The Reads of 2023

It's hard to believe the year is already winding down. Apologies if you are not the type to rush through the Holiday season but my family starts up Christmas stuff on November 1st. I'm also a very reflective person so I think about these retrospectives early on.

So admittedly this was not an impressive year for me in terms of number of books read. But all accomplishments are worth acknowledging of course. So getting back into the habit of reading as a pastime is the main celebration.

But enough fanfare, here is the list of full-length books I read this year in no particular order.

1. Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes De Mez

2. Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

3. Imbeciles by Adam Cohen (Currently reading but will be done by December)

4. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (Was read for my students)

5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (also read for my students)

6. Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine

7. Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson

8. Plagues Pestilence and Pandemics by Peter Fertado

9. The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown

A grand total of 9 books read over this year. I know to some that is stunning and to others, those are elementary numbers. Yet I am proud nonetheless. I started off the year by being gifted a copy of Jesus and John Wayne and while I had read so little in the past few years I had such a passion for the topic I had to power through. From January up until about mid-March, it was all I was reading and I loved every page. It re-sparked my passion for reading and focused my attention towards non-fiction books.

From there I picked up the others some of these books I finished in seemingly no time at all and others I feel as though I am still reading them. Of course, two might stick out to you on this list: that being Stargirl and Night of the Living Dummy. Two novels that would be considered Elementary or middle school level boos and yet I still list them on my year of books review. Let me explain, as noted Stargirl was recommended to my students as most of them did not read a full novel in middle school (or they were supposed to and didn't, pandemic schooling I guess). So I had to read ahead of them and carefully craft how we would approach this novel.

As for Night of the Living Dummy, if you have read my post on my previous endeavors I delved into how I attempted to make content for BookTok. I had this incredible idea to revisit and reread every R. L. Stine novel for fun nostalgia content. Between my brother and I, we had pretty all the Goosebumps and Fear Street novels so I figured it would work out. Until I started to realize just how many books there were. I did a little digging and discovered that if I were to attempt to read all of his books if I read one of his books every single day I would still have more books to read over a year from that day. So I gave up rather quickly. Perhaps on a much slower scale, I will still review all of them, but be advised not to hold your breath,

Perhaps now I should award some of these books with some year-end accolades from none other than your's truly. So here is the 2023 Raven's Book Corner Review Awards (better title coming soon).

1. Fastest Read: The Indifferent Stars Above. I had finished this book in under a week because I could not stop obsessing over it. A deep dive into the infamous Donner Party served with tantalizing facts covering the course of the 1800s. Topped off with that perfect perspective that allows us to see the tragedy as well as contextualize the horrors and atrocities committed for and by the pioneers. I could not wait to get a spare moment to sink my teeth into this book. (Maybe these cannibal puns were a stretch, oh well)

2. The Greatest Rage: Unmask Alice. You've heard of gamer rage, now get ready for reader rage. This book was another fast and engrossing read for me, but the residing pit of anger in me constantly flared up while reading this book. To understand how much history can be based on lies and false statements is a truly infuriating reality to confront. This book is simply one example of how politics and policy were forever changed based more so on opinions and personal vendettas than facts. If you as a teen were forced to read Go Ask Alice I am begging of you to go pick up a copy of this book right away and see how much context and truth matter. I probably would have finished this book in under a week if I didn't have to constantly put the book down and walk away before I yelled in frustration.

3. WTF Did I Just Read: Hellbound Heart. Now I committed the cardinal sin of watching the movie before reading the book, but committing sins is appropriate in this case. I was always told the book was great and I had read Books of Blood a few years ago so I already knew I enjoyed Clive Barker's work. However I didn't actually know what I was going to get into with this book. It's a continual thrill ride of dark gothic horror fantasy. Perhaps this one isn't for everyone, but it was for me.

4. Didn't Think I Would Read This But Glad I Did: Lord of the Flies. I know, I know it's a classic and a great story. However I had never read it in high school/middle school so I didn't really think to ever pick it up. I wasn't against it or anything. I just hadn't thought about it until it came up into my cirriculum. I knew this would be our selection and was ready to finally read through it despite already knowing it pretty well. What more is there to say for this classic. I never thought I would, but I'm glad I did.

While this concludes this post don't think this will be the only time I mention these works. You can expect more in-depth reviews for them soon. In the meantime this is my list for the year and I'll leave you with this. For 2024 I will read at least 15 books. Expect my reading list for 2024 sometime next month and feel free to join in with me on that journey.

-Sincerely, Raven