Fall 2023: What I've Been Reading

As a part of my evening moment, I've been incorporating 50 pages of reading each night to unwind and practice my healthy habits. Since starting this in August, I have read ten books (hooray, me!) and would like to give the breakdown: what I do recommend, what I don't recommend, and my rankings.

Tenth Place: The Book Could Fix Your Life: The Science of Self-Help by Helen Thomson

When I purchased this book, I was looking for a definitive guide on how to "level up" my life, ranging from self-care to finances to academics. What this book did give me, however, was peace of mind. Within every chapter, I found something I wanted to "fix" about myself, yet at the end of the chapter, I was proud of how I was, knowing that I was doing my best. I would not purchase the book again, but the analytical perspective was one I appreciated. It's only rated last place because I didn't feel l didn't gain anything.

Ninth Place: The Companion by Katie Alender

In classic YA fiction behavior, this book was an easy read that followed the storyline of an orphaned girl and her new foster parents. Despite it being a somewhat predictable storyline, I loved the suspense and the author's creativity when fleshing out the book's final chapters. If I were you, I would not buy this book but would borrow it if I needed a palette cleanser.

Eighth Place: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I know, I know. This is a classic. I loved the imagery and the historical-fiction aspect to the novel, but the plot and the central storyline did not connect until far too late into the book for me. The different perspectives, while fun to switch back and forth on, would have been more interesting to read about if there was more overlap. If anything, despite being over 500 pages, the book felt too rushed once the overlap did occur. Once again, this seems like a borrowed read rather than a purchased one.

Seventh Place: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Another palette cleanser! This book made me smile and was a fitting sequel to the first; It Ends with Us. This book does cover heavy topics, such as domestic violence, assault, etc., so I do give caution when picking up this book. It was an easy read, and if you enjoyed It Ends with US like I did, this one is worth a purchase.

Sixth Place: The Summoning by J.P. Smith

I found this book in the YA Mystery section at Barnes and Noble and loved the supernatural aspect of the plot. It is hard to write suspense into a book, but J.P. Smith surprisingly contrasted the supernatural with deception. It's another easy read, but I would borrow, not purchase, mainly because I am not likely to reread it. Memorable and well written, but a one-time endeavor.

Fifth Place: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

I don't even remember purchasing this book, but it was my most recent finish! Lots of detail and imagery immersed me in the story, and while there was not much plot, there was enough to feel like the story was moving along at a good pace. I loved the author's writing style and highly recommend it for a quick read. As someone who isn't likely to reread books, I would pick this one up again!

Fourth Place: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I'm late to the BookTok community since this was viral very early in 2023 (maybe even 2022? I couldn't tell you), but this book was worth every page. The imagery, the real-world implications, the satire, everything was gold. I read this book much quicker than I expected, mainly because I got lost in the pages! I would purchase and highly recommend this to be your next read if you haven't read it already.

Third Place: How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie

I bought this book over a year ago while on vacation and regrettably hadn't opened it until this summer. While this book was a longer read, it followed a serial killer that we could empathize with (strange, right?) and showed creativity in the kills that reminded me of any good TV Show. I read this book incredibly quickly. I gave it to a friend to borrow and shouted from the rooftops how much I loved this book. Choosing the top 3 was extremely difficult for me.

Second Place: Normal People by Sally Rooney

This was the first book I read when I started my nightly reading routine, and it has stuck with me as one of my favorites of all time. College is such a confusing time, and relationships are equally as important. Normal People gave me clarity where I didn't expect to find any, laughter when I needed it, and emotions I haven't felt while reading a book since my middle-school-hunger-games era. I can't wait to reread it.

First Place: All About Love: New Visions by Bell Hooks

This book legitimately changed my life. I will never stop recommending it. It helped me through a breakup, navigating friendships in college, and motivated me to start things, even if I wasn't entirely sure where it would go from here, including this blog! This book will remain on my shelf, be reread constantly, and probably framed. Worth every dollar.