Favourite books, favourite quotes

The Reading Nook #4

The year ends in a few hours and we’ve made it through another 365 days. Yay! Survival is more than enough reason for celebration. I’m proud of you regardless of the kind of year it was. Next year, we go again.

So was this a good reading year for you? Or was it meh? Are you already planning for next year? Or whatever happens, happens?

I did it, sha. I achieved my goal of 50 books this year and I’m elated. Although, I’ve checked out for the year. It’s dead week and my urge to do anything, aside from lying down and watching a show, is gone. So once I dropped my 50th book of the year, I checked out of reading for the year.

Instead of telling you about my December reading journey, the agenda for today is:

1. My favourite books of the year

2. My favourite quotes from books I’ve read this year

3. Reading goals for 2024??

I’ve read a lot of good books this year so narrowing them down was difficult. Here are my top 5 and some ‘honourable mentions’ according to genres:

1. These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany

This was my favourite book of the year. I started 2023 with it and as women’s fiction is one of my top genres, I fell in love.

It follows the lives of three second-generation immigrant Muslim women living in the UK. The chaos of their friendship, family, relationships.

I love how much female friendships (and its importance) were centred and the growth each character experienced.

2. The Society for Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

This is a dark academia thriller about a haunted college that reopens after being closed for around ten years because of some mysterious deaths. The two main characters, who are roommates, try to solve these ‘murders’. There are rituals and there’s suspense and drama and a sapphic romance.

It’s chilling and captivating and absolutely amazing.

3. Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander

This book follows Meredith who hasn’t stepped out of her house in about three years. She works remotely, gets her groceries delivered, exercises indoors, does her therapy online and has a loyal friend and her kids who visit her as her human contact.

It’s a bit slow-paced and sad, but we get to watch Meredith work through her problems and trauma, grow, and take steps to get back into the world which is beautiful to see.

4. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

This novel is set in the Chinese colonial community of Malaya and follows Li Lan, whose father is impoverished and suggests to her a chance to become the ghost bride of a recently deceased son of the rich Lim family.

Although Li Lan doesn’t agree to this arrangement, soon she starts getting pulled to the Chinese afterlife every night and being haunted by the deceased son who tries to cajole her to accept his proposal.

Obviously, Li Lan wants to marry a man whom she loves and who is alive. So we follow her on this eerie journey trying to free herself from this haunting, watch her fall in love and in the process, learn a lot about the Chinese afterlife.

5. TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

I’ve talked about this book more than once here, so I won’t say a lot. It’s a young adult novel that follows TJ Powa, an Indian-American, and her struggles with body hair and societal beauty standards.

It’s so well-written, I loved it, you should read it.

According to genres:

Fave YA romance: This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang & Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert

Fave Nigerian fiction: Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde

Fave historical fiction: The Red Palace by June Hur (also a mystery novel)

Fave children fiction: Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré

Fave short story collection: Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

Fave sad book: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi :(

Fave nonfiction: Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

Here are some of my favourite quotes from books I read this year:

• “Ageing is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when the entire human race is in it together” -Girl, Woman, other by Bernadine Evaristo

• “What you get out of being loved, it’s supposed to be worth the compromise. When it’s good, it makes you want to compromise.” -Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

• “Too much is going on and revealing itself for you to think love will conquer all. Does he educate himself, follow the news, raise his voice in uncomfortable conversations? Does he ever question the system that works very well for him but does the opposite for you? He doesn’t have to do it with a megaphone, but he does have to do it. You don’t want a boyfriend who isn’t racist, Maddie. You need a boyfriend who is actively anti-racist.” -Maame by Jessica George

• “I’ve never met a policeman I liked on any continent.” -Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

  Vagabonds by Eloghosa Osunde

• “That it’s the only way you know does not mean it’s the only way there is.”

• “This is the only commandment with a promise: that if you do anyhow, you will also see anyhow.”

• “All oppression is linked, shey you know?”

• “There’s a whole world, and people are being forced to live in closets.”

• “Abandon the cultural myth that all female friendships must be bitchy, toxic, or competitive. This myth is like heels and purses—pretty but designed to SLOW women down.” -Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay

• “The truth of it is that humans are ugly little creatures by our own standards, and no one’s immune to being human, although some of us try to hide it.” - TJ Powa Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

• “You were not just born to center your entire existence on work and labor. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.” -Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey

• “We’re getting better at portraying female friendships but we’re still a long way off. Growing up the residing stereotype was still that women are catty and competitive with one another, when in truth, women save each other every day.” -These Impossible Things by Salma El-Wardany

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In a bid to be intentional but avoid putting unnecessary pressure on myself, I’ve decided to set my reading goal for 2024 to 30 books again. It’s realistic for me and attainable even amid distractions.

My other goal is to continue to read more of what I enjoy which means not giving space for books I don’t enjoy and DNFing more.

Lastly, I want to be more experimental this year and read genres and books (including more nonfiction) I wouldn’t usually go for so I hopefully run into exciting and cool stuff I never would have gotten into.

That’s it FOR THE YEAR! Let me know in the comments how your reading year went or if you have any reading goals for 2024 or just anything else you have to say (and you can privately reply to this email too).

Thank you for being here, I appreciate it and I hope 2024 unfolds gracefully for you and has an abundance of joy and ease. See you soon :)