Misc.

23 Books in 2023

Salutations Chapterlings! It’s been a hot minute since we’ve sat down with one another, hasn’t it? I hope you’re doing well, staying hydrated and reading all of the books. Today I’m posting something I’ve never posted on my blog before. I know I said I wasn’t trying to pressure myself with reading or really make tbrs anymore because quite frankly, it really messes with my mood reading. However, this post is kind of an ‘in general’ year tbr post, in a way. Basically, books that I am and will be reading for the year of 2023. Some of these books I may have already read, some may be anticipated releases, and some may be arcs (or long overdue arc reviews) or recommendations from friends. Whatever the case may be, I wanted to share all of these books with you.

Without any further shenanigans and rambles, my 23 books I want to read in 2023!


Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier ★★★★

This was an arc that I received back at the start of 2023 and has been on my anticipated 2023 releases list. I recently just finished this book and posted a review. While I won’t give any spoiler, I had a really fun time with this book and enjoyed many things about this book. Plus, if you love quotes like I do, so many quotes! There are so many!

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth ★★★

I said at the very beginning of 2023, I was going to read this book, this year and I accomplished that! This book is unapologetically Native/Indigenous and a love letter to all urban and disconnected/reconnecting Natives out there. While there were things outside of the amazing themes of this book that hindered my reading experience, I love this book with my whole chest and encourage others to give it a chance.

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

This is an arc I’ve recently received and a book I plan on picking up very soon! This is a middle grade novel that follows a transgender main character who’s grieving and coming to terms with the loss of his best friend. In the midst of all of this, our main character, Noah starts writing letters to Mothman, in hopes that Mothman understands him and sets out to search for Mothman. If you’re new here, hi hello, I love monsters and cryptids. But also the cover is stunning and the synopsis has me very excited to pick this book up as soon as possible!

Nanny for the Neighbors by Lily Gold

Now this book, I think I just hit the halfway mark within the pages. Yup, you guessed it, this is my current read! So my thoughts so far, I’m having fun! There are some difficult conversations that happen around the foster system and how it impacts children, what it means to be a new parent out of the blue, but there’s also steamy times and the real reason I picked it up is for the polyamorous representation. I’ve been trying to pick up more books that have polyam rep in them. So this hit my radar end of 2022, beginning of 2023. I’m excited to see where this book goes and if you love multiple povs, we get all four povs in this book!

The Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores

While I need to update my GoodReads review, this is an arc that I need to get to soon! I have talked about this book in my 5 Star Predictions 2023 edition. All I know is the cover is stunning, the synopsis is intriguing, this is a Rapunzel retelling, and that’s all I want to know. I will hopefully be picking this up, hopefully sometime this month or in April, but I’m really excited for!

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree ★★★★★

This is on my backlog of reviews I need to write, but oh my goodness did I love this book with my whole chest! This was also on my 5 Star Predictions 2023 edition and this book didn’t disappoint. I was so immersed with the world and the characters. It made me miss D&D so freaking much. If you haven’t given this book a chance, it’s worth it. Plus, the second book was just announced!

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Am I ever going to stop talking about this book? NOPE! Again, this is another 5 Star Prediction for 2023 and one of my most anticipated books I really want to read before this year ends. Darcie Little Badger is the first Apache author I have come across since entering the book community. I can’t begin to express how excited I am for this book and how much I know I’m going to fall in love with this book the same way I did with Elatsoe.

Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin

Last year I absolutely devoured Wild Is The Witch while I was one vacation. I read it all in one day because I was so captivated by Griffin’s writing, the characters she wrote, and the world she built. When this book was announced, I rushed to preorder my copy and slam it onto my anticipated releases for 2023. This is not only a 5 star prediction read for me, but I’m just going to throw it out there now, it’ll probably be one of my top books of 2023, as well.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

In 2023, I’m really trying to highlight more Native/Indigenous literature. And 2023 has some amazing books coming out by Native/Indigenous authors. This is one of those books! I’m so excited for this release. It’s releasing in my birth month and it’s my only read I actually have planned for the month of May. This is in my most anticipated releases for 2023 and I just know I’m going to love this book with my whole chest. Plus, the cover. Have you seen the cover?! STUNNING!

House of Roots and Ruin by Erin A. Craig

One of my most anticipated releases of 2023 is this book right here! I have been waiting, wondering if House of Salt and Sorrows was going to have a sequel and now we have our answer! I’m so excited for this release and the cover is beautiful. I haven’t read the synopsis, I want to go in knowing as little as possible, but this is the second book in the Sisters of Salt series. I haven’t seen on if this is just going to be a duology or a full series yet, but I’m really excited!

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Keeping on the theme of Native/Indigenous literature, we have Bad Cree! I do have an arc copy of this book, but I also had to wait for my preorder to arrive. I ended up ordering the UK paperback cover and all I have to say is it’s gorgeous! I’ve been feeling my horror, thriller, and mystery books lately sop this book is right up my alley!

Tentacles & Triathlons by Ashley Bennett

Look, it’ll happen! Honestly, I had planned to read this in February, but life has a been a little bit of a whirlwind. I’m hoping to pick this up this month, hopefully. Either way, I loved Muscles & Monsters and I know I’ll love this one just as much!

Greymist Fair by Francesca Zappia

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the cover of this book? Truly, it stole my breath the moment I first saw it. If I’m really being honest, I know nothing about this book except I’m intrigued and excited about it!

The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill ★★★★★

This has become my favorite graphic novel of 2023! K. O’Neill does it again by hitting the ball right out of the park! The artwork is absolutely breathtaking, the story itself is so moving, and even though I’ve finished this book, I’m still thinking about it. If you haven’t ordered this book and read it yet, you need to! I’m so glad I read it and as usual, I’m looking forward to the next book for O’Neill to release!

