Hey all! I’ve had the best intentions to update this blog of mine more frequently, but it’s clear while my intentions were solid, the execution was not haha.
I’m still reading and you can find more frequent updates on Instagram.
But for now, let me give you an overview of what’s been up!
My 2023 update thus far
I’ve read thirteen books this year which. Comparatively to the sixty five books I read last year, this feels like nothing. I was in a serious book slump during the Winter and Spring (and honestly until about two months ago). Maybe it was because I gave myself a goal of fifty last year and it felt like an assignment that by the time I’d far exceeded it, I was exhausted or maybe it wa-. No, it was definitely that :).
Because of that goal, I gave myself a Goodreads goal of one book this year knowing full and well I would surpass it, but I didn’t like feeling like I couldn’t achieve something or like I was putting unneeded pressure on myself for something that doesn’t matter.
(Enjoy some of my favorite Instagram photos this year)
Here is a list of the books, authors, star rating, and date I’ve given every book in 2023 (keep scrolling for 2022). Stay tuned for my reviews (though short) to come because I still want to ensure this blog ~has it all~.
2023 Books So Far…
| Title | Author | Rating | Date Read |
| The Girl in the Plane | Center, Katherine | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 28, 2023 |
| Things You Save in a Fire | Center, Katherine | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 27, 2023 |
| How to Walk Away | Center, Katherine | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 19, 2023 |
| Happiness for Beginners | Center, Katherine | 4 of 5 stars | Aug 18, 2023 |
| Hello Stranger | Center, Katherine | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 14, 2023 |
| The Bodyguard | Center, Katherine | 4 of 5 stars | Aug 07, 2023 |
| The Honeymoon Crashers (Unhoneymooners, #1.5) | Lauren, Christina | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 26, 2023 |
| Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) | Yarros, Rebecca | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 25, 2023 |
| Dating Dr. Dil (If Shakespeare Was an Auntie, #1) | Sharma, Nisha | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 21, 2023 |
| Flawless (Chestnut Springs, #1) | Silver, Elsie | 4 of 5 stars | Mar 28, 2023 |
| Reincarnation | Weyn, Suzanne | 5 of 5 stars | Jan 20, 2023 |
| Signal Moon: A Short Story | Quinn, Kate | 5 of 5 stars | Jan 17, 2023 |
| Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1) | Wilder, Laura Ingalls | 4 of 5 stars | Jan 09, 2023 |
Thoughts on the 2023 books
I’m having a Katherine Center moment right now. I have three of her books left to finish which I fully intend on doing in the next month or so. I’ve enjoyed reading them so much. They’re easy to read, but encompass so much emotion throughout the 300 or so pages. I’ve flown through them and haven’t gotten bored yet. I plan to write a post specific for her books soon!
When I saw that Christina Lauren wrote an immersive novella sequel to their ever-popular book, (and what officially got me back into reading a few years ago) The Unhoneymooners, I had to check it out. It didn’t disappoint and was only a few hours (you can only listen to it on audiobook).
Fourth Wing is incredibly popular right now, but this wasn’t the book for me, unfortunately. However, the cliffhanger was great. It may be the reason I try the second book.
Dating Dr. Dil and Flawless were both fun RomComs. If it’s a RomCom, you’ll find me reading it.
Reincarnation was a book I started in middle school (way too long ago) and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I finally read it and I wish I’d done it sooner!
Amazon Prime has a bunch of novellas written by popular authors and Signal Moon was my introduction to Kate Quinn. I have a few of her full length novels that I plan to read soon (but my TBR is years long at this point).
I had big plans to read the entire Little House on the Prairie series when the year started. Obviously that hasn’t happened, but what a blast from the past reading this book was. I hope to return to the others soon.
