3 Books I Read in 2023

In-between working two jobs and traveling, I've had a lot of time on my hands. The first thing I did last year was pick up a book and once I started reading, I could not stop! Chapter after chapter, book after book, I passed the time while on break or waiting to get on my next plane. Since January of last year I have read over thirty books - yes thirty! - and there were some great books....and there were some bad ones. Of the thirty from this last year, I have chosen three of my very favorite and highly recommended reads!

1. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

My rating: 5 stars

This was by-far one of my favorite reads of the summer. You know that Hulu show Only Murders in the Building? With Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin? Think that but in novel form. A group of four elders living in a retirement village have found each other and started a club - the Thursday Murder Club - where they go through unsolved cases and its evidence, trying to put together the pieces every Thursday. Of course, this is all for fun, that is until a murder happens in their very own village! Now they find themselves following along with this crime, sometimes staying one step ahead of the police (much to the police's dismay) and uncovering clues along the way.

Despite being about murder, this book has all the elements for a light-hearted read: it has comedy, it has mystery, it has drama, and it even has romance! As time goes on you get to learn more about this group of 80-somethings and their lives and how it all makes sense for such a group to come together. Many times I found myself not being able to put down this book. I completely and wholeheartedly recommend this one!

2. All's Well by Mona Awad

My rating: 5 stars

Another great read that leaves you thinking about it for days after finishing! This novel follows the life and thoughts of former-Shakespeare-actor-now-theater-professor Miranda Fitch. Fitch's acting career had come to an end when one night she fell off stage playing Lady Macbeth, leaving her with excruciating back, hip, and leg pain. Five years later, divorced, in more pain than ever with an addicting dependence on painkillers, she is now a college theater professor and director. For the upcoming spring production, Fitch wants to put on one of Shakespeare's most troubled plays: All's Well That Ends Well. Her students, however, have other plans. When Fitch meets three strange men who seem to know and relate to her suffering, she finds herself getting everything she ever wanted: control, love, and being able to live her life again pain-free. All of this may come at a cost.

I found this book to be a page turner. As you follow along Miranda's thoughts when we are first introduced to her in the fall and work our way through the story to the spring production opening night, we witness first-hand the main character's breaking points. We experience heartbreak, physical pain, and emotional pain. We ache alongside Miranda as she tries desperately to ease her suffering. We see the toll of what addiction can do. Though...what is real? What is just inside Miranda's head? However, we are reminded constantly that all's well. Honestly, I found it hard to explain this book to many of my friends, let alone in this review. The ending will leave you with a sense of peace...but with many unknowns. I had fun reading this one - I think you will, too.

3. Verity by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 4 stars

I feel like over the last year we have heard nothing but "Colleen Hoover this" and "Colleen Hoover that" but trust me when I say, if her other novels make you feel as much emotion as this one did, there's a reason everyone is talking about her! This one follows a financially and creatively struggling NYC novelist, Lowen Ashleigh. In a last ditch effort to get out of a writing rut, she accepts an outstanding offer made by Jeremy Crawford, husband of author Verity Crawford, to finish an existing series, as Verity is unable to complete it on her own. By accepting this offer, Lowen is also accepting the invitation to stay in the Crawford home and go through Verity's office and notes on the series, hoping there is enough material to get started on some novel outlines. What Lowen does not expect to find is a sort of autobiography written by Verity, one that Verity most likely never intended to see the light of day. As Lowen goes through the manuscript, she finds herself reading the thoughts and memories of some truly horrific admissions and stories - one involving the deaths of the Crawford's daughters. Lowen has a decision to make: keep these stories to herself or reveal to Jeremy how truly awful his wife really is.

I read this book in two days, that is how addicting this one really was. Just like Lowen reading the manuscript, you did not want to put this one down! A lot of emotions are happening in this book: love, loss, fear, anticipation, acceptance, and disgust - oh, so much disgust! You cannot believe some of the stuff that Verity admits to in her manuscript. CoHo really knows how to play tricks with your mind and make you experience the events alongside the characters. One thing I did not love about this one, however, was how much sex was in it. Seriously, it is almost every other scene in this novel. I do see the relevance of it, but geez did there have to be so much of it? Other than that, this one left me completely blindsided. If you don't mind the sex, this one is for you.

Happy reading!