 Hello, hello everyone. My name is Laura. This is my channel Laura's Little Library and welcome to today's video Which are my top 10 reads of 2023 So it's been a while since I've made and posted a video But I do want to just say first off that I do have videos in the works including Setting up my new book room my new home office library thing So just stay tuned and subscribe so that you don't miss when these videos do go up I do hope to get back to a regularly posting schedule Hopefully soonish. I'm aiming for one video a week here So let's get started with this one the top 10 books of 2023 So I'm going to start with the book in the number 10 slot and work my way up to the best book of 2023 and I personally cannot believe how long it took me To read what ended up being my best book, but also there are so many good books on this list I I loved all of these. These are all rated five stars And there are so many other good books that I read this year that either just didn't make the list or almost made the list, but I digress Let's move on so in the number 10 slot. I have rise of the snake goddess. This is by Jenny Elder This is the second book and the Samantha Knox series and it is the most recent one that is out and it follows Greek mythology and Like I said, it's the second book So if you want a better introduction for the characters read the first one curse of the specter queen But I was not super thrilled with it. This one. However was so much better I was so happy that this book ended up being so much better than the first one It gave me a lot more faith in this author in this series And I just think that the more she writes the better they'll get and so I'm really excited for the next one but this is very like 1920s Indiana Jones female main character Esk, and yeah, I love it. There's there's travel. There's linguistics That take place into this and if you know me, you know I'm a big fan of linguistics and languages and things like that so this book was definitely made for me and It was just so good highly recommend in the number nine slot We have a study in drowning by Eva Reed. This is peak dark academia right here I've got quite a few dark academia on this list But a study in drowning was just so unique and it was very dark But not in like a gruesome trigger warning kind of way. I mean, there are a couple of triggers of Hints to like sexual assault and things like that. So just be warned This just had the dark and stormy vibes It is about our main character who is an architecture student but wishes she was a literature student But no females are allowed in the literature college So she just goes to the architecture college and she's like one of the first females to be in the architecture program And she wins this project to go to her favorite author who is recently deceased his house And to redesign it and so she goes off into this stormy island and there's academic rivals And all all kinds of things like that. So I thought this was really good such great vibes such unique like Academic was a twist I'd say because she's not at school for most of the book But it is still very academically focused coming in at number eight. I I don't know if it'll be a surprise for people But that would be iron flame Um So yeah, this is a chonker and it's beautiful. I actually really like the book I know a lot of people are like They loved it. It was just as good as fourth wing or they hated it and fourth wing was so much better Personally, I loved it and I cannot wait to see what happens next the cliffhangers I won't say too much about iron flame because I don't want to spoil it if you haven't read iron flame or fourth wing yet either But you know badass dragon college continued So number seven, I don't actually own it's kind of funny because it's the one book in the trilogy that I don't own So I'm going to hold up the first one But number seven is kingdom of the cursed by carry meniscalco So this is the first book kingdom of the wicked. I do also have kingdom of the veered Which is the third one. I just don't have the second one because I want to give it in I want to get it in hardback And I just it's not in my Barnes and Noble as hardback anymore So I have to like either look elsewhere or go online and I just haven't done that yet But kingdom of the cursed was my favorite of this trilogy the spice level definitely kicked up a notch but you still have like The goodness of the plot and the characters as well as that increased spice level So for me, it was my favorite of that trilogy But the whole trilogy was really good These books were 4.5 stars, but kingdom of the cursed was 5 out of 5 stars For sure and the number six slot was legends and lattes by travis baldry This got everybody on their cozy fantasy Kick and I am included in that I absolutely loved it. It really is cozy fantasy in every sense of the word of the genre You have your warrior who just is done with adventuring She found this weird thing called lattes and coffee from the gnomes And so she decides to open up her own little coffee shop and it's very like low stakes With the plot, you know, like it's fantasy. It's cozy cozy meaning. It's not super high stakes And it's just a perfect little sit down with a cup of Preferably a latte or you know tea hot chocolate whatever it is You prefer eyes has gotten espresso machine for christmas slash I got it for my partner and I and so I Seriously want to reread this with a latte in my hands for sure. So So comfy so cozy. I love the characters their relationships their dynamics And I love like all the reactions of all these different people from basically a dnds world Um Experiencing coffee for the first time or experiencing my size. It's great. It's great. It's it's great Number five is actually another romance which I have increased reading my romance So much this year and I actually this is the second book of like a companion I think there are only two books out right now And I read them the second one and then the first one and that was just fine Anyway, so in number five is practice makes perfect by sarah adams. This is the other who wrote went in rome Um, and that was written first, but this one Grumpy sunshine opposites a track. Oh So good. She is the younger sister and she owns a floral shop And so she's very like that light floral happy But you know, she's always kind of discounted because she is the youngest sister You know, they all kind of put her in this goody two shoes box And she is sick and tired of being in that goody two shoes box and then you've got this bodyguard right here Who's tied it up and who's dark and bad ass and all those things They they like know each other previously But then they start like a fake relationship that Doesn't end up being so fake because she wants to change the image of being this perfect goody two She's little sister and he has a massive crush on her and isn't him. So I just loved that I was glued to this. I could not put it down. I read it physically And for me to read something physically and I'll be able to put it down right now means a lot Just because I don't have a lot of time for physical reading right now But the fact that this was literally glued to my hands for like the couple of days. It took me to read this Oh, oh, oh, it just had all my favorite tropes. It was great. It was great in slot number four We have a book that I just very recently read. It was recommended to me by a friend Because I love dark academia, but also like languages and language based academia And this is definitely like a trigger warning Horror thriller dark academia language based book and in slot number four is the center and this is by aishim and azir and Oh, my gosh, I still think about this book. Like I know I read it like a couple weeks ago I am still thinking about this book. It is Like this woman is a translator with urdu and english and she's really just doing like Bollywood subtitles, which is great. She's working in her field like she wants to be a translator But she wants something more than just subtitles for bollywood films and stuff like that and so she Goes out with this guy and he seems to just be perfect in every language that he learns and he's learned a lot of languages and she You know, it's interested in learning more languages in order to expand her translation capabilities And so he tells her of the secret school That you can get into that spending two weeks there No social media no contact with the outside world. You have to follow a very strict regimen Of like when you eat what you eat when you sleep how much you sleep the listening to lessons Everything like that is so strict, but you become perfectly fluent by the end of it And so she goes And she learns a little bit more than probably what she wanted to at the school for how They teach languages perfectly Oh, I just love this so much like I'm so conflicted about it though wishing it were real but also not because it's Horror and it's horror for a reason. So obviously I don't want it to be real But man if I could go somewhere and learn a language fluently in two weeks I would learn every single language there is in the world So This was in slot number four And in slot number three is technically a book that is the first book that I mentioned earlier Fourth wing by Rebecca yarrows I can't have iron flame on here and not have fourth wing on here They both came out this year and I obviously read them both. I just love this one so much more I just did okay. I am always someone who loves the first book most In series and trilogies most of the time not every time carry my scalco But most of the time I always love the first book more because that is the introduction to the world That is the introduction to the magic system the world building the characters And that to me is the most magical time And this is definitely that like there was so much happening like when I look back and think of the book It did not feel slow at all But there was a lot happening and it took quite a bit for things to happen But I was entrenched every step of the way It just had me hooked Like if you get it you get it if you don't What a bummer What a bummer for you Because this was the number three book of the year for me personally In that number two slot was a book. I knew I was gonna love. I just didn't know how much I was worried it was going to be overhyped But in my opinion it was not overhyped and that is emily wilds encyclopedia of fairies by heather foggett faucet That's a c You go with that's a c and say it's faucet. Um, also just look at this book. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it just absolutely gorgeous? Okay, but that's not why it's in the number two slot It certainly helps but that is not why this is Such a cozy like it gives me spring vibes even though it happens kind of like early winter You have emily wild who is an academic professor and this is like historical. It gives me 1800s vibes And or like early 1900s and she's a professor and she is writing the first ever encyclopedia of all Faye and this is faye of like Little pixies magical known creatures to the high faye courts and everything in between everything that is considered faye If you are a fan of mythology like me any faye that you're aware of from mythology mostly like irish mythology It's all in here changelings everything It's faye and she's cataloging it all and so she goes to this new place like this very like sweden ish place where it's cold and Kind of remote nobody really goes there to research some of the lesser known Ferries and faye there to add them to her encyclopedia because they know exists It should be in her encyclopedia And there's a little bit of academic rivalry. It's very I hesitate to say cozy fantasy But like it's got the same stakes as a cozy fantasy where it's like it's not super high stakes But it is enchanting and it is beautiful and lyrical and encouraging and just oh I I absolutely adored it. The second book is coming out early next year I will have it included on my anticipated releases for the first quarter of next year, which will be a video I will get to soon So Stay tuned for that. I'm telling you But this was definitely the number two slot. I just could not put it down I was lying on my floor Reading it all day long on my day off because there was nothing else I was going to do once I started this It was this and only this now the final book the final book In my top 10 list the number one book of this year I It came out a couple years ago and it's been on my radar ever since it came out and it was huge It blew up when it came out I just I was so afraid to read it because I didn't want it to like not live up to the hype or You know, love it as much, but I finally read it earlier This year and not only is this my favorite book of 2023 It is my favorite book of all time, which I have never had and normally do not ever claim but this book truly is My favorite book of all time thus far I took off the dust jacket too um because I was traveling with it and I don't actually know where the dust jacket ended up. So My favorite book of all time Babel by RF qualm Again, it's a very fitting book for my personality like If you know me it makes perfect sense and even with like watching this video earlier talking about like dark academia and languages This Romanticizes Everything I want in my future career Yeah, so I am a polyglot. I'm someone who speaks multiple languages and actually you're interested in that I do have a second youtube channel called languages with Laura where I talk about like being a polyglot But I also talk about all my travels and all kinds of things like that. So if you're interested check out languages with Laura But this so I'm a translation student as well as an english student And there were lectures in here that like Resignated with me as something that my Professors would talk about but it was just so it was put down much more artistically like it's a book It's meant to get that's pointed across but in a beautiful way, which is something my professors may not necessarily Pay all that much attention to because you're just trying to teach But this book it just It demonstrates the beauty of language and it has the magic Of language literally the literal magic of translation is actual magic in here To me it's magical But in this book it's physical literal magic and it brings me so much joy Well at the same time it is historical and it does have a lot of trigger warnings for like racism and also just the history of like racist translations kind of Like in a way, I don't really know how to describe it But you know, you've got this boy who was adopted from china So that he could translate between mandarin in english and a couple of other languages And so he is going to this secret extra or not secret but this extra school in oxford for translation and silver work Which that's kind of how the magic system works if you want to know just read the book because i'm not going to be able to explain it but my favorite book of all time And of 2023 is babbled by rf long So if you have not read it yet and any of that sounds interesting to you or you just want to read down with the good It is a little chunky, but I read it really quickly So do not be intimidated. It is my favorite book. Please pick this up if you haven't already So those are all of my top 10 books of 2023 It was a pretty good reading year. I'll say I have It was it was a much more balanced, but like I feel happy about all the reading I've done this year Like I said a lot of really good books quite a few not so great books, but I feel like they were just balanced out so Thank you all very much for watching if you like this video give it a thumbs up comment down below What some of your favorite books from this past year was and don't forget to hit the subscribe button To see when I post new videos. Hopefully once a week soon Just kind of depends but that is going to be my goals But just make sure you hit subscribe and hit the bell to be notified when those videos do come up But until I see you all in the next video. I wish you happy reading