Hello friends! And welcome to our third end of year wrap up! As we have read quite a few books for Shelf Explored Book Club and in our personal lives this year we thought it would be fun to give you guys a peek into our favorites, least favorites, and maybe some surprises we experienced.

A good place to start is how many books did we read this year?

Jac: I read a total of 57 books this year. My goal was 35 books, so I’m very pleased! I know that all books matter, no matter how short or what the content is, but somehow I still feel like I need to say that a good chunk of these were incredibly smutty shorter reads. This is clearly my own internalized book bias that I need to work on!

Michaela: I have read a total of 40 books this year, which was 17 books beyond my goal of 23 books for 2023. I’m very excited about how much I felt like reading this year. For quite a few years reading has been hard to feel motivated for but this year I felt like I read so much more than I have been the last few years. It also helps that now I have a job where I can listen to audiobooks, life saver first of all but also lovely to be able to read more.

Our Favorite Book Club Read!

Michaela: My favorite Shelf Explored read this year was definitely Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. We first read one of this author’s books in early 2021 and I have fallen in love with her writing. I bought the sequel to Black Sun before I even finished reading it. Roanhorse has become an auto read for me. She has incredible world building, complicated characters, and addictive storytelling.

Jac: I think I have a three-way tie for my favorite book club reads this year. One of them is Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. Sometimes, when we’re reading a particularly good book for book club, it’s difficult to stop at each section to discuss instead of just blazing through until the end and that was definitely the case with Black Sun. Michaela is right in saying that Roanhorse is a very talented world builder, character creator, and storyteller. I can’t wait to keep reading the series and learning more! I would highly recommend this book to anyone that loves fantasy.

The other two books I loved were Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake. These two books I kind of lump together, since they’re part of the same series. I absolutely love contemporary romance books, and queer ones are even better. I was pleasantly surprised by the emotional depth of this series and I plan on jumping into the third and final book in the trilogy soon. 

Our Least Favorite Book Club Read!

Jac: I think my least favorite book this year was probably Paybacks a Witch by Lana Harper. On the surface it seems like a book that I would love - a witchy queer romance - but it just didn’t live up to my expectations. The storyline was okay, and I did find the magic system to be interesting, but it wasn’t enough to make me want to continue the series. Last year’s witchy romance we read also missed the mark for me, so if anyone has any suggestions for witchy romances that are truly outstanding, I’d love to hear them! 

Michaela: I think my least favorite read from Shelf Explored this year was Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone. Which is such a disservice to this author. I thought her writing was amazing, the story was truly captivating and intriguing. But, oh my god, I hated reading it because I felt so unsettled and uneasy the entire time, and that is not how I like to live my reading life! I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy feeling permanently unsettled while reading and are okay with certain topics related to abuse.

Most Challenging Book Club Read!

Michaela: Again, I’d have to say Mirrorland for me. It’s not a preferred genre for me, and while I did want to keep reading, I hated reading it at the same exact time!

Jac: Mirrorland was difficult for me simply due to the fact that the book is meant to make you feel uneasy. There are some times when that’s what I want in a book, but I really have to be in the right headspace and I gotta say, this year was not the year for that. Outside of that, I think my most challenging read was actually Spare. I enjoyed some bits of it quite a bit, but a big chunk of it was both difficult to read due to content and rather repetitive. I’m really not a big fan of reading about real world war, for the most part. It was hard to find the motivation to continue reading this book at some points.

Top Books from Our Personal Reads of 2023

Jac:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

I finally gave in to the peer pressure and hype and read Fourth Wing and honestly it was right up my alley. I love a good romantasy book in general, but what really made this book special for me was the fact that both the author Rebecca and the main character Violet have the same condition I do - Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome! Reading a fantasy book with a badass heroine who struggles with some of the same things I do was an emotional experience. It’s yet another reminder that representation matters!

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner

Meryl Wilsner is actually an author that we’ve read before here at Shelf Explored. We read Something to Talk About previously and I really enjoyed it, so I decided to try this title as well. I am SO glad I did, y’all. I have made no secret of my love of smut recently, and this book was hot as hell with tons of sex, but also had a strong storyline and characters I really enjoyed. 

