I hit a reading slump mid-year and my reading never really picked back up. In the second half of 2023, I read 19 books or 5261 pages, bringing my 2023 total to 53 books or 16611 pages. I didn’t think I’d hit 52 book this year and had even gone back to readjust my Goodreads reading challenge in the last days of December, lowering it to 50, but I hit 52 books just in time and randomly came across a picture book that got rave reviews from Redditors, taking me to 53. The number doesn’t matter so much to me, but I still wanted to remember reading that book! (I promptly reverted my Goodreads reading challenge goal back to 52.)
I’m a slow reader and turn to books to avoid responsibilities, so I spend more time than I should reading and have been telling myself to read less, or at least not get so caught up in reading the incredible number of books that it feels like so many other bookstagrammers do. Quality, not quantity! That said, I only have one new all-time favourite from the second half of the year and two honourable mentions. Anyways, I’m planning to share my 2023 reading wrap up in a separate post (including top reads), so look out for that!
Romance
You, Again by Kate Goldbeck: Josh and Ari are instant enemies. Finding out you’re both sleeping with the same woman can do that to ya. Over the years they have more chance encounters that don’t go any better until one does, and an unlikely friendship develops. I admit that I was on the fence for the first fourth or third of the book, and it took me awhile to warm up to Josh and Ari as individuals. They felt like caricatures; Josh was too anal and kinda sus, and Ari was too “quirky.” Their encounters before their friendship started to develop did not endear them to me; if I were a participant in the encounters, they would be my enemies too. But I was on board once their friendship started, and I loved seeing their relationship progress over the years. As a gal in her 20s who is still trying to figure out what to do with her life, it was comforting to see Josh and Ari also still figuring it out, going through stages of life together and dealing with failures without the story harping too much about it. The third act conflict was annoying, but the fact that there were lots of time jumps in the book helped me not dwell on it too much (which also helped ease any other issues I had). This might be a bit of a spoiler but, [HOVER TO REVEAL SPOILER ON WEB BROWSER, avert your eyes otherwise lol] <SPOILER> in the relationship, I really appreciated how Josh was always straight up with Ari and his feelings about her, and how he would notice when Ari would start pulling away/felt uncertain and would try to make her feel safe and bring her back in, but also had an awareness of when she needed space </SPOILER>.
Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren: Josh and Hazel get off on an awkward start, but seven years later they run into each other again and become unlikely friends. They would never date each other, but they would help set each other up on double blind dates! I thought the double blind dates would be a silly goofy time, but I was quickly bored by Josh and Hazel’s lack of commitment to setting up and being on the dates. The double blind dates got less and less interesting as Josh and Hazel ran through potential options and just started pairing each other up with random people, only to ignore their dates and make inside jokes with each other. Also, the way Hazel constantly called herself “undateable” got old, and the end was abrupt and unsatisfying. I wish [HOVER TO REVEAL SPOILER] <SPOILER> one of the double blind dates worked and there was a love triangle </SPOILER> because dramaaa.
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary: Desperate for a place to stay after a bad breakup, Tiffy answers an ad to share a flat with a complete stranger. Tiffy takes the flat at night and on weekends, while Leon (a night-shift worker) takes it in the day, so they never meet but gradually get to know each other through the notes they leave each other. I was anticipating a feel-good romance, but Tiffy’s ex Justin absolutely ruined the book for me. He was so clearly a gaslighting POS and it was no fun at all. As for Leon, I get that his whole thing was supposed to be that he’s a man of few words, but the chapters from his POV were so affected, almost caveman-like. I did like the original take on the one bed trope, that Tiffy was an assistant editor at a small publisher that specialises in crafting and DIY books, that her eccentric author’s niche was in knitting and crochet, and I liked Mr. Prior.
This Spells Love* by Kate Robb: Heartbroken over her breakup, Gemma drunkenly casts a love cleansing spell from one of her aunt’s books to undo the night she met Stuart. The only problem is, that was also the night she met her best friend Dax. Desperate to return to her timeline and carefully planned life, Gemma works to get her best friend back and undo the spell with his kiss. I was expecting a witchy friends-to-lovers romance, but this was neither witchy nor friends-to-lovers. Gemma was not a witch but simply followed some instructions from a random book from her aunt’s bookshop’s donation bin and made some guesses about how the spell would work and what conditions to perform them in, just for funsies, not actually believing anything would happen. There were lots of plot holes regarding the spell and alternate timelines. As for the friendship part, while Gemma and Dax were friends in the original timeline, they weren’t in the alternate timeline. Gemma’s approach to befriending him wasn’t convincing, and when they eventually got together, it didn’t feel rooted in friendship. All that said, I did enjoy the first half of the book. I also loved Aunt Livi, who toed the line between fairy godmother and eccentric aunt.
Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas: Misha and Ryen have been pen pals for seven years. They tell each other everything, and although they’ve never met, no one knows the other better and they accept each other for who they are. To keep a good thing going, they agree to no social media, no phone numbers, and no pictures, but when Misha switches schools and accidentally discovers Ryen, his perfect image of her is shattered. I picked up this book because I was curious about the TikTok hype. All I knew about it was that it was a bully romance. I’ve never read a bully romance before and thought it might be something like enemies to lovers, but I was so wrong. First of all: Romance?? Where??? Do Misha and Ryen even like each other?? Ryen was a bully. Misha was disappointed that Ryen was a bully then bullied her. I don’t want to waste any more brain space on this book.
Fantasy
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling (reread): I’d been in a reading slump and wanted to return to something cosy and familiar, so I decided to do my second reread. Unfortunately, my reading slump won over, so while I finished the reread, I wasn’t super immersed and I didn’t get around to rereading the rest of the series. I’m constantly playing the movies in the background though.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (reread): Another attempted salve for my reading slump. After watching the film around Halloween, I decided to do my first reread since childhood. Again, my reading slump won over so I wasn’t that immersed or haunted, but it was fun to pick up on the differences between the book and film, and I felt it when Coraline’s mom said, “Well done, Coraline” (in the book). But the whimsicality of the film can’t be beat!
♡ The Power of Poppy Pendle by Natasha Lowe: Poppy’s parents are proud to have a gifted witch in the family and send her off to magic school, but Poppy would rather pursue her passion for baking. An empowering story for children and a healing story for adults about following your passion. It sounds like such a basic message, but this cosy middle grade fantasy tells it masterfully. This is a story for anyone who has been told their passion is not important or has had their passion written off as a mere hobby or distraction. It is for anyone who has had to hide their joy to fit a mould. For anyone who has then felt anger, sadness, loss, lost. This story made me think of this quote from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: “To be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.” Also recommended for those who liked the cosy baking vibes of Legends & Lattes. A new favourite.
Kappa by Ryunosuke Akutagawa: A man spots a kappa monster and chases it, tumbling down a hole into the realm of kappas. I was intrigued by the fusion of an Alice in Wonderland concept with Japanese folklore and looked forward to the world building, but the satirical novella was mostly dialogue and philosophising (morality, legal justice, economics, sex). It didn’t really do much for me.
Literary fiction
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne: An untalented writer who will do anything for fame, recommended for fans of Yellowface. The plot felt a bit slow and didn’t pick up for me until later, but the undercurrent of desire and ambition felt propulsive, and I was thoroughly invested. If you liked the exploration of “who gets to tell what stories” in Yellowface (or wanted more) and unlikeable, manipulative, opportunistic characters, I highly recommend this book.
Contemporary fiction
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa: When Takako’s relationship with her coworker ends badly, she breaks it off, quits her job, and eventually takes up her uncle’s offer to work at his bookshop. Slowly, she learns the joys of reading, bookshops, cafes, and the community. One day, her uncle’s estranged wife shows up mysteriously. While I wasn’t that attached to Takako, I did enjoy reading about bookshops and cafes. I was less interested in her uncle’s wife. Overall, the story was a bit quiet for my taste, but could be for readers who enjoy quiet, cosy, slice of life stories and books about books.
Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go* by Cleo Qian: “A short story collection exploring the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian-American women today.” I struggle to describe this collection as the stories felt like non-stories and didn’t go anywhere. I was anticipating some Black Mirror-type stories, but the technology wasn’t innovative, nor an important presence in the stories, and in fact, the stories didn’t feel modern at all. I didn’t get the point of them, except to convey an air of loneliness. My favourites (using the term loosely) were “Monitor World,” in which a woman hooks up with an older man she meets online but then feels uneasy and breaks it off but remains paranoid, and “We Were There,” in which a woman has a casual relationship with a clingy man while working on a friendship with a disinterested man.
