Everything I Read in Fall 2023
Whew, we’re down to the final month of 2023! I just barely finished 12 books this past fall—eight of which were audiobooks! Of the 12, five were fiction and seven were nonfiction. My 2023 reading goal on StoryGraph is to read 45 books and 13,000 pages. I have four books left to reach my goal, which feels doable because I already know the next three books I want to read/listen to in December. If you’re also a reader, be sure to join the app and add me as a friend: my username is cottoncashmerecathair! And share your favorite recent read(s) in the comments!
READ NEXT: Everything I Read in Summer 2023
Everything I Read in Fall 2023 (September—November)
Fiction
The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
It’s been a while since I read the second book in the series, so I figured it was time to pick it back up! I love that it’s not a traditional series in that we don’t follow the same main characters in every book, but all of the characters make appearances and their stories intertwine. Book 3 follows the enemies-to-lovers trope and involves Alexa’s best friend and stylist, Maddie, and Alexa’s coworker (and other best friend), Theo. One night changes everything between the two of them and suddenly they can’t get enough of each other. But is it all too much, too quickly? And can they keep it a secret from Alexa? Out of the three books, this was my least favorite so far. It felt a little light on the plot and moved a bit slowly for me compared to the first two.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I’m sure you’ve heard of this one; there has been sooo much hype for this book! It’s a “romantasy”—a fantasy featuring a touch of romance (and lots of tension, in this case). I’m not a huge fantasy reader, but because people were recommending this to people like me as a good starter fantasy novel, I decided to give it a go! It’s a REALLY long book for me, and the beginning slogged a bit, but whew I was stressed out by the end. It’s gory enough that I doubt I’ll watch a movie or TV adaptation…
When she turned 20 years old, Violet Sorrengail imagined herself joining the Scribe Quadrant, but her mother, the commander of Navarre, has ordered her to join the Riders Quadrant for a chance to become a dragon rider. The dragons are known for smelling out weak and “fragile” humans like Violet and obliterating them. Every part of Violet’s first year in the Riders Quadrant tests her ability to stay alive and makes her question what the leaders are hiding. To top it all off, she encounters Xaden Riorson, a wingleader out to murder her himself. There’s a lot of action, a little bit of romance, and of course, dragons!
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
I am an avid listener of the Bad on Paper Podcast, which is hosted by Becca and Olivia Muenter (formerly hosted by Grace Atwood of The Stripe). On the podcast, Becca talked a LOT about the book she was working on, so when it became available for presale, I ordered it! (And I got an ARC of the e-book, so now I have two versions!) It’s so fun that her book is here and that Olivia has a novel coming out next year! I really wanted to get this read before December so I could share it in this post. This is a fun holiday-themed novel about chosen family. Hannah and Finn have been inseparable since college and spend every Christmas together since they don’t really have families to spend the holidays with. Over the years, they add Priya and Theo to the group, and the four of them form their own “Christmas Orphans Club”. When Finn announces his impending cross-country move, they aren’t sure if this Christmas will be their last and if their friend group will make it through other life changes as well. It’s a really sweet story! I love how Becca is so vivid with her descriptions; it made me feel like I was right there in New York City with them.
Nonfiction
Emotional Labor by Rose Hackman
I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley! I’m not great at the whole finishing-books-before-they’re-published thing as it turns out (this was published back in March). This was a bit of a slow read for me, but it’s such an important topic and I really enjoyed how much research the author did for this book. Emotional Labor details all of the invisible, unpaid work that women do every day all over the world with an emphasis on women of color and women with lower socioeconomic status. Even women who are not mothers perform uncompensated care work. Other women will relate to this (!!!), and men should read this book so they can learn and understand exactly what women do for them.
Audiobooks
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
The author shares anecdotes and research-backed science about, as the title suggests, the power of habits and how habits can turn an idea into multimillion-dollar (or more) companies, or how specific habits can improve your life, or how habits are used in a military setting. Once you know how habits work, you have the power to change your personal life as well as your professional life. I actually found this book quite fascinating for the most part, though there’s not too much in the way of actionable advice. I still need to read Atomic Habits!
