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My Reading Year 2023

Some notes on my reading year 2023. I read 47 books. I overwhelmingly read romance, much more than any other genre. I have no regrets about that. There wasn’t a single book this year that stood out as more of a favorite than the rest.

We Could Be So Good is the one that grabbed me from the first sentence.

Mr. & Mrs. Witch is the one that set me on my path of reading mostly romance.

Dept. of Speculation is probably the one I read fastest.

I don’t finish books I wouldn’t recommend, so try whatever on this list looks good to you!

For Never & AlwaysHow to Excavate a HeartKiss Her Once for MeYou're a Mean One, Matthew PrinceIn the Event of LoveEight KissesWritten in the StarsHer Body and Other PartiesFuture TenseThe Blazing WorldThe HaciendaThe Haunting of Hill HouseThe Turn of the ScrewThe Fall of the House of UsherWe Could Be So GoodAn Island Princess Starts a ScandalFrom Bad to CursedPayback's a WitchChef's KissSolomon's CrownThe Enchanted HaciendaThe House in the Cerulean SeaThe Neighbor FavorEmily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of FaeriesRed, White & Royal BlueNimonaAna María and The FoxThe Very Secret Society of Irregular WitchesHana Khan Carries OnYou Made a Fool of Death with Your BeautyAyesha at LastThe Widow of Rose HouseWyngrafDemon in the Wood Graphic NovelFlowers from the StormMr. & Mrs. WitchGuards! Guards!A Spindle SplinteredDept. of SpeculationNever Say You Can't SurviveBloodmarkedAmsterdamThe Long Way to a Small, Angry PlanetPiranesiThe Hate U GiveHell BentThe Mysterious Affair at StylesSteal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being CreativeGideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb Trilogy Book 1)Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

Finished reading: For Never & Always by Helena Greer 📚

I love it so much. Finished it in under 48 hours. Helena Greer has given us a lovely place in Carrigan’s Christmasland and a host of delightful people to populate it. I keep seeing different bits of myself in each of her characters and it makes me happy. Highly recommend.

A close-up view of an open book with an inscription on the blank page in a handwriting font. The inscription reads: I hereby officially declare a Shenanigan.

It is not humanly possible for Helena Greer to write fast enough to meet my desire for Carrigan’s content. It’s generous of her to give us a book a year. Yet I’d read however many she wrote as quickly as I could.

A book titled “FOR NEVER & ALWAYS” by Helena Greer, featuring two illustrated characters on the cover.

Me: I started this book last night and read only one chapter before bed. Now I’m on page 214.
W: Sounds like my wife.
📚

Finished reading: How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow 📚

Lovely and sweet. Made me cry when the main character’s mom really shows up for her. Also kinda makes me want to travel to DC.

A hand holding a book titled 'How to Excavate a Heart' by Jake Maia Arlow in front of a brightly decorated Christmas tree.

📚🗨️ “I want to live my life being irrationally hopeful. Loving people and fish and cities with my whole heart.” Jake Maia Arlow, How to Excavate a Heart

Yesterday my mom, who in April 2022 was told she would probably never walk again, walked (with a walker and people around to spot her) up my front steps, into my house, and over to the couch. This is the result of months of hard work and physical therapy. ♥️

🍿 Watched Hats Off to Christmas.

Stefan from Saturday Night Live, played by Bill Harder, says 'This place has everything'

This is the most paradigmatic Hallmark Christmas movie. It has everything:

  • a struggling small business
  • a suit guy
  • who is going back to his small hometown after life in the big city
  • a wheelchair-riding moppet
  • who miraculously recovers from the injury that made him need a wheelchair
  • a woman being stupid because of a conversation she eavesdropped on
  • who is a young widow
  • two chaste kisses
  • a happy ending

Is it a good movie? No. But is it a laughably bad movie? No. Haylie Duff is incredibly winning and the reason I kept watching. Her chemistry with her costar is non-existent but she’s so cute, I didn’t care.

Finished reading: Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun 📚

This one was so lovely it made me cry. I can’t even sum up. Go read the description if it sounds good to you, try it out. Highly recommend.

A hand holding a book titled 'Kiss Her Once for Me' by Alison Cochrum in front of a brightly decorated Christmas tree with colorful lights and ornaments.

🗨️📚 “the emptiness was the absence of myself.” Alison Cochrun, Kiss Her Once for Me