 I am making this list this year with like a determination that I'm going to read all these books. I promise. Hi my friends, welcome back to my channel. Today we're going to be doing the 23 books I have to read in 2023, my 2023 TBR. I love making this TBR. It's always a year highlight for me. I love it. I love just sitting down thinking, oh what are some of the books I'm going to read this year? What am I going to read? It's going to be so exciting. Yes, I don't always read all the books but I am determined this year. I feel like we are going to read quite a lot of these, if not all. Lies, lies and more lies and lies on top of lies. I reacted to my 2022 TBR in December and I read 13 of the 22 that were on that list. So I read, I think it's 59%. I feel like we're going to do better this year. I've thought strategically there's mostly books that aren't going to be a challenge for me to get to. There's a few that are, but they're not that big a challenge. There's no, there's no classics, don't worry. A lot of these I would have to put a picture up because they're either new releases that are not out yet or they're ones that are wrapped up because if you remember, there was a lot that are wrapped up that I was most excited to read. So there's a lot of them that I want to put on this list too. So shall we just get into it? We've got 23 books to talk about that I am definitely going to read this year. Keep the faith and I'm so excited to try about all of them. So let's get into it. So I've separated this into a few different categories. The first category is by far our biggest one and that is 2023 releases. So I was thinking strategically and I was thinking about how I want to read more 2023 releases than I ever have read new releases in a year. That's something I really want to focus on and try and prioritize. And I noticed when I did these lists previously, I would put almost no new releases on the list or I would put like three maybe. There's eight on the list this year. So that's definitely the most I've ever had. This is some of the new releases that I am most excited for. So two I already have my grabby little paws on. The first is The Mysterious Case of the Alpeton Angels by Janice Hallett. I am so honored. Janice Hallett I feel like is one of the most unique kind of murder mystery mystery authors around at the moment. Her books are just they are mixed media. We all know I love mixed media and I really had a great success with the Twyford Code which was her new release I think last year. This is her new release this year. Her books always tend to come out in January here in the UK. This one I'm really excited for because it's a mix of mixed media. Her previous two books The Appeal and The Twyford Code have been one type. So the appeal was all emails. The Twyford Code was all voice notes. Whereas this one is a mix of texts, of scripts, of interviews, of emails, like so many different things. We're following the Alpeton Angels who were a cult that I think convinced a young girl that her baby was the Antichrist or something and we're following many years later a true crime author who has found I think a box of materials about the Alpeton Angels and is kind of going through them and is trying to write this new book. I think there's also a rival who's trying to write the book as well. I am so excited. I've had really good things from everyone who's been reading this and I just have good feelings. I have really, really good feelings. And then I also had to put on the list Hellbent by Luba Duga. I am so jealous of everyone who is reading this. I have seen so many people reading it and I don't know when I'm going to get to it. Here's the thing, right? I initially was like, oh, I'm definitely going to reread Ninth House before I read this because I haven't read Ninth House since 2019, okay? But then when I opened this, I got this feeling of like, you know, when you haven't been able to make progress in a series for so long and you open the new book and you like, you want that to be your reintroduction and diving into the world again. I worry this wouldn't feel new enough if I reread Ninth House before. So please let me know in the comments what you think I should do. Should I reread Ninth House, then read this? Or should I just read maybe a recap, like an in-depth recap of Ninth House and then read this? I'm not sure. So please let me know what you think. But in this, we are following Alex Stan who goes to Yale. She gets this kind of deal to go to Yale to kind of keep tabs on all the magical secret societies that exist in Yale. We have Darlington, who's kind of the guy who's helping her through this. The first week Ninth House also has kind of like a murder mystery element that spurs on the plot. But in this one, we're hellbent, baby. I don't want to say anything, I don't want to spoil anything for Ninth House, but I was one of the people, the fair few. A lot of people loved it, but I loved Ninth House. I loved it. It was a five star. It was my first introduction to Lee Bardugo. It was the first book I ever read by her. Now I've read almost all of her books. God, what a journey we've been on, Lee. I just can't wait for this. I'm so excited. Also, I love the cover. I know that's an unpopular opinion. I love how weird it is. I love it. Okay, but the other six are ones that I don't own yet, and I don't know the plots as well. So we'll go through them quickly. I might need to get my phone for some of these. So number three is Yellow Face by R.F. Kwong. I'm so excited. R.F. Kwong has become one of my favorite authors. Babel Babel was my favorite book of last year. This one, I don't think is a fantasy. It's more of a like contemporary commentary book about the publishing industry. I think it's about a white publisher author or someone working in publishing who steals a manuscript and then pretends to be an author of color to like promote her book. I think R.F. Kwong has been very vocal about publishing rights and ethics in publishing and racism in publishing. So I'm really excited for this. And I'm really excited for her first like non-fantasy book. I love her writing. I love the intelligence with which she approaches her writing. I think she's one of the most clever writers out there at the moment. And I don't know what to expect because of course it is our first non-fantasy, but I am very excited. Number four is Lost in the Moment and Found by Sean McGuire. This is the next in the Way with Children series. I have just been this weekend rereading the Way with Children series for a vlog for my patrons. Oh my god, this series is incredible. If you don't know, it's a series about kids who go into these portal worlds and they find these worlds are perfect for them. And I've heard that this one Lost in the Moment and Found, I think we're following a girl who lives in this world where lost things go, but then she gets lost herself. And from my understanding, this is going to be one of the heaviest books that we've dealt with within the Way with Children series. They always focus on difficult topics whilst keeping this kind of fairytale-like quality to the writing, but they do do a really great job of tackling difficult topics. So I don't know what to expect from this, but I have just loved rereading this series. But yeah, I am excited, especially since we're reading the series this week. We also have In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. So this one is one, I've pre-ordered this one as well. I ordered the plot as well. We're following puppets. Very strange. We're following these like robots. And then I think the dad of the robot family gets taken away. I don't really know. I like to go into TJ Klune's books really not knowing much because I feel like he builds up this fantastical world and this novel idea, you know, I feel like under the whispering door, I'd never read a book like that. And I went into that book not knowing much and it really paid off well. Again, I feel like it's this resurgence of cosy fantasy I'm definitely really into. I actually don't have too many cosy fantasy books like on my docket, on my to read. So I would love recommendations. I don't have too many. TJ Klune's writing is always magical, whimsical, cosy, again, kind of tackling the core of human issues. I feel like especially under the whispering door that really like got me in terms of like life. So I wonder what life lesson this one is going to be trying to teach. We also have Love Theoretically by Allie Hazelwood. Allie Hazelwood is my favorite romance author. I gave the Love Hypothesis Five Stars. It's one of the only, maybe the only romance book I've ever given five stars. And I gave Love on the Brain 4.5 but like it was probably a five. This one is Academic Rivals which I'm excited to see from Miss Allie. Again, we're following scientists. I just know that they're kind of like rival physicists or something. I think it is fake dating again, which was the Love Hypothesis. I'm surprised to see her doing that trope again because her books are so like trope specific. I'm surprised to see her do that again so quickly. But there's just something about her writing that I love. Here's the thing, right? I think put my phone down. I know that Allie Hazelwood's writing is not for everyone. You may read it. I feel like people who don't like it read it and go, well something's missing, something's a bit strange about the writing. It's because it reads like fanfic, right? And as someone who grew up loving fanfic, I love it, okay? It takes me back to the days of reading fanfic. I love it, right? But if you don't love fanfic, you probably won't love Allie Hazelwood. And then I have two books that are very, very similar to each other. So we have The Last Word by Taylor Adams, which I am, you know, he wrote one of my, probably my favourite thrill of all time, No Exit. I think it is one of the best thrilling thrillers of all time. And I'm ready to forgive him for betraying me with Hairpin Bridge, okay? We're just pretending that didn't happen. But I'm not one of those people that forgive and forget. I'm one of those people that fucking takes score. The Last Word I think is about a book reviewer who writes a negative book review and then feels like maybe the author is a little bit like really, really upset over this negative reviewer and perhaps stalking her. And she lives in a very remote place and perhaps the author has found where she lives. And he's coming to stalk her. It hits a little bit close to home. I'm really hoping this will go back to what I love about Taylor Adams and it will be tense. It will be high stakes. It will be crazy. It will be making me feel sick. I am really hoping. And I feel like the premise is such a fun premise. He knows what he's doing, right? He knows he's appealing to a reader with that premise. The same with my last 2023 release on the list, which is The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz. This is a debut and it's about a group of characters who go to this writing retreat and read the synopsis. When they get there, a bomb shell is dropped. They must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month and the author, the best one, will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. And I think, you know, murderousness starts happening, thriller, craziness. I'm really, really excited for this one. Again, this is appealing to readers, right? I'm excited. I'm so excited. This is so much fun to me. You know, I think the writing author aspect is so much fun. Like, oh, I love books that are like self-referential and about books and about writing. And I think these two are just going to be so much fun. Okay. That is