There is a website that I’ve come across a lot on Bookstagram lately and it’s called myyearinbooks.com. It’s a website that was created by Eric, a CS major with an insatiable love for books. He crafted this during a family vacation, aiming to unravel their reading patterns. His sister, Grace, an author renowned for “Portrait of a Thief,” sparked the ingenious idea.

Let’s dive in and relish the journey through my literary escapades!

chiara’s year in books

Welcome to my year in books! What a year it’s been, full of highs and lows and—of course—great books. Now, let’s dive into what I read this year!

I read 19 books in 2023, which adds up to 7,242 pages and about 12,311 minutes.

My top genres/categories:

• I fell head over heels for romance, with 17 books read.
• I journeyed through 14 strange and wondrous fantastical worlds.
• I loved going back in time welcomed the complexity of adolescence through reading 10 young adult books.

My top author:

My top author this year was Tahereh Mafi. I read 3 books by this author, making I in the top 5% of fans (maybe?). These books include:

• Ignite Me (Shatter Me, #3)
• Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2)
• Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)

My top reading month:

As the seasons changed, so did my reading habits. My biggest reading month was March, with 3 books.

Some of my five star reads:

Looking back on the year, let’s celebrate a few of my five star reads! These are just some of the books I loved this year:

Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross

Synopsis

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi #1) by Shannon Chakraborty

Synopsis

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power… and the price might be your very soul.

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Synopsis

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

My taste in books:

If there was just one way to describe my taste in books this year, it would be hopelessly romantic.

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As I wrap up my year in books, it’s been an incredible journey diving into captivating stories across various genres. If you’re curious about your own reading journey, I invite you to explore your year in books at myyearinbooks.com. It’s a great way to reflect on your literary adventures and discover new reads for the upcoming year! 📚✨

With love,