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

I’m a big Sarah J Maas fan, but I hadn’t yet started the Crescent City series because it wasn’t finished yet and I know how Sarah can get with some of her cliffhangers….. That being said, I was once again peer pressured into reading this book this year also. I ended up listening to the audiobook and I really loved it. I love the Throne of Glass series and am an A Court of Thorns and Roses series fan, but I think Crescent City could easily become my favorite of Maas’. I’m really excited to keep reading this series and learn how Maas might end up connecting all three series - after all, there’s been plenty of easter eggs in the books I’ve read so far to indicate that they’re all connected. 

Michaela: I think I have way too many favorites from this year. For context, I do not consider my top reads to only be my 5/5 star reads. Some books aren’t 5 stars in my books but they’re still one of my favs. Basically, just because something is a fav read doesn’t mean it’s without flaws. I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone but me, but hey my rating system is for me anyways. I felt like I really branched out on my personal reads. I have always been incredibly picky with what I like to read, which is completely fine, but I pushed myself out just a little and found a lot that I liked. So here are a few of my favorite personal reads this year:

Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

I have always struggled with historical fiction but Outlander just hits different. I enjoyed the show and decided to try the books. I have read up to the first five books of the series this year. I loved the first two of the series, Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, so good and just really interesting. I love that along with the historical aspects being quite realistic, the characters themselves are all flawed and the relationships between them is in no way perfect. I know many think Claire and Jamie are the end all be all of perfect relationships, and they’re not in my opinion. I think what makes them an amazing relationship to follow is how imperfect they are, they have been through so much and yet find their way back to each other physically and emotionally over and over again. And the characters themselves know they aren’t perfect which makes it even better for me. There are some books in the series that do kind of drag and get a little bogged down by the historical ‘your average day in 1771’ writing. But overall I am loving the series, there’s just a touch of fantasy with the time travel stones that keeps cropping up and it just reels me in every time.

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

This book was a branch out for me in the sense that this felt like a big scary full on fantasy read. I love epic fantasy movies and the few books I have read but the epic fantasy genre has always felt quite scary for me. I don’t know why but I’ve always felt I wasn’t smart enough to read them but we’re having some personal growth this year and ignoring that mean inner voice and just ignoring some freaking books.

I loved this book. The world was very dark, the creatures were creepy, the history of the gods was fascinating, and I found myself really caring for these characters. I’ve never read anything fantasy related that involves that Nordic or Viking influence that this book has but I’ve really enjoyed it. I will say the names confuse me at times, there's a lot of new words, names, letters, that I am unfamiliar with but that has not lessened my enjoyment of the book. I also read the sequel to this book, but I did feel like I didn’t enjoy it as much. Something about it felt a little slow, but I think that often happens with the second book in some series. Definitely continuing the series though.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

If I thought Klune went hard in Under the Whispering Door, with the prospect of “what happens after death” and “learning to be okay with letting go”....then he went wild with In the Lives of Puppets. Not only is this story a kind of fairytale retelling of Pinocchio but we’re really going all the way there with the concept of “if you destroy or create does that make you a god?”, “is a god evil for destroying? Is a god evil for creating?”, “if you had the chance to kill or forgive a god, would you?”, and “if you destroyed the lives of an entire species for the greater good, then what does that make you?”  in a dystopian robot future. Not to mention the aspects of this world in relation to the story of Pinocchio were crazy. The Blue Fairy and Heaven, color me shocked, did not see that coming. Also Toy Island’s history and the Authority robots, uncanny valley feeling there. I thought this book was just so cool, so intriguing, and it makes you think about a lot of deep concepts when I know I was not expecting it. Not to mention the loveable found family group of characters, making me all emotional!

But because I can’t help myself, here's some honorable mentions to Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich, and rereading the first two books of the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (I love the various analyses of these books).

Any DNF’s This Year? Or a Challenging Personal Read?