Most Talkative by Andy Cohen
I want to read all of Andy Cohen’s books, so of course I started from the beginning with his first! (And listened to it on audio since he narrates it, but he spoke so quickly that it was difficult for me to follow at times ha.) This book starts when he was young and wanted to be in the entertainment industry, follows him through his years as a journalist for CBS News, and ends at his gig at Bravo as the head of their Real Housewives franchise and host of Watch What Happens Live. He shares fun tidbits about his mother, coming out to his family in college, and some juicy bits about the women behind the Real Housewives!
Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar
I’ve mentioned before that I’m fascinated by the Duggar family, and I read Jinger’s book this past spring. (I also watched Shiny Happy People…eeek.) Jinger’s book goes into their upbringing through the IBLP and talks about how so many of the things they were taught were wrong. Jill’s book is more of a tell-all about the Duggar family. If you want the tea, Jill spilled a few cups in her book, and for that I found it way more interesting. Jill emphasizes how much she loves her parents throughout the book but talks about how they were manipulated and sort of cast aside when she and her husband Derrick didn’t agree to do things her parents’ way. I was shocked that they were never paid in all the years they were on TLC (because her dad controlled the contracts and money) and at how they were treated when they did ask for compensation for their time on the show. This book will probably make you dislike her parents even more if you didn’t like them already.
Party Princess by Meg Cabot
This is book 7 of The Princess Diaries series! We are now in the spring of Mia’s sophomore year of high school. Mia just found out that the student government she leads is broke, and her grandmere schemes up an elaborate plan involving the theater to help them raise funds while at the same time attempts to match Mia with someone else in her class. She’s still with her boyfriend Michael through all of this and worries that she’s not enough of a partier for him since he’s a college student.
Princess on the Brink by Meg Cabot
This is book 8 of The Princess Diaries series! It’s Mia’s junior year of high school. She’s baffled by the classes she’s enrolled in (including MORE math). To top it off, Michael announces he’s headed to Japan for a year or possibly longer. Mia is not sure how much her heart can take as she tries to convince him to stay.
Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White
I love reading books about decluttering and then not decluttering myself. LOL. In all seriousness, I read a bunch to learn the different techniques and see if there’s anything in them that will “click” for me. I really like Dana’s no-shame approach to decluttering (which is not organizing, it’s removing items from your home). She discusses the container concept—how your house, every room in your house, and every cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. in every room is a container and you can’t keep things that don’t fit in the containers. She repeats the same questions you need to ask yourself when you declutter to really drill them into your head. She teaches you to focus on the areas of your house that are most visible first, then move on to the other areas. This one will be a re-read for me (or I’ll buy a physical copy)!
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
I watched all 10 seasons of Friends through college and grad school, which is amazing considering I can barely stay focused on a series nowadays, and as soon as I heard of Matthew Perry’s death, I put a hold on his audiobook. It was such a hard read. I got through the prologue and had to take a break for a couple of days. He details his life through childhood in Canada, his desire to be famous, him landing the part on Friends that catapulted his career, and his lifelong battle with addiction—first alcohol, then prescription drugs. He also had a difficult time finding love, and all he wanted was someone to spend his life with. After listening to this and learning more about his addiction, I truly cannot believe he lived for as long as he did. And yet, I wish he could have lived longer. 💔
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Wow, this book is powerful. I recommend listening to this in audiobook form since it’s read by the author. It’s a short book made up of three essays—two very long essays and one short essay. To be honest, it was tough for me to read because I like a lot of stopping points and there aren’t any in the long essays. (If I lose focus, I need to stop listening, and it’s hard to find a stopping point when chapters are long!) That said, this book is SO important. The author essentially wrote a memoir wrapped in a letter to his son. It details his life as a Black man, how his Black body is seen and reacted to in America, and how race is the son of racism, not the father. That is, without racism, there would be no such thing as race. Highly recommend this one.
