I finished 2023 with a surprisingly excellent reading month, featuring 3 books in the 5-star range, several holiday-themed reads, and an unintentional theme of books involving Hollywood/moviemaking/TV shows. Let’s get into it!

Stats

Total books read: 9

2023 releases: 4

#readmyowndamnbooks: 4

Holiday romances: 3

Books featuringHollywood/moviemaking/TV shows: 5

And I Do Not Forgive You by Amber Sparks (5 stars) – An endlessly creative and at times goosebump-inducing short story collection that came in clutch for me in December and also reminded me why short stories are one of my favorite things to read.

Delphi by Clare Pollard (5 stars) – This was my last read of 2023, and a surprise five-star read. It’s a short novel told in brief vignettes about a classics professor navigating the pandemic with her husband and young asthmatic son while connecting the anxiety she’s facing about an uncertain future with ancient Greek methods of divining fate. It’s succinct and addictive to read, with precise and skillful prrose and a huge emotional wallop at the end.

Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey (4.5 stars) – I really wasn’t expecting Wreck the Halls to become one of my favorite romances of the year, but I was pleasantly surprised! This book is sweet, big-hearted, and involves reality TV shenanigans, rocker moms, long-term crushes, and a crap ton of chemistry. Even though I’m Jewish, I do enjoy a good Christmas romance, and this one perfectly hit the spot.

I was sent a free copy of Wreck the Halls from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein (4 stars) – My love of mermaids prompted me to buy this book, and the acerbic writing kept me hooked. I had an unintentional pattern of books featuring Hollywood this month, and this one features an author moving to L.A. to help adapt her book into a movie, while trying (and failing) to avoid losing the manuscript’s integrity along the way.

Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi (4 stars) – I heard of this author from his appearance on Top Chef (I’m obsessed) and found his memoir to be hard-hitting, well-written, and impressive.

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow (4 stars) – This was a really enjoyable YA contemporary holiday romance audiobook that features two young Jewish women falling for each other over Christmas while one of them is in D.C. for a paleo-ichthyology internship.

Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald (4 stars) – This is sort of a new adult contemporary romance set in L.A. that focuses just as much as friendship as it does love. It’s a debut and wasn’t perfect, but I enjoyed many aspects of it and will be picking up more from this author. I think its Goodreads ratings are way too harsh.

The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (3 stars) – I was underwhelmed by this fairytale-inspired short story; I’ve read a lot of short stories in this vein, and while I had high hopes, it just didn’t stand out to me.