The Bookworm Challenge discussion

Several people expressed interest in having a BINGO category (one or multiple) that involves choosing from a list of Bookworm favorites. This requires YOUR participation if this is going to be feasible.

So, I'd like for everyone to post their favorite books read this year here. If you have books outside of 2023 that you really want to recommend, go ahead and include them in the list. Keep all your recommendations in one comment, just like we do for the main and monthly challenges. I can't wait to see everyone's recommendations!

- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2023)
- Fairy Tale by Stephen King (2023)
and now some of my all time favorites:
- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
- Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta by Doris Lessing
- Voss by Patrik White
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
- The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
- Piranesi by Susannah Clarke
- The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
- The Wall by Marlen Haushofer

Suffer the Children -thriller
The Lost City of the Monkey God - non fiction
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man - YA
Gutter Child - dystopia
And one from last year: A Wizard of Earthsea

I was much more liberal with my 5 stars this year and I have no regrets. :)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Sci-Fi)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Sci-Fi - re-read - still love it and the whole series)
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (Fantasy - whole trilogy)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (Fantasy)
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda (YA Fantasy)
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher(Fantasy)
Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto (YA Fantasy)
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence - (Fantasy - this book deserves more love)
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley (YA Contemporary Fiction/Mystery)
Passing by Nella Larsen (Classic)
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang (Romance - recommend whole trilogy)
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Historical Fiction)
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister - (Thriller - with time travel!)

My favorite series

Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson
The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir
Miss Marple by Agatha Christie

2023:
Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom
The Winners by Fredrik Backman
The Pull of the StarsbyEmma Donoghue
Others:
The Martian by Andy Weir
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours by Regina Brett
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

These are just a few of my favourites. So hard to choose. I would also recommend anything by Mitch Albom and the Three Pines (Inspector Gamache) series by Louise Penny. I know I have forgotten some of my top reads but I can't possibly include them all. I am very interested in seeing everyone's choices.

Read first time in 2023:
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
The Last Remains by Elly Griffiths (Last book of series. Best read from start of series)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard non-fiction
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett Discworld series

All time favorites:
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
Les Miserables: Sheet Music by Victor Hugo
Uncle Silas by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
Artful by Peter David
The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore

So many more I could add. Just want to mention The Southern Sisters mystery series by Anne George and the Siri Paiboun mystery series by Colin Cotterill and of course Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie.

These were some of my favorite reads this year:

Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd (YA, Magical Realism)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (YA, Newbery)
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (all three books in the series, Romance)
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (non-fiction)
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes (chick-lit)
Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt (Historical fiction, translation)
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks
Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians by Ralph White (non-fiction)
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers (Middle grade- fantasy)
The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (YA - Mystery)
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (Fantasy)
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (YA)
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis (YA, Newbery)
Still Life by Louise Penny (The Inspector Gamache series, mystery)
Lost Luggage by Samantha TongeMaame by Jessica George
Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn (this 4 book series)
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Historical fiction, YA)
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry (Historical fiction)
Redshirts by John Scalzi (Sci-fi)

And I love the cozy mysteries series of Lady Hardcastle (T.E. Kinsey) and Beryl and Edwina (Jessica Ellicott). I also like the romance series Southern Eclectic by Molly Harper.

A lot of my favorite reads this year were from prompts in the Bookworm Challenge. I never would have read them otherwise. I love this group.

My favorites so far this year:
- Vanished
- Shutter Island
- The Basketball Diaries
- The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
- American Assassin
- Sin City Volume 1: The Hard Goodbye
- The Killer in Me
- Rusty Nailed
- Freed
- My Sister, the Serial Killer

My honorable mentions for this year:
- You
- Legends of the Fall
- Nerve
- Wolf Hall

I have moved this to "2024 Other Challenges" to avoid confusion. Please continue to post your favorite books here!

My Favorites for 2023

Where the Lost Wander Amy Harmon
The Circus Train Amita Parikh
Chasing Shadows Amy Lane
The Light We Lost Jill Santopolo
The Marriage Portrait Maggie O'Farrell
The Spanish Love Deception Elena Armas
Sea of Tranquility Emily St. John Mandel
The Diamond Eye Kate Quinn

My Favorites for 2023:

The Covenant of Water
The Winemaker's Wife
Going Rogue
Racing the Light
The Measure
A Quiet Life
Demon Copperhead
The Guncle
The Paper Palace
Maame
The Orphan's Tale
Signal Fires
Desert Star
Rules of Civility
Code Name Sapphire
The Book of Lost Names
The House in the Cerulean Sea
The Family Remains
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
Love and Other Words
The Mitford Affair
Little Bitty Lies
The High Tide Club
Hello Beautiful
Pineapple Street
Mad Honey
Nora Goes Off Script
The Secret Book of Flora Lea
Walking with Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain
The Wishing Game
Someone Else's Shoes
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead
The Perfumist of Paris
The Collected Regrets of Clover
Zero Days
Tom Lake
Dead Man's Wake - Mike Bowditch Series
The Five-Star Weekend
The Last Train to Key West
Drowning
The Lies I Tell
The House of Eve
The Summer of Songbirds
The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
The Last Letter
Mother-Daughter Murder Night
The Golden Gate
Bright Young Women
The Breakaway
Little Monsters
The Housemaid
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas
Bright Lights, Big Christmas
Snow Place Like Home
Yellowface

Will Trent Series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4501...
Rizzoli & Isles Series: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4162...

All time favourites

All the Light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr
Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Everything i never told you by Celeste Ng
Anything by Emily St. John-Mandel
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
They Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde