I picked up a number of books second half of 2023 but could/did not finish all.

Trust by Hernan Diaz - I've heard great things about the book but could not stay engaged. However, I’m going to give this one another try this year.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is an amazing book and I highly recommend! I finished this one so fast; it was such a page turner. The story is about two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, whose paths cross unexpectedly, leading them on a journey rediscovering what sparked their friendship in the first place - video games! Sam has a disability and for him, video games are an escape into a world where he’s strong and able, infinite respawns and possibilities. Together, they start a business creating games. This starts an epic story of friendship, love, heartbreak and surely you’ll be hooked. I absolutely loved the parts where they talk about ideas for their games and the technicalities. I was also playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at the time and so the timing was perfect! And no, you don’t have to be a gamer head to read this one, but you are very likely to be drawn to the imaginative and endless world of video games, which the title of the book perfectly describes.

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

• The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Here’s a list of three books I started but did/could not finish. The first two I'm DEFINITELY going to pick up again. The third one, DEFINITELY NOT. It’s one of those books that took off on social media (TikTok, I think?) and I saw it online very frequently. So I gave it a try. I love fantasy books but this one fell so so short of what I was hoping it would be. It was extremely cliché and cringey. Violet enters the ruthless quadrant where you train to become a dragon rider. It has a very repetitive theme of "everyone here wants to kill me", "I’m going to die" and got excessively annoying. I absolutely don’t recommend.

The last book of 2023 that I positively loved was Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. The book is so beautifully written, the characters so real. The author tells the story of Marian Graves, a fearless pilot in the 1940s, and weaves the present story of actress Hadley Baxter, who ends up playing Marian Graves in a movie. The book draws from historical pilots who undertook journeys across the globe, and is integrated with the fictitious story of Marian perfectly, so much so that I would believe her to be real. I was captivated by Marian's desire to fly, to go beyond the horizon. I loved how the life of Marian's twin brother, Jamie, was being told in parallel to Marian's. Each character so intricate and genuine. When reading the chapters of Hadley, all I could think about was Marian. What an epic tale. I highly recommend!

First book of 2024(!) - The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty and I'm riveted!