Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Favorite Books of 2023. Below you will find the top 10 books that I read in 2023 categorized by genre. Let me know if you've read or are interested in any of these books!
Fantasy
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - there is nothing better than reading a book and knowing you are reading one of your favorite books of all time. That's exactly how I felt all the way through The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Every word was perfect and this was my favorite of the year.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - What a lovely gift! Tress of the Emerald Sea is the first book in Brandon Sanderson's "secret projects". He wrote this one as a gift to his wife and thankfully she wanted the world to have it. Tress is a beautiful fairy tale inspired by The Princess Bride - one of my favorite books of all time - and there's pirates to boot!
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson - I'm so glad the mood struck me this year to dive into Words of Radiance! This series is epic in every way and I'm pumped to try to catch up before Stormlight 5 is released in December!
Horror
Chlorine by Jade Song - This. Book. I loved this book. It's a literary fiction with some definite horror elements. The horror is slow to emerge, but it does emerge! I had to put it down and take a few deep breaths. It's a coming of age with great character development, and what a debut!
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - This book was such a surprise for me. It subverted all of my expectations, and I can't wait for Chuck Tingle's next novel later this year.
Science Fiction
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - Sea of Tranquility is a well crafted time travel/mind trip type of story, and it really worked for me. It was a great book club pick.
Thriller
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall - I love everything Kate Alice Marshall writes. Middle grade, young adult, adult - give me the books! What Lies in the Woods is her foray into adult thrillers, and I loved it. I have her new one coming out this month, and I can't wait to read that one as well!
The Only One Left by Riley Sager - Yay! Riley Sager is hit or miss and this was a hit for me! It was twisty and fun and set on the cliffside.
Literary Fiction
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - What a wonderful book club pick this turned out to be! I highly recommend this to everyone regardless of what genres are your favorite.
Romance
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - I was in my cozy era when I picked up Book Lovers. Thank you endlessly to reviewers for stating what sets Emily Henry apart from other romance writers. I learned a lot last year about what I do and don't like in romance. Maybe this will be a category that stays!
Final Thoughts
I'm sad that I don't have any children's books on this list. I just didn't read very much kid lit last year, and I really did long for it. I'm hoping to have a better year in that regard this year. Other than that, I had favorites in all of the fiction genres that I read and even added a romance category! I think that makes for a great reading year.
Kudos on reading from several different genres! I see so many raves for Riley Sager. One of these days I will try one of his.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Only One Left too. I’ve heard so many good things about Book Lovers. Looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteThe only one of these that I've read is Book Lovers, but I loved that one. And I just checked Remarkably Bright Creatures out of the library. I'm looking forward to reading it...and to reading the new Riley Sager sometime this year. :D
ReplyDeleteI am pretty excited to see Book Lovers and Creatures in your top reads. Creatures was such a special story. I am getting all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it
ReplyDeleteI want to read several of these. Chlorine I've seen on another list, and Tranquility sounds awesome. Marshall I want to try to since I've been reading so many thrillers
ReplyDeleteTress of the Emerald Sea has such a pretty cover.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
Lydia
Happy New Year! I always have such a hard time with Riley Sager. I want to love his books, but I always walk away disappointed. I've been keeping an eye on The Only One Left (the cover is so atmospheric), and your review has me curious to give it a shot.
ReplyDeleteTHE ONLY ONE LEFT isn't my favorite of Sager's books, but I still enjoyed it. He's mostly hit for me.
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
Added both those horror books to my TBR immediately! Camp Damascus sounds incredible. Sea of Tranquility has been on my TBR for far too long, so I finally need to go ahead and read it this year.
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite Books of 2023
I'm on the library waitlist for Remarkably Bright Creatures. I'm excited to read it.
ReplyDelete