Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books Still on My TBR After 2023
Well, 2023 came to a much more chaotic end than I anticipated, which left me with kind of a disorganized mess at the start of this new year. I have been trying to sift through the rubble and make sense of what I left mid-process and what things still need to be done. One of the things this means is taking stock of the books I meant to read last year and did not get to, AKA books still on my TBR after 2023. Here’s my list.
Notes: Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl in which bloggers are invited to share a list of their top ten (or however many) books in line with the week’s theme. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost anything for you to use, but they help support this blog.
Ten Books Still on My TBR After 2023
The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
Vintage (reprint)
Published December 1, 1992
What It’s About: Two letters written to Baldwin’s nephew about the state of race relations in America at the start of the Civil Rights movement and America’s history with racism.
Why I Want to Read This: I think I first heard about this book from Mara at BooksLikeWhoa a few years ago when she included it in a list of books she enjoyed. I’d been thinking about broadening my experience reading classics, especially classics by women and BIPOC, and Mara’s description of this book pretty much had me sold. I’ve actually read the first half of the book already. The writing is a little bit dense, with some longer sentences. It’s frank; it’s deep; it’s absolutely unapologetic, and I absolutely want to finish it this year. I can’t believe it’s still on my TBR after 2023.
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix (Remixed Classics #2)
Bethany C. Morrow
Feiwel & Friends
Published September 7, 2021
What it’s about: This reimagining of LITTLE WOMEN follows the four daughters of a Black family living in the Freedpeople’s Colony of Roanoke during the Civil War.
Why I Want to Read This: Last year, I read LITTLE WOMEN for the first time and then read a book offering background on the author’s life, the journey the book has taken since publication, and why the story still resonates with us so deeply. With all of that fresh in my mind, I really wanted to read this reimagining of the original story. I love what this series is doing, and I’ve loved both the books I read in it so far. I love this idea, and I am so glad Bethany C. Morrow wrote it. I loved the writing in A SONG BELOW WATER.
What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix (Remixed Classics #4)
Tasha Suri
Feiwel & Friends
Published July 5, 2022
What It’s About: An abandoned son of an Indian sailor returns to England where he meets a girl being groomed for proper society whose mother was also Indian. Forbidden love, wild emotions, English moors, etc.
Why I Want to Read This: WUTHERING HEIGHTS is among the few classics I had to read in school that I really did not like. (The other is TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES.) When I saw that the Remixed Classics series was going to tackle this tale and reimagine the whole “outsider” component of Heathcliff’s character, I decided this might be one I want to revisit. I’ve got an audiobook version of the original story, and I might read that first– or try to, anyway– just as a refresher. But I think I’m hoping that a redo on this will be a pallet cleanser and offer me a fresh perspective both on the novel and the original work.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
Zoulfa Katouh
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 13, 2022
What It’s About: A speculative novel set during the Syrian Revolution about a girl who helps the wounded at a hospital and the imagined companion who protects her until she realizes what she wants her role in the revolution to be.
Why I Want to Read This: This is one that I heard about from a friend on Twitter, who absolutely loved it. I think this one and HOTEL MAGNIFIQUE were her favorite books of 2022. I managed to read HOTEL MAGNIFIQUE last year, but this one is still on my list, despite the fact that my husband gave me a copy of it two Christmases ago. Of all the books on this list, this is the one still on my TBR after 2023 that I’m most excited about reading.
Bone Weaver
Aden Polydoros
Inkyard Press
Published September 22, 2023
What It’s About: A teen girl adopted by a family of benevolent undead, a boy branded as a witch, and a dethroned tsar team up to protect the empire from a revolutionary leader.
Why I Want to Read This: I remember hearing so much buzz about this book around the time it came out, and I just could NOT fit it in my review schedule. I’ve got a copy, and I read the sample pages available online when the book came out, so I already know I like the writing and at least one of the main characters. After reading another book by Aden Polydoros last year, I’m only more certain I need to read this one!
A Guide to the Dark
Meriam Metoui
Henry Holt & Co.
Published July 18, 2023
What It’s About: Described as The Haunting of House Hill meets Nina LaCour. Two girls in a rural hotel on a spring break college road trip. One’s nightmares of her dead brother spark some investigation, which reveals eight people have died in that hotel room, and the girls need to figure out the connections between them before one of them becomes the ninth.
Why I Want to Read This: For a long time, a book like this would have really been outside my interest, but lately, I’ve been enjoying more books with a bit of a scary edge. I like the sound of the mystery and the connection to a lost sibling, as well as the possibility of romance between the two friends. All in all, this sounds like a fun one to me.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Eagle Drums
Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
MacMillan Children’s Books
Published September 12, 2023
What It’s About: Described as “a magical realistic middle grade debut about the origin story of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast, a Native Alaskan tradition.” A boy must climb to the top of a mountain where two of his brothers died. There, a terrifying eagle god confronts him and demands that the boy follow him or face death.
Why I Want to Read This: One of the things I try to consistently pursue as a reviewer is making sure I’m reading books with a broad range of representation. That doesn’t happen without a bit of research and deliberate choosing, and last year when I stopped to evaluate how many books by indigenous authors I reviewed, the number was pretty low. I spent the year trying to find new authors and books to check out and looking for books I’d missed in the past. This one showed up in the mail one day, and I was like, hey this is perfect. Now I just need to read it! This is another one that I can’t believe is still on my TBR after 2023.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Looking Up
Stephen Pastis
Simon & Schuster
Published October 10, 2023
What It’s About: A lonely girl sees her town changing for the worse and joins forces with a boy who lives across the street to save the places she loves.
Why I Want to Read This: While the illustration style isn’t one I usually find compelling, I think this story sounds really sweet. I love the description of the main character, Saint, as a lover of medieval knights and lost causes. She sounds exactly like the kind of friend I’d want in a middle grade book about saving a town.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
The Bigfoot Queen
Jennifer Weiner
Aladdin Books
Published October 24, 2023
What It’s About: A team of kids, including a girl from a Bigfoot tribe, face a threat to the tribe’s existence. They must work together with friends and frenemies to unearth secrets and build connections if they hope to save the tribe and their ways of life.
Why I Want to Read This: I can’t believe I totally missed this series until the last book came out. It sounds like such an interesting story of friendship and community– both things I love to read about in middle grade books. I kind of want to start the series from the beginning, which is one of the reasons I haven’t gotten to this book yet. I hope to listen to at least the first one as an audiobook and go from there.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Juniper’s Christmas
Eoin Colfer
Roaring Brook Press
Published October 31, 2023
What It’s About: An eleven-year-old girl must save Christmas and stop a villain trying to steal Santa’s magic.
Why I Want to Read This: So… I’ve never actually read anything by Eoin Colfer before, but this story sounds like such a cool Christmas tale. I really wanted to try to fit this into a December evening with a cup of hot cocoa and some fluffy blankets, but my December kinda went sideways, and I just didn’t have time. Fortunately, the winter weather will last a few more months, so I might just have to have Christmas in February or whenever I am finally able to fit this book into my reading list.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
What’s still on your TBR?
So now you know some of the books left on my TBR after 2023. What books are sitting at the top of your TBR that you meant to read last year and never managed to get to? Tell me about them in the comments.
Also, if you shared a list, whether part of today’s Top Ten Tuesday meme or not, leave me a link to your post or video! I’d love to check it out.
