Top 12 Books of 2023 – Year in Review (Part 1)
Hi Readers! Welcome to the first of the three year-end review posts of 2023! We begin with books, of course. My reading in 2023 was quite erratic because I had set no reading goal. I thought doing that would give me the freedom to read whatever I wanted; be it big books or short books, fiction or nonfiction, graphic novels or audiobooks. Just glorified mood reading all year round. In the initial months, it worked wonders. I enjoyed the freedom which came with no stress. But, as the months went by, this outlook changed somehow into freedom with a slice of stress. I still shared a monthly review, which made me push myself to reading more and more and more. Because God forbid if I only read four books in a whole month. And, towards the end of the year, it was full on mania. I just HAD to meet my goal of 80, because that’s how many books I had read last year. I managed to read 80, but I am not proud of this manic erratic reading journey. Hopefully, I will know better for next year.
I feel that every person knows themselves well enough. I am someone who wants structure and schedule to everything. So, setting a target actually helped me and did not stress me in the previous years. I will probably stick to that in 2024. Perhaps even mini-targets for different categories so that my reading is diverse, but also not too confined which will not restrict my mood reading. You will read just as well as you know yourself. So, here’s to a healthier reading habit in 2024.
~~TOP 12 BOOKS OF 2023~~
Now, about the review! I read EIGHTY BOOKS across 24253 PAGES in 2023! Before I get into the statistics, here is the reveal of the best 12 books I read in 2023! I read new books but more often I read backlists. So, all these books have been published in different years varying from 1990 to 2023 and across various genres.
THE EIGHTH LIFE by NINO HARATISCHVWILI
DUST CHILD by NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MAI
MEN WITHOUT WOMEN by HARUKI MURAKAMI
OATHBRINGER by BRANDON SANDERSON
THE LUMINARIES by ELEANOR CATTON
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by GABRIELLE ZEVIN
HOW KYOTO BREAKS YOUR HEART by FLORENTYNA MEOW
THAT LONG SILENCE by SHASHI DESHPANDE
THE COVENANT OF WATER by ABRAHAM VERGHESE
THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE by RICHARD OSMAN
ROMAN STORIES by JHUMPA LAHIRI
EM AND THE BIG HOOM by JERRY PINTO
~~STATISTICS~~
Using Excel and charts to make these statistics is always more fun than it is when you do it for work. The shortest book I read was 57 pages long and the longest book was 1243 pages long, while the average book length was 294 pages! I rated 5 books at 5 stars and also 5 at 1 star, while my average rating was 3.3 stars across these 80 books! But instead of writing about the numbers, just enjoy the visual representation in the beautiful charts. I will let the charts speak for themselves!
So, that is the reading recap of the year! I hope you will pick your next book from these 12 books and I really hope you will love them as much as I did. Stay tuned for more year in review posts.
Until next time,
About The Author
Aishwarya Shenolikar
Hello! I'm Aishwarya, an Introverted bookworm & writer. I have been reviewing books since 6 years on my blog - Mindscape in Words. My favourite genres are Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Magical Realism, Poetry, Fantasy & Memoirs. I like the kind of books which evoke emotions on several levels leaving me wrecked, but also incredibly content. I'm dreaming for the world to paint a landscape full of words, more like Mindscape in Words. Hope you enjoy the view.
Loved the review and noted down a few to read next year 🙂