I read 236 books and 63 novellas and short stories in 2023. I also DNFed 63 books. I've been making great progress on my unread digital library but that also accounts for a bunch of the DNFs. I'm going to keep chipping away at all of my unread books, both digital and print, this year and see how far I get. 

I included links to content notes for each book. You'll also find my full book reviews there if you want to learn more beyond my one to two sentence summaries. 

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. 

Fiction:

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky #1) - Rebecca Roanhorse

Pre-Columbian America-set fantasy with mind-blowing world-building. (Content notes.) 

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost #1) - CL Clark

High stakes and action-packed sapphic fantasy that takes on colonialism from a number of angles. (Content notes.) 

Something Close to Magic - Emma Mills

A delightful cozy fantasy about a baker’s apprentice who gets caught up with a bounty hunter, an actual troll (who is my favorite!), and a prince named Hapless. (Content notes.) 

The Ferryman - Justin Cronin

This is not just dystopian science fiction set on a Stepford-like island with a horrific class divide: it’s a grief novel. (Content notes.) 

Spear - Nicola Griffith

A gripping and evocative sapphic Arthurian retelling. Griffith's prose is gorgeous. (Content notes.) 

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

Rival journalists Iris and Roman communicate via magical typewriters, not realizing who their letters are going to, as a war between gods gets underway. (Content notes.) 

Babel - RF Kuang

A feast for word nerds. This fantasy grapples with the tyranny of colonialism, student-led revolutions, and whether empires can be defeated. (Content notes.) 

Hench - Natalie Zina Walschots

Anna “The Auditor” and her fellow henches turn everything we know about heroes and villains upside down. Such a clever premise! (Content notes.) 

YA:

Bloodmarked (The Legendborn Cycle #2) - Tracy Deonn

A sequel that more than holds its own. Tracy Deonn blew my mind once more with this Arthurian retelling. (Content notes.) 

Never a Hero (Monsters #2) - Vanessa Len

A riveting page-turner as Joan, Nick, and crew deal with the fallout of a new timeline and face a new threat. (Content notes.)