Jaclyn’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

22,424

pages read

books read

Jaclyn

1 like Like

The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton by Charles Dickens

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

593

pages

Average book length in 2023

298

pages

Most Shelved

4,076,314

people also shelved

The Mystery of the Blue Jar and The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie

Least Shelved

499

people also shelved

Jaclyn’s average rating for 2023

3.5

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.70 average

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz

Jaclyn’s first review of the year

liked it

Cara Romero is a complicated woman. She's the type of person to drop everything to help others, before helping herself. But she's also the kind of woman to cheat on her husband. She's the kind of woman to voice homophobia without batting an eyelash. She's the kind of woman that judges the way other mothers parent their children. She's a victim – but of what, the generation that made her, her circumstances, or maybe... herself? Is Cara Romero stan ...more

JACLYN’S 2023 BOOKS

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

it was amazing

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

it was amazing

How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman

it was amazing

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

it was amazing

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

really liked it

The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

it was amazing

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

it was amazing

really liked it

God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen by Rhys Bowen

Love and Death Among the Cheetahs by Rhys Bowen

really liked it

Jaclyn’s last review of the year

really liked it

An aside, and then the review: It feels great to be back! I took a hiatus from reviewing (and reading too, really) over the last few months, because I was pregnant and pregnancy brain is a real thing that hit me full force from months 7-9. My son was born December 8th, and with his birth I regained my interest in reading. So here I am, back again, reading and reviewing.

My last read of the year closes with a succinct look at grief, loss, and the c An aside, and then the review: It feels great to be back! I took a hiatus from reviewing (and reading too, really) over the last few months, because I was pregnant and pregnancy brain is a real thing that hit me full force from months 7-9. My son was born December 8th, and with his birth I regained my interest in reading. So here I am, back again, reading and reviewing.

My last read of the year closes with a succinct look at grief, loss, and the complex nuances of the mother-child relationship. Michelle Zauner's mother was diagnosed with cancer, and Zauner finds herself examining their relationship, and her own relationship to her Korean culture through new eyes. All of this is juxtaposed beside her own creative awakening. Crying in H Mart is a journey of self discovery, as well as a quiet look at the pain of loss. It's a book that isn't easy to read, because it's someones real life, transfixed on a page. I imagine Michelle Zauner's manuscript is covered in tears. Her words read like wounds, like blood and tears and it feels like her mother is alive in these pages, not merely a character but a person we know.

I chose to read this book for a reason: I recently became a mother myself, and with that has brought up a lot of interest in me in the concept of mothering: both being a mother and having one. I don't have a relationship with my mother and haven't since I was a child, so in general i typically shy away from books like this as more of a protective mechanism. But now as a mother myself, I find myself drawn to these themes and questions of how blood ties work, and when they don't, and how families operate. Are all families dysfunctional, or was it just my own?
Michelle Zauner's family is fairly dysfunctional, but in a way that feels quintessentially human.

Her experiences resonates with readers and I have to think that is why Crying in H Mart is such a success. The fraught relationship between mother and daughter, at times happy and at others sad, is something that many can relate to. The question of: why can't we just get along, is unique. The loss of someone and the denial, the grief, the complete annihilation of the self, is another that those that have had the misfortune of losing a loved one can understand.

This is a heavy book, but it's an important one.

PS. I SEVERELY regret not going to the book signing Michelle Zauner did at my local record shop a while ago. I knew who japanese breakfast was, but hadn't read the book, and so I didn't go! what a misstep that was. ...more

2023 READING
CHALLENGE

Jaclyn read 75 out of 100 books.

75%

What did you read this year?