All Booked | 2023 in the books!

By Emily Lee Wed Dec 20, 2023 | 12:24pm

The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, December 19

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Hello, book lovelies!

This is my last newsletter of 2023! To celebrate another year of reading I wanted to reflect on some of the books that I’ve read this year — including my favorites. Overall, I read about half the books I usually do, which may be my new normal in this season of life. I’ve been squeezing in reading (and listening) time after bedtime, and on the way to and from daycare pick ups and drop offs. I read a good variety of things non fiction, thriller, mysteries, sci-fi, romance, and contemporary fiction. Below I share my top 5 — I tried to get it down to 3, but had a hard time deciding, so we’re doing 5!

I am a big believer in going into a book knowing as little as possible. I try not to read too much of the synopses or reviews, since most of them over-share. My pitches below are short and sweet just for that reason.

Let’s start with the one that had me sobbing in my car. Any book that makes me cry is usually a 5-star, and this was no exception. I absolutely loved this romance for so many reasons. I love Emily Henry’s witty writing and the way she writes characters. If you had told me last year, that I would be a romance girlie now, I most definitely would not have believed you. I cannot wait to pick up more from Henry in the future. If you like romance, or think you might like romance, I highly recommend Happy Place.

Outlive by Peter Attia is the book that had the most impact on my life. I read this when me, my husband, and our daughter all had covid back in July. My husband and I would take turns being with our 4 week old son at the time — keeping him isolated so that he didn’t also get covid. As a result, I had a lot of listening time in our rocking chair with my son. Outlive is a nonfiction all about living longer but also extending your quality of life. It’s a great read, and I’ve taken his advice and implemented it into my everyday.

Foe by Iain Reid is a sci-fi horror that follows a husband and wife living rurally on their farm. The husband is approached to go on a mission, and while he is gone they will send a clone of him to stay with his wife. She won’t even miss him.

I absolutely loved this book. It was just the right amount of weird. It wasn’t scary, but the whole time you couldn’t help but feel that something was off. I flew through it. Highly recommend.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt was one of the first books that I read in 2023, and I still think about it. This book is such a feel-good novel that tugs at the heart strings. Also some of the chapters are told from the perspective of an octopus. It’s not cheesy at all, which was a worry of mine when I first read the synopsis. This is the book that you didn’t know you needed to add to your shelf. The audiobook is excellent at well.

I recently talked about The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino in an All Booked a couple months ago. Higashino is a classic mystery thriller author in Japan. It was fun to read from a popular author who is known for writing a genre that I love. This mystery novel was unique in that we knew who the murderer was at the beginning of the novel and we knew who was murdered. The mystery is all wrapped up in the cover-up.

As always, I would love to hear from you. What’s your favorite book from 2023? Let me know!

Your smitten bookworm, Emily

UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS

Below, you will find a few bookish events coming up in Santa Barbara. If you are hosting a bookish event in Santa Barbara, be sure to submit the event to our online events calendar.

* There are no upcoming book events that are on my radar over the next two weeks!

LOCAL BOOK SPOTLIGHT

We at the Independent get many books sent to us by local authors, sometimes too many! It’s practically impossible for us to read and review them all, but just because we are busy bees does not mean that they aren’t worth the attention. In an attempt to not completely drop the ball, we have compiled a list of books here that have a local spin. They are all either written by a local author, feature someone in our community, or have another tie to Santa Barbara. I urge you to look through this list. Perhaps you will find your new favorite read!

The following are the most recent titles that have been sent to us. Click here for a more comprehensive list.

One Sky to the Next by Christopher Buckley

Flight to Armageddon by William Congdon

The Rogue Insurrection by William Congdon

Juan Felipe Herrera: Migrant, Activist, Poet Laureate edited by Francisco Lomelí and Osiris Aníbal Gómez

Border Crossings by Sneed B. Collard III and Illustrated by Howard Gray

If you are a local author and would like us to feature your book in this section, please email allbooked@independent.com with the subject line “Local Author Spotlight.”