After reading more than 100 books in 2022, I was eager to welcome a new year and a fresh start in 2023. I finished reading 8 books in January 2023. Here are brief recaps of each book I read.

The first book I finished in 2023 was one that I had started reading in December 2022, Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson. This book was first published in 2016 and it is a collection of essays and short stories by Winterson. It was my first time reading this author and I enjoyed her writing style. Someday I would like to read more of her work. Each chapter was paired with a holiday related recipe. Many of the stories had a magical and mysterious quality, which was very thought provoking in the holiday season. I would recommend this book to someone looking for a non-traditional Christmas/holiday read.

The next book I read in January will likely be a favorite for the whole year. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is a book I was looking forward to reading since it was published in July 2022. I’m glad I saved it for January 2023 because it was a great way to kick off my 2023 reading life. I was a little nervous before I started reading because it had been included on many year-end book lists and I’m always wary of something being overhyped. But in my opinion this book 100% lived up to the hype. 

The title of the book is drawn from a Shakespeare play and I loved the way that Shakespeare’s words were woven into certain parts of the book. If you want to know more about the Shakespeare thread in the book, here is a link to an excellent article. Zevin is an amazingly creative author. I loved her character development. I was fully invested in all of the characters and the different plot lines. Video games play a major role in the book, even though I’m not much of a gamer, I could follow along with that narrative thread and enjoyed the themes.

A book club that I’m in read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow in January and it was interesting to hear how different readers engaged with the book. I think it is a great book club book, but I couldn’t find a lot of good discussion questions. I did like this blog post where someone compiled different themes in Tomorrow x3 for book club discussion.

Book #3 in January was another one that was topping charts, but won’t be in my personal top 10. I read It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. Her books have been very popular on Tik Tok and other social media platforms. Her writing is not really my cup of tea.

I was eagerly awaiting a new book from Leigh Bardugo and re-read Ninth House to prepare to read the sequel. The Ninth House series is set at Yale and New Haven. Bardugo imagines the Secret Societies at Yale having magical capabilities. Her characters are fascinating and she does an excellent job at world building (explaining the magical activity and how it works). An added bonus is the setting in New Haven and being able to envision places I know well. Book two in the series, Hell Bent, released in January 2023 and I read it immediately after finishing my re-read of Ninth House. 

After a few intense books, I was ready for a palate cleanser and picked up Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand. Most of Hilderbrand’s books are set in Nantucket, but this one was set in the US Virgin Islands. Normally I think of her books as romance novels. Winter in Paradise was more of a mystery. An enjoyable escape read, although not very memorable.

Another book I was looking forward to reading since it was released was The Cloisters by Katy Hays. Published in November 2022, I knew I wanted to read this novel since I have visited the Cloisters, part of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, several times. I’m not normally a mystery/thriller reader, but I enjoyed this book, mostly because of the setting. As someone who doesn’t normally read those genres, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the twists and turns of the plot line.

The last book I finished in January was Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. Similar to Colleen Hoover’s books, Every Summer After was very popular on Tik Tok and other social media when it was released. It was a fairly predictable romance book and a quick read.

Most of the books I read this month were print copies and 2 were on Kindle. I didn’t finish any audiobooks in January – mostly because I was still working on finishing listening to one LONG audiobook. Happy reading!

I’m not sure if I will do a separate full year reflection post, but I am proud of the fact that I stuck with these monthly reading recaps for 2022. I had never blogged very consistently before this year. I quickly realized that the reading recaps took quite a bit of time, which meant time away from the thing I love, reading. I was committed to writing them to track my progress toward 100 books read in one year! I ended the year with 110 books read.

I finished 3 books each month in November and December. I didn’t have any 5 star reads either month. It felt kind of like a quiet/sad way to end my reading year for 2022. Fortunately, things picked up in January 2023 and I have enjoyed several great books in early 2023.

The Edge of Winter by Luanne Rice

This book was on my radar since 2020 when I started working on my goal to read a book set in every US state. The book takes place in Rhode Island and the natural landscape is important to the book. Of all the books I read in November, this was probably my favorite. The themes were similar to many Elin Hilderbrand novels: family drama, relationships, a little bit of a mystery. Some of the main characters are high school students so the book felt a little bit like Young Adult at times. One other interesting part of the storyline of this book was birding.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

I listened to this book on audio and I’m glad that I did because it was LONG, 512 pages in print. It took me a while to get hooked on the story and I almost gave up a few times early on. I’m glad I kept reading because the characters were interesting. I was a little surprised that I enjoyed the baseball parts of the book. The writing reminded me a little bit of Wallace Stegner’s Crossing to Safety. Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. Hopefully not too much of a spoiler, one of the main characters has an affair with a high level university administrator. I was uncomfortable with the implications of this affair. The power dynamics were inappropriate and I felt like the author writes this affair as true love.

