I have only been reading books specifically chosen for the new year for a few years, and so far the only real recommendation I have for you from this endeavor is Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, though it is not a new year read as much as it is a feminist/mother-daughter/parenting read. The full title is Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions and is a nonfiction novella (if that) in the form of a series of letters from the author to her friend who is raising an infant daughter “to be a feminist.” By the author of Americanah, this book zooms in on Igbo culture in Nigeria and is a random collection of advice that was never meant to be a book, some of which I appreciated and some I was not in agreement with. It’s thought-provoking and short.

I have read other self-help-y things at the start of the last few years—just in the spirit of a new year–that could make good New Years reads, including: Anxious for Nothing, Max Lucado (a Christian read with a sort of light approach to garden-variety anxiety); Notes on a Nervous Planet, Matt Haig (another advice-y, thoughtful book, but more my speed and more engaging. I actually loved this book); Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind, Jennifer Shannon (a newer, classic repackaging of psychology to help readers deal with worry and anxiety); and Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Robert M. Sapolsky (a more science-heavy approach to stress and related diseases, kinda long, pretty classic, but engaging, and interesting to me).

It’s a new year, and I am fond of feeling my way to a blank slate, setting some goals, rethinking my processes, etc. Here is a list of things that I am considering reading for New Years, including a couple highlighted journals and planners:

Image from Amazon.com

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell is the first title on my New Years TBR which I have not yet read. It is highly rated. It is popular. It is nonfiction. And it is about interacting with strangers, I believe. While these descriptors don’t often go together, I am very curious but also a little nervous it won’t hook me. Maybe I should trust the reviews; I could always use to improve my social skills. Also, I think it might be more than that, more meaningful.

Finding Your Way in a Wild, New World by Martha N. Beck is a title from my New Years book club list. Maybe I should actually start the book club as a New Years resolution? I’ve been meaning to start one most of 2023, but doing it in today’s fast-paced, high-tech, flaky-commitment world is daunting. I’ll look into that. Subtitle: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want.

Beyond Hashtag Activism by Mae Elise Canon is another Christian title, and another book I am quite curious about, though I think I’m not totally without some knowledge in this area, already. It’s from my social issues list, and the subtitle is Comprehensive Justice in a Complicated Age, which is on fleek (where did that phrase go in a hurry?) for today’s expectation of people doing their philanthropy in a very woke, conscientious, informed way.

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Overwhelmed by Bridgid Schulte is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for a few years, at least, which means I probably should have read it years ago. It seems like a great way to start the new year, contemplating how overwhelmed I am (and we are) and maybe becoming less overwhelmed.

Image from Decomposition.com

I have had a Decomposition Book before, but I have certainly never reviewed them, though I think I will do so lumped together with some other things (because we are basically talking about a lined, spiral-bound notebook made with recycled materials, so how much can there be to say?). Even so, this is my recommendation for journals for you for the beginning of 2023. I just received one as a white elephant gift, so the timing is right.

Image from Monolike.com

The top (as in at the top of the list of titles in no particular order) entry in my planner TBR (yes, I have one) is Kokuyo Jibun Techo Diary. Here’s the thing, I am fully committed to bullet/dot journaling as an ADHD survival method, but I am still obsessed with books and even planners that I probably won’t use because I’ll dot journal for the rest of my life (which I probably won’t, but I should). For your sake, though, this is going to be my recommendation this year and maybe I’ll even review it, for you. Oh, the sacrifices I make (like buying new books and reading things, even if they are planners ). Here’s the other thing: this planner does not appear to be available outside of Japan at this time. There is, however, some similar planners, like the Kokuyo Campus Diary (small, slim, with monthly format) or the Monolike Diary 6 Month Planner (of which I like the Ordinary Days theme). These are for people who want something small and practical and might also appreciate Japanese things.

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The Keri Smith Deluxe Boxed Set is the next alternative journal on my list, though it is actually four books in a box. I have been whittling away at Wreck This Journal for years, and it’s entirely possible I will finish it this year. If I was better about doing it, I would continue on with this boxed set, as I find Keri Smith’s stuff to be fun, quality, and good for me. The other titles are This Is Not a Book, Mess, and Pocket Scavenger. The point is to destroy as you create, perhaps do some out-of-the-box things, and play while also de-stressing. (The point is NOT to make Insta-worthy art, BTW.)

Image from Amazon.com

Another alternative journal that I have had my sights on since introduced to the series last Christmas is the Bibliophile Reader’s Journal by Jane Mount. I don’t know as I actually need a journal of this sort, since I keep track of my reading and impressions here at The Starving Artist and also at Goodreads, and if it has suggestions for what to read I am more than likely going to ignore them, as much as that may appeal. The truth is, I would like to have a series of books similar to it, someday, and this blog will make a good start on that. Anyhow, it’s also eye candy and intriguing to a bibliophile like me. And if you are someone who doesn’t yet keep track of reading and would like incentive to read more, then this would be a great New Years option.

I actually have a dozen or so creative journals on my shelves that are just waiting their turn, but I think it’s about time I got to What I Wore Today by Gemma Correll, which I received as a gift a year ago, but had been on my wishlist for a very long time. I enjoy fashion, a lot, and I also enjoy sketching my fits, which I frequently do when I’m listening and doodling. It’s a small, simple, journal, but right up my alley, anyhow.

I decided this part year to do a little more “work” to understand and deal with my ADHD and connected anxiety, and soon found myself looking exclusively at books for grown women with ADHD. The first of the books that I have decided to try is the ADHD Workbook for Women by Tracy Neel. It might be some sort of self-published thing and I don’t know what sort of expert Neel is, but it looks like it could be tremendously helpful. No Worries by Bella Mente is another probably-self-pubbed books, specifically an anti-anxiety journal, and is the first one I found in that category that I would like to try out.

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I was already reading Free of Me by Sharon Hodde Miller when a group of my friends decided to read it together. We start in a couple weeks. It is a Christian book by the pastor of my church, but honestly I can’t think of a single better idea for this year than the get out of my own self-centered world and encourage others to do the same thing.

And now for the non-New Years recommendationS for January, which could easily span the entire year, could be the beginnings of your 2024 TBR. For that, here are a couple lists that I generated from several end-of-2023 articles bolstered by what I have heard from friends, seen and heard on podcasts all year long, and seen in bookstores. They are not comprehensive, and many of them are guesses, but it is a start from some very highly-reviews books.

The Best Books of 2023 (beginning with the NY Times’ Top Ten. I tried to include nonfiction, popular fiction and YA/middle grades):

The Bee Sting, Paul MurrayChain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjai-BrenyahEastbound, Maylis de KerangalThe Fraud, Zadie SmithNorth Woods, Daniel MasonThe Best Minds, Jonathan RosenBottoms Up and the Devil Laughs, Kerry HowleyFire Weather, John VaillantMaster Slave Husband Wife, Ilyon WooSome People Need Killing, Patricia EvangelistaFourth Wing and Iron Flame, Rebecca YarosNone of the This is True, Lisa JewellYellowface, R. F. KuangDivine Rivals, Rebecca RossSpare, Prince HarryBiography of X, Catherine LaceyBirnam Wood, Eleanor CattonCrook Manifesto, Colson WhiteheadDiscalculia, Camongne FelixHello Beautiful, Ann NapolitanoHeaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBrideI Have Some Questions for You, Rebecca MakkaiLet Us Descend, Jesmyn WardTom Lake, Ann PatchettVictory City, Salman RushdieWhat You Are Looking for Is in the Library, Michiko AoyamaThe Country of the Blind, Andrew LelandMy Murder, Katie WilliamsOur Share of Night, Mariana EnriquezEmergency: Stories, Kathleen Alcott (short story collection)Day, Michael CunninghamTo Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories, Sarah VirenFlee North, Scott Shane (historical nonfiction)My Work, Olga RavnOrdinary Notes, Christina Sharpe (memoir)The Rediscovery of America, Ned Blackhawk (nonfiction)Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed ParkAmerica Redux, Ariel Aberg-Riger (YA nonfiction)A Door in the Dark, Scoot Reintgen (YA)Family Style, Thein Pham (YA graphic novel)Houses with a Story, Seiji YoshidaThe Isles of the Gods, Amie Kaufman (YA)The King is Dead, Benjamin Dean (YA)Mascot, Charles Water and Traci SorellBea Wolf, Zach WeinersmithChinese Menu, Grace Lin (graphic novel)The Eyes and the Impossible, Dave Eggers (MG)Jawbreaker, Christna Wyman (MG)Mexikid, Pedro Martin (MG graphic novel)The Otherworlds, Justine Pucella Winans (MG)Simon Sort of Says, Erin Bow (MG)The Swifts, Beth Lincoln (MG)The Museum of Human History, Rebekah BergmanThe Lost Americans, Christopher BollenInfinity Gate, M. R. CareyThe Wren, The Wren, Anne EnwrightLoot, Tania JamesThe End of Drum Time, Hanna PylvainenA Day of Fallen Night, Samantha ShannonLet Us Descend, Jesmyn WardFamily Meal, Bryan WashingtonDearborn: Stories, Ghassan ZeineddineLand of Milk and Honey, C. Pam ZhangOur Share of Night, Mariana EnriquezParachute Kids, Betty C. Tang (MG graphic novel)The Vaster Wilds, Lauren GroffVampire of El Norte, Isabel CanasLies and Sorcery, Elsa Morante (new translation)Bright Young Women, Jessica KnollThe Five-Star Weekend, Elin HildebrandMortal Follies, Alexis HallThe Armor of Light, Ken FollettA House for Alice, Diana EvansThe Adventures of Amina Al-Shirafi, Shannon ChakrobortyThe Brothers Hawthorne, Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA)Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross (YA)Heartstopper, Vol. 5, Alice Oseman (YA graphic novel)Gather, Kenneth M. Caddow (YA)Imogen, Obviously, Becky Albertalli (YA)Catch Your Death, Ravena Guron (YA)Thieves’ Gambit, Kayvian LewisHell Bent, Leigh BardugoTranslation State, Ann LeckieA Power Unbound, Freya Marske

