All My 4 ½—5⭐ Reads of 2023, Ranked

a little devil in America is about Black Performance artists and pieces of work and the struggle the perseverance incredibly well done essays

a mind spread out on the ground is a memoir about the environment and language and really difficult topics

advocating for Palestine and Canada is a research-based book just about the history of certain movements in Canada fighting for the freedom of Palestine

if it was just books that make me cry automatically make will make it into my top 10 this would be number one I soled from page one

asard Parker doesn't fail which is like shouldn't be on here

it was like everything I love Academia loneliness there were footnotes there was a lot of like heavy-handed messaging about colonialism racism and I love that but I'm a character girl and I needed there to be more convincing Dynamics

benty got a five

black cake is about a young girl in the Caribbean escaping under tense circumstances

Chang gang All Star was exactly what it wanted to me it was talking about prison reform through this dystopian lens

chlorine got a five

the first book in the series Delila green doesn't care got a four and I clearly like this one better

Don't Fear the Reaper is so good but again it's a sequel which definitely deserves its flowers

East of Eden is like a Biblical inspired story

it was perfect for me I gave it a five it's in my top was it in my top three

the first one is about this family reunion and this man telling us this story of all the crimes that have been committed by his family members

feed them silence was only a four it was a treat to read after this author published summer Suns

Fina was equally workplace focused where these two characters who used to date get stuck together kind of time traveling inside their workplace

Freedom as a constant struggle got a four only because every individual essay or interview or speech was a four and a half or a five

Gideon the 9th the writing style is really what got me

giovan's room is set in Paris by a man deciding like what kind of man he wants to be

God the god of endings which is this slow historical vampire novel about a woman who's an artist as well coping with her vampirism

green fuse burning is another artist main character who spending time in a cabin on a swamp to work on her art

I really needed this story does it hold up I'm not really sure I would have to reread it but I remember like the idea of enjoying a fairy book for the first time was it sent me to the Moon

happy place by Emily Henry which I know is a lot of people's not favorite but it's technically my favorite Emily Henry

highly suspicious and unfairly cute which is a ya romance that I don't remember super well but I do remember giving it a 4.75

honey and spice which is my favorite Romance of last year

how beautiful we were as about a fictional African village and them responding to an American Oil Company destroying their land

how to say Babylon is just one of the best written Memoirs that I've experienced

hunger is another Memoir that's more personal about roxan Gay's history with eating and body image and society

I'm going to have to move on Immortal longings because it almost made that 10th spot

Indian horse is about a young boy taken to a residential school

it came from the closet is a series of essays from a whole bunch of authors all talking about a horror movie

K is about a young girl she has a banished mother in their Kingdom and it's like her fight for independence as she becomes a mother herself

no my name is a five star Memoir

the last word honestly like any of my fourstar Thrillers could have taken this spot this is the lowest rated one that I have here

what did get a five is leech was equally confusing and strange the payoff was so great for this one

it's one of the heavier books of the series but almost every book has gotten a five so that one is no different

love and color I gave a 4.5 so that one's going to move on

it's hard to move that one along no matter how much I love Chi cleric who researches and keeps records of stories

monilia was a five it's kind of an all-time favorite now

natural beauty I read twice to solidify it as a favorite it's definitely a five

nothing to see here is a funny like found family style book where a woman becomes a caretaker for her to two of her friends children

it had the best writing of the year but the story just didn't stick with me as much as others

it was like an objective five looking back on it I don't remember a ton about it I'm not obsessed with it but it was definitely a five

The other side of night was a five star mystery

our share of night was a 4 and a half

passing which is about two black women in the 20s

people change and advocating for Palestine and Canada two very different experiences one is about it's very short it's very simple just a really good conclusive idea of change within people

people who meet on vacation which is about these friends who go on vacations together every year

several people are typing was this quirky little like nothing of a book

Severance I gave a five it was one of the first fives I gave of the year

Something in the Water only a 4 point something

such a fun age is about a black woman who is babysitting for this white family

summer Suns which I gave it two and everybody else loved

terce story is another like likely surreal book it was my final read of the year

Adventures Amina alari made me realize I like pirate books or at least this one

the black eye dies at the end is this piece of media critique about how black character have been featured in media throughout the years mostly in horror movies

the haunting of Alejandra only got a four

I loved both of them I'm glad I finally read them but I don't think either of them are like life-changing all-time favorites

I loved both of them I'm glad I finally read them but I don't think either of them are like life-changing all-time favorites

it was clever and it had stunning quotes and I'm so glad I finally read it

the Reformatory is heavy historical horror where there are ghosts at this school

the seven-year slip is a time travel book

I wanted the two narratives to converge just a little bit more and it could have gotten a five

Throne of the Fallen AKA Fairy book love of my life number three

I just love n and nestor's dynamic over the years and following them so that one's going to move on

the writing Retreat is similarly half the book doesn't really do anything until a mystery gets presented