The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger

In a month where I only read three books, it is funny that two of them feature school as an important part of the book. I had The Gifted School on my radar since it was published in 2019. I finally read the book quickly over two days in November. The quick reading pace was not an indication of adoring the book. I nearly stopped reading several times. I generally don’t like books told from multiple perspectives and I had not realized The Gifted School was that format. I also usually struggle with unlikeable characters and almost everyone in this book was a bad person.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Mystery and horror are not my genres of choice, but this was a book club selection so I persevered and finished this slim volume. Considering the book is only 252 pages, it took me a while to get through it because I never became invested in the characters. It seemed like an unreliable narrator so I was apprehensive while reading. Our book club was originally meant to read this around Halloween in the spooky season. I think the rest of our book group enjoyed this book more than I did.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Continuing my off-season spooky reads, I finally read this YA book from my shelves. I heard that the storyline was based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, transported to 1920’s flapper era and set in Shanghai, China. While I really enjoyed the premise, I felt like the pacing was off and the book moved way too slowly. 

Migrations: a novel by Charlotte McConaghy

The final book I read in 2022 was basically a case of mistaken identity. I had a memory of a friend who had a book with a similar cover to the cool blue icebergs on the cover of Migrations. It turns out the book I was remembering is Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. I thought that Migrations was a book of nature writing. It was actually more of a mystery/post-apocalyptic novel. Another unreliable narrator and it was a trifecta of mediocre books for December!

The day I finished reading Migrations, I resolved my cover confusion dilemma and purchased a copy of Arctic Dreams from my favorite independent bookstore. I’m reading it now and love the descriptive writing about the beauty in nature.

I had no idea that I could get burned out on reading, but that is exactly what happened after I read 100 books in 9 months. I took it easy the rest of 2022 and only finished a few books each month.

Here is what I read in October 2022:

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck

I originally started reading this book several years ago. I read about halfway before setting it aside. I picked this book back up and listened to the audio version.

Growing up I loved playing the Oregon Trail computer game. This book tells the story of a modern crossing of the Oregon Trail, paired with mini-history lessons along the way. Rinker Buck is a good writer who draws the reader in and brings them along on the adventure. I especially liked the storytelling around the logistics of the Oregon Trail experience, how they fed themselves and the animals, maintained the equipment along the journey, etc. If you are interested in the Oregon Trail, this was an enjoyable read.

Mastering the Art of French Eating: Lessons in Food and Love from a Year in Paris by Ann Mah

Published in 2013, this book had been on my radar for a while. It was a fun, easy read/listen. It is a great book for anyone who loves to cook and especially for those who like France. I liked how the different chapters were focused one particular dish. I learned a lot about different cooking styles and food movements. I did skip one chapter on sausage, as someone who prefers not to eat meat, it grossed me out too much to listen to that chapter. 

Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference by William MacAskill

When I was at Yale Divinity School, I first learned about effective altruism. William MacAskill is a leader in that movement. Earlier in the year when I read How to Be Perfect by Michael Schur, I think Schur mentioned MacAskill’s work. Doing Good Better was a great introduction to the effective altruism movement. The philosophy gave me a lot to think about and reflect on.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

The protests in Iran began in mid-September 2022 and a friend finished this book around the same time. I had a copy that had been collecting dust on my shelf for a while. I finally picked it up. It was not really what I expected. I struggled with the author’s jumping around in time. This book was a best-seller when it was first published in 2003. I felt like the book showed its age. Popular non-fiction has shifted a lot in the past 20 years. I’m glad that I finally read this book, but it wasn’t a favorite.

As I approached the end of August, I was fairly sure that I would reach my goal of 100 books by the end of September. I finished 10 books in September. After finishing book #100 on September 19, I fell into a bit of a reading slump. Most of the year had been such a big push to get to that point and I enjoyed a few weeks off from most reading.

Of the ten books I finished in September, 4 of them were audio books (An Ugly Truth, Plainsong, The 1619 Project, and One Hundred Years of Solitude). I read two books on my Kindle: Search and Shadow and Bone. And the remaining 4 books were hardcopy (including 1 loaned from a family member, 1 new purchase, and 2 books from my shelves).

Book #92 for 2022 

An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook’s Battle for Domination by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang

I listened to this audiobook while traveling around Labor Day Weekend. My friend Deirdre Byrne recommended this book to me. I enjoyed learning more about Facebook and the power players in leadership. The authors are New York Times reporters and I think they did an excellent job on their research and reporting. A big focus of the book is Facebook’s role in the 2016 election. I want to keep learning more about social media and online privacy. Tech companies are so big and it seems like our government is not currently prepared to have adequate oversight to protect the safety of individual citizens. My one complaint with this book was that I would have liked more action steps presented at the conclusion of the book. How can the average person protect their privacy online?