Hollow by Shannon Watters

You would think with how much I love spooky things, the Fall/Halloween season, adore Sleepy Hollow, that I would have read this graphic novel by now and put a review out for it long ago. NOPE! I’m very behind in my arc reviews, my backlog for reviews is kind of wild at the moment, and my mood reading has been taking me on a roller coaster ride. So this in pretty high up on my priority list!

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Well… I guess I’m a Schwab stan now?! Honestly, when Gallant took me by storm and then The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue completely gutted me, on my knees ugly crying, not long afterwards – I knew there was no going back for me. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Schwab’s work the way I have. Truly, I thought I wasn’t going to connect with them, I thought her books were going to be added to my ‘books that were overhyped and didn’t live up to it’ list. I was very skeptical and so sure I wasn’t going to vibe with either of those books. I don’t know what magic happened, but the absolutely blessings! Now I want to read everything by Schwab and City of Ghosts is up next on my list!

Broken Bonds by J. Bree

I’m back on my series kick with a new project in the works! I read a chapter sampler for Broken Bonds and it captivated me so much so that I lost all control, bought the whole series in paperback! Yup, that happened. So this is happening, I don’t know when, but it is.

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been nervous on picking this book up. I’ve been hearing a lot of mixed things through the grape vine and now I’m nervous that I overhyped myself up about this book. I really, really want to love this book even more so because it’s one of my most anticipated books of 2023. Wish me luck because I’m scared!

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshni Chokshi

This is another book that I’m a bit nervous about. I’ve been hearing a lot of mixed things through the grape vine and now I’m nervous to pick this book up. I’m still excited about it, but I do wonder if I overhyped the book up. I do have an audiobook and a physical version of this book. If you’ve read this book or listened to the audio, please let me know your thoughts on which you prefer more!

Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For edited by Zoraida Córdova

I want more anthologies! Plain and simple! Back in the beginning of 2022, I read Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space and had a blast reading it! This year, I want more anthologies because I miss them. So when this anthology was announced and I got wind that Darcie Little Badger is one the authors, I started researching anything I could find on this book. There are so many incredible authors lined up for this anthology and I have a mighty need to read this book immediately!

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Medina

Not just more Native/Indigenous literature, but also more horror, thriller mystery genre goodness! I’m very excited about this book to release. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect. I have some thoughts, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself in case I end up spoiling it. Just know, I really want to read this especially for the fall! It seems like the perfect fall/winter read!

✨Not So Much Appreciated by Clio Evans ★★★★★

I was so excited for this release and it’s no surprise I ate it up! Honestly, I enjoyed the series as a whole. You can find my full series review HERE. This book was such a bittersweet way to conclude this series, but it has me excited for the future. I’ll be keeping my eyes opened for more books from Clio Evans in the future!

Fox Snare by Yoon Ha Lee

Finally! FINALLY! The cover for this book was announced back in January and I have been grasping at straws for any inch of information I can get about this book. I have fallen in love with this series and I’ve been trying to keep up with it as much as possible. Last year, I was blessed to have received an arc of Tiger Honor and adored it! I think I’m going to absolutely love Fox Snare, but sadly this book won’t be out till Fall 2023. So we have a bit of a wait before we can dive back into this world!


We have finally made it to the end, friends! We did it! I don’t know why I thought this was going to be a short list, but I really love the way this post turned out. I’m really excited for what this year has in-store, reading wise. If you’re planning on reading 23 books in the year of 2023, what are some titles you plan on reading? Are you anticipating the release of any of these titles? Come chat about it in the comments below! Until next time friends, I hope your reading plans are going well, you’re staying hydrated, and as always, I love you! ♥

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12 Challenge | 12 Months to Read 12 Books

This challenge was originally created by shadowbooker on Instagram.


Hi, it’s me! Back with setting myself up for struggles with tbrs… again!

Salutations Chapterlings! As I’m sure you’ve seen floating around on Instagram and possibly book Twitter, there’s a new challenge in town! Yes, it’s true, this lovely challenge was brought to us by the lovely Shadowbooker (who’s link you can click above, directly under the image for this post) who crafted this stunning template. After a lovely friend reached out to me asking to give them a recommendation for this challenge, I was easily persuaded into doing this challenge myself.

Thanks to friends, family, and some amazing peeps in the book community, I was finally able to gather all 12 books onto this list. And then I had a thought, “Let’s make a post dedicating it to this challenge and essentially holding myself to this challenge.” So, let me introduce to you the 12 books recommended to me for this challenge.


P.S. To everyone who reached out and recommend Elatsoe by Darcy Little Badger: Thank you for recommending that book to me. Yes, I have already read it and yes, I need to do a reread to actually take some darn notes and write a full review, but I have read it. You can find a statement from me on GoodReads HERE!


The 12 Books

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn
Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young
Legacy by Whiti Hereaka
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal by Clint McElroy


And now the nerves kick in!

Honestly, I’m really nervous about this list of books. Some of them I’m really excited for because many friends have been recommending certain titles to me for a hot minute, but I definitely have some worries. If I pick up a book and don’t like it, that’s on me because I should know my reading preference, but when others recommend books and I don’t like it… oh, I’ll feel bad for days if I didn’t enjoy the book. Even more so due to three books on this list being overly hyped to me and anytime someone overhypes something, I get very weary about if I’ll actually feel the same. So I’m definitely nervous, but excited to do this challenge.
Are you participating in the 12 Challenge this year? If so, what books do you have on your list or if you have a similar post, post a link in the comments. Until next time chapterlings, sending you all of my love for this new year of reading! 💚

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