The Books I Read in 2023
A complete list of what I read over the course of 2023
Patriarchy Blues: Reflections on Manhood by Frederick Joseph
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Golden Ax by Rio Cortez
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science by Jessica Hernandez
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen
Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan
Idol, Burning by Rin Usami
Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth by Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcie Narvaez
Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey
Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun Harrison
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney
Post-Trauma by Chantal V. Johnson
Meaty by Samantha Irby
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Thrust by Lidia Yuknavitch
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing by Elena Ferrante
Homie: Poems by Danez Smith
XOXO by Axie Oh
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart M. Brown Jr.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee
Devotion by Patti Smith
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma by Galit Atlas
Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Monroe Bergdorf
Girls That Never Die by Sofia Elhillo
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice by Judith Bulter
Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan
Windows to Our Children by Violet Oaklander
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manasala
Avalon by Nell Zink
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté and Daniel Maté
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
Survivor Café: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory by Elizabeth Rosner
The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity by Nadine Burke Harris
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese
Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana
Severance by Ling Ma
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Liquid Sunset by Savon Bartley
Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Always Only You by Chloe Liese
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel E. Cargle
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice: Stories by Al Omae
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen
Nonmonogamy and Neurodiversity: A More Than Two Essentials Guide by Alyssa Gonzalez
What the Hex by Jessica Clare
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home by Anya von Bremzen
Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress
Witch a Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Radical Intimacy by Sophie K. Rosa
The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted A Love Potion At a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming
From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper
Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
They Were Her Property: White Women As Slave Owners in the American South by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss
Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Langauge by Amanda Montell
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Assembly by Natasha Brown
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman
Y/N by Esther Yi
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBridge
No Place Like Home by Linh S. Nguyẽn
Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey
A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home by Frances Mayes
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Mistlefoe: A Mead Realm Tale by Kimberly Lemming
Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello
Thirst by Varsha Bajaj
I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel