2023 TBR Challenge summary

One more year gone and one more TBR Challenge finished!

In 2023 I had interesting reads, others no so good, but it's 12 books more out of the pile!

My picks were the following:

January: The Illegal Gardener by Sara Alexi (starting over) 6/10

This was an interesting story about an illegal Pakistan man who starts over in Greece, and the British woman who is also starting over there. Their relationship begins unbalanced but they eventually become friends. I liked it but I felt the plot could have been more engaging.

February: The Suite Spot by Trish Doller (getaway) 8/10

This is the second installment in the Beck sisters series, and the setting is an island, to where the heroine moves for work and it did felt like a getaway story. I liked it, I think the author did a good job portraying emotions and feelings while presenting a captivating story too, plus a romance.

March: Scandal With a Prince by Nicole Burnham (baggage) 6/10

In this book the heroine had a baby and didn't tell the father. Now, years later,, they reconnect and this is something she will have to confess... what a cliched plot line but I thought it was an interesting baggage to "unload". Sadly for me, the development wasn't that amazing.

April: Untamed by Anna Cowan (unusual historical) 5/10

An historical with a male protagonist who likes to dress up as a woman? Certainly unusual and I was looking for to see how this would play out and how the romance would work. I think the author could have done a much better job, actually, in terms of plot.

May: Two in a Bush by Judith Hale Everett (freebie) 7/10

I got this one for free when it was available in several retailers. It's an historical too, written in a very old fashioned style, we would say now, but that becomes better the more along we go. I just think that the focus should have been on the protagonists more, instead of so much secondary situations.

June: The Purveli by Dianne Duvall (love is love) 8/10

I've gotten this wrong, I took the "love is love" expression literally and thought about love no matter what, so I picked up an installment in a PNR series, featuring a human and an alien, not a LGBT entry. My mistake aside, I did like reading the novel I chose.

July: Evan and Darcy by Melanie Coles (opposites attract) 5/10

This is a story that re imagines the Pride and Prejudice novel switching the genders and is set in Australia in modern times. Well, I think it was interesting but for a contemporary story the behavior of the characters seemed to be slightly juvenile.

August: Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon (tropetastic!) 4/10

I thought this story would be more interesting, since it would present a gender switch too, and the male protagonist is a nanny, a role usually portrayed by women. I confess I expected more out of this, and not so much focus on sexual content.

September: Last Song Before Night by Ilana C. Meyer (new author) 5/10

Fantasy novels are something I like if it has certain elements and this one seemed intriguing due to the focus on music and its importance to the plot. However, the development was a bit confusing and I've felt some elements weren't necessary either.

October: Hide From Evil by Jami Alden (danger zone) 4/10

This is a book similar to the style of the late 90s or early 00s and it showed. I think the romance could have been better and the plot better executed. I also think the overall ideas were a bit repetitive which means that many situations were weakly portrayed.

November: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (once upon a time) 7/10

I thought this was a fascinating story, with a very good plot idea but I can't say if the execution was as well achieved as possible. A young girl is able to find doors and travel to different dimensions, and she is looking to save her parents. As she becomes older and new dangers arise, she will need to know whom to trust.

December: Christmas at the Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan (festive) 7/10

This is the third installment in a series, which I have come to think of as being less charming than what it might seem by the covers. Things are sometimes difficult for heroine Polly but friends and her love for baking tend to help, although I wish there were even more positive or happy scenes. 

Some notes: 

➤The grading average this year wasn't as perfect as I'd have loved it to be, with two entries being what I see as negative (on a scale from 1 to 10), but I prefer to stick to choices I make and not change books. Obviously this means some books aren't as amazing as I hope, but the fun of trying a new book is that, the hope for the unknown.

➤Contemporary settings were still the majority in my book choices, even if not a romance, and that does say something about what I'm gravitating more to nowadays.

➤Nine entries were by authors I had not read before, which is also a funny element to consider.

➤I like doing this challenge because it's a fun way to look at some of the books in the pile. We often add books for so many reasons, something about them, whether a detail, a plot premise, a cover, an indication somewhere... I often forget why a book was added to the pile, but I do love this adventure of discovering why again!

Happy reading, and we will see each other in the challenge next year!