Year in Review: All the Books I've Read

I have finally finished Linked and moved on to another book that I will reveal next week. I realized, I often end every post with "THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!" or "Read the book," etc. For now I thought it might be fun to analyze all the books I have read in 2023. Let's get started.

The first book I read in 2023 was Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. This book was great because it let me see into someone else's problems and empathize. The next book had been on my list for a while, and this is Hatchet Written by Gary Paulson. This did not disappoint and I highly recommend if you are looking for survival/nature book. This year I read two books by Gordan Korman. One of the two was Unplugged, a book about bonding overall common interest. This book also did not bore me, it had a bit of a slow start but overall the plot is great. The next book, Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene, went a bit out of my comfort zone with the mystery part of it. This too stayed interesting, beside the fact that it was somewhat difficult to keep track of the plot. As we enter a world full of wands and robes, we appreciate J.K. Rowling's work with these astounding books. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was very long but I loved each page of it. I will tell you though none of it will make sense if you don't read the first five books. This book totally set the scene for the final book though. Immediately following I began the final and arguably best book of the Harry Potter Series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I was sad to see I had finished the whole series but also felt accomplished.

After finishing the long series I read a shorter book, Ban this Book by Alan Gratz, just to relax. Once I had taken a quick break I fully submerged myself in the next series, His Dark Materials by Phillup Pullman, which I absolutely loved and it was just the right replacement for Harry Potter. They are not similar but they are both complex and include different worlds or dimensions. The series included The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Before I could read The Amber Spyglass I was interrupted by a book report. For this, I read Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Similar to Hatchet it is a great book if you are interested in survival in stranded wilderness. We arrived at Halloween! After finally finishing His Dark Materials I read a quick book, the same way I read Ban this Book after finishing Harry Potter. This easy book was Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel. This was about a city where people were either lucky or unlucky. Time for my last book report of 2023! I had to read a biography on Temple Grandin. I begun the book in 2023 but in reality I finished it in 2024. I also read Linked almost parallel to reading Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World.

I loved all of the 14 books I read in 2023 but one particular series stand out and resembles my reading of last year. I absolutely LOVED His Dark Materials. If you don't have the time to read it no pressure because it is also a TV series. The plot is just amazing and creative. Thank you for reading this post and supporting my blog.