I still haven’t gotten back up to speed on my blog, so I’ll attempt a quarterly round-up this year! Here are the standouts from the 49 books I read during the first quarter of 2023.

January

My January reading started off a little slow, as I had several giant books to read. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo and Geek Love by Katherine Dunn were two that took some time to get through – not that they weren’t enjoyable! I managed to read 20 books in January alone, but mostly because I was making my way through two manga series: Blue Flag and The Girl from the Other Side.

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February

February is a short month, so I only managed to read 14 books (several of these were graphic novels, too). The Gargoyle was a book that was slow-going, although I did really enjoy it. It was my favorite read of the month. I made my way through several books nominated for a book award (I’m on a committee) and unfortunately most of them were meh.

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March

March brought a renewed interest in crocheting. I found a few cool crocheting books at the library (Crocheted Succulents and Hello Hexie) with projects I’ll try after I finish the sweater I started in the picture below. I was able to finish all of the books in my March TBR pic except for The Eye of the World. You know that’s going to keep falling to the bottom of my list since it isn’t a library book.

I only read 13 books in March, but none of them were graphic novels and I’m not counting the two crochet books. Unlike February, March brought me quite a few titles that I really enjoyed. The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones was great, and The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz was a thrill ride. My pick for book club, Into the Forest by Jean Heglund, was also really good. Now that the book award committee is done, I can breathe a sigh of relief and get down to reading books I’m truly interested in.

A good chunk of my March reading was self-help books. I’ve been feeling a bit burned out from work and lacking in creativity and drive. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman was a great book to make me want to say no to things and find joy and fulfillment outside of productivity. The Brene Brown book, not so much. Atomic Habits was good, and helped me to see that I had some habits that are not serving me, and made me realize that the shift during COVID from in-person meetings to Zoom stole an hour or more of dedicated writing time from me on Tuesday nights. My goal for April is to reclaim some of that time.

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You can find my reviews for each book I read over on Goodreads.

The full first-quarter reading list:

1. Blood Circus by Camila Victoire
2. 20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias
3. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
4. Blue Flag, Vol. 5 by KAITO
5. The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil A Rún, Volume 5 by Nagabe
6. The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 6 by Nagabe
7. Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell
8. The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 7 by Nagabe
9. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
10. The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Volume 8 by Nagabe
11. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
12. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
13. The Nice House on the Lake, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV
14. The Girl in the White Van by April Henry
15. Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed
16. The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 9 by Nagabe
17. Wait Till Helen Comes Graphic Novel by Mary Downing Hahn
18. Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2) by Leigh Bardugo, Leigh *
19. Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach
20. The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 10 by Nagabe
21. The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 11 by Nagabe
22. The Me You Love in the Dark: Books 1-5 by Skottie Young
23. There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake
24. Curse of the Chosen Vol. 1: A Matter of Life and Death & a Game Without Rules by Alexis Deacon
25. The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco
26. Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton
27. Dream to Me by Megan Paasch
28. Alone Out Here by Riley Redgate
29. Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay
30. The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 12 [Dear] Side Stories by Nagabe
31. My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron
32. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
33. The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton
34. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
35. One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
36. Bloodmarked (Legendborn, #2) by Tracy Deonn
37. Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah
38. Needlework by Julia Watts
39. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
40. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
41. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
42. So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens
43. Hello Hexie!: 20 Easy Crochet Patterns from Simple Granny Hexagons by Sarah Shrimpton
44. The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
45. Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
46. Crocheted Succulents: Cacti & Other Succulent Plants to Make by Emma Varnam
47. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown
48. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
49. Bird by Crystal Chan