This morning I was sitting at my kitchen table eating breakfast while the Today Show played in the living room, sharing a segment highlighting good reads in honor of National Read a Book Day. I listened to see what books they shared (you can find their list here) when it occurred to me that I never shared my 2023 reading list. At this point in the year, I’ve checked several of these off but I still have a ways to go before reaching my goal of 23 in 2023!
2023 Reading List
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah || Based in the wilderness of Alaska, this coming-of-age story finds a teenage girl stuck in the middle of her parents’ rollercoaster relationship and forces her to realize she has to survive on her own, even in the harshest of conditions.
- The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel || Full disclosure: I’m not even sure I can write an unbiased summary since this is one I’ve already read. It is a captivating story based in war-torn 1940s Paris about an unlikely trio that will make your heart swell and shatter with each page.
- The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave || Carrying this one over from last year’s list since I never got to it – this drama captures the story of a man’s disappearance, a wife on a mission to find the truth, who begins to realize her husband may not be the man she thought he was after all.
- In Five Years by Rebecca Serle || This book has been around for a few years and has so many great reviews! Four years after an oddly specific dream about her life five years in the future, the protagonist Dannie meets the man from that very vision.
- Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid || Written by the same author as Malibu Rising, when I read this tells the story of a female tennis player coming out of retirement for one last grand slam, I knew this was a book I had to read.
- Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford || A fifteen-year-old boy wakes up in the psychiatric ward, he is convinced it is a huge mistake. This story follows him on a forty-five-day journey of coming to the realization that he is not so different from the other kids.
- Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler || I always like to add a few faith-based books to my reading list each year, and this one felt especially poignant for this season of life. Exploring how the gospel connects to today’s motherhood, among to-do lists and parenting mixed messaging, I’m looking for this book to provide hope and confidence to help me grow as a mother.
- The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley || Another book that I have seen recommended everywhere, this is a thriller trying to debunk who is and who isn’t a suspect when Jess’ brother goes missing. This will be a great read for October!
- Camp Girls: Fireside Lessons on Friendship, Courage, and Loyalty by Iris Krasnow || Without reading any more about it, I am already sold on this book! I’m hoping to learn a few lessons about friendship, as well as reminisce a bit about my own camping experiences through this memoir.
- This Is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving Where You Live by Melody Warnick || Admittedly, Jody and I often have the conversation “Where do you think we will end up”. It was never my intention to move back to my hometown, but sometimes I wonder if we are meant to be here for the long haul. As a wanderer at heart, I’m curious to see the discoveries the author makes through her own research about the same question.
- You Are the Girl for the Job: Daring to Believe the God Who Calls You by Jess Connelly || I have been deeply convicted to explore my passions and my calling in the past year. I have enjoyed books by Jess Connelly in the past so I am anxious to see what I can uncover by reading this one.
- Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister || Another psychological thriller on the docket for October! A mom watches her son murder someone on the street in front of their house. Each time she falls asleep, she wakes up a day earlier, another day prior to the murder. Can she find a way to stop it? (I don’t know – I’ll let y’all know after October!)
- Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover || Love me some Colleen Hoover. I’ve heard so many good things about this one that I honestly don’t know what it is about. I trust all of the great reviews!
- While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart || Oof, this one will be with me for a long time. Told from alternating perspectives, this is another book set in the post-WWII era where two destinies become intertwined and their choices decide everyone’s future.
- If the Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss || This one is captivating y’all. Set in a poor, Appalachian mountain town with deeply human characters, this story is all about a little town trying to find its strength to fight out its demons.
- The Friendship List by Susan Mallery || My sister bought me this book a few years ago and when I was decluttering, I grabbed it to read. The story follows two best friends who are on a mission to enhance their lives. It was an easy, light read, which was a welcomed change among some of my heavier ones.
- Christmas in Peachtree Bluff by Kristy Wooden Harvey || Ah, I love Kristy Wooden Harvey’s Peachtree Bluff series. I love Christmas. One plus one equals a must-read – at Christmastime, no less. (Sidenote: her books are what first inspired me to consider Emerson as a girl’s name!)
- When We Were the Kennedys by Monica Wood || I’m signed up for daily book deals through an email list, which is how I came across this memoir about the day, and the year, following the death of the author’s father.
- Find Your People: Building Deep Community in a Lonely World by Jennie Allen || One of the themes I’ve noticed as I’ve been considering my passions and calling is the desire to cultivate and foster a community. I’m hoping to explore this a bit more as I read this New York Times bestseller.
- How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn || This title constantly makes me giggle! This humorous book gets candid about the life-altering shift marriages tend to take after their baby is born. Some days it is nice to feel like you are not the only one, especially on the more challenging days of parenting (read: marriage – hehe).
- Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid || Best-selling novel following the whirlwind rise and then sudden split of a famous 1970s band. Told from recollections of the band members and its closest supporters, this distinct storyline has now become a streaming series on Amazon Prime.
- The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand || Inspired by our (at the time) approaching trip to Nantucket, I felt this summer was as good as any to read a few more Elin Hildenbrand books! In The Matchmaker, the protagonist’s life gets flipped upside down when her first love (and biological father of her daughter) returns to the island for the first time in more than twenty years.
- The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand || The ultimate summer drama containing the relaunch of a swanky hotel, scandalous secrets, and a ghost haunting the hallways of the Hotel Nantucket that is trying to stay afloat for a successful season.
Audiobooks
I’m still not 100% where I fall on whether listening to audiobooks counts as reading debate but in the event that it does, here are two I listened/plan to listen to:
- I Could Do Anything If I Just Knew What It Was by Barbara Sher
- Spare by Prince Harry
If you’d like more ideas, check out my past reading lists:
Also, feel free to friend me on Goodreads! I love to see what everyone else is reading 🙂
blissful moments 