the end of the 2023 releases on this list. Now, let's get into the 2022 releases. There's a few that I really want to get around to that I have not yet gotten around to. I have not yet gotten around to. The first of which is The Daughter of Dr. Moro by Silver Marino Garcia. I know I'm going to be reading this this year. I have a plan for a video that will probably come out around March time. I feel like I'm going to be doing this. I am so excited about this. We are following the daughter of Dr. Moro. That's all I really know about it. I always say, right, I don't, again, Silver Marino Garcia is one of those authors I don't know too much. This book was written for me because one of my favorite literary characters ever. What was that? Okay, James is Katherine Moro from The Strange Case, The Alchemist's Daughter series. She is like, she's not really the daughter of Dr. Moro. She's more one of his creations. But it makes me even more excited to read this. And I feel like I've heard amazing reviews. And I just know that when I read this, and how you'd be Mexican Gothic this year, me and Silver Marino Garcia will be besties. Also on the list is Nestle and Bone by T. King Fisher. Okay, like I said, this was one of the options I almost read as my first book of the year because I feel like I'm going to get five stars. This is, again, I think along that cozy fantasy route. And I just know me and T. King Fisher, I'm going to read lots of T. King Fisher. This is the only one I own, but I do want to read a lot of T. King Fisher this year. I'd love to dive in some of her horror. I'd really love to read, is it The Wizards Guide to Defense of Baking? I'd really love to read that this year. But yeah, this is the one I own. So it's the one I'm paying on this list. And I know this is about a princess whose sister is also a princess, is married to the kind of abusive prince, and she wants to kill him. But she has to fulfill these impossible tasks before this witch gives her the instructions on how to kill him. I'm so excited to begin my T. King Fisher legacy. I always say discography, but I always start my T. King Fisher discography. I don't know. It makes me picture authors as like Britney Spears. I don't know what, okay. Let's move on. So yes, really excited to read this. And then also on the list is the other book I almost read for my first book of the year, which was Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. This is a horror about these wives where one of them went on this deep sea mission where something went wrong and she's come back really changed. Not the same person who went away. From the first chapter that I read of this, it had this kind of haunting not claustrophobic like a lonely atmosphere to it that I thought was so interesting and so incredible. So yeah, I've heard only good things about this one as well. So super excited for this. And then I have two more. That's four. I have two more in this category, but they are wrapped up. So the first is The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead. I read in my dreams I hold a knife towards the end. Yeah, it was October of last year and I really enjoyed it. And I'm really excited for The Last Housewife. I've heard it's a little bit more divisive, but I think it is about a cult that these young women were in and they got out, but then one of them has since died and our main character thinks she was murdered. I've heard it's also very, thank you. And I just really loved Ashley Winstead's writing and I'm really intrigued to see what she does. I feel like she comes out with books that are very either like on trend, like I feel like in my dreams I hold a knife was very on trend. I feel like her romance feels very like on trend. Or books like this which are like skewing, almost like I feel like predicting the trends of the future. I don't know, she definitely intrigues me as an author that I want to keep reading. And then The Last One is one of the books I'm most excited to read. And it is The Woman in the Library by Celarie Gentile. I'm really hoping that I unwrap this soon for wrapped up. We need this. This is essential. This is a crisis. I've heard mixed things, but from the people who have read it, who have similar reading tastes to me, I've heard great things. So this is a book within a book. We've got letters, an author writing letter to someone else talking about the book they're writing and then the book they're writing I think is set in this library. We have four characters sitting around this table talking to each other when a murder occurs. But one of those people sitting at the table is the murderer. You just don't know who. How do they commit the murder while sitting at the table? Oh my God, I love, I'm looking now as a lover of murder mysteries for ones that push the envelope a bit, that do something crazy and imaginative and different and push the boundaries. And this really feels like one of those. So yes, I'm so excited. Those are the 2022 releases that I am most excited for that I have not yet gone round to. Next we have series to finish baby. We have a few series where I've got one book left and I would like to finish off the series by reading this book this year. Again, a few of these are wrapped up. So first we have Rule of Wolves by Lee Bardugo. This would finish off the King of Scars duology. I did not love the first King of Scars. I'm gonna be honest. I would like to defend myself but sadly that's the truth. But I'm at this point now with the Grisha verse and Lee Bardugo. Like I just have to read it all. Okay, I'm heavily invested. I'm waiting for Six of Crows 3 to come out in like 10 years because she said she's not gonna write it for a while which is fine. Lee, I love you. Take your time. I'll read anything from you basically at this point. And I know this book, Rule of Wolves, has a bit