And here is a list of 2023’s award winners:

Prophet Song, Paul Lynch (won the Mann Booker)Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver (won the Pulitzer)Trust, Hernan Diaz (won the Pulitzer)A Shining, John Fosse (won the Nobel Prize)Freewater, Amina Luqman-Dawson (won the Newbery)Hot Dog, Soug Salati (won the Caldecott)Bliss Montage, Ling Ma (won Book Critics Circle)The Furrows, Namwali Serpell (won Book Critics Circle)Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (won Hugo)Akata Woman, Nnedi Okorafor (won Hugo YA)Children of Time series, Adrian Tchaikovsky (won Hugo series)Babel, R. F. Kuang (won Nebula)

I was too busy with making Christmas magic in December to read as much as usual, but I have a few reads I will recommend. First is Mothman’s Curse by Christine Hayes. I read this book because the trilogy I am editing right now has a moth-man figure. Even though he is not the Mothman, I thought I would familiarize myself with the traditions surrounding him. This middle grades book is note widely circulated, but it was a fun, little read and I would definitely recommend it for middle grades readers who like mysteries or spooky stuff.

I also re-read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, a book that had never been reviewed for The Starving Artist, but will be now. While I imagine some people will think it old fashioned or too religious, it’s a classic and I quite like the traditional ideas about idle hands and all that. It’s a sweet and large book which should be followed up with the 1994 and 2019 movie adaptations.

And for Christmas, I read The Christmas Pig by J. K. Rowing. This is another book that would be better appreciated by someone in the right age category, which for this one is elementary school and into the younger MGs. Reading it aloud to your little ones during the Christmas season would be ideal. I’ll get into it more when I write the review, but while Rowling’s writing is ever-straightforward to a fault, she has created another fascinating and creative and complete and magical world for this story, the Land of the Lost. And the tale of a little boy looking for his beloved stuffie amidst a backdrop of a broken and then blended family is both real and modern and instructive yet soothing.

And for your reading enjoyment, here is the list of my recommendations from everything I read this year, starting with my top six, followed by three pretty emphatic recommends and then all the rest of my recommend-without-reservations:

Crooked Kingdom , Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows #2) Orphaned Believers , Sarah Billups (Christian nonfiction) After , Bruce Grayson, M. D. (nonfiction)Pride and Prejudice, Jane AustenHarry Potter #1-3, Minalima versions, J. K. RowlingThe Business of Being a Writer, Jane Friedman (nonfiction) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder , Holly Jackson (YA) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows Betting on You , Lynn PainterThe Raven Cycle, Maggie Steifvater (YA) Outlining Your Novel (with workbook), K. M. Weiland (nonfiction) The Loneliest Girl in the Universe , Lauren James (YA) Eligible , Curtis Sittenfeld We Are Okay , Nina LaCour (YA) The Good Slope , Elizabeth Rau (nonfiction)Shadow and Bone trilogy, Leigh Bardugo To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , Jenny Han (YA) I Speak Boy , Jessica Brody (middle grades) A Monster Calls , Patrick Ness Never Let Me Go , Kazuo Ishiguro The Graveyard Book , Neil Gaiman Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , Robert Louis Stevenson The Picture of Dorian Gray , Oscar WildeThe Truth About Horses, Christy Cashman