Everything I Read in Spring 2023
I had a fairly solid quarter of reading: I finished a total of ten books this past spring—eight of which were audiobooks! Four of the books I read were fiction and six were nonfiction. I read mostly backlist titles with a couple of new releases. I’m currently way behind my 2023 goal of reading 50 books and 15,000 pages on StoryGraph, eep! Add me as a friend on StoryGraph: my username is cottoncashmerecathair!
READ NEXT: Everything I Read in Winter 2023
Everything I Read in Spring 2023 (March—May)
Fiction
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
I started reading this book before our cruise in February, and while on the cruise, my mom told me she was reading a book that she thought was cute and wanted me to read, too. It turned out to be PWMOV! Haha! She finished it much more quickly than I did. I definitely did not read on the cruise as much as I thought I would. This book follows Poppy and Alex, unlikely best friends that travel together every summer until two years ago, when they ruined everything. Facing indecision about the direction of her life, Poppy convinces Alex to take one more trip together and decides to lay it all on the line. It’s a cute story with flashbacks to previous summer trips. I was not a huge fan of the ending…it felt sort of rushed and not how I was hoping it would end.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
I just barely finished this book a week ago! It came recommended by pretty much everyone I know since it’s about a woman in science. Elizabeth Zott works as a chemist in a lab in the 50s and 60s, where she meets Calvin Harris, an acclaimed researcher in his own right. Later, she becomes a single mother and is fired from her job because of it. Elizabeth reluctantly becomes a star on a daytime cooking show called Supper At Six, where she not only teaches other women (housewives) how to cook nutritious and balanced meals for their families (because cooking is chemistry), but also how to challenge the status quo. This was such a fun read, and I didn’t want it to end! I also appreciate that the pacing stayed consistent throughout the book; I didn’t feel like the ending was rushed at all.
Audiobooks
Princess in Love by Meg Cabot
This is the third book in The Princess Diaries series and the last audiobook read by Anne Hathaway. I noticed during this reread of the series that The Princess Diaries movies contain parts of multiple books because each book is set during a very short time frame during the school year. In this book, Princess Mia has a boyfriend that she is not interested in being with anymore because she is still in love with Michael, her friend Lilly’s brother. She decides to start writing anonymous love letters to Michael until he finds out about them and Mia feels like her life is over. Meanwhile, she’s still trying to figure out how to be a princess. Ya know, typical teenage girl things.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
This was my very first Brené Brown book, which was read by Brené herself! She is a social scientist and so much of her research and her own experiences go into her books; I had heard such great things about them. I will say that this book didn’t blow me away. I am still planning to read her other books but I was hoping to get more out of this book than I did. It’s also possible that I let myself get distracted too much while listening and that can take away from the experience (and with more heavily research-based content, it can be hard for me to stay focused). In this book, Brené talks a lot about how we should embrace our imperfections because they are what make us authentic. She shares ten guideposts to wholehearted living. I really appreciated her discussion on shame and how it impacts our lives.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
I’m a big fan of John Green’s YA novels and really loved The Anthropocene Reviewed! John wrote personal and thought-provoking essays about different aspects of human life during the anthropocene (the geologic time we are living in now), rating each on a 5-star scale. I wasn’t into podcasts when he was doing his a few years ago, so all of the essays were new to me. Topics ranged from Canada geese to the Bonneville Salt Flats to prom to the notes app to COVID (the book was published in 2021). It’s a very random assortment of topics but all very enjoyable!
Bad Mormon by Heather Gay
You may know that I’m a big reality TV fan, specifically the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. I had to watch SLC because I used to live there, of course! Heather Gay is an OG Real Housewife of SLC and speaks a lot on the show about her experience growing up in and then leaving the LDS Church. In her memoir (read by Heather), she goes into more detail about her Mormon upbringing and former marriage to a prominent figure in the LDS community. There is a short section at the end that talks about the RHOSLC and cast members specifically. I really enjoyed hearing her perspective!
Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot
Princess in Waiting is the fourth book in The Princess Diaries series and the first audiobook read by Clea Lewis and not Anne Hathaway. While Clea isn’t a terrible narrator, I do wish Anne had narrated all the books! Book four follows Princess Mia learning to lead Genovia after moving there following the winter dance. She struggles to get the Genovian people on board with public parking meters (and still undergoes princess lessons from her grandmother). In the meantime, she heads back to NYC for school and gets to see Michael again!
Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo
I’ll admit it: I used to watch the Duggars on TLC. I grew up Catholic (not like…intensely Catholic, and I don’t consider myself Catholic anymore) and was always fascinated by this giant family and their unusual (to me) upbringing. I just find it fascinating to see how other people live! I’m still hoping someday that a Duggar kid will go rogue and spill all the family secrets (speaking of, I’m planning to watch Shiny Happy People). Jinger’s most recent book was not a tell-all and didn’t really contain much new information about her family. Instead, she uses this book to “disentangle faith from fear” and describes how so many things she was taught (from a problematic pastor) ended up being wrong. The whole book is heavily focused on her faith, Jesus, the bible, her testimony, etc. It’s enough Jesus for me to last a while lol.
Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Fair Play is a great book that discusses the unequal division of invisible labor that is often undertaken by the women in the household (the “she-fault” parent). The author came up with a system to get her husband to take some of the tasks called Fair Play, a figurative card game that consists of a deck of 100 household tasks and rules for her and her partner to follow. While I enjoyed the audiobook, the description of the game itself would be better suited to read on paper or via ebook. Rodsky talks a lot about how for each household task you’re in charge of, you’re in charge of that task from start to finish. No starting it and then passing it off to your partner: you are to take full ownership of that particular household task.
The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
I like listening to books about decluttering and living minimally to see if it’ll spark something in me to get my life in order, lol. The Year of Less follows the author’s year-long journey to clear out the clutter and reduce her belongings, not shop, not drink, and get her finances in check. She spends a lot of the year traveling, which seems to help her save money (not entirely sure how that works but maybe I just spend too much when I travel). It was interesting but I didn’t learn anything particularly groundbreaking. And have I gotten my act together since reading this? …nope, lol.
