Serena’s Favorite Reads of 2023: Picks 10-6

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Another a year, another almost impossible task trying to each choose our Top 10 Reads of the year! For me, the word “favorite” is an important part of this list. As I go through the last year’s worth of reading, I often found that some books would strike particular chords within me more deeply than others, even if, quality-wise, another book might be stronger. Of course, this just makes it all that much harder to put them in any order. But here it goes! Today I’m going to countdown my favorites reads, ten to six. And since it’s the end of the reading year, don’t forget to enter our “12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!”

10. “The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch” by Melinda Taub

“The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch” Review

Seems like some variation of a Jane Austen book ends up on this Top Ten list every year! It just speaks to the universal appeal of these stories and characters that there continues to be an excellent adaptation year after year, two centuries after their original release! This one was particularly surprising as the author was really playing fast and loose with the original story of “Pride and Prejudice.” Not only does this story follow Lydia, the much disliked youngest daughter of the Bennet family, but it also must make a romantic interest out of one of the most notorious villains of Austen’s cast of characters AND add in an entirely new fantasy element of witchcraft and magic! It’s a lot of balls to juggle all at once, and somehow Taub pulls it off masterfully!

9. “Tress of the Emerald Sea” by Brandon Sanderson

“Tress of the Emerald Sea” Review

Given my “Year of Brandon Sanderson” series that I had running during 2023, it’s only fitting that one of his books makes this list! And while I really liked three out of the four new releases he had this year, “Tress of the Emerald Sea” remained my favorite of the lot. I feel like it was the most well-rounded and complete of the four books and perfectly highlighted all of Sanderson’s strengths as a writer without over-playing any one aspect of his style. There’s adventure, there’s romance, there’s a new world with interesting magic, and there are, of course, some nice nods to longtime Cosmere fans. It’s also a stand-alone story, like the other three secret projects Sanderson released in 2023, which makes it a great starting off point for readers who may not have picked up a book by this author before.

8. “Witch King” by Martha Wells

“Witch King” Review

This is probably my most controversial pick of my Top Ten this year, in that I think this book didn’t hit right for a lot of other readers. I featured this one on one of our “Another Take” posts, and I was surprised to find a lot of middling reviews out there. Many readers seemed to struggle with the fact that one is simply plopped into this world and plot seemingly halfway through the story and must piece things together over the course of the book. This device is often seen in fantasy fiction and, for me, it is one of the elements that draws me to the genre. I like slowly putting together the history and geography of a world; it’s like a puzzle tied up into a book. I also really enjoyed the characters at the heart of this story. “Found family” is a term that I think gets thrown around too often when describing books, but I think in this case it perfectly applies. The book is also laugh-out-loud funny at times and incredibly tragic at others. If you’re willing to wait it out, I think this book has a great payoff for readers willing to play along with Wells’ concept and style.

7. “Thief Liar Lady” by D. L. Soria

“Thief Liar Lady” Review

I’m not quite sure why this book didn’t seem to get the attention it deserved? On paper, it has a lot of things going for it that are mostly still popular. Fairytale re-tellings do seem to be on a bit of a downwards slope (much to my chagrin), but I think there’s still an appetite for them, especially when they’re “twisted” like this one. There’s a solid romance at the heart of the story. There are morally grey characters, including the leading lady! It was also one of those interesting reads where it could be very light and fluffy one moment, and then very dark another. It also tackles the realities of long-running conflicts between groups of people and how there are never easy answers or simple good guys or bad guys. We have people from the wronged country doing terrible things. We have people from the more powerful faction fighting to do what’s right. And vice versa. But beyond these deeper themes, it was also just a well-paced story with a strong romance at its heart, the type of book that always seems to work for me.

6. “The Witchwood Knot” by Olivia Atwater

“The Witchwood Knot” Review

I was lucky enough this year to read many books that would have qualified for this list simply for my having given them 9s or 10s on our rating system. I had to winnow things down quite a bit. But one factor that I always like to take into at least some consideration is whether or not a book is likely to be heard of by the average reader. Some books on this list were massive hits, and I love them as much as the next person (hence their position on the list!), but I also want to draw attention to the authors more quietly pumping out excellent fiction that gets less media attention. Such is this book. Atwater was actually on my Top Ten list last year, so I was incredibly excited to discover that not only did she have a new book coming out this year, but that this one rose back up to the high that was “Half a Soul.” This book is set in the same world, but now takes place in the Victorian period, complete with gothic, haunted house vibes. This book was a bit darker than “Half a Soul” and the other two books in that trilogy, but I think that helped it rise to even higher levels. There was the same humor and vivacity, but also a tinge of horror that made the entire experience feel like it had an increased depth. I also very much enjoyed the main character and the unique love interest. If you’ve enjoyed Atwater’s books in the past, definitely give this one a go!

So that’s ten through six. Next time I will give a countdown of my top five. What have been some of your favorite reads of 2023?