“There’s no pandemic anymore, it’s endemic.” And I am rolling my eyes and still wearing a mask as much as possible.
Anyway, I read a lot this year, as I have in the past few years. To be honest, I feel like I almost read too much in 2023… Wonder what that says about me. My goals moving into 2024 is to make it a more intentional reading year and to read more books off my bookshelf and from my Kindle.
Things I discovered in 2023: I like audiobooks! In late 2022 I was listening to my first audiobooks ever, and it bloomed into some fun audiobook exploration throughout 2023. It is totally reading, so don’t come for me and say it isn’t!
Go support your local library like me and get a majority of your reads from there – all kinds of physical books plus ebooks and digital audiobooks galore thanks to one little card. ๐
Key:
๐ = physical book
๐ง = audiobooks
๐ฑ = ebooks
Highlighting Books by Palestinian Writers
It is Free Palestine every day until Palestine is free. These titles are also included in other sections respective to genre.
- ๐ฑLight in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire anthology
- ๐งPalestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh
- ๐Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
- ๐Squire by Nadia Shammas
- ๐Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata
- ๐งYou Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
- ๐งMinor Detail by Adania Shibli
Informative Nonfiction and Memoirs
I highly recommend these books, especially the three of Palestine and Israel to learn more about what’s been going on for 75+ years.
- ๐งThe Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
- ๐งPalestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh
- ๐งThe State of Israel vs. the Jews by Sylvain Cyphel
- ๐งThe Woman in Me by Britney Spears
Some Poetry to Try
Poetry? Poetry. I love poetry.
- ๐ฑPLACES by Charlie D’Aniello
- ๐Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
- ๐The Woman’s Part by Jo Gatford
- ๐Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
- ๐the fine line by nat raum
- ๐specter dust by nat raum
- ๐ฑBarbie Chang by Victoria Chang
- ๐ฑDrifting Bottles by Arden Hunter
Re-reads
2023 was truly the return of middle school Alyssa (minus The Fever Chart, which is college Alyssa). The Hunger Games and The Lightning Thief was as good as I remembered them being, the former even more so. Twilight was… well, it was fun.
- Adult:
- ๐The Fever Chart by Naomi Wallace
- YA:
- ๐The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- ๐งTwilight by Stephenie Meyer
- Middle Grade:
- ๐ฑThe Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Enjoyable Manga and Graphic Novels
Every adult needs to read some graphic novels, manga, and comics… you know? The secret winner on my list is Monologue Woven for You, which I discovered on a whim at Powell’s Books!
- Adult:
- ๐Cryptid Club by Sarah Andersen
- ๐The Liminal Zone by Junji Ito
- ๐Black Paradox by Junji Ito
- ๐Monologue Woven for You by Syu Yasaka
- ๐Grim by Stephanie Phillips
- ๐March by John Lewis
Okay, but YONA. My girl. I binge-read Yona of the Dawn in late fall 2023, and I’m seriously wondering why I didn’t read that manga sooner. It’s so good!!! I’m so excited to see how it ends in these next few years.
- YA:
- ๐/๐ฑThe Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe
- ๐Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
- ๐Death Note: Short Stories by Tsugumi Ohba
- ๐Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search by Gene Luen Yang
- ๐Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairytales by Melanie Gillman
- ๐Space Trash by Jenn Woodall
- ๐Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruise
- ๐ฑThe Price and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
- ๐Love Me for Who I Am by Kata Konayama
- ๐/๐ฑYona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi
- ๐ฑArtie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens
- ๐Squire by Nadia Shammas
- ๐ฑCat Massage Therapy by Haru Hisakawa
Sometimes middle grade graphic novels are just as good as the adult or YA ones. Give them a try!
- Middle Grade:
- ๐Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen
- ๐Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega
- ๐My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder by Nie Jun
- ๐Nayra and the Djinn by Iasmin Omar Ata
Speculating on Speculative Fiction
Thank you to Angry Robot Books for the ARC of Evocation! I got to read this book early and was excited to do so. If you like polyamorous magical queer folks, that’s the one for you!
