Books of 2023 - 2025
Recently, I’ve started reading again (recommendations from friends, family, colleagues, NYT best sellers, and BookTok/BookTube). I’ve collected some thoughts here, mostly to help myself keep track. There may be spoilers!
Currently reading:
- Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
2025 Reads:
| 7.5/10 | The Grace Year by Kim Liggett | Recommended by: GoodReads |
- A dystopian novel about how a group of girls are banished for their sixteenth year to return ready for marriage in a very patriarchal world.
- This book was very fast-paced! I would compare it to Lord of the Flies, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Hunger Games.
- However, it did read as very YA (Young Adult) due to lack of finesse and poor execution, so I likely would have rated this higher if I read it as a teenager.
2024 Reads:
| 7.5/10 | Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus | Recommended by: Abbey (coworker), BookTok |
- Follows a female chemist in the 1960s and her life amongst the all-male team at Hastings Research. She becomes the reluctant star of a wildly popular cooking show.
- I especially enjoyed the beginning of the book where we followed the main character’s adventures together with Nobel-prize nominated love interest and their dog named Six-Thirty.
- However, I did find the character a little too pretentious (i.e., speaking in chemical formulas) and two-dimensional, and there was more tell than show, which explains the drop in my score.
| 7/10 | Red Rising by Pierce Brown | Recommended by: BookTok, sister-in-law |
- A sci-fi and dystopian novel following a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works in the mines all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
- First 35% read like a completely different book, and then latter part felt like a combination of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones, if they were a bit more one-dimensional and unclear.
- Will I read the second and third book in the series? Probably. The world kept my interest enough for me to give it a try, but I don’t have extremely high expectations.
| 7.5/10 | The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides | Recommended by: BookTok |
- A criminal psychotherapist attempts to unravel a mystery surrounding a famous painter, Alicia, who was married to an in-demand fashion photographer. One evening, Alicia shoots her husband five times, and then never speaks another word.
- That ending, wow. If I could rate just the ending, it would be a 9.5/10. Unfortunately, there were too many loose ends never resolved, caused by the red herring characters the author attempted to throw in throughout the story. Seemed like a means to an end, where a majority of the book was sacrificed to achieve the finishing twist.
- The story was so quick and snappy - a very easy read. I finished this book in one day.
| 4/10 | Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin | Recommended by: BookTok |
- A coming-of-age novel about two friends whose lives intertwine up, down, and around their love of gaming. I was really expecting to like this one, seeing as my husband and I both enjoy a good video game.
- The story was rather dull, and really slowed down especially near the middle which put me in a 2-month reading slump.
- In my opinion, the author’s attempt to weave explorations of societal concerns into the story actually ended up detracting from the plot.
| 8.5/10 | The Women by Kristin Hannah | Recommended by: NYT Best Sellers, Hardcover Fiction |
- A historical fiction about a nursing student who is told by her brother’s friend that “women can be heroes too”. She decides to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps to join her brother in the Vietnam War.
- Part 1 of the book (in-country) was captivating and eye-opening. Part 2 was a little bit repetitive for me, but appeared very well-researched.
| 8/10 | The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu | Recommended by: Raphael (my husband) |
- Set in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with the Trisolarans.
- Such interesting concepts were presented in this book, and I especially enjoyed living through each civilization Wang experienced in the Three Body game.
| 9/10 | Atomic Habits by James Clear | Recommended by: NYT Best Sellers, Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous |
- The style of the book is dogmatic and actionable, which lays out a list of practical methods that will benefit and spur habit creation, thus breaking the bad ones.
- I found it helpful to keep a pen and paper beside me while reading to write down things I can immediately incorporate into my life.
| 7.5/10 | I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Audiobook) | Recommended by: NYT Best Sellers, Non-fiction |
- A memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor.
- This was my first audiobook, and it was very well done account of a unique human experience. The fact that Jennette herself reads it really adds to the experience.
| 7/10 | Midwives by Chris Bohjalian | Recommended by: Abbey (my coworker) |
- The book is about a very experienced lay midwife assisting with a home birth that ends up requiring an emergency C-section. Later the book is mainly a courtroom drama.
- Not my usual read, however was recommended by a colleague and I really enjoyed the change of pace!
| 3/10 | You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao | Recommended by: Francesca (my sister-in-law) |
- About how a girl’s boyfriend dies, and then somehow they’re still able to communicate through phone call.
- I didn’t really enjoy how there were more questions than answers by the end of the book. Also, main character was a little bit unlikable, and the relationships lacked dimension. My sister did give me a heads up that she also did not enjoy this book!
| 9.5/10 | Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson | Recommended by: Abbey (my coworker) |
- Sanderson said that he was inspired while watching The Princess Bride with his family to ask the question “What… if Buttercup had gone searching for Wesley, instead of immediately giving him up for dead?”
