At the onset of 2023 I could not predict what my reading life would look like. I wanted to read and I knew I would read because that is something that I cannot NOT do, but with a huge move coming up, I didn’t want to set a big reading goal that would not meet. So, I set a reading goal of just ONE book for the year, knowing that I didn’t want to focus on the number, but the quality of my reading.
I ended up reading 95 books and I am super happy with this!! I am also happy with the books that I read and how those books got me through some hard days (hello winter in Wiesbaden) and some huge life transitions.
Today, I’m sharing a list of the 95 books that I read, organized by the star ratings I gave them.
5 Star Reads
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
We Are the Light by Matthew Quick
Followers by Megan Angelo
Independence by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Homecoming by Kate Morton
All My Knotted Up Life by Beth Moore
Maame by Jessica George
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Trust by Herman Diaz
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai
Sam by Allegra Goodman
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Crosby
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
4 Star Reads
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Home by Marilyn Robinson
Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
South to America by Imani Perry
Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabinali
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall
The Attic Child by Lola Jaye
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin
The Circus Train by Amita Parikh
The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes
The Life Council by Laura Tremaine
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls
The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Paper Names by Susie Luo
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
Dopesick by Beth Macy
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
The Whispers by Ashley Audrain
Losing Our Religion by Russell Moore
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
The Only One Left by Riley Sager
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman
Weyward by Emilia Hart
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Wellness by Nathan Hill
The Intern by Michele Campbell
Always, in December by Emily Stone
The Wager by David Grann
Small World by Laura Zigman
3 Star Reads
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
The Wisdom of Your Body by Hillary L. McBride
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
All Adults Here by Emma Straub
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Violeta by Isabel Allende
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key
Congratulations, the Best is Over by R. Eric Thomas
The Power of Fun by Catherine Price
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St. James
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
2 Star Reads
Becoming Dutchess Goldblatt by Dutchess Goldblatt