Books I’ve Read So Far in 2023 and My Thoughts + What I Want to Read

At the end of 2022 when everyone was posting their Goodreads yearly challenges and pages read, I decided that I would actually use my Goodreads account and create my own reading challenge for 2023! Since I expected that we would adopt at some point in 2023 (I just didn’t expect it to be in January LOL), I made a very easy goal of 12 books for the year. I broke it down into 1 book a month, but also I could read extra over the summer to get caught up/get ahead since May and August are insane months for teachers.

Well, I’ve had more time to read this year than I expected, so I’m over halfway to my goal of 12 books! I wanted to share what I’ve read so far and my thoughts on each book PLUS the books that I want to read!

Books I’ve Read So Far in 2023 (in order!)

I think I started this book on January 1st and I DID NOT LIKE IT. I kept reading in hopes that it would get better, but I wanted to quit so badly. I didn’t let myself because it was the first book for my reading challenge and I didn’t want to start off a failure, so I read maybe half of the book, skipped to the ending to read that, and then skimmed the rest in the middle. Needless to say, I found it boring and slow.

Amazon says:

Spending her thirtieth birthday alone is not what dating columnist Cleo Wilder wanted, but she plans a solo retreat―at the insistence of her boss―in the name of re-energizing herself and adding a new perspective to her column. The remote Irish island she’s booked is a far cry from London, but at least it’s a chance to hunker down in a luxury cabin and indulge in some self-care while she figures out the next steps in her love life and her career.

Mack Sullivan is also looking forward to some time to himself. With his life in Boston deteriorating in ways he can’t bring himself to acknowledge, his soul-searching has brought him to the same Irish island to explore his roots and find some clarity. Unfortunately, a mix-up with the bookings means both have reserved the same one-room hideaway on exactly the same dates.

Instantly at odds, Cleo and Mack don’t know how they’re going to manage until the next weekly ferry arrives. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other’s company quite as much as they thought they would.

I bought this in both Kindle form and hardcover and DEVOURED it. I’m a Meghan and Harry fan to begin with, but this book opened my eyes to the life that he lived and gave me even more understanding of why he had to step back from his royal duties in order to live a life he felt he could thrive in. This book is told in three parts, and each part is named after a line in the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. I will say, I found Part 2 to be the most boring because it was all about his military service and I could not relate. I do believe that those who have a military service background would definitely be able to relate, though. Also, my heart rate was through the roof at the beginning of the book because he was recounting finding out about Diana’s death and it was incredibly sad.

Amazon says:

It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.

For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love. 

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .

**I want to note that the rest of the books I’ve read so far are rom-com, chick lit type books….so not very deep LOL. And all of these are after Banks, so my brain needs easy to digest material currently

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!! I have tried to convince so many people to read this book because I love it so much. When Banks was born, we showed up to the hospital right before his birth mom’s c-section began, and so we sat in the waiting room for maybe 4 hours. I read this entire book in that 4 hour span. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I kept stopping and telling Dustin how wonderful this book was, and I’m so glad it was because I needed something to distract me from my anxiety. I loved the swapping between past and present because it wasn’t told in a confusing way. Beware–this book has some PG-13 scenes

Amazon says:

They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

I also really loved this book!!! This is book 2 in the influencer series by Amy Lea. The first one is Set On You and I really liked it too, so I had high hopes for book #2–and it far exceeded them! The main character, Tara, is a book influencer so I loved her references to the different romantic tropes in a romance novel.

Amazon says:

Romance book connoisseur Tara Chen has had her heart broken ten times by ten different men—all of whom dumped her because of her “stage-five clinger” tendencies. Nevertheless, Tara is determined to find The One. The only problem? Classic meet-cutes are dead, thanks to modern dating apps. So Tara decides to revisit her exes in hopes of securing her very own trope-worthy second-chance romance. 
 
Boston firefighter Trevor Metcalfe will be the first to rush into a burning building but the last to rush into a relationship. Love just isn’t his thing. When his new roommate Tara enlists him to help her reconnect with her exes, he reluctantly agrees. But Tara’s journey is leading him to discover his own new chapter.

Okay, these next two books I have some thoughts on…

I originally was going to read The American Roommate Experiment, but my local librarian said it was book #2 in a series. She said I could read it as a stand alone, but if there’s a book #1, then I’ve got to read it first…..so I bought The Spanish Love Deception on my kindle. My thoughts?? I did not enjoy it. I felt like the characters were kind of weird and there was an adult scene at the end that I’m pretty sure I looked like this when I read it…

Just a warning. And while I liked the characters better in The American Roommate Experiment (Sarah at the library did say it was better), I still wasn’t overly thrilled with the novel. I’m not even going to put the Amazon synopses because I do not recommend them to anyone!

I only read this book because my friend Hailey checked it out from the library and I decided to read it with her so we could discuss it. We both had lots of the same thoughts….endearing characters but it was hard to believe that the main character was 28 because she definitely did not act like an adult until the end of the novel. Also don’t let the cute cover art fool you….this one is definitely more adult related, so beware. While it is funny in places, I would not let my teenage daughter read it. This is also book #1 in a series.

Amazon says:

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

This is book #2 of the above book, and guess what–I LOVED IT 100 X MORE!!! I felt like the characters had so much more depth than the first book, so it felt like it was more than a romance novel. The main character is the sister of the main character from It Happened One Summer, and she’s more likable and more realistic. Overall, I really really liked this book!

Amazon says:

King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he’s a guaranteed good time—in bed and out—and that’s exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. She’s immune to his charm and looks, but she seems to enjoy his… personality? And wants to be friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is.

Now, Hannah’s in town for work, crashing in Fox’s spare bedroom. She knows he’s a notorious ladies’ man, but they’re definitely just friends. In fact, she’s nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport’s resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker’s eye… yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can’t deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost. 

Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she’s walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and… and… man overboard! He’s fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he’s all in, she’ll choose him instead?

Now What I Want to Read Next….

While I’ve only read chick lit books since Banks’s has been born, I’m ready to read some historical fiction…which might be my favorite genre to read. The next two books are historical fiction.

The House of Eve

Amazon says:

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.

The Tobacco Wives

Amazon says:

North Carolina, 1946. One woman. A discovery that could rewrite history.

Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.

But she soon learns that Bright Leaf isn’t quite the carefree paradise that it seems. A trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems, and although Maddie is quick to believe that this is a coincidence, she inadvertently uncovers evidence that suggests otherwise.

Maddie wants to report what she knows, but in a town where everyone depends on Big Tobacco to survive, she doesn’t know who she can trust—and fears that exposing the truth may destroy the lives of the proud, strong women with whom she has forged strong bonds.

What have you read lately that you’ve enjoyed?!