- Princess Bride being one of my favourite books of all time, I so enjoyed this whimsical, light-hearted, and cozy read that evoked the spirit of the original.
| 7.5/10 | Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros | Recommended by: BookTok, my sisters-in-law |
- I really wanted to love this book (to be fair, it did keep me engaged), but it wasn’t as enjoyable as Fourth Wing. The characters weren’t as charismatic this time around, and it felt less organized and action-packed.
- I liked the small details (like how Xaden requested to meet Jesinia, which was a hint towards his second signet), so I’m hoping this book will set us up nicely for the rest of the series.
| 3/10 | The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab | Recommended by: BookTube |
- Set in France, 1714, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
- I don’t really feel like there was a plot in this book. The writing itself was quite lyrical, but I found it hard to get through.
| 4.5/10 | The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller | Recommended by: Francesca (my sister-in-law) |
- The main character is a young prince who gets exiled from his homeland after accidentally pushing a boy to death. He meets Achilles soon after.
- The beginning was very slow and I was a bit disappointed with how Patroclus wasn’t portrayed as one of Achaeans’ most formidable warriors (Achilles’ equal) like in the Iliad.
- But the ending was great and I was pleasantly surprised with how the pace picked up. If I could split up ratings, the first part of the book was 1/10, and the second part was 8/10.
2023 Reads:
| 8/10 | A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins | Recommended by: movie just came out |
- The tenth annual Hunger Games featuring eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow as a mentor for District 12.
- Mostly wanted to read this prior to the movie coming out, and the Hunger Games trilogy was one of my favourite series growing up.
- Really enjoyed this book, but the turn at the end felt a bit rushed.
| 9/10 | When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi | Recommended by: Pulitzer Prize Finalists, Biography, 2017 |
- I never tended to reach for non-fiction, but this memoir by a young neurosurgeon faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis was a fantastic read. I read this while working in oncology, and it gave me a lot to think about.
- Foreword by Abraham Verghese was hagiographic and contradictory. The epilogue written by Dr. Lucy Kalanithi however, was one of the most heartbreaking, stunning, and eloquent pieces I’ve ever read - she is a natural writer.
| 6/10 | A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF) by Sarah J Maas | Recommended by: BookTok |
- I heard the second book of the series was incredible despite my dismal experience with the first. Unfortunately, it was not all that much better in my opinion.
- Also did not like Rhys, he made me feel uncomfortable. This will be my last SJM book for the foreseeable future.
| 4/10 | A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) by Sarah J Maas | Recommended by: BookTok |
- An attempted Beauty and the Beast reimagining where a girl abruptly ends up in a magical land full of dangerous faeries.
- The writing felt very unpolished and inconsistent and I could not relate to the main character at all. Also, ellipses just showed up in the oddest of places.
| 8/10 | Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens | Recommended by: BookTok |
- A coming of age, murder mystery, and love story about Kya, a.k.a. the Marsh girl, who is abandoned by her family and learns to fend for herself in the wild.
- Getting through the first half of this book (I had to skim through large passages) and getting used to the dialect was difficult, but I ended up staying up until 2am finishing the second half.
| 9/10 | Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros | Recommended by: BookTok |
- About how the main character, Violet, enters a war college for dragon riders, and has to go through several trials to survive.
- Found the characters/dragons to be very likable, and the book felt like a combination of HP, Divergent, Hunger Games, Eragon, and GoT. A fun read!
| 2/10 | Happy Place by Emily Henry | Recommended by: BookTok, my sisters-in-law |
- Perhaps romance is just not my genre, but it took me months to finish this one.
- Felt there wasn’t any plot, and the main character gives up her years of medical school and residency training to suddenly pursue pottery.
| 7/10 | Verity by Colleen Hoover | Recommended by: BookTok |
- A husband hires a ghost writer to complete a book series that his injured wife can no longer finish.
- Did this thriller give me nightmares? Yes. Was this an entertaining read? Also yes.
| 6/10 | Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas | Recommended by: BookTok |
- The main character gave “I’m not like the other girls” vibes and I’m surprised I managed to finish this book. In hindsight, I’m unsure why I rated it so high.
| 7.5/10 | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Reid | Recommended by: BookTok |
- This was a historical fiction based loosely on the lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, and I loved reading about old Hollywood.
- The main character Evelyn was complex and flawed, but I was captivated by her resilience and ambition.
| 4/10 | It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover | Recommended by: BookTok |
- This sequel felt a bit unnecessary, and although it was a happy ending, I felt it could’ve been summed up as an epilogue in the original book.
| 7.5/10 | It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover | Recommended by: BookTok |
- I have to give this book kudos, because after I DNF’d two other books, this one finally pulled me out of my 10-year reading slump. It’s a quick read.
- I did not expect it to be about domestic abuse (it’s marketed as a romance novel).
My DNF List:
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah Maas
- Why We Swim by Bobbie Tsui
- Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros