Happy Friday!
I know I just shared my 2023 reading list last week, but I couldn’t help but join in on this short and sweet reading tag. The lovely Kate over at Once Upon an Ordinary is the person I stole this from (you should definitely go read her answers, right here!)
And of course, I’d love to find out what you’re hoping to read this year!
The Questions
An author that you’d like to read (that you’ve never read before).
Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar.
My family gave me this for my birthday last year, and it looks so good! Biblical fiction can be tricky to do right, but I really enjoy reading it when well-written. This one looks like a super interesting look at the story of Lydia from the New Testament. I don’t think I’ve read a biblical fiction book about her yet.
Really, the only other full-length biblical fiction books I’ve read that I can think of off-hand are The Scrolls of Edessa and a bunch from Francine Rivers. Any recommendations?
A book you’d like to read.
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.
I’ll at least stick one non-fiction one on here! I believe I’ve skimmed this one before, if not read the entire thing quickly a while ago, but I want to read and really study it this year. For obvious reasons.
My fiancé and I went through his book The Sacred Search when we were dating, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. I have very high hopes for this book on marriage as well.
A classic you’d like to read.
The Giver by Lois Lowry.
I’m not sure this is considered a classic classic, but it’s one that I hear about all the time and still haven’t read. I honestly don’t even know much about it, but it sounds intriguing! And I’m always up for a good dystopian.
Funny enough, I have vague memories of watching the movie with my dad and siblings quite a while ago, but don’t remember enough of the storyline to know what to expect from the book.
A book you’d like to re-read.
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.
I’m actually in the process of re-reading the first book right now. I’ve read the whole series several times before and always enjoyed it, but it’s been a while. And I’m prioritizing it now because my family owns it, not me, and I only have until April to have super easy access to it, haha.
The level of detail and foreshadowing that Rowling wove through these books always amazes me. They help motivate me to get writing my own stories too!
A book you’ve had for ages and want to read.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
I’ve had this for several years now and even tried to read it once, but just couldn’t get into it. That said, I really don’t like stopping books partway through, and have heard some pretty good reviews about the story, so I want to read the whole thing this year. Chances are, I just have to read further in and then I’ll get hooked anyway.
And besides, I’ve heard it compared to a fantasy version of Star Wars, and I love Star Wars! So it will be good to get to this.
A big book you’d like to read.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
I picked this one up from my local thrift store a while ago, and have been too intimidated (and strapped for time) to read it yet. But I want to! It sounds intriguing, and I do tend to enjoy historical fiction. Plus, the cover looks cool, so that’s a plus. It’s just huge.
The Bible is another book I want to get through this year, and that’s pretty huge too.
An author you’ve previously read and want to read more of.
Captives (The Safe Lands series) by Jill Williamson.
I recently read the Thirst duology by Williamson, and really enjoyed it. Previously, I’ve attended numerous sessions where Williamson talked about writing, both virtual and in-person, but it apparently took me two years to read some of her books. I wish I hadn’t waited!
After borrowing Thirst and Hunger from me, my sister is also hooked and got The Safe Lands series, which is apparently the main series to the prequels we read, so I’m looking forward to diving into those.
A book you got for Christmas and would like to read.
Operation Lionhearted by Maribeth Barber.
This was written by a sweet author friend (whose website you can find here!), and I’ve wanted to read it ever since it came out! I received it for Christmas last month, so now my forgetful, procrastinating brain has no excuses.
Even though I’m not usually a huge sci-fi reader, I’m super excited for this one. It looks amazing!
A series you want to read from start to finish.
The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.
I already mentioned the Harry Potter series earlier, but this is another classic series I want to re-read, hopefully before April (again, not my books so I just want to read them at my family’s place before they’re harder to borrow, haha).
When I was younger, I didn’t fully appreciate these books, but now that I’m older, I really enjoy them. They have such amazing depth and . . . of course . . . Aslan.
Do you set reading goals? If so, how many books do you want to read in 2023?
Yes, I do! At least as of the past two years (55 and 27 books read in 2021 and 2022, respectively). This year, I’m starting high with a lofty goal of 100 books! And like I did pretty well with this year, I’m hoping to stay up to date with reviewing them as I read each one.
If you’re interested in keeping up with me, you can find my Goodreads here!
Any other reading goals?
In general, I think I just want to read more, especially fiction. Reading stories helps calm me down, destress, spark creativity in my own writing, and I just feel better when I’m able to spend time with a book fairly often. I haven’t done enough reading lately.
And as I mentioned before, I do want to review at least most of them on Goodreads too.
Have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so what did you think?
I’m not going to tag anyone in particular, but feel free to either hop in on this tag for your own blog or social media, or just comment your answers! I’d love to hear from you!
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I’m so happy to see a Tessa Afshar book on your list! She’s one of my all time favorite authors. Honestly, all of her books are so good, but one of my favorites of hers is Harvest of Rubies. Also, you should definitely read The Giver! I read it a few years ago and found it really insightful and fascinating.
Good luck on your reading goals!
I thought of you when I received that book by Tessa! <33 I'm really excited to read it, it sounds great. And that's so good to know! So many good books and so little time to read them all, haha.
Thank you!
Hi! So I’ve read both The Giver and Eragon – I think we have talked a little about The Giver, or was that with someone else? Anyway, it’s one of very few dystopia novels I don’t find really depressing, it’s good, but I didn’t like the sequels so much.
As for Eragon, I thought it was a pretty fun, epic fantasy. The showdown/epic fight/conclusion in book four is one of THE BEST (can spoil it if you would like), but unfortunately, the latter books feel like they have had some unnecessary fluff and gore put into them to stretch them out.
Maybe I will do this book tag? But I’ve already read some books that could have been put into this tag … lol. Anyway, if I do this book tag … probably look for it in two or three weeks. Have fun reading!
I honestly am not positive, but I think it was the Giver we talked about before. And that’s very interesting! I only have the first book, so we’ll see how that goes.
I didn’t even know there are four Eragon books! Wow! Hmm, I guess I have quite a bit of reading to get there then. That’s a bummer about the unnecessary fluff and gore.
Haha, that’d be awesome! But no pressure. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! 🙂
You’re in for a treat with The Giver! The movie made some pretty big changes, but the essence is there.
Ooh, that’s intriguing! I don’t remember too much from the movie, but I do remember liking it, so that’s good to know, thank you!
I spy some great books here! 👀
Haha, that’s great! Any in particular…? 🙂