2023 reading challenge - books to read before I die

 

I read a lot of great books in 2021 and 2022 as part of my Goodreads Choice Awards reading challenge, and I plan to continue reading finalists from last year's Goodreads Choice Awards. However, for 2023, I'm going to change the formal reading challenge that I track. 

As I get older, I'm thinking more and more about bucket lists. When it comes to reading, there are lots of lists of books to read before you die, and 2023 seems like as good a year as any to start plowing through the classics. The question is: which of the many lists to choose from?

I started with Peter Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. This appears to be the most referenced source when I searched for bucket list books. Not all books on the list are novels, and there are quite a few I've already read. That said, it still leaves a lot of books. 

Then I found this handy list, which categorizes the 1,001 books by time period. It helped me organize the reading challenge because what I've decided to do is to read one book a month from the list, using the following criteria:

• 1 book from the 2000s
• 5 books from the 1900s
• 4 books from the 1800s
• 1 book from the 1700s
• 1 book from pre-1700s

Next, I looked through some other lists of books to read before you die, namely this, this, this, and this. My plan is to cross-reference Peter Boxall's list with other lists and select ones that appear multiple times. I already know that I'll read these three books because they appear on all of the lists:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Ulysses by James Joyce
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

(That's right, I haven't read any of these books. Please don't judge.)

Given the number of books on the list, and that I'm only reading twelve of them in 2023, this sounds like a reading challenge I'll continue for many years to come, even if I don't formally track and report my progress.

 

Favorite reads of 2022

Happy 2023, everyone! Before 2022 recedes too far in the rearview mirror, I want to share my favorite reads from last year. Without further ado, here are my top ten:

1. Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson 

My Brandon Sanderson journey continues into 2022, and it shouldn't come as a big surprise that one of his books--albeit an older one--landed at the top of my list of favorite reads. (By the way, this is the second year in a row where my favorite read was by Brandon Sanderson.) Not only does Warbreaker contain fantastic world-building and magic systems that are a trademark of his books, but it has possibly my favorite Brandon Sanderson character of all time in Lightsong. As an added bonus, Warbreaker is a standalone novel (so far), so anyone who wants to be exposed to Sanderson's awesomeness can read it without committing to a series.

2. One Step Too Far - Lisa Gardner 

I've mentioned before that Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors, and her latest novel is further proof of her writing greatness. I admit that I wasn't too thrilled when I found out that her new release was a continuation of the Frankie Elkin series instead of returning to D.D. Warren (nothing against Frankie Elkin, but I miss D.D.), so I was pleasantly surprised when One Step Too Far invoked many of the joyous feelings from reading her best D.D. Warren books. There wasn't a dull moment in the novel, and while most of the story took place in the wilderness, she nailed the suspense associated with the remote location. I recommend this and several of her other books to any reader, whether or not you're a fan of thrillers.

3. The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

This first book in the Inheritance Games series was fast-moving and fun to read. The best part of the book for me was following Avery as she tried to piece together the clues left behind by Tobias Hawthorne. I enjoyed the mystery, and I didn't figure it out until the book revealed the answer at the end. The Hawthorne boys were a bit too much like caricatures, but I liked Avery's character and rooted for her throughout.

4. The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

It was hard to choose whether to rank The Inheritance Games or The Hawthorne Legacy higher, so let's call it 3a and 3b. The second book in the Inheritance Games series, and also a nominee for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards for Young Adult Fiction, was just as good as the first. Once again, I was drawn in by the mystery, most of which I didn't figure out until they were revealed. I can't wait to read the third book in this series.

5. Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson 

Arcanum Unbounded was a gem that I didn't know existed until I came across the book in the library. This is a collection of shorter works by Brandon Sanderson that take place across the Cosmere. My favorite was "Mistborn: Secret History", which tells the story of the Mistborn series after Kelsier's death from a different point of view. It made me want to re-read the series to see how it all fits together. I recommend Arcanum Unbounded to any Brandon Sanderson fan.

6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid 

Despite the accolades, I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did because I'm not the type of person who enjoys reading about celebrities or memoirs. But Taylor Jenkins Reid wove such an intriguing story about the life of Evelyn Hugo that I was completely absorbed by everything that happened to her. The book took me on an emotional roller coaster, and I had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of fiction, not the biography of a real person. 

7. My Imaginary Mary - Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows 

One series that has yet to let me down are the YA novels by the Lady Janies, and My Imaginary Mary carries on the tradition of awesomeness.  With Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace as the protagonists, this book actually featured historical characters I knew something about, but as with all Lady Janies books, actual events are changed, leading to hilarious and happier results as compared to real life. Like the previous books, there were also many subtle, funny references in this one, and I wonder how many more I missed. I highly recommend My Imaginary Mary and all of the Lady Janies books.

8. The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi 

This was such a fun book to read that I breezed through it in a weekend. An action-packed Godzilla-meets-Jurassic-Park story, The Kaiju Preservation Society resonated with the boy inside me who watched too many Godzilla and Gamera movies as a kid. There was also a good amount of humor and deeper questions to ponder, so you don't have to be a kaiju fan to enjoy it.

9. The Rose Code - Kate Quinn 

This Goodreads Choice Award finalist for Historical Fiction was a great blend of intriguing plotlines and interesting characters within a setting that I've wanted to learn more about (thanks to "The Imitation Game"). The author did a great job creating distinct but well-developed protagonists, all of whom I could relate to and root for. I also appreciated learning more about the events that occurred during World War II that don't appear in textbooks, and it was interesting to read about Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip before Elizabeth became the queen. I'd never thought of her that way!

10. Come With Me - Ronald Malfi 

A finalist in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards Horror category, Come With Me is a murder mystery and even a love story as much as it is horror. While the hunt for a serial killer was enough to keep me enthralled, the injection of elements of horror as well as the ways in which the protagonist reflects on his life with his wife put this book at the top of the list among the 2021 Horror category finalists I read.