Ceri Louise Reads

So I wasn’t very good at posting regularly on here last year, meaning I didn’t manage to write wrap ups for most of the months. In the interest of starting afresh this year, I’m just going to fill you in on everything else I read from May onwards in this post. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail, just a rating and a few thoughts. I also abandoned my stats spreadsheet partway through the year, but if you’re interested in more facts and figures, my storygraph year in review will be linked at the end.

May

1. The Thrill of the Chaste by Valerie Weaver-Zercher: An overview of Amish romances which I read for my research project. 4⭐️
2. Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Nadine Abgaryan: Beautifully told slice of life in a remote Armenian village, so I ticked off Armenia on my Read Around the World challenge. 4⭐️
3. The Good Muslim by Tahmima Anam: Second in the Bangla Desh series, this follows the next generation of characters as the new country tries to recover from the civil war. 4⭐️
4. The Curate’s Guide by John Witcombe: What it says on the in – a guide for those starting out as curates, which was really helpful as I got ready to start my job! 4⭐️
5. Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach: Written to encourage women in leadership roles, particularly within the church where their ministry isn’t always appreciated. 4⭐️
6. The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam: The final Bangla Desh book, this one was told in a slightly different style and as such I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first two. 3.5⭐️
7. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L Sanchez: Julia’s perfect older sister dies and then Julia discovers she had a secret life. I wanted to love this more than I did. 3⭐️

June

1. Seven Mercies by L R Lam and Elizabeth May: The second part of the Seven Devils duology, this was a fun sci-fi series but not my favourite. 3.5⭐️
2. Life Sentences by Laura Lippman: An author uncovers intertwined family mysteries, including in her own life story. 3.5⭐️
3. O Go My Man by Stella Feehily: I saw this play as a teenager and uncovered the script as I was unpacking. I was surprised by what I did and didn’t remember from the story. I also borrowed the title for a paper I was writing on the theology of relationships. 3⭐️
4. Unmasking Autism by Devon Price: a hugely helpful book in my own journey with neurodivergence. Highly recommended. 5⭐️
5. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella: a sweet YA contemporary following Audrey’s journey to recover her mental wellbeing and social confidence. 3.5⭐️
6. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon: Creepy speculative fiction from an expert in the genre. 4⭐️

July

1. A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Busby: a magical and bittersweet middle grade. 4⭐️
2. Watching You by Lisa Jewell: a clever domestic thriller that kept me guessing. 4⭐️
3. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister: time loop murder mystery – a great concept if you don’t think too much about how the time travel works! 3.5⭐️
4. The Jesus I Know edited by Adam Harbinson: a collection of essays from different authors about their experiences of Jesus. 4⭐️
5. The River of Silver by S A Chakraborty: short stories set in the Daevabad world. It was lovely to revisit favourite characters from one of my favourite fantasy series. 4⭐️

August

1. A Tudor Turk by Rehan Khan: young adult historical adventure journeying across North Africa, Asia and Europe with a great cast of characters. 4⭐️
2. Uses of Literature by Rita Felski: really great background reading for my research methodology. 4⭐️
3. Things to Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr: young adult thriller framed by the approaching end of the world. 3⭐️
4. Intertextuality by Graham Allen: more metholdology reading. 4⭐️
5. The Architext by Gerard Genette: more methodology reading. 4⭐️
6. From Dust to Stardust by Kathleen Rooney: a lovely historical novel set in the early days of Hollywood. 5⭐️
7. Kingdom of Fools by Nick Page: non-fiction exploring the growth of the early church. 4⭐️
8. The Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan: a sweet rom-com set on remote Scottish island of Mure. 4⭐️
9. Coming Home to Jesus by Dr Aishah S W: my lovely sister-in-law’s memoir. 5⭐️

September

1. City of Ghosts by V E Schwab: spooky middle grade set in Edinburgh. 3⭐️
2. Learwife by J R Thorp: if you’ve ever wondered what happened to King Lear’s wife… not quite the book I expected but still enjoyable, if a bit slow paced. 3.5⭐️
3. Murder on the Titanic: a short murder mystery story accompanying a jigsaw puzzle. 3⭐️
4. Dead in Devon by Stephanie Austin: accidental amateur sleuth Juno Browne enters into the dark world of the Devonshire antiques trade. 4⭐️