Nonfiction
Orca: The Whale Called Killer (5th ed) by Eric Hoyt: A personal scientific memoir organised by journal entries detailing seven summers of orca research off northern Vancouver Island. The 5th edition (most recent as of 2023) has a new introduction, extended epilogue and afterword, and updated footnotes. The intro, prologue, and appendix were helpful primers on orca research and events. The journal entries began in July 1973 in Johnstone Straight, which separates northern Vancouver Island from mainland British Columbia, with Hoyt working hydrophones and eventually sighting his first orcas in the wild. We learn about orcas as sonic creatures, intelligent social mammals with matriarchal structures, threats to survival, captures, and more (but note that this isn’t a book that investigates the captive industry). I loved reading about the individual orcas Hoyt became familiar with, as well as the popularly known orcas. I find that some scientific memoirs can focus more on the scientist than I would like rather than the subject, but this is good one that is informative about the subject while also sharing the scientist’s personal research experience.
Exit Interview by Kristi Coulter: A memoir from ex-Amazon middle management. It isn’t news that Amazon has a toxic and relentless work environment, but this was still a grossly fascinating read. In her memoir, Coulter recounts her experience as an ambitious woman in corporate hell. It was impressive to see how her career path often involved diving headfirst into unknown territory, from merchandising to Amazon Crossing (Amazon Publishing’s translation imprint) to Amazon Go, though less heartening to know it was often forced by Amazon’s constant re-orgs. I will say that the storytelling isn’t super dynamic, so what you get at the beginning is pretty much what you get at the end, and the middle can feel pretty relentless, but I imagine that’s exactly how her time at Amazon was. Work, work, work. If you’re already interested in the topic (I was), you’ll enjoy this one, but if you’re not already interested, it doesn’t really get any “better”/more interesting (though general readers may find the Amazon Publishing part of her career in the middle of the memoir more interesting). If anything, I only got more frustrated as I read, not because of the writing, but because of Coulter’s situation at Amazon — getting passed up on promotions, working with incompetent men, and eventually leading to her exit… interview. This memoir reminded me of Ripe and Uncanny Valley. Note that it very much focuses on her personal office experience and doesn’t really delve into other aspects of Amazon like warehouse conditions.
The Loneliness Files* by Athena Dixon: A memoir in essays exploring loneliness, though the first part of the collection felt more on theme than the latter two parts. I was anticipating some social commentary but it felt more like a diary of internal musings and speculation. It kinda gave Tumblr + WebMD self-diagnosis energy. The true crime essays probably could have been combined into one and explored further, going beyond speculation to examine the structures that perpetuate such conditions or supplementing with investigative journalism, and the other essays could have been built out as well. The idea of choosing loneliness was repeated, and I would have also been interested in interrogating that more. Nonetheless, when you’re lying awake at 2AM with your thought spirals, you may find this collection a comforting companion (if you’re in an ok mental space).
Moonshot* by Mike Massimino: I’m not usually one for self-help books, but after loving his memoir Spaceman so much, I wanted to give this one a try. In Moonshot, Massimino shares ten lessons to help you reach your own personal moon shot (goal) and fills each lesson with anecdotes. Many of the lessons were about perspective and already familiar to me from reading his memoir, but sometimes it’s helpful to hear it more explicitly. As it is with most self-help books, it’s often just about hearing the right thing at the right time and taking what you need. I would recommend his memoir.
Illustrated
Heartstopper: Volume 5 by Alice Oseman: Volume 5 is as charming as ever while grappling with challenges of teenhood. Charlie is in recovery from his eating disorder, Nick is preparing to leave for university, and both of them are looking forward to their first sleepover but also have anxieties about sex. The first two volumes are still my favourites because of how light and wholesome they are, but I look forward to the 6th and final volume!
♡ The Unfortunate Life of Worms by Noemi Vola: A hefty 260 paged art book for both kids and adults that starts off as nonfiction then tells the story of a worm that gets zapped by lightning, losing half of itself and having an existential crisis. A perfect gift for your illustrator friend or anyone that would appreciate a cute book!
The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak: Well, not illustrated, but lots of silly words in various fonts! A playful book to read aloud to children.
*e/ARC gifted from publisher
PS: all the books I read in the first half of 2023 + mid-year book freak out tag