I read a lot of books generally, but this year, I read more books than I had ever read in a year before. And, for once, I actually kept track of the books I read and which ones I liked. So, I would like to take this time to give you a book for each month of 2023, to entice you to read a little bit more in the coming year. I tried to match the books to the vibe of each month and have provided genres so that you can find other books that are similar.
January: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow (Magical Realism/Fantasy)
January Scaller is an artefact. She lives in a large and peculiar mansion filled to the brim with oddities from around the world. Much like these oddities, January is the ward of wealthy collector, Mr. Locke. One day, she finds a strange book in a place she had never thought to look before. This book tells a story about a myriad of secret doors and an adventure that brought two lovers together. Increasingly, the story seems to integrate with January’s life as she finds herself off on her own adventure. One of a lifetime.
February: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Retelling/Mythology)
A retelling of the story of the Iliad with a focus on Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles is the son of the sea goddess Thetis and the legendary King Peleus. He is strong, agile, fast; all the things that the ultimate warrior should be. Patroclus is an awkward teen who has been exiled from his homeland after an act of great violence. They forge a bond stronger than any other, but when warriors are called to Troy to retrieve Helen of Sparta, the Fates begin to weave a thread that will test how true this bond really is.
March: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (Fantasy)
Laia is a teenager in the bloodthirsty and strict Martial Empire where any act of defiance means instant death. When her brother is arrested for treason against the Empire, Laia takes and stand. She agrees to work with the rebels and spy on the Empire in exchange for her brother’s rescue. However, she will be spying from the inside of the Empire’s military academy. It is there that she meets Elias, a skilled masked warrior who doesn’t want to fight for the empire. He and Laia soon realize that to achieve their goals, they will have to work together.
April: House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (Fairytale/Fantasy)
Iris Hollow has always been a little bit to the left. Something happened to her and her sisters when they were young children that left them this way, just a little bit wrong. Iris has spent her entire life trying to avoid this weirdness, but when her oldest sister, Grey, goes missing, Iris has to embrace her oddness in order to find her. But as she gets closer to the truth, she realizes Grey’s disappearance has something to do with what happened to them as kids.
May: If We Were Villains by ML Rio (Dark Academia/Mystery)
Oliver has just been released from jail, the place where he spent the last ten years of his life. As he emerges from prison, he is met by the detective who put him away. The detective never believed Oliver’s confession and wants to know the real story. Oliver begins to tell a tale of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at a prestigious college. They have become so entrenched in their roles, that they play them offstage as well. But casting changes in their final year cause a disturbance in the group, a disturbance that leaves one of them dead.
June: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Science Fiction/Romance)
In the ashes of a post-apocalyptic world, an agent aligned with the Commandant finds a letter that reads ‘Burn before reading.’ This letter is the inception of a correspondence between two agents of opposing sides, which grows into friendship and eventually love. But, either of their sides discovering the two agents’ connection would mean death. Someone must win the war, after all.
July: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (Science Fiction)
From the genius who brought us The Martian. Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship in a galaxy far from home and has no idea what he’s doing there, how he got into space, or anything about himself. Plus, his only crewmates did not survive whatever cryofreeze adjacent procedure they were put through, and he is all alone. It is now completely up to him to figure out what kind of science they were doing in order to conquer an extinction threat to humanity. And also, there’s something else out there.
August: A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab (Fantasy/Magical Realism)
Kell is an Antari, magic users with a rare ability to travel between the four worlds through a common gateway – London. Officially, Kell is an ambassador for the Marresh Empire in Red London. Unofficially, he is a smuggler, bringing goods between worlds for people willing to pay. After a deal goes wrong, Kell flees to Red London and meets pickpocket Delilah Bard, who demands an adventure after she single-handedly saves his life. Kell agrees. A non-magic human in Red London, however, not exactly a cakewalk.
September: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi (Fantasy/Magical Realism)
Paris, 1889. The Exposition Universelle has revived the tired city and brought new life to its streets, in addition to dredging up long buried secrets. Treasure-hunter and hotelier Severin has always wanted one thing: his true inheritance. When he is offered this by the Order of Babel in exchange for completing a job, of course, he says yes. He puts together a team of the best experts for the job, who also happen to be the most unlikely bunch. What they uncover may change the course of history – but only if they make it.
October: Slade House by David Mitchell (Thriller)
From the author of The Bone Clocks. Every nine years, the owners of Slade House extend an invitation for a visit to someone who is different. If you are invited, you must pass down Slade Alley, through the black iron door, where someone will greet you by name. When it’s time to leave, you may find you cannot. So, what happens inside of Slade House? Those who find out, will never tell.
November: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Alicia Berenson’s life is normal. She has a wonderful husband, a good job, and a beautiful home. One day, her husband comes home, and she kills him. After the murder, she shuts her mouth for good. Her silence brings her notoriety, and she is hidden away at a psychiatric facility called The Grove. Theo Faber is a psychotherapist who has long been mystified and intrigued by Alicia. When he gets a job at The Grove, he is determined to learn the truth, no matter what it takes.
December: The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson (High Fantasy)
For one thousand years, the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and for one thousand years, the Skaa have lived in slavery and squalor. Then, when hope was lost, a half-Skaa named Kelsier discovered a new cause in one of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prisons. Armed with his newfound Mistborn power and his skills as a brilliant thief, Kelsier set a new mark, the Lord Ruler himself. He puts together a crew of the greatest underground Allomancers, but even they may not be enough. Until a series of events bring Vin into the crew. Kelsier sees himself in Vin, but she must learn to trust in order to unlock the greatest powers she has ever known.