of a crazy ending that like she keeps saying leaves the door open for Six of Crows 3. I'm like what does that mean Lee? What does that mean? But I do just want to finish all of Rule of Wolves to bish bash bosh, get the duology done, move it on, you know. And then another duology that I want to finish is the start, the song of race and ruin one with the one I have to read as a sum of storms and silence. These titles, I always get like the different words of something of something and something like mixed up. Yeah, this is like an African-inspired fantasy where we had these two characters in the first book who both had these objectives that they really desperately wanted to complete that meant they had to kill each other. Killing each other wasn't the desire but it was like collateral damage, like sorry bro. And I really enjoyed the first one. I thought it was pretty unique so I would like to finish off this duology as well. I thought the writing was very lush and beautiful and I thought it was a really solid YA fantasy so I would really like to finish that. One I'm hoping to finish this month, it is on this month's TBR Cludeau but like am I gonna do it? Now I feel like I am. Is the, the, what is this series called? The Themis Files series. I have to read Only Human by Sylvain Nivelle. I finally read the second in this series in December after not reading it for years but I really enjoy this. I've heard terrible things about it, okay? Like I'm not expecting a lot but in this world, oh god, this series is so difficult to pitch to you because like I can basically only tell you the plot of the first like 100 pages if that of the first back. A giant, giant hand is found. It's made of weird materials. Are we looking around the world for other parts that could exist of this strange massive being that's made out of materials we don't really know about? I don't know what the fuck she's saying but girl I am living. So I can't tell you anything about what this final book is about. I've decided I'm not gonna try and vlog it. I'm just gonna read it and then review it in my wrap up at the end of the month. It might end up being in in February. We'll see. We'll see. This is told to like interviews, audio files, so the audiobooks in my opinion are the best way to read this series but I don't know. I don't know how that one's gonna go. Then we have four series, that's eight. We have four series that I want to start this year. These are the series I really want to prioritize. If I'm gonna start a series these are the ones I have to start and I really want to be mindful and like encourage myself to start these four and just not start too many others if I can't finish them. So I feel like you guys are gonna yell at me that I still read this Finley Donovan. We're reading it this year. I promise you I will read this at some point. I just feel like this has to be in a great video that a lot of you are gonna watch because a lot of you are gonna know might want to know my thoughts on this so I have to put it in like a top tier video that you're gonna want to watch. Everyone loves this. Everyone tells me, Megan how the fuck have you not read like the biggest mystery on booktube in the year? I don't know. Okay I know I'm just scared. I know we're following like this single mum she's kind of floundering in life and she's describing, she's an author, I think she's describing the plot of her latest book to her publisher in a cafe. Someone confuses her as a hit woman for hire and comes over and is like yo can you hit my husband? Please. Everyone loves this series. Everyone says it's amazing. I know I need to start it this year. It's gonna happen. I promise you I'm starting Finley Donovan and I'm really excited. Actually looking at this makes me so excited to read. You know it like elicits those excited feelings in me so very hyped for that. Then we have the Veronica Speedwell series. This one is The Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourne. I read Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourne December. Why did that trouble me? I read that at the end of last year and I really loved the writing. I thought the writing was so good. I had so much fun. I had a few issues with like the book on its own. I feel like some of the characters weren't fleshed out enough but like I can see that I would love. I would love this series and it's Victorian. It's set with like these characters and solving mysteries. Everyone's told me this will be one of my most loved series so excited to get to this. One that is wrapped up is Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. This is witchy vibes. It's like secret governmental part of the government which I love. I loved The Rook which was kind of about a fantastical part of the government secret government agency and so I'm so excited about this. Oh that's all I really know about it. I've never read anything by Juno Dawson but I've always heard such wonderful things and I feel like this is gonna be like a great series that I'm just gonna love it. I feel such good feelings about this and I love witches. I love witches. Anything with witches. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. I love. So why am I playing like the bongos? Whoa. And then the last one is a Cozy Mystery series that I'd really love to start and that is Murder Before Even Song by Richard Coles. This is just like a cozy mystery series. I'm not expecting too much. We're following a priest who there's a murder in his in his parish where one of the members of the church is stabbed in the neck with a pair of sacateurs. It's camp. It's camp. I don't know what to tell you. And he's trying to go around the village and solve the mystery essentially. I'm not expecting great things. I haven't heard the most wonderful things but I just think it's gonna be a fun cozy mystery and I'm really excited for it, okay? So that's that. We have three, that's six. We have three more ladies and gentlemen. We have three more and these are all nonfiction. I would like to read. I do want to try and prioritize Falling Back in Love with Nonfiction, Fitting Nonfiction into Vlogs. Here's the thing, right? I know some people critique me or not critique me but like in the comments, don't understand the way that I read. I just want to quickly spell this out for you very quick. When I say I haven't read this yet because it hasn't fit in a vlog, you think, oh she's only reading things for vlogs. She's not reading what she actually wants. What I want to read is what fits in videos because guess what? I love making videos, I love being creative. Making videos is like a hobby of mine. I love what I do. I love making creative concepts and making creative concepts for videos makes reading more fun for me. It's an added layer of fun. Like people say reading is one hobby and buying books is another. For me doing video concepts is another one of those for me. Even before I had my booktree channel, I would never pick up the book I'm most excited to read. I would have a set TBR and I would probably slot it in at the end of the TBR that I'd already established and I would get to it when I get to it. I would never mood read, okay? So I'm just clearing that up for everyone. How I read makes me happy, okay? But nonfiction, I do find it harder sometimes to fit into the videos that I really want to make. The two hobbies, like sometimes buying books and reading books don't mesh well. These two hobbies sometimes don't mesh well so I'm trying to be better at that. These are the three nonfictions that I would really, really like to get to this year. First on the witchy theme that we just spoke about is in defense of witches, why women are still on trial by Mona Chalotte. This I know was translated from French. It's about women being categorized as witches and kind of the perception of women as witches and how that has been this kind of stereotype. And I'm just so interested in this. I love how kind of like historical ideas, reading about how that kind of permeates through modern thought. And I'm just, I've heard such good things about this and I'm really excited. It's not too long either. It's really just over 200 pages. So it's a very quick one. And I feel like with my kind of interest in witchy fiction at the moment, this totally makes sense to read now and kind of give me another lens through which to view that fiction that I'm reading. Then we have a read that I know is going to be very difficult but I mean this is the highest rated book I have on Goodreads currently out of all like 220 books on my TBR. It is Know My Name by Chanel Miller. I am not ready to read this and I don't want to say I'm excited to read this but I think this is a very important book to read. Chanel Miller was the anonymous person who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner and then she's eventually come out and shared her name and shared her story. And I've heard also that her writing in this is really wonderful. She was an English major at the time and so I've just heard such wonderful things about it and I think this is definitely one that I need to prioritize getting around to this year. And then our final book. This is the book I would say is the biggest challenge of the whole list for me this year. It is Harlots Horses and Hackabots by Kate Lister, A History of Sex for Sale. I am very interested in the history of sex for sale. I think for me I am just interested in women's history. We can see the theme throughout the non-fiction that I read. That is really kind of my highest interest is reading about women throughout history and reading about women's rights and women's choices and women's lives throughout history. Now this one is a little bit, I say it's the most challenge because it's like a bit more, I don't know what the correct word for this is but like it's like non-fiction, non-fiction you know what I mean? This is a hefty book and you know it has all these pictures and this research and like it's really like it's a it's a book you know what I mean? So I got this, Tom actually got this to me when we went out for my birthday last year and we're coming up again. Oh my god I've had this for a year. I was like this is a book that's easy to put off because it is quite intimidating non-fiction but when you think about it, again this is only like 230 pages and a lot of those pages have a lot of pictures on them so I'm really really excited and I think I'm interested to read about this topic from like this kind of academic perspective so I really hope that I get a chance to read this this year as well. Okay there we have it, that is my entire 23 books I must read in 2023. Let me know what you thought of any of these books if you read them, I want to know all your thoughts, I want to know what you're most excited for me to read, what you want my reviews on, what you've written aloud, I want to know all of it in the comments please let me know. Also let me know how successful you're gonna I'm gonna be. Let's do it by percentage because every year the TBR goes up one to fit in with the year so um 59% was what I read last year. Do we think I can do it again? I think we can! Thank you guys so much for watching if you've gotten to the end of the video comment there oh like angel wings is that like angel wings emoji for the apperton angels I saw this display the other day of like in a waterstones of these wings to go along with the book oh the baby angel comment the baby angel emoji that's the one I want I knew there was something with angel wings in my brain comment that down below if you got to the end thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you very soon in another video bye