HAPPY NEW YEAR, BOOK FRIENDS!!!! It’s the first new release day of 2023 and publishing hits the ground running with lots of great titles to check out. I kicked off my 2023 by re-reading one of my favorite books, Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. It’s such a lovely, calming little book, and that is the energy I want going into the new year. (Says human Red Fraggle, lol.) Last week, I also re-read all the books in Maureen Johnson’s Truly Devious series, which I cannot recommend enough. It’s so much smart fun. Now I plan to only read books I haven’t read before until February when I re-read The Secret History, because it’s kinda my thing.
Today I am doing a round-up of several exciting titles from the first Tuesday of January 2023. Below, you’ll find titles (loosely) broken up into several categories, to make it easier for your browsing convenience. I hope you have fun with it! And as with each first Tuesday newsletter, I am putting asterisks *** next to the books that I have had the chance to read and loved.
If you’re thinking of doing a reading challenge in 2023, may I recommend Book Riot’s new Read Harder Challenge? The 24 tasks invite readers to expand their worldview through books! You can read one book per task, or do some multi-tasking by counting one book for multiple tasks. It’s all good! The point of the challenge is to push yourself to expand your horizons. To find the tasks and subscribe to our newsletter for tips and recommendations, visit Read Harder 2023. And thank you to Thriftbooks for sponsoring Read Harder 2023!
And speaking of today’s great books, for this week’s episode of All the Books! Danika and I discussed some of the wonderful books that we’ve read, such as Age of Vice, The Villa, The Bandit Queens, and more.
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Biography and Memoir
Drinking Games: A Memoir by Sarah Levy
Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
Fiction
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor***
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino
The New Life by Tom Crewe
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan***
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Sam by Allegra Goodman
Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh
History
The Discovery of Pasta: A History in Ten Dishes by Luca Cesari, Johanna Bishop (translator)
Pharaohs of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of Tutankhamun’s Dynasty by Guy de la Bédoyère
Middle Grade
My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement by Willie Mae Brown
Sincerely Sicily by Tamika Burgess
Suitehearts #1: Harmony and Heartbreak by Claire Kann
Officer Clawsome: Lobster Cop by Brian “Smitty” Smith, Chris Giarrusso***
Mystery and Thriller
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The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone***
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Thriller) by Damyanti Biswas
Blaze Me a Sun by Christoffer Carlsson, Rachel Willson-Broyles (Translator)
Hide (Detective Harriet Foster) by Tracy Clark
Code 6 by James Grippando
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
Nonfiction
The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction by Jamie Kreiner
Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan
Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility by Martha C. Nussbaum
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Northeaster: A Story of Courage and Survival in the Blizzard of 1952 by Cathie Pelletier
Decolonization: Unsung Heroes of the Resistance by Pierre Singaravélou, Karim Miské, Marc Ball, Willard Wood
Poetry
you are your own fairy tale by amanda lovelace
Romance
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood
Back in a Spell by Lana Harper
Token by Beverley Kendall
Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror
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The Thing in the Snow by Sean Adams
VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend
The Strangers by Jon Bilbao, Katie Whittemore (translator)
Young Adult
The Stranded by Sarah Daniels
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman
The Stolen Heir: A Novel of Elfhame by Holly Black
Breakup from Hell by Ann Dávila Cardinal
They’re Watching You by Chelsea Ichaso
French Kissing in New York by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Cursed Princess Club Volume One by LambCat
Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden
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Rebel of Fire and Flight by Aneesa Marufu
All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri
Nick and Charlie (The Heartstopper Novellas) by Alice Oseman
The Wrong Kind of Weird by James Ramos
A Ruinous Fate (Witch’s Dice) by Kaylie Smith
Sisters of the Lost Marsh by Lucy Strange
The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim
16 & Pregnant by LaLa Thomas
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
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This week: I’m currently reading The Davenports by Krystal Marquis and I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane. Outside of books, I watched Glass Onion, which I thought was weird and silly in the most delightful way (put Janelle Monáe in everything, you cowards!) and The Banshees of Inisherin, which is really good and really upsetting. I cried so much. The song stuck in my head is “Been Here Before” by Tony Molina, because I just watched the first three seasons of Miracle Workers. (Daniel Radcliffe is a treasure.) And of course, here’s a cat photo: The orange monsters have been sitting closer to each other lately. It’s probably a cold weather necessity thing. It almost always devolves into wrestling and biting. (Related: Have you ever read No Fighting, No Biting? It was one of my favorite books as a kid.)
Thank you, as always, for joining me each week as I rave about books! I am wishing the best for all of you in the new year, whatever situation you find yourself in now. And yay, books! – XO, Liberty ❤️