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i took a bit of a break from reading in 2023 as i had been pushing myself to read over 50 in both 2021 and 2022, but in 2023, with everything else happening in my life, i opted not to set a reading goal and to just read as and when i felt like it!
here are my top three of 2023 in no particular order:
๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ท๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป
when frida leaves her infant child unattended for two hours during a mental breakdown, she is forced to attend parenting school with other "bad" mothers. keeping track of her progress is a hyperrealistic robot baby that will calculate and analyse her every blink, facial expression and word as she "raises" it. say or do the wrong thing, and the robot will count it against her. and if she fails out of parenting school, frida will lose custody of her child permanently.
this book made me so angry in the best way. while you know frida did something wrong, just the system conspires against her and other mothers to keep them away from their baby, you will be left seething at the injustice of it all. but this is exactly what jessamine chan wants to inspire in you as she asks what is a perfect mother and how much of our ideals are affected by race, class and the patriarchy as a whole
rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฟ ๐ณ ๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด
jealous of her asian "friend" and fellow author's success, june doesn't hesitate to steal and publish althea's secret manuscript as her own after a tragic mishap that results in althea's early demise. but when the manuscript, a historical epic on chinese labourers and their unsung contributions to the war, and june's background don't match up, june comes under intense scrutiny.
i love love love books that feature unlikeable female narrators bc i am a supporter of women's wrongs <3 yellowface is an indictment of the publishing industry, cancel culture, the isolation of the writing process, told through the lens of someone so arrogant you can't believe it when you have to grudgingly admit they have a point.
rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป
in a retirement village in kent, four retirees meet every thursday to go over cold police murder cases that one member, elizabeth, somehow has access to. the fourth installment of the series, our beloved group of retirees reunite to solve yet another murder when an antique store owner is killed over a missing package of smuggled goods.
if you're a fan of the thursday murder club like i am, personally i feel the last devil to die is the best out of the series. it ties up everyone's current arc so beautifully and is so funny yet so touching that it brought me to tears. the author is taking a break from the series so if you haven't gotten started on it, now is the best time to catch up!
rating: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
what books did you read in 2023 that i should add to my own tbr for this new year?