2023 Master Reading List

It’s time, once again, for my favorite post of the year, the one that takes me weeks to write and the one I refer back to more often than any other. It is well known that I am a list maker. Shamelessly, I always have been and always will be. I love starting the new year (especially when it starts on the first day of the week) with an assortment of lists to keep me organized. So, it’s only natural that I’d have a master reading list. This isn’t an exhaustive list, as I add on a lot of books that publishers send me as well as new releases or backlist selections that I pick up along the way.

Like years in the past, I’ll be participating in the Popsugar Reading Challenge, which presents fifty prompts that encourage readers to branch out and read new genres, new and old. I’ll also be doing Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge, with its multi-descriptive prompts that force you to put some thought into diversifying your TBR with lots of books from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors.

I’m so close to finishing Sanne’s Back to University list, which is all the required reading from her days studying English in college, so I’ll be adding a few more of these books to my list. Also in 2023, I’m joining Rachel Dawson for her RAD Reading Challenge, a fun list of nine prompts to add some new and interesting books to your shelf.

The #ReadYourBooks challenge encourages you to read some of the books you already own but haven’t yet read, and coming in at the eleventh hour, the Reading Glasses podcast has officially shared their challenge list, so I do plan to include those prompts, which are five books and five reading tasks to tackle throughout the year.

Roxane Gay has moved The Audacious Book Club back to her newsletter home base after the Literati platform decided to discontinue their adult book clubs. She’s shared the first half of the year’s books, and I’ll be requesting the selections from the publishers, as they are all 2022 releases, and I’ll fill the remaining books in and check them off as they come. Another challenge I did last year and really enjoyed was Carina’s Big Book Reading Challenge. I HATE reading books that are over a few hundred pages, so this was a wonderful opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and take on some of the chunkier novels.

Finally, because I am a masochist when it comes to keeping myself busy, I’m adding a few other books to my challenge this year. In the past, I’ve tried to cover as many of the prompts as I could with BIPOC authors, and I’ll continue to do that, but this year, they are getting their own category. On top of that, I include five books from PBS’s The Great American Read, which, surprisingly, I’ve not read many of, and also rounding out the list with five books about disability.

There are also two readalongs I’m joining in 2023: African literature with Bernie Lombardi and War and Peace with Simon Haisell.

Drum roll, please… By my count, that’s 140 books on my list. No sweat, since I maxed out at close to 200 last year. I’m fired up and excited to get started! As always, I’ll be checking off my books as I go throughout the year. Happy reading!

Popsugar Reading Challenge (Count: 50/50)

1. A book you meant to read in 2022 - Sex Object by Jessica Valenti

2. A book you bought from an independent bookstore - Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

3. A book about a vacation - The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

4. A book by a first-time author - What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson

5. A book with mythical creatures - Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

6. A book about a forbidden romance - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

7. A book with “girl” in the title - The It Girl by Ruth Ware

8. A celebrity memoir - Unprotected by Billy Porter

9. A book with a color in the title - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

10. A romance with a fat lead - The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

11. A book about or set in Hollywood - The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

12. A book published in spring 2023 - Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah

13. A book published the year you were born - Kindred by Octavia Butler

14. A modern retelling of a classic - Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Matthieu

15. A book with a song lyric as its title - Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

16. A book where the main character’s name is in the title - Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

17. A book with a love triangle - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

18. A book that’s been banned or challenged in any state in 2022 - All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

19. A book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past challenge - The Dust That Falls From Dreams by Louis de Bernieres

20. A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023 - American Prometheus by Kai Bird

21. A book set in the decade you were born - A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle

22. A book with a queer lead - More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

23. A book with a map - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

24. A book with a rabbit on the cover - Please Don’t Eat Me by Liz Climo

25. A book with just text on the cover - Unleash the Power of the Female Brain by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

26. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

27. A #BookTok recommendation - The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

28. A book you bought secondhand - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

29. A book your friend recommended - The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

30. A book that’s on a celebrity book club list - Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

31. A book about a family - Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

32. A book that comes out in the second half of 2023 - The Militia House by John Milas

33. A book about an athlete/sport - Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad

34. A historical fiction book - 189 Canaries by Dieter Boge

35. A book about divorce - Splitting by Bill Eddy

36. A book you think your best friend would like - A World on Fire by Amanda Foreman

37. A book you should have read in high school - Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

38. A book you read more than 10 years ago - Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

39. A book you wish you could read for the first time again - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

40. A book by an author with the same initials as you - The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

41. A book written during NaNoWriMo - The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

42. A book based on a popular movie - Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater

43. A book that takes place entirely in one day - Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

44. A book that was self-published - Eragon by Christopher Paolini

45. A book that started out as fan fiction - City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

46. A book with a pet character - Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

47. A book about a holiday that’s not Christmas - Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

48. A book that features two languages - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

49. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

50. A book with alliteration in the title - How to Human by Carlos Whittaker

Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge (Count: 24/24)

