This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is books I meant to read last year but didn’t quite get to in 2023! I just recently posted new releases I wish I read so these are 10 backlist books I wish I read last year:
Tag: books
Natural Beauty Review
Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures—from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk—and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and a long-awaited sense of belonging. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik’s charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister.
I enjoyed reading from our main perspective. I think her story was very sad and kind of tragic but also quite relatable in a way. Wanting to conform to societal expectations is I think what every young person coming from a minority goes through throughout adolescence. I liked how it kind of comes full circle and she acknowledges how she lost those facial features her parents passed down to her and how much she regrets letting things go so far.
I thought the other characters were interesting but it took me a little while to differentiate between them all. None of them were all that memorable to me and I didn’t really have an emotional connection to anyone other than our main protagonist so I didn’t really care what happened to any of them.
⭐️3/5 stars Interesting but lacking oomph!
New Year Resolution Book Tag 🏷
I’ve done this tag the last few years and once again I figured why not start off the new year with it again!
I really want to try Delilah S. Dawson
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
Again classic’s honestly don’t interest me, so probably none 🤷🏾♀️
I want to reread the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown so I can continue on with the series
Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto
A big book I would like to read Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff
Alix E. Harrow – I’ve only read The Ten Thousand Doors of January but I definitely want to read more from her!
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward
The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
The Founders trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
I’ve set my reading goal for 80 but hopefully I make it to 100 again!
WWW Wednesday
Hello friends it’s time for another WWW Wednesday update:
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele
2024 Bookish Goals
It’s Top Ten Tuesday time once again friends and the prompt is bookish goals for 2024. We had the same prompt around this time last year so I revisited my post and I’ve found that I have exactly the same goals 😅 so I figured I’d just repost last years goals again and try and incorporate these thoughts into my life moving forward in 2024!
I’ve made a bit of a habit of just buying and reading books because they are super hyped and popular even though the actual book doesn’t interest me. I could be a genre that I don’t usually read from or the premise doesn’t intrigue me but because everyone is talking/raving about it I still pick it up and read it anyway and I usually don’t enjoy it. I just think it’s a waste of time and I could be reading a book that I actually want to read.
I’ve been finding as of late that when I’m trying to find what book I want to read next I will look at the page count and see how long the book is which will influence whether or not I choose that book. Like if I have two books I’m choosing between and one is 500 pages and the other is on 300 I will pick that one because it is shorter not because I’m interested in that one more. I want to try and dismiss this train of thought and pick books because I’m excited to read them not because I could finish it in one day.
It’s kind of hard to explain but I kind of forget that there is a world in these books that I enjoy diving into and I let the page count or the number of books in the series deter me from continuing on. Which hopefully this year I can overcome and actually finish some series that I have been in the middle of for literally years now!
I’ve set my Goodreads goals for 80 this year instead of the 100 I usually would do. I don’t want to focus too much on the number of books I read and instead try and focus on the quality so this is more of a tentative goal. I would still love to read anywhere from 80-100 books again in 2023 but I don’t want my need to complete this deter me from picking up longer books and taking my time getting through them.
The last goal I wish to set for myself this year is to just be happy. I think if I accomplish the rest of my goals it will make for a great year and that will definitely make me happy!
Amy Leigh Reads 