2022 Books – Top Book, Meet Me at the Lake by Carey Fortune
| Title | Author | Rating | Date Read |
| The Bookstore Sisters | Hoffman, Alice | 5 of 5 stars | Dec 30, 2022 |
| Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy, #7) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Dec 14, 2022 |
| Fated Throne (Zodiac Academy, #6) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Dec 06, 2022 |
| Cursed Fates (Zodiac Academy, #5) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Dec 02, 2022 |
| Resting Scrooge Face | Quinn, Meghan | 5 of 5 stars | Nov 29, 2022 |
| Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy, #4) | Peckham, Caroline | 4 of 5 stars | Nov 28, 2022 |
| In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It | Graham, Lauren | 5 of 5 stars | Nov 02, 2022 |
| Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember | Graham, Lauren | 5 of 5 stars | Nov 02, 2022 |
| Running Wild (Wild, #3) | Tucker, K.A. | 5 of 5 stars | Oct 29, 2022 |
| Wild at Heart (Wild, #2) | Tucker, K.A. | 4 of 5 stars | Oct 17, 2022 |
| Forever Wild (Wild, #2.5) | Tucker, K.A. | 4 of 5 stars | Oct 17, 2022 |
| The Simple Wild (Wild, #1) | Tucker, K.A. | 4 of 5 stars | Oct 13, 2022 |
| Daisy Jones & The Six | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 4 of 5 stars | Sep 05, 2022 |
| Carrie Soto Is Back | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 5 of 5 stars | Sep 05, 2022 |
| One Italian Summer | Serle, Rebecca | 4 of 5 stars | Sep 04, 2022 |
| One True Loves | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 4 of 5 stars | Aug 30, 2022 |
| Apple of My Eye | Marie, Allie | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 26, 2022 |
| I’m Glad My Mom Died | McCurdy, Jennette | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 23, 2022 |
| After I Do | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 18, 2022 |
| It’s Not Summer Without You (Summer, #2) | Han, Jenny | 3 of 5 stars | Aug 17, 2022 |
| Forever, Interrupted | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 5 of 5 stars | Aug 16, 2022 |
| The Ex Talk | Solomon, Rachel Lynn | 4 of 5 stars | Aug 14, 2022 |
| Below Zero (The STEMinist Novellas, #3) | Hazelwood, Ali | 3 of 5 stars | Aug 2022 |
| The House on Mango Street | Cisneros, Sandra | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 31, 2022 |
| Every Summer After | Fortune, Carley | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 28, 2022 |
| Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature | Owens, Zibby | 2 of 5 stars | Jul 25, 2022 |
| Stuck with You (The STEMinist Novellas, #2) | Hazelwood, Ali | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 25, 2022 |
| The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 22, 2022 |
| The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store | Flanders, Cait | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 20, 2022 |
| Evidence of the Affair | Reid, Taylor Jenkins | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 18, 2022 |
| Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive | Land, Stephanie | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 12, 2022 |
| The Switch | O’Leary, Beth | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 11, 2022 |
| Too Hot to Handle | Bailey, Tessa | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 08, 2022 |
| Where the Crawdads Sing | Owens, Delia | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 08, 2022 |
| Royal Wedding Disaster (From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, #2) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 06, 2022 |
| From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess (From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess, #1) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 05, 2022 |
| The Midnight Library | Haig, Matt | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 05, 2022 |
| Valentine Princess (The Princess Diaries, #7.75) | Cabot, Meg | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 03, 2022 |
| Sweet Sixteen Princess (The Princess Diaries, #7.5) | Cabot, Meg | 3 of 5 stars | Jul 03, 2022 |
| Stealing Home (The Sweet Magnolias #1) | Woods, Sherryl | 4 of 5 stars | Jul 03, 2022 |
| Royal Wedding (The Princess Diaries, #11) | Cabot, Meg | 5 of 5 stars | Jul 03, 2022 |
| Forever Princess (The Princess Diaries, #10) | Cabot, Meg | 5 of 5 stars | Jun 30, 2022 |
| Princess Mia (The Princess Diaries, #9) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 28, 2022 |
| Princess on the Brink (The Princess Diaries, #8) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 28, 2022 |
| Princess in Training (The Princess Diaries, #6) | Cabot, Meg | 3 of 5 stars | Jun 27, 2022 |
