I met (actually, exceeded) my Goodreads goal again this year! Here are my responses to this fabulous survey created by Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner.  Number Of Books You Read: 37 Number of Re-Reads: 0? Genre You Read The Most From: mystery/thriller once again topped my reading this year! I didn't read very many fantasy or sci-fi books, so I hope to change that in 2024.  1. Best Book You Read In 2023? Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater -- for being a delightful fantastical read that warmed my heart :)  The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey -- for bei ..read more

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater This book was really just a delight. I enjoyed the premise -- a young woman had half her soul stolen by Faeriewhen she is a girl -- the setting of Regency England, the inclusion of magic, the dynamic between Dora and the Lord Sorcier... this story is charming. I could quibble about a few issues I had (spoilers, highlight to read: how exactly does the scrying work? How does her soul end up getting transported to the place she is scrying? And I wasn't entirely convinced by Dora's motivation to murder Lord Hollowvale. Also, how does she finally, in the epilogu ..read more

By the Book by Amanda Sellet Nothing revolutionary, but a cute YA read about a girl making friends, falling in love, and learning to own up to her mistakes, all with a literary fiction of the 1800s theme running through it. 3.5 shooting stars ..read more

Silk by Alessandro Baricco 2.5 stars, perhaps? This story is simply written, and if you think about it, not much happens plot-wise. It's basically about a man who travels to Japan multiple times for his silk worm business, and is immediately attracted to a woman he meets but who he never exchanges a single spoken word with. This book is... odd. The writing is sparse, simple, and detached, yet somewhat repetitive. The reader is given very few details about the man's life, or his mindset, or the historical setting, or the silk worm business. Yet the book has its own sense of the poetic at time ..read more

The Dry by Jane Harper A good start to my reading year! This mystery is a slow-moving one -- the murder has happened at the start of the novel, and the rest is spent with the police as they follow leads and uncover clues -- but I liked the sense of place Harper establishes (the hot, dry small-town feel of Kiewarra) as well as the characters and their relationships and history. Falk was an enjoyable protagonist to follow, as he has a good heart and really cares about others, but at the same time, seems to find it difficult to open up to them. I did find the reveal of the current-day storylin ..read more

I had a better reading year in 2022 than the previous year, thankfully! I set my Goodreads goal a little lower and then exceeded it, which made me feel pretty good about my reading. It's taken me a bit of time to get this post up, but I always enjoy participating in this fabulous survey created by Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner.  Number Of Books You Read: 35 Number of Re-Reads: 0? Genre You Read The Most From: 2022 was the year of the mystery/thriller for me! Although fantasy (including magical realism) wasn't far behind.  1. Best Book You Read In ..read more

The Silence of Bones by June Hur 1800s Korea and the persecution of Catholics was an entirely new setting/topic for me, and I appreciated learning about it through the eyes of Seol, who was an engaging narrator. I did find it hard to keep track of all the characters and their connections throughout the story (I wish there'd been a character list provided!). There was a long section in the middle of this book that dragged, but the ending made up for it, pulling things together and feeling finished without being overly happy or artificial. While the middle lulled, the intensity ratc ..read more

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain I found the first two-thirds of this book quite slow -- it's a dual timeline story, and I was enjoying Morgan's voice from the contemporary timeline, but nothing much was happening in either era. Then there's a big event that occurs in the historical timeline about two-thirds of the way through, and after that the historical timeline held more interest for me. The premise stands out as being a bit different from your average mystery -- the art restoration was a neat element -- but it is definitely not a suspense/thriller type read. It's a much ..read more

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Starr is a relatable protagonist with a distinct voice, who draws the reader into her world and the injustices (arising from systemic racism and discrimination) her community faces on a daily basis. Despite having a different background than Starr, I was easily able to connect to her character, her troubles, and her deep desire to make change happen. There were a lot of side characters in the story, and some (such as Starr's brother Seven, who was a favourite of mine) were more fleshed out than others; it was difficult for me to keep track of all the character ..read more

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence I found most of this first book in the series to be quite slow-moving, except right towards the end where it feels like everything is happening at breakneck pace. It reads more like a set-up for the rest of the series than a story in its own right. But I very much enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing their friendships form and strengthen. Nona is a gutsy protagonist, although by the end of the book I found her to be somewhat "overpowered" -- she is portrayed as almost indestructible, and I feel like her personality shifted rather suddenly towards the ..read more