Michaela: I only DNF’d two books this year, as in books I really do not think I will ever pick up again. Occasionally I do put down a book that I am just currently not in the mood for, chronic mood reader here my friends. However, I have always struggled with DNFing books, I don’t know why but I always felt like I needed to finish books. They had to be completed for me, which is utterly ridiculous. I would often stop reading books but then keep them for years in my “oh I’ll pick it back up someday” part of my brain which honestly makes me anxious because I am constantly berating myself for not picking that book back up. I had a whole conversation with myself this year about letting go and it's okay not to like things and I don’t need to finish books if I don’t like them.

One of my DNF’s was Gilded by Marissa Meyer. So I started Gilded with really high hopes, we know I love a retelling, but it just did not hit the mark. Maybe I have moved past being able to enjoy YA books but I felt constantly annoyed at what the main character was focusing on. She learns her mother may be trapped in this mansion of undead kind of place and she’s thinking about the boy in town she danced with one time, years ago. Nah, I don’t think its for me. I got over half way through the book and decided I actually did not care where the story went so why finish it. And that’s ok.

The other book I DNF’d was A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout, which was the sequel to our Shelf Explored read From Blood and Ash. While I did mostly enjoy FBAA, there was just enough stuff about that book that continues into the sequel that I just am not a fan of. While there are aspects to this series I feel like I could be really into, there’s too many things I find annoying, a few I’m uncomfortable with, and some that just seem a little silly. I don’t know that I’ll ever try to pick this one back up again. I’ll probably just have Jac tell me all the interesting bits I’m curious about!

Jac: I haven’t technically DNF’d anything this year, at least in the traditional sense. I did get about 40% into Heartless Sky, book 7 in the Zodiac Academy series by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy it… in fact, it’s quite the opposite. BUT, I do know that the ending of this book absolutely rips your heart out and I refuse to read it until the series is completed and I can read all the way through to the end to see if the characters I love so much get a happy ending. This is actually the second time I’ve had to take a break from this series because the emotional impact became too much, to the point where I was having dreams about the characters and their struggles. I won’t say that these are the best written books in the world, but the Twisted Sisters are so very good at writing great characters and these ones have me in a choke hold. 

Favorite New Character

Jac: I think my favorite new character would be Violet from Fourth Wing, specifically because of our shared disability. It was surprisingly emotional reading Violet’s journey of accepting that the accommodations she needs to be the best rider possible don’t make her any less than the able-bodied riders. That’s a lesson that I’m still working on engraving in my brain, myself. It was really such a pleasure to read through Violet’s eyes, and I’m excited to keep reading this series. 

Michaela: I don’t know that I have any particular character in mind. But I did have a favorite type of character. A lot of books we read for Shelf Explored, and books from my own personal reads, had some badass women in them. The ones that come to mind immediately from the Shelf Explored reads is Naranpa and Xiala from Black Sun, Delilah and Astrid from Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake, and Alex from Women Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. Then from my own readings I can think of Orka from Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne, Claire and Bree from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and Viv from Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Truly so many female characters who were represented as strong, complex, and badass in their own ways.

Book that Surprised You the Most

Michaela: Spare by Prince Harry was the Shelf Explored read that surprised me the most this year. I struggle with nonfiction reads but this book was written in a way that I felt like I was just listening to someone tell me their story. We read Princess Diana’s biography a few years ago and that was so packed with information that it was hard to read and hard to enjoy despite wanting to learn about the person. But Harry’s book felt far more personal and accessible. I found myself genuinely enjoying the read and feeling like I didn’t want to put it down.

For my personal reads I think Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch surprised me the most. I dabble in mystery novels and I came across this that joins mystery novels with fantasy, the concept sounded really fun. I don’t think the writing is the best, and the main character is incredibly unlikeable in the beginning but I find myself still wanting to know more about this underground world of magic in London, which is one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. 

Jac: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd ended up being a much more enjoyable book than I expected. I never really thought about the intricacies and art of map-making outside of admiring maps for books and video games, so this book opened my eyes in that regard and I have much more appreciation for it now. I also really enjoyed the way the author incorporated the magical realism to the story. It was an intriguing book with an intriguing storyline, when I expected something that didn’t hold my interest as much.

