When I became a first-time mom last year, I was very nervous about reading and staying to my typical volume of books read per year. I remember making a pact that I would not focus on the quantity, but rather the quality and success of reading. Juggling a newborn and work and life and reading and hobbies is hard, so any book read is a win!

This year, I found my stride and read 58 books. I am super proud of this accomplishment. As I welcome another baby into this work (one month to go!) I anticipate the same struggle of balance but know that I will still find time to flip through books and do what I love.

Thank you for following my blog and reading my monthly wrap-ups. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

Without further ado, my 2023 bookish wrap-up (with star ratings):

1. The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty – 4.0
2. Adult Assembly Required (The Bookish Life of Nina Hill #2) by Abbi Waxman – 2.0
3. Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham – 3.5
4. The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden – 4.0
5. Felicity: Poems by Mary Oliver – NR (no rating)
6. Bloodmarked (The Legendborn Cycle #2) by Tracy Deonn – 5.0
7. The Winners (Beartown #3) by Fredrik Backman – 3.5
8. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Finlay Donovan #3) by Elle Cosimano – 3.0
9. Why I Wake Early: New Poems by Mary Oliver – NR
10. Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades – 4.0
11. Good Bones: Poems by Maggie Smith – NR
12. The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) by S.A. Chakraborty – 4.25
13. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown – 3.0
14. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin – 5.0
15. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson: 2.75
16. Maame by Jessica George – 3.0
17. Blue Horses: Poems by Mary Oliver – NR
18. Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World by Eve Rodsky – 3.75
19. Please Love Me at My Worst: Poems by Michaela Angemeer – NR
20. The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty – 4.0
21. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang – 4.0
22. The It Girl by Ruth Ware – 4.5
23. The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) by Lemony Snicket – 2.5
24. The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager – 2.0
25. Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver – NR
26. The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events #2) by Lemony Snicket – 2.5
27. Look Closer by David Ellis – 3.5
28. Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon – 3.5
29. Happy Place by Emily Henry – 2.0
30. The Only One Left by Riley Sager – 4.0
31. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame – 3.75
32. The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks – 3.0
33. A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas – 4.0
34. There There by Tommy Orange – 5.0
35. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – 5.0
36. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – 2.75
37. Zero Days by Ruth Ware – 2.0
38. A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales – 5.0
39. The Lonely Hearts Bookclub by Lucy Gilmore – 4.0
40. Home Body: Poems by Rupi Kaur – NR
41. Going There by Katie Couric – 2.75
42. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett – 5.0
43. The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab – 3.75
44. Dream Work: Poems by Mary Oliver – NR
45. The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power #1) by V.E. Schwab – 5.0
46. Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros – 4.0
47. Clarity & Connection: Poems by Yung Pueblo – NR
48. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – 4.0
49. Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros – 3.75
50. The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer – 3.5
51. The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox – 3.0
52. The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss – 3.0
53. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
54. Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett – 4.0
55. A Winter in New York by Josie Silver – 2.5
56. The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology #1) by Holly Black – 4.0
57. Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien – 5.0
58. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – 5.0

See any that you read this year? Check out my Top 5 Books of 2023 for more details!