- Adult:
- ๐Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman
- ๐Love Beyond Body, Space & Time: An Indigenous LGBT Anthology
- ๐Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
- ๐A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
- ๐ฑMoonflowers and Nightshade: An Anthology of Sapphic Horror
- ๐งThe Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
- ๐The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
- ๐Tomorrow in Shanghai and Other Stories by May-lee Chai
- ๐งWhen the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
- ๐ฑCarmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
- ๐Babel by R.F. Kuang
- ๐Evocation by S.T. Gibson
I had a really good YA reading year. These were all great hits (and all of them with some element of the speculative… heh. I tell on myself what I like to read!)
- YA:
- ๐How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy
- ๐The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
- ๐Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
- ๐งA Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
- ๐Light Keeper Chronicle: The Unspoken Prophecy by R.E. Bellesmith
- ๐งStrange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- ๐Throne of Glass and The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
- ๐งHell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White
- ๐The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska
- ๐The Words in My Hands by Asphyxia
- ๐งPet by Akwaeke Emezi
- ๐The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
- ๐ฑRobber Girl by S.T. Gibson
- ๐ฑI Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
The one and only middle grade novel I read and loved in 2023 was The Vanquishers. Still need to read book 2, but it’s a perfect book about vampires for kids!
- Middle Grade:
- ๐The Vanquishers by Kalynn Bayron
Contemporary Fiction is Cool
Thank you to Little Village Magazine for the ARC of Waiting for Mr. Kim and Other Stories! That’s such a wonderful short story collection about four generations of a Korean-American family.
But yeah. Contemporary fiction is cool.
- Adult:
- ๐Foster by Claire Keegan
- ๐Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
- ๐ฑWaiting for Mr. Kim and Other Stories by Carol Roh Spaulding
- ๐งYou Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
- ๐งMinor Detail by Adania Shibli
The small but mighty few of YA contemporary fiction I read and loved. The Poet X is a novel-in-verse, and the other three are contemporary queer YA novels!
- YA:
- ๐งFelix Ever After by Kacen Callender
- ๐งThe Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
- ๐งShe Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
- ๐งImogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
I loved Melissa so, so much. It’s such an important book for trans kids to have around. It will long outlast attempts to ban it.
Rez Dogs was a novel-in-verse about COVID and lockdown. It was an interesting read! And the audiobook is read by the author, so even better.
- Middle Grade:
- ๐งMelissa by Alex Gino
- ๐งRez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
When’s the Last Time You Read a Picture Book?
Maybe it’s working in a library sometimes shelving picture books or maybe it’s just me–but the kids nowadays are SO LUCKY to have so many cool picture books at their disposal. Vampires, costumes for genderqueer kids, stories about escaping war, and even some COVID picture books to help kids understand. These were my favorites:
- ๐Vampire Vacation by Laura Lavoie
- ๐Year of the Cat by Richard Ho
- ๐A Costume for Charly by C.K. Malone
- ๐How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett
- ๐Vanishing Colors by Constance Orbeck-Nilssen
- ๐ฑใ็ญ็ธ็ธๅๅฎถใWaiting for Dad to Come Home by Chen Yin
Plays? ๐ฆ
Sadly, I read very few plays this year and am working on changing that in 2024!
- ๐Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
- ๐The Fever Chart by Naomi Wallace
DNFs
I also learned how to DNF (mark “did-not-finish”) books in 2023! Wow!
A separate post will go up for those at a later date.
All in all, while I read a lot more than that, I’m trying to take it a bit slower in 2024 so that I can fully digest what I’m consuming.
Follow me on Instagram @alyssabookrecs to keep up with my reading pursuits throughout the year!
What are some books you’ve read this year? Share below ๐
Alyssa 
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