Book Lesson of the Year to Keep in Mind

Jac: The lesson I would choose for this is to not be ashamed of what you enjoy reading. I’ve always been a little bit embarrassed for admitting how much I enjoy a good smutty book, or even just a typical romance, which I recognize is fully due to internalized misogyny and the idea that these kinds of books aren’t worth as much as others. 

Michaela: Reading tastes change and it’s okay to DNF things. I picked up a couple books this year that I thought I would thoroughly enjoy that I ended up DNFing. While they would have been something I’d have loved at a different time in my life, I found myself really struggling to read them so I had to talk myself into being okay with DNFing them. If you’re not enjoying the book then what is the point of reading it? On the other side of that, I read a few books this year that I probably wouldn’t have picked up in the past but that I absolutely loved. Likes and dislikes can change, your reading moods can change. It’s okay to let things go. And it’s okay to not like the books everyone else likes, even if your friends like them. It’s a book lesson that comes back around all the time, and I know I will have to keep learning from it.

Favorite Book Accessory of the Year

Michaela: We’re coming back strong with Storygraph and my book journal. I just freaking love the Storygraph app. It’s so helpful, fun, and satisfying to use. So much of my book journal is transferred info from my Storygraph. And this year I really enjoyed filling out my journal after every read. I make stickers of the covers to put in with my reviews, I used a lot of color, and I love being able to look back at everything.

Jac: It’s going to have to be my Kindle app and Storygraph again this year. I have a chronic pain condition and my hands are particularly susceptible to irritation, so sometimes reading physical books can be painful. On top of that, I find it so much more convenient to read on my phone or iPad. I always have my phone with me, so I always have access to many books. It doesn’t take up a lot of space like physical books do, either. Don’t get me wrong, I still love physical books and I want to collect my favorites. But the Kindle just has a special place in my heart for allowing me to read as often as I’d like. When it comes to Storygraph, I find the app easier to navigate than Goodreads and the data collection is a huge factor in my enjoyment of the app. I love that I can see a visual representation of what I’ve been reading at any time of the year. 

Any Books You’re Excited For Next Year?

Michaela: After reading Black Sun and Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse this year, I am beyond excited for the final book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. I have no idea how this story is going to end; I am both excited and incredibly anxious for the conclusion to this story. I am also looking forward to the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. 

Jac: So many! I am particularly excited for book 3 of the Crescent City series, House of Flame and Shadow (I will not read book 2 until this one is out), the final book in the Zodiac Academy series, the final book of the Between Earth and Sky series, a prequel of sorts to The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, and last but not least - the fourth Casey McQuiston book. 

You Can Recommend Only One Book You Read This Year, Which Will it Be?

Michaela: I think this question is almost impossible for me this year. I have read so so many books I consider to be top reads or favorite reads. Going around the question I would say my recommendation is to explore re-reading something you used to love and exploring things you’ve been afraid to read and getting out of that comfort zone. That is the entire point of Shelf Explored Book Club, and yet I still struggle to do this in my own personal reads every year!

But to actually answer the question. If I had to choose one book to recommend this year from our Shelf Explored reads it would be When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. I thought this book takes the entire concept of feminine rage, feminine struggle, and feminine oppression and wraps it up into this beautifully written book. If you have ever identified as a woman or feel connected to your femininity and you have ever felt like you might burn from the inside out from rage or sadness or love, then this book was written for you.

Jac: I have to agree with Michaela, both in that it’s basically impossible to pick a favorite, but also that When Women Were Dragons was the title that I feel like everyone, no matter their reading interests, should read. The book covers so many themes; patriarchy, queerness, class and race, social norms. Even though the book is set in the past and some aspects of existence have improved, every single one of the themes are still relevant struggles that we face today. The book made me feel angry, sad, uncomfortable, elated, and hopeful…. All at once. This was an incredible book and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone.   

Thank you so much for joining us for our End of Year Wrap Up. This year was a great year for us for reading and we can’t wait to see what 2024 brings us in the world of books! Happy New Year!