Winter's on Its Way!

And likely has already arrived in many parts of the world, but Oklahoma (thankfully) is still just considering her buy-in this year. But snowy sidewalks or not, it's still definitely time for some wonderful (and probably some not-so-wonderful) winter reads.

The Best of 2023

As the world continues to return to life post-pandemic, I have found that my time to read has dwindled significantly. During the pandemic and in the years that immediately followed, I averaged about 200 books a year. Now I am lucky to do half that. The publishing trends in YA are continuing to head in directions I don't care for and editing in all ways seems to have become almost nonexistent. We continually are seeing mediocre plots that should have been slashed and tightened to make the story move well. Even worse, we are seeing books in print from major publishers that have not been spellchecked or proofed for grammar. This is disappointing in the extreme and makes it more difficult to muster up enthusiasm to read in massive quantities.

Nevertheless, I was able to pull together a list of ten books I felt worthy of a mention. All are YA or adult and none were re-reads for me. Some are newer, but most are not - they are just books I never got around to reading before. But if you're looking for some good reads (IMHO) and any of these have not crossed your nightstand before, might I recommend...

The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This book was just straight-up fun. Like 39 Clues or The Gollywhopper Games, but for teens. YA seriously needs more books like this. It is unapologetically teen, and I suppose it suffers from the standard flaws, but it was just such a quick, entertaining read that I didn't really care. And of course, just like Truly Devious, it is a mystery that doesn't get solved entirely in one book. The whole series is worth reading, like, now.