Aka what we're really here for.

I *did* read down a lot of my owned TBR this year. I didn't read a lot, objectively speaking. But I feel like I enjoyed what I did read and I made it count.

(r) = reread

1. The Great Wheel (r)
Robert Lawson

This was an old schoolbook that I retrieved from the shelf on a whim and burned through accidentally without ever intending to read it all in one sitting. Quite genuinely charming, and *way* more romance-coded than I ever realized listening to it as a kid.

2. The Wheel on the School (r)
Meindert DeJong

Another old read-aloud book I felt seized by an insatiable desire to revisit. I already need to read it again. Everyone needs to read this book.

3. Blood of the Seer
C. M. Banschbach

Book 2 in a duology that I read book 1 of in 2019. Good stock band-of-brothers/camaraderie vibes, and some lovely themes of forgiveness + reconciliation.

4. The Slopes of War (r)
N. A. Perez

Assigned reading from I wanna say 9th or 10th grade. Revisiting this one 8-9 years later, I was shaken in a good way to realize how much of my treatment of war in The War was influenced by this little novel about Gettysburg. Even down to certain lines that I never remembered reading but jumped right back out at me as an echo of prose I'd written for the fourth book in the CS.

5. Then Comes a Drifter
C. M. Banschbach

Can. Not. Waiiitttttt. to read the sequel to this one. The post-apocalyptic vibes are immaculate. Definitely a grittier read than other books I've read from Claire though, + pushed my comfort zone sometimes.

6. Tales from the Backcountry
M. L. Little et al.

It's a fine little collection if I do say so myself. And I may be one of the eight authors involved, but I do. Anyway yeah if you read le nightwraith's books and liked them then this anthology is your next ticket to that amazing world.

7. The River Between Us
Richard Peck

A curious and very well-written story. One of the better uses of dual timeline/framed narrative I've seen and exceedingly memorable characters. Somewhat haunting. Civil War setting but makes use of New Orleans culture which is perfectly amazing and unusual.

8. Among Other Worlds
Nathaniel Luscombe et al.

I am *not* big on anthologies for the most part, and this one didn't have very strong editing, but I liked a number of the stories in it.

9. Pretense
Tara Grayce

Finally managed to read through the last two Elven Alliance books this year! I wish I had the pretty new covers tho instead of the sad horrible photoshop old covers :') This one was good, cute, all the wholesome things that the series does well.

10. Shield Band
Tara Grayce

Minus the female lead going rage monster and breaking people's noses, which I'm not a big fan of in anybody, guys not excepted, this was enjoyable and I LOVED Vriska's relationship with her dad so so so much.

11. Hind's Feet on High Places (r)
Hannah Hurnard

My mom got this gorgeous copy with atmospheric artwork that was such a pleasurable experience to read. And thennnnnn I went down 15 rabbit holes and read up in-depth on the author's heresy leanings in later life, which was hard to deal with and involved some personal soul-searching because of the strong emotional connection I made with her work at a young age (probably read HFHP when I was 7/8).

12. Single Isn't Second-Best
Philip Wilder and C. E. White

I'm really cool with being single but this is a good book to read whether you are or not.

13. Rejoice and Tremble
Michael Reeves

very very good. humbling in the best of ways and also straight up nutrition for my analyst-writer brain. Hardcore readers of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis will be fascinated by his chapter on "the numinous".

14. Marching With Sousa (r)
Norma Jean Lutz

*drumroll* another old schoolbook. Quick middle-grade read about a boy coming to terms with the sometimes conflicting demands of authority figures in his life + the changing dynamics of peer groups. Actually a lot of very thought-provoking content to unpack.

15. The Magician's Nephew (r)
C.S. Lewis

Dramatized audio reading while driving home from the Virginia conference. Reinforced my conviction that all Narnia books are best listened to rather than read to oneself.

16. Hidden Among the Stars
Melanie Dobson

Recommendation from a friend. Hard to get into but picked up midway through. Actually got way darker than I expected (I knew we were dealing with WWII Gestapo dark, but I didn't think we were going to get "girl raped in her own home, none of the childhood sweethearts get anything approaching a Hallmark ending" dark). Ultimately somewhere between a 3 and a 4-star read for me but I did like how all the pieces fit together in the end and the subject matter that inspired the novel (Jewish jewelry stolen or hidden away early in the war + the search afterwards to return it to its rightful owners) was captivating.

17. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
J. K. Rowling

This book is written for people way more into the world of Harry Potter than I am, but the copy gifted to me is so visually and tactilely satisfying that I will never give it up.

18. A Little Beside You
Jenni Sauer

Jenni Sauer does cozy romance in not-cozy settings better than I can imagine anyone else pulling it off. This one is mafia muscle who wants "out" falls in love with the doctor's daughter who's struggling to live up to her father's legacy.

19. A Fated Quest
Selina R. Gonzalez

Super adorbs romance and some very cute sibling-ness and a very wholesome father-son reconciliation arc. Will always recommend this series.

20. Yours, Constance
Emily Hayse

Everything Emily Hayse's pen touches is gold that's all good night.

21. The Village (r)
mweh

I read the rest of the Ceristen Series to my little sister this year (and incidentally read this one again while editing it over the summer). Village-era Mordred has so many issues, one always forgets the extent of them...

22. The Claw (r)
mweh

we do play favorites. this is it. this one is the favorite.

23. The War (r)
mweh

War, espionage chaos, Jedediah Crayes, All The Good Things

24. Walk with the Shadows
Silmarilz1701

This may be a Wattpad book but it's the only Wattpad book I've actually read this year so heck yeah it counts on my list. I've never read Percy Jackson but that wasn't gonna stop me from reading PJ fanfiction if Silz wrote it and if it was some of her self-confessed finest work. The climax in this was so good <3 and character arcs On Point.

***

This actually brings my number of reads up to the same as last year (if you look at the 2022 list it does say 23, but there's a book I read on the 31st i forgot to add). I thought I'd read somewhat less in 2023 and am charmed to discover that was not the case.

I bought a selection of books between June and December, a good number of them older classics that I've already read and love enough to want on my own shelf. Maybe 5-7 brand-new reads. I also did some purging pre-move to weed out books I didn't like enough to hang onto. Very satisfied with the state of my shelf and looking forward to plugging along through more of the TBR this coming year. Of course, the *not* owned TBR is always unnervingly high, but trying to keep that one curated as much as possible too.

What's something worthwhile y'all read in 2023?