#93 Plainsong by Kent Haruf

This book was a complete surprise! I didn’t know much about it going into it. The title was on my radar from my goal to read a book set in every US state. I also listened to this book while traveling around Labor Day Weekend. The writing was captivating. I could vividly picture the characters and the events taking place in Holt, Colorado. This was my first time reading any writing by Kent Haruf and I would definitely read more of his work. I especially recommend this book for fans of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.

#94 Search: a novel by Michelle Huneven

I had a few different people recommend this book to me because the focus of the novel is a church searching for a pastor and it is written from the perspective of someone on a search committee. The fictional account is focused on a Unitarian Universalist congregation, but the basics of the storyline would fit in many UCC congregations too. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but I will say that I was frustrated by the ending of the book. One other detail that stood out were the fun themed cocktail names/recipes included throughout. It was a fun creative addition which I enjoyed, even as someone who doesn’t drink alcohol anymore.

#95 A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly

The superlative I would probably give to this book is “least memorable.” My mom loaned me a copy of this book because one of her book clubs had read it. It is told from two different perspectives and I didn’t connect with either character. It was fairly fast paced so I kept reading and finished the book, but the book felt very sad and depressing.

#96 Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo is the author of one of my favorite books, Ninth House. Some of my friends are also fans of Leigh Bardugo and encouraged me to enter into the Grishaverse by reading Shadow and Bone. Personally, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and I didn’t think her writing was as strong as Ninth House. I’ve also recognized this year that I am only an occasional fantasy fan. I am looking forward to the second book in the Ninth House series, Hell Bent, which will be released in January 2023!

#96 The 1619 Project, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones

I remember reading the initial publications around the 1619 project from the New York Times when it was first launched in 2019. The creator, Nikole Hannah-Jones, adapted her original writing for this book project. The book is a compilation of essays and poetry on various themes related to the 1619 project. My favorite parts of this book were the poetry. I loved the creativity and the various forms the poetry took. The essays were well written and researched, Hannah-Jones contributions are stand-out. The whole collection was a bit overwhelming in size and 18 total essays felt like a few too many for the average reader. I listened to this book on audio and enjoyed it.

#97 The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

My September reading life was a wide range of genres all in one month. Ali Hazelwood has quickly become a favorite Romance author among many readers. The Love Hypothesis was published in 2021 and I had noticed many friends add it on Goodreads. I really enjoyed reading this contemporary romance novel. It was a quick read for me, started and finished in one day. Hazelwood has excellent character development. I already ordered book #2 in the series, Love on the Brain, and I look forward to reading it soon!

#98 The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

Published in October 2019, I selected this book through my membership with Book of the Month. It sat on my shelf for a while until I finally decided to read it in September. It was a slow read for me and I struggled to connect with the characters. It is considered a YA (Young Adult) book and I thought it was way too long at 512 pages. I’d only recommend this if you are a huge fan of historical fiction.

#99 The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Continuing to work through my Book of the Month backlog, I read this book in two days. I don’t think I realized that there were alternating timelines when I ordered the book. I normally don’t like this feature in novels and it didn’t do much to improve the storyline here. I had expected that this book was going to be mystical or fantasy, but the apothecary was basic herbs, not magic. Unfortunately, another not very memorable read for September 2022.

#100 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

As I approached my goal of reading one hundred books, I considered what should be book #100. I considered a few different options, but quickly decided that One Hundred Years of Solitude would be fitting. I made this selection knowing that the book is one of the best examples of magical realism, one of my least favorite genres. I listened to the book on audio and it was entertaining to hear the narrator read the names over and over again. I probably had a bit more patience with the winding roads the characters take because of listening on audio. The one thing that I couldn’t get past was the child sexual abuse that takes place and the incest. I was not aware of those things before reading and haven’t seen many people talk about them in their reviews. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a best-selling and world famous book, but it just wasn’t an enjoyable read for me.

At the end of September 2022, I reached my goal of reading 100 books. But I was very burnt out on reading after this. I read 4 books in October, 3 in November and 3 in December. There are always more books to read!

I did a LOT of reading in August and finished 15 books including 2 children’s books. This was my second highest total number of books in one month. The highest month was March when I finished 20 books. Looking back, I don’t even know how I did that in March?!

Stay tuned for my September recap when I finish book #100 for the year!

August was a mix of quantity and quality. A few books really stood out and some were duds.

I’ll start with my five favorites that I read in August.

One of those wonderful books that received a lot of hype over the summer and it lived up to the hype, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. The author does a wonderful job creating dynamic characters who captivate the reader. There are some sad events that take place in the novel. Fortunately, the plot moves along and doesn’t linger too much in the sadness. Published in April 2022, it is a very impressive debut novel. This would be a great book club pick. Highly recommend reading!