| Party Princess (The Princess Diaries, #7) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 27, 2022 |
| Princess in Pink (The Princess Diaries, #5) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 26, 2022 |
| Project Princess (The Princess Diaries, #4.5) | Cabot, Meg | 3 of 5 stars | Jun 25, 2022 |
| Princess in Waiting (The Princess Diaries, #4) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 24, 2022 |
| Princess in Love (The Princess Diaries, #3) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 23, 2022 |
| Princess in the Spotlight (The Princess Diaries, #2) | Cabot, Meg | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 21, 2022 |
| The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1) | Cabot, Meg | 5 of 5 stars | Jun 18, 2022 |
| My Killer Vacation | Bailey, Tessa | 5 of 5 stars | Jun 14, 2022 |
| The Summer I Turned Pretty | Han, Jenny | 4 of 5 stars | Jun 2022 |
| When Sparks Fly (Spark House, #1) | Hunting, Helena | 3 of 5 stars | Apr 27, 2022 |
| Hook, Line, and Sinker (Bellinger Sisters, #2) | Bailey, Tessa | 5 of 5 stars | Apr 26, 2022 |
| The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy, #3) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Apr 06, 2022 |
| Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Mar 27, 2022 |
| The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1) | Peckham, Caroline | 5 of 5 stars | Mar 15, 2022 |
| The Do-Over | Turner, Bethany | 3 of 5 stars | Mar 11, 2022 |
| By Any Other Name | Kate, Lauren | 5 of 5 stars | Feb 28, 2022 |
| Meet Me in the Margins | Ferguson, Melissa | 4 of 5 stars | Feb 20, 2022 |
| With Love from London | Jio, Sarah | 5 of 5 stars | Feb 08, 2022 |
| It Happened One Summer (Bellinger Sisters, #1) | Bailey, Tessa | 5 of 5 stars | Jan 24, 2022 |
| The Sweetest Fix | Bailey, Tessa | 4 of 5 stars | Jan 15, 2022 |
Thoughts on the 2022 books
Okay, for these, I’m only discussing the highlights. The individual reviews will come later. 🙂
I’ve posted reviews for the following books read last year:
The Sweetest Fix
It Happened One Summer
Meet Me in the Margins
By Any Other Name
With Love From London
The Do Over
For the rest of the books:
I started the Zodiac Academy last year. I made it through half of book eight and I’m convinced this is what created my months-long book slump. The series is insanely long if you haven’t read it, but fun to read. Check trigger warnings before you read it just in case.
Tessa Bailey, Meg Cabot, Taylor Jenkins Reid, and K.A. Tucker all had a moment last year.
Tessa Bailey – her books are an instant buy. Period.
Meg Cabot – I finally read/listened to the Princess Diaries series. It took me fourteen years, but we made it, and it took me something like two weeks. It was wild. I felt empty when I finished them lol.
Taylor Jenkins Reid – After I read her Amazon Prime novella, Evidence of the Affair, I went through The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Forever Interrupted, After I Do, One True Loves, Carrie Soto is Back, and Daisy Jones and the Six in six weeks. I currently have two of her books left to read. That’s in the plans for 2023.
K.A. Tucker – I think I saw someone else post about her book, The Simple Wild, and I found it at the library. The series was my most unexpected loved series I read all year. It came out of nowhere and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
Some nonfiction stories I picked up: Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive; The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store; Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature; I’m Glad My Mom Died; Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember; In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It.
I can tell you the one I still think about is Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. Between the book and the show, I think about them often.
Best Movie/TV Adaptation goes to Where the Crawdads Sing. The story took me awhile to get into, but once I did I was hooked. The movie, though, was special. A 10/10 adaptation.
My favorite book of the year though? Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune. I did a book bracket on Instagram last year and it was my all time favorite. It’s not to say the others weren’t great-because they were-and I have a bunch of five stars, but something about Meet Me at the Lake didn’t just show me a story, it made me feel the magic of summer again. Do you know how long it’s been since I felt that? Literal years.
I guess that’s the update! More to come as I start posting my mini reviews/additional thoughts on all of these books.
Lizzie Recommends Books 
You might not have read a lot of books this year, but all 4 and 5 stars is wonderful.
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