1. A novel about a trans character written by a trans author - The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

2. One of your favorite author’s favorite books - Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

3. A book about activism - We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai

4. A book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library - The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

5. A completed webcomic - Digger by Ursula Vernon

6. A book you’ve DNFed - Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown

7. An audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color - Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon

8. A graphic novel in a different genre than you normally read - Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song

9. An independently published book by a BIPOC author - Jawbone by Monica Ojeda

10. A book you know nothing about based solely on the cover - The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

11. A cookbook cover to cover - Good Food, Good Life by Curtis Stone

12. A nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history - How to Survive a Plague by David France

13. An author local to you - The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

14. A book with under 500 Goodreads ratings - Women Are the Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlop

15. A historical fiction book set in an Eastern country - The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

16. A romance with bisexual representation - Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

17. A YA book by an Indigenous author - Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

18. A comic or graphic novel that features disability representation - Hawkeye by Matt Fraction

19. A nonfiction book about intersectional feminism - Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

20. A book of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author - Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans

21. A book of short stories - First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami

22. Any book from the Ignyte Awards shortlist/longlist/winner list - A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

23. A social horror, mystery, or thriller novel - When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

24. A challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

Back to University Reading List (Count: 5/5)

1. A Room With a View - E.M. Forster

2. Nostromo - Joseph Conrad

3. Selected Poems - W.B. Yeats

4. Three Poems - Margaret Atwood

5. Selected Poems - John Donne

The RAD Reading Challenge (Count: 9/9)

1. A book by an activist - Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions by Gloria Steinem

2. A book with a number in the title - 7 by Jen Hatmaker

3. A book with an animal on the cover - You Had Me At Woof by Julie Klam

4. A retelling of a classic - Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

5. Disability representation - Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space by Amanda Leduc

6. A book about your favorite holiday - We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell and Frane Lessac

7. Any book you can read in one day - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

8. A book that will teach you something new - Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen

9. A book you thrifted - All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

#ReadYourBooks Challenge (Count: 5/5)

1. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

2. My Life and Work - Henry Ford

3. Walden - Henry David Thoreau

4. Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton

5. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Reading Glasses Challenge (Count: 10/10)

1. A novella - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

2. Give a book a second chance - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

3. A book with a disabled protagonist - At the End of Everything by Marieke Nihkamp

4. A book about a library - The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

5. The favorite book from someone close to you - Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

• Track the countries where your books take place

• Attend a library event, either virtual or in person

• Figure out your doghouse

• Try background reading music

• Read an interview with an author you love

Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club (Count: 13/13)

1. January - Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

2. February - The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley

3. March - Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H

4. April - Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

5. May - Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

6. June - Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

7. July - Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva

8. August - Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter and The Militia House by John Milas

9. September - Witness by Jamel Brinkley

10. October - Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

11. November - The Unsettled - Ayana Mathis

12. December - Hot Springs Drive - Lindsay Hunter

Big Book Reading Challenge (Count: 5/5)

1. 2666 - Robert Bolano

2. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

4. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson

5. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest - Stieg Larsson

BIPOC Reads (Count: 5/5)

1. The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X & Alex Haley

2. Tears We Cannot Stop - Michael Eric Dyson

3. The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin

4. The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander

5. Men We Reaped - Jesmyn Ward

PBS The Great American Read (Count: 5/5)

1. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

2. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

3. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

4. The Call of the Wild - Jack London

5. The Intuitionist - Colson Whitehead

Books About Disability (Count: 5/5)

1. From the Periphery - Pia Justesen

2. An Unquiet Mind - Kay Redfield Jamison

3. Being Heumann - Judith Heumann

4. The Man Who Couldn’t Stop - David Adam

5. Brain on Fire - Susannah Cahalan

African Literature Readalong with Bernie Lombardi (Count: 4/4)

1. Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe

2. The Stone Virgins by Yvonne Vera

3. Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga

4. One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

Simon Haisell’s #WhiskyAndPerseverance Readalong (Count: 1/1)

1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy