A Few Favorite Things

What I Read, Wore, and Other 2023 Highlights

Hello book lovers,

Happy new year. Here are the thirty books I read in 2023. I loved them all and highly recommend (because life is too short to finish books we dislike). Caveat: There were two exceptions that were just meh for me…scroll to agree or disagree?

This lovely jpeg represents 9,518 pages, with the shortest book being Thoreau at Walden at 112 pages, and the longest being A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving at 637 pages. Both were excellent!

I surprised myself by reading and loving two middle grade graphic novels, The Tryout by Christina Soontornvet and Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J Krosoczka. Surprised because I rarely read graphic novels, but these were so good! (Hey, Kiddo is often on the banned book list, but one I’d definitely recommend for teens and older).

Other excellent middle grade reads: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (Newbery Winner), A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, The Canyon’s Edge by Dusti Bowling, Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodsoon, and Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson. All wonderful.

I got a great thrill out of I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai bc I am so familiar with boarding school life, and Makkai mentioned my school and the schools we compete against. It’s also the book that most influenced my current manuscript. She’s a terrific writer.

I absolutely adored John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, a book of essays. Wow! Green is such an excellent writer. After writing some bestselling Young Adult literature, he’s now lending his voice to finding a cure for tuberculosis.

I couldn’t put down Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and as a writer, found it way too relatable.

Thank you for helping me launch The McNifficents into the world (yes, I read it many times). Please shelve it on Goodreads or leave an online review 🙏🙏🙏

I read two Ann Patchett books (both terrific) and some fantastic Young Adult: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume, and Absolutely True Diary by Sherman Alexie (I raved about this one in an earlier post and then read a really disturbing news article about Alexie. I still feel HIGHLY conflicted about even listing this book here…)

Some profound, uplifting, inspiring non-fiction: Silent Souls Weeping by Jane Clayson Johnson, Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman, and Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl.

If you want to write a mad good movie script, read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. It will help your fiction writing, too. I love books about story structure. This one is SO GOOD.

The two books with the most hype that were the most disappointing: The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse and Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand. Just meh for me. This was my first Elin read - maybe I need to try a different book? which one?

My favorite read of the year? Such a hard decision! But if I had to pick one it would be… Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (the most shelved book on my 2023 Goodreads list). Factors for “favorite”: engaging storytelling, hard to put down, emotional resonance, smart writing, strong female protagonist, and stayed with me long after I finished. I love a book that can make me laugh and cry and rage all in the same paragraph. No, I still haven’t watched the series on Apple tv, but I plan on it!

Not on my Goodreads list, but I also finished and fully enjoyed reading The New Testament, King James Version. As John Drury writes, the KJV retains its power and appeal because "it has the intrinsic value of a classic and is an enduring masterpiece." I also enjoyed studying with biblehub.com for the many different translations.

What a good year of reading! How about you? Favorite reads and recommendations?

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Other 2023 highlights:

January: We survived. I am so grateful because it could be…otherwise

February: I turned 48; yes, I’m embracing every age even with all of the night time serums I own 😊 Brynne and I launched bmakandmaisiedesigns.com; our cards are at Proctor Academy bookstore and Morgan Hill Bookstore

March: Flew to Georgia for the TomeCon literary festival and explored Savannah and some of South Carolina with my mom and sister 👧. Signed a “shopping agreement” with a script writer and producer for The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair (we will see)!

April: Paige finished Driver’s Ed 🚗

May: Taylor Swift with Brynne and Paige 🔥

June: The McNifficents launched into the world 📚 at Morgan Hill Bookstore and Gibson’s

July: Kids all home and so much fun. My son-in-law, Kaden, lived with us all summer and I think(?) he still likes us

August: Sweet Lord Tennyson, our miniature schnauzer died. What a heartbreak, but we had fourteen good years with “Tenny.” Utah family reunion and a shout out to King’s English Bookstore. Brynne and I painted a big campus map for Proctor Academy (super fun). 26 years of marriage; so much happiness.

Sept: Cope and Kaden moved to Cambridge England for school, a reading at Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, NH.

Oct: One year writing this newsletter. Thank you for subscribing! Turned in a manuscript (rejected two months later) boooooo….

Nov: Paige home after two months at sea, Wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo; accountability buddies for the win. Nelson is accepted into the film program at BYU!

Dec: Christmas and cookies and kids home (except the Englanders). Parted my hair in the middle and wore Glossier’s cranberry red lipstick for New Year’s; seeking guts to leave the house with it on 🤓. Rejected manuscript submitted to editor #2, new novel submitted to literary agent (if I’m not patient by the end of my life, it’s hopeless)

Coming in 2024…a presidential election (yikes), McNifficent paperback launch, a book deal (manifesting), a family reunion in New Hampshire, glasses (it’s time, ya’ll!), wearing sunscreen on my face every day, less Diet Coke, more strength training, more running in Saucony shoes, candles every night, more reading, more drawing with

Wendy MacNaughton

!

And that’s a wrap, my friends. We made it. Well done.

Happy New Year 🎉

Amy

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