella, so I read it quickly on the plane. I can not recommend it highly enough. It is a quiet, thoughtful read about a girl who is sent to live with a childless couple while her own parents are awaiting the birth of another sibling. It is surprisingly moving and poignant. (CW: loss of a child, drowning, child abuse/neglect)
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro: Some other friends and I did another informal book club this year, and one of them selected this book. I had read an earlier memoir by Shapiro which fell short for me, but I’m happy to say that this novel was a nearly perfect read for me. This is a sad book, for sure, but not without hope, and the writing is beautiful. Even more than This Time Tomorrow, it explores all my favorite topics: neighborhoods and community, intergenerational relationships, creativity, neurodiversity, and more. These characters have stayed with me. (CW: drunk driving, alcohol use, dementia, death, COVID)
The Anxiety Audit by Lynn Lyons: I believe I picked up this book based on a recommendation by someone on the Pantsuit Politics team. I read it on audio from the library but plan to buy my own copy and reread it. It was practical and eye-opening, changing some of the way I think of my own anxiety and how I can help my kids grow up to be non-anxious people.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: Claire Keegan earns the honor of being the only repeat author on this list. Someone recommended this as a good Christmas read, but I might not have picked it up if I hadn’t already read and loved Foster earlier this fall. If you like your Christmas reading with a side of melancholy, this is for you. This is a slow-moving character study about family, faith, and community. (So, again, just about perfect for me.) Highly, highly recommend you pick this up, but maybe wait until next Christmas. (CW: religious trauma, child abuse and neglect)
Honorable Mentions:
A quick rundown of my other good reads, any of which I’d love to tell you more about.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Burnout (Nagoski & Nagoski), Happy Place (Henry), The Book of Essie (Weir), The Bodyguard (Center), Forget Me Not (Soto), Frindle (Clements), Wordslut (Montell), Us Against You (Backman), As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (Katouh), The Matzah Ball (Meltzer), The Gifts of Imperfection (Brown),
⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Museum of Ordinary People (Gayle), Glory in the Margins (Grimes), The Year of Billy Miller (Henkes)
Some general thoughts about my reading this year, and looking ahead to 2024:
At the beginning of 2023, I set a few intentions: Aim for 1 book per week, focusing on reading the books already on my shelves and books by BIPOC authors. Of the books on the list above, only 5 are by BIPOC authors and only 9 were already on my bookshelves. Those trends pretty much continue if you look at the other 30-something books I read this year.
When I think about what I read to read in 2024, the reality is that my 2023 intentions were pretty much what I want to be true of my reading life moving forward: prioritize the voices of marginalized people, intentionally work through the unread books I own, enjoy my book clubs. Beyond that, the goal is always more reading, less scrolling. I think my 2024 word of the year will impact my reading life for sure, but more about that later. ;)
Here’s to stories and more good reading in 2024,
Lindsey
Love this, thanks for sharing! And I’m intrigued by an alternative to Goodreads!
Love hearing about these reads through your beautiful words, and I’m grateful to have shared many with you! ❤️ Adding several of these to my TBR as we speak. Here’s to another wonderful year of reading! A BIG win, indeed.