The Ten Books I Read in 2023 That I’d Take With Me to a Desert Island

Lo and Behold, here are the top ten books I read in 2023. Drumroll please 🥁

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

This is actually one of my favorite reads in a while. Gabrielle Zevin writes the story wonderfully and she writes miscommunication in a way that’s actually believable. It’s often aggravating miscommunication, but when you think of the characters and the characterization, their actions are understandable. I found the plot to be captivating and exciting, and I found most of the characters lovable. It’s arguably the most unique story I read in 2023!

Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by Myeongseok Kang

What this story does so well is it captures what the members of BTS had to overcome in order to be where they are at today. This book is translated from Korean to English and loses some nuance in that translation, and yet, I loved the book for the content alone. I loved how all this information was placed in a single place, all the QR codes to the references to their music, and the fact that BTS provided their experiences in their own words. This made me fall in love with them even more, if that was even possible. If you’re a fan of BTS and want to learn more about their story, the official book of BTS is a great place to start!

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

This was another memoir that I read this year, and while the pace was rather slow for me, I really enjoyed this read. It’s about a woman who, after her mother passed away from cancer, reflects on her childhood and relationship with her mother, particularly when she’s cooking Korean food. She recalls memories of growing up and how, despite her tumultuous relationship with her mother, loved her very much and came to understand the ways love was displayed through cooking and other love languages.

As a halfsie (European and Filipina), I could relate to the author’s desire to connect with her culture, particularly through food. Michelle’s story about her mother and her relationship with her tugged at my heartstrings and I found myself reflecting a lot on my own life, my family. I think it was a great read and highly encourage others to read!

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

This was a cute romance story that just was a fun, enjoyable read. Better than it’s predecessor in my humble opinion, Yours Truly is about these two doctors that appear to be enemies at first, but as they start to get to know each other (through the rather sappy and cute form of letter writing), they find each other to be friends. ~Maybe more.

I just found the characters lovable and much more interesting than the first book, and I had a great time reading this. If you pick this up, hopefully you will, too. Lol.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Seven Days in June is about these two successful writers that knew each other in high school completely lose contact with one another after they spend seven days together. Despite the fact that over fifteen years have passed, these two still find themselves thinking about one another and write to each other in the novels that they publish.

I love the concept of this story, and I love how the POVs and the story shifted to different time periods. The main characters were lovable with their flaws and all, and I loved how it all weaved together at the end to create a great lil tapestry of a story. Great read, my only gripe is that I wished I didn’t take so long to finish it.

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka

The Roughest Draft is about two writers that collaborated on some stories together, but as they are starting to write the third book, hate each other (not suddenly, but like. After the second book they hated each other). Forced to write together again to fulfill their book contract, Katrina and Nathan learn to tolerate one another’s presence and mayhaps they become friends again?? Guess you’ll have to read it to find out.

The prose was beautiful in this. So many things were seemingly left unsaid between the two characters, but they found that their communication came as they collaborated and wrote together. I loved how they communicated and miscommunicated throughout the story (so often miscommunication is just a frustrating conflict that’s added, but this was good. If I remember correctly). Normally, I love my dialogue in a story, but I found myself really enjoying the inner thoughts of the two characters very much.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

This is the second book in the series, and it certainly felt like the strongest. (Maybe it’s because I have a preference for the second book in a trilogy, idk). But Pierce Brown created a stunning world and gave us such a slow burn uprising, and I loved it. I will say there were moments in the plot that were rather predictable to me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this story and loved the that it brought me back to science fiction.

Bread or Death: Memories of My Childhood During and After the Holocaust by Milton Mendel Kleinberg

This memoir was recommended to me by a colleague, and it was riveting from beginning to end. Written simply yet beautifully, Milton Kleinberg recalls his childhood and the lengths his family went through during the Holocaust. What I think captivated me about this story was that it went into detail of his time escaping the Nazis by train hopping and working in camps in Russia. While this book was a sobering and heart-wrenching memoir, I really enjoyed reading it, and I couldn’t seem to put it down when I read it beginning of last year.

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

This was the first book I finished in 2023, and what a way to start off the year. This book is about these seven friends who are actors, trained in Shakespeare plays. As they begin their final year in college and have to keep a deadly secret to themselves, they all find that their real lives and the stories they act in plays are starting to blur. It’s really a story about how the end all began, and how, in the end, it was only the beginning of the story.

What I disliked most about this story was the fact that I didn’t know Shakespeare quotes and stories as well as I probably should’ve to make the read that much more enjoyable.

Still, this story was great, the way it flipped from different times as the story unraveled, and it made the mystery of it all super engaging and fun to work through.

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

So this book is about an editor who works for a publishing company that refuses to publish popular books like romance novels. And this editor, Savannah, hopes to publish a great romance novel. She writes in her downtime and edits in a little reading nook she found in the building. And every time she comes back to that nook, she discovers her manuscript filled with red pen marks from a mysterious editor. Together, they work on this story together without having met, and so now Savannah also has to figure out who her Knight in Shining Editor is.

This was such a cute story, and my only wish was that it was longer. Not because it would’ve made the story better, I just selfishly want cute love stories to be long and never-ending. But, all great books end and this one was fun and intriguing and the romance and the actual plot kept me engaged.

Everyone’s a Winner Today, Novels 🏆

⭐ TLDR: Most books aren’t that great. But these ten were, and they were my favorite reads in the Year of our Lord 2023.

I think that sometimes when you read more than 30 books in a year, you start to think that everything you read was subpar, not great, garbage. It’s only natural, not every book you read is going to be five stars, and more often than not, the most popular books are the ones that don’t really deserve the clout.

But, this was a great exercise for me to think and reflect on the books I read, and in reality, I do think I read quite a few good reads this year. The journeys I went on with these books were memorable and, for the most part, lighthearted. I will say, the heart-wrenching stories will probably stick with me more than the others, but you gotta sprinkle some fluffy romances in there, you know what I mean?

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Two Thumbs Up? One For the Books, One For the Blog 👍

All good things come to an end, like a fabulous novel. Or a blog post.

If you’re interested in picking up any of these books, this is my plea for you to pick up at your local library to see if it’s your cup of tea, to buy from a local bookstore to support your friendly bookshop owner that will probably remember your name and write “Thanks Y/N!” on your receipt. 🙂

That’s all she wrote for this one! Thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoyed this! If you did, please show your support on this particular post and feel free to peruse my other blog posts. My YouTube channel is also linked below if you care to check that out! Hope y’all have a great day, and I’ll chat with ya in the next one. ✌️