A-Town's Bookshelf: The Year in Books, 2023

I hated reading when I was younger. I think it was because, during my school years, the only stuff I ever read was forced upon me. This is not to say that those books were always bad. I just didn't love that I had no choice in the matter. I discovered the joy of "reading for fun" after I graduated college. I mostly attribute this to Dan Brown's books - several of which I read quickly and surprisingly enjoyed, due to their short chapter lengths and constant cliffhangers. I would not refer to myself as an avid reader or bookwork, but I have gone proactively out of my way to read a handful of books each year over the past decade or so. But nothing can hold a candle to what happened this year.

Early in 2023, I made the very adult decision to renew my library card, mainly so I could read a Star Wars book that I didn't want to spend actual money on. It was a good book. That was a good decision. For a few years, I've heard people talking about the "Libby" app - a mobile app that allows librarygoers to listen to audiobooks - which I never quite comprehended. Plus, I have never been a big audiobook guy. I just have a hard time paying attention if I'm doing literally anything else. However, in the midst of my paternity leave this summer, I figured I'd try it out, just to see what it was all about.

Here I am, at the end of 2023, to tell you that Libby and its paid alternative Audible, were basically best friends to me this year. I absolutely CRUSHED some audiobooks this year. During my second stint of paternity leave, there were many, many, many days when I would just watch my boys and play "NBA 2K23" with an audiobook going. Crushed it. I listened to so many books. Understand this: I was listening basically all day long and was finishing new audiobooks every 2-3 days. It was not normal behavior. (Now, before some of you come at me with the old "I read 96 books last month" comments, let me just say that the number of books that I completed was a staggering amount for me. I am sure I barely scratch the surface of what some of you have been able to do in your lives, but for me, this was insane.

Also, let me say something that these 96-Books-Per-Month people will never admit: when I'm listening to an audiobook, there is no way that I retain and comprehend 100% of everything that's going on. For some of the books I cruised through, maybe 70% would be a good guess. And not all of the books that I finished were good. In fact, I suffered through a couple of them, and even cranked up the listening speed on a few, just so I could cross the finish line and move on.

Some books, on the other hand, were really, really good, and I stumbled across some great stuff this year, for which I am grateful.

I used the "Goodreads" app (which is a bit confusing and, at times, difficult to use) to keep track of all of the books I finished this year, and I rated all of them on a five-star scale, not only because I'm a weirdo that loves stats and rating things, but also to help fellow readers have a better idea of whether or not a book is any good. I just wish that I could have given half-stars in my ratings because sometimes "4 stars" doesn't quite accurately reflect how close I would have come to giving some books (like Jurassic Park) a five-star rating.

Anyway, with all of that information in mind, I thought it would be fun to start another Year in Review blog, as a way for me (and probably only me) to look back and reflect on the books I've read from year to year. I was very excited when Goodreads sent me a yearly recap of my reading journey, which should make this blog much simpler for me to write.

But first, a meme:

Now, let us begin.

Books Read

Here is a list of all of the books I completed in 2023, along with my star rating:

1. Star Wars: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray, 3/5 stars
2. No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox, 3/5 stars
3. Gone Tomorrow (Jack Reacher # 13) by Lee Child, 3/5 stars
4. Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard by Tom Felton, 4/5 stars
5. Star Wars: Convergence by Zoraida Cordova, 4/5 stars
6. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, 4/5 stars
7. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger, 5/5 stars
8. The Last Human by Zack Jordan, 1/5 stars
9. Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, 3/5 stars
10. Red Rising by Pierce Brown, 3/5 stars
11. Deception Point by Dan Brown, 5/5 stars
12. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, 2/5 stars
13. The Lost World by Michael Crichton, 2/5 stars
14. Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn, 2/5 stars
15. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
16. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
17. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie, 4/5 stars
18. Fairest of All (Villains # 1) by Serena Valentino, 5/5 stars
19. Poor Unfortunate Soul (Villains # 2) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
20. The Beast Within (Villains # 3) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
21. Unbirthday by Liz Braswell, 2/5 stars
22. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, 3/5 stars
23. Mistress of All Evil (Villains # 4) by Serena Valentino, 4/5 stars
24. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolien, 4/5 stars
25. Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life by Michael Caine, 4/5 stars
26. Mother Knows Best (Villains # 5) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
27. The Odd Sisters (Villains # 6) by Serena Valentino, 2/5 stars
28. Evil Thing (Villains # 7) by Serena Valentino, 5/5 stars
29. Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, 3/5 stars
30. Cold Hearted (Villains # 8) by Serena Valentino, 3/5 stars
31. Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others by Zachary Levi, 4/5 stars
32. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, 2/5 stars
33. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, 5/5 stars
34. The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs, 2/5 stars
35. Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, 5/5 stars
36. If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos, 3/5 stars
37. Star Wars: Cataclysm by Lydia Kang, 5/5 stars
38. Being Henry: The Fonz... and Beyond by Henry Winkler, 3/5 stars
39. Steelheart (The Reckoners # 1) by Brandon Sanderson, 5/5 stars
40. Never, Never (Villains # 9) by Serena Valentino, 2/5 stars
41. Mitosis (The Reckoners # 1.5) by Brandon Sanderson, 3/5 stars
42. Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber, 4/5 stars
43. Fire & Fate (Villains # 10) by Serena Valentino, 4/5 stars
44. No Is a Four-Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling but Succeeded in Life by Chris Jericho, 4/5 stars
45. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton, 3/5 stars
46. Star Wars: The Perfect Weapon by Delilah S. Dawson, 2/5 stars
47. Star Wars: Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, 4/5 stars
48. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, 4/5 stars

Other Stats

The A-Town Awards

Best Book of the Year: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Honorable Mention: Deception Point by Dan Brown

Worst Book of the Year: The Last Human by Zack Jordan

Honorable Mention: Unbirthday by Liz Braswell

Best Audiobook Narration: Andy Serkis (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Honorable Mention: Susanne Blakeslee (Evil Thing by Serena Valentino)

 

*****

There you have it! My first-ever Year in Review blog about books! Do any of the titles I read spark your interest? Do you have any recommendations for me?... because I absolutely live for book recommendations these days. Please, let me know what I should read next. Leave a note in the comments section, follow me on Twitter (here and here), find me on Facebook or, heck, even look me up on Goodreads, if you're into such things.

May the new year be full of even more literary adventures.

Until next time.