October

1. Poison Study by Maria V Snyder: young adult romantasy – magic, intrigue, mystery, a great series opener. 4⭐️
2. His Head on a Platter by Alan Gold: a dual timeline novel uncovering the story of a forgotten female renaissance artist. 4⭐️
3. Good Me, Bad Me: YA thriller following the daughter of a serial killer as she tries to start a new life. 4⭐️
4. The Ever Cruel Kingdom by Rin Chupeco: second instalment of a YA fantasy duology, very enjoyable series. 4⭐️
5. House of Dreams by Mark Stibbe: imaginative retelling the history of a house through the dreams of its new owner. 3.5⭐️
6. Reading Evangelicals by Daniel Silliman: exploring five novels that shaped American Evangelical culture. Very useful for my research. 4⭐️
7. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa: a novel following the story of one Palestinian family from the end of WW2 to the present. 4⭐️

November

1. The Endless Beach by Jenny Colgan: second instalment of the Mure series. 4⭐️
2. Theatre of Marvels by Leanne Dillsworth: a coming of age story set in the victorian underworld. 4⭐️
3. Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward: a heartbreaking memoir shaped around the deaths of five significant men in the author’s life. 4⭐️
4. Planetfall by Emma Newman: mysterious science fiction as a colony tries to establish itself on a new planet. Loved it. 5⭐️
5. A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai: cute YA rom com about a teenage matchmaker. 4⭐️
6. Psmith in the City by P G Wodehouse: quirky comedy but my least favourite thing I’ve read by Wodehouse so far. 2.5⭐️
7. In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll: sweet middle grade historical novel with a little bit of magic. 4⭐️
8. Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree: the prequel to Legends and Lattes, I loved it just as much. 5⭐️
9. Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz: weird, stream of consciousness… got to the end and didn’t really understand what had happened. 3⭐️
10. Several People and Typing by Calvin Kasulke: a novel told in slack channels. Really fun, very weird in a very good way. 4.5⭐️

December

1. The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer: one of the early romance authors, this was good fun with some memorable characters. 4⭐️
2. A Case of Dragons by Holly Moeller: cosy fantasy mystery featuring shape shifting dragons. My friend wrote this and it is excellent. 5⭐️
3. Those Who Wait by Tanya Marlow: an advent reread. Love this book more each time I pick it up. 5⭐️
4. How Clergy Thrive by Liz Graveling: short but helpful book based on research into the lives of ordained people. 4⭐️
5. Women and the Gender of God by Amy Peeler: fascinating study of gender and the role of Mary in the Bible. 4⭐️
6. Magnificat by Elizabeth Ruth Obbard: reflections on Mary’s song from the gospel of Luke. 4⭐️
7. The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola: long winded novel about a new department store in 19th century Paris. 3⭐️
8. Au Bonheur des Dames by Emile Zola: as above, but in French. 3⭐️
9. An Island Christmas by Jenny Colgan: festive third instalment of the Mure series. 4⭐️
10. Twelve Days of Christmas by John Julius Norwich: a humorous take on how the lady responded to the gifts sent by her true love, with great illustrations by Quentin Blake. 5⭐️
11. The Gift of the Magi by O Henry: festive short story 3⭐️
12. Murder on Sea by Julie Wassmer: cosy Christmas mystery set in Whistable. 4⭐️
13. The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen: another festive short story 3⭐️
14. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: the classic Christmas novella 4⭐️
15. Winta’s Day by Josie Jaffrey: third novel featuring disaster bisexual vampire detective Jack Valentine. Loved it. 4⭐️
16. Coming Home for Christmas by Patricia Scanlan: a cosy festive contemporary 3⭐️

So there are all the rest of the books I read in 2023. If you want to know more about my reading year, you can check out my Storygraph Stats.

How did your reading go in 2023?