Another favorite from the month of August was How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur. I am a fan of the TV show The Good Place and when I saw that the writer and executive producer of the show had published a book, I was intrigued. I listened to the audio version of the book and was pleasantly surprised with the way notes were added into the primary text. The audio version also features short segments with the actors from The Good Place and I really enjoyed hearing their voices. If you enjoyed the tv show The Good Place or you are a major philosophy nerd, give this book a try.

August was filled with multiple audiobooks that made me laugh out loud while listening! I listened to the audiobook Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship by Gregory Boyle while driving from CT to Washington DC around Labor Day Weekend. This was the perfect audiobook for a long drive. Father Gregory Boyle is a Jesuit priest who ministers to former gang members through Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California. Barking to the Choir is Boyle’s second book and tells more stories from Homeboy Industries. An excellent read on spirituality, compassion, and being a follower of Jesus.

A fun thing about reading so much in one year is the variety of books and how long it takes me to read them. Some books I finish in a day and others I read on and off for months. My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin was one of those that I read slowly over the course of several months. Each chapter is dedicated to the life of a saint. Father James Martin is a wonderful storyteller and I enjoyed reading about his personal connections to various saints. If you are interested in learning more about several saints, I recommend reading this book.

My friend Emily Bruce recommended Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard to me after she picked it up from the library earlier this year. I have been on a big kick of reading about trees so I quickly decided I would read it. Published in 2021, Simard’s research on the ways that trees communicate and support each other was fascinating. Simard has lived an interesting life and did a great job describing her friends and family in the book. Overall, it was somewhat heavy on science, compared to some other popular nature books, but still enjoyable.

Everything else I read in August:

The Maid by Nita Prose

The first book I finished in August was for book club. I am not a big fan of mysteries. I will say this book was a quick read, the plot didn’t drag on too slowly. And I enjoyed some of the twists and turns along the way. The Maid was selected as a Good Morning America book club pick and was optioned for film before it was published. If you enjoy mysteries, you will probably like this book!

Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi by Richard Rohr

I am always a fan of Richard Rohr’s writing and I read this book to help me prepare a sermon on St. Francis of Assisi. I learned a lot about the theology of Francis of Assisi through this book. I was a little bit frustrated by the disjointed chapters and lack of a good introduction to St. Francis’ biography. If you are interested in his biography, find another book. This book is good for those who want an easy theological read.

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

I almost gave up on this book at one point. Then I decided to recommit to finishing. Initially, I liked the idea of The Paper Palace because of the setting on Cape Cod. However, the alternating timelines were frustrating and the amount of trauma in the book was overwhelming. It felt like the author was just piling on everything she could imagine that could go wrong.

Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis

Similar to the book I read about St. Francis, I picked up this book by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis in order to prepare for a sermon. Over the summer I was leading a worship series called “Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints” and Rev. Jacqui Lewis is profiled in the middle-grade children’s book. Maybe because I’m a minister, I really wanted more theology and links to Scripture in Fierce Love. I learned a lot about Lewis’ life and I would have loved a more robust spiritual reflection.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Kafka-esque is a phrase that can sometimes be overused and misused. However, Murata has created a character that reminded me a lot of The Metamorphosis. The main character Keiko is only truly herself when at work in the convenience store. This is a slim novel of about 160 pages. It was interesting to try something new with this book; it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe by Richard Rohr

Normally, I am a huge fan of Richard Rohr; this was not my favorite book of his. Published in 2019, I’ve had it sitting on my shelf for a while and I finally sat down to read it in August. I might have put this book on too high of a pedestal in my own mind because I wasn’t blown away while reading it. This might just have been bad timing. I will likely keep this book on my shelf and may return to it again someday.

Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To: Why Rigorous, Reasonable, and Real Religious Community Still Matters by Lillian Daniel

Another book where I am a big fan of the author, however the words didn’t captivate me. Lillian Daniel’s writing on church is good… maybe these ideas are more mainstream 6 years after this book was first released in 2016. One of the primary take-aways I have been wrestling with is thinking about how to share church with those who haven’t grown up in a faith tradition. Most of the current model around church life is sustained exclusively by those who already have a basic education of Christian faith. How can modern mainline church leaders today reach those outside of the church walls?

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Sometimes when I dive deeply into a topic… I hit the bottom of the pool. This was a fine book, but I overdid it a little bit on my reading about trees. The Hidden Life of Trees had many short chapters and gave a high level overview of several topics I had already learned about in other recent books. If you are looking for an enjoyable easy to read book about trees, this might be a good one to get you started. If you’ve already read a lot about the topic, you can probably skip this one.