Contemporary Fiction Archives - Novel Visits

Favorite Books of November 2023

Susie — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 11:00:27 +0000

I know November is long gone, but things have been a little hectic lately! I’d originally thought I’d do a combined post on my favorite November AND December books, but turns out my December reading has been mostly backlist or 2024 books. When I finally sat down to do this post, I realized the four recent books I wanted to share were all ones I read in November. Of those, only one was actually published in November, with the other three coming out earlier in the year. The four books also couldn’t be much different from each other, too. There’s a fun caper story, a day in the life of an angsty mom, a literary historical fiction, and even a spy thriller!

Stop back next week when I’ll be sharing my Favorite Debuts of 2023 and my Best Books of 2023! And, you can always follow me on Instagram @novelvisits, where I most often share books near their release date or at least nearer to me finishing them….

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Favorite Books of Summer 2023

Susie — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 10:00:23 +0000

It’s been a minute! Last time I posted was the end of June when I shared that month’s favorites. I fully intended to do the same with my July favorites, but things just got away from me. To be fair, I was in Tahoe at a long overdue family reunion from July 25th – 31st. I never even thought about it until four or five days into August. Oh well! It was a wonderful time. My family has been doing this Tahoe reunion every three years since my kids were little, but with COVID and all, it just hadn’t happened for too long. The wait was worth it!

Just because I wasn’t thinking about sharing great books, does not mean I wasn’t reading great books. It was so hard narrowing down my list that I just decided to include all the books I loved. (One of these I initially rated lower, but it’s stayed with me so much that I’m including it.) And, huge surprise, I have two nonfiction books in this list!

These books are shown in the order I read them. Most were published in July and August, but a few were earlier. They made for some wonderful summer reading and I’m sure you’ll see more than one on my Best Books of 2023. As always, you can follow me on Instagram @novelvisits, where I most often share books near their release date. (It may be the only place to see my reviews come 2024.)…

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Favorite Books of April & May 2023

Susie — Wed, 24 May 2023 10:00:54 +0000

So sorry to have been absent for an April post. I’ve been traveling a lot and some of that spanned the end of April. Plus being on the go did not work for getting my usual reading numbers in, but it was worth it! The big trip to Greece and Turkey with my sister was amazing. I’d been to Greece before and it was wonderful, but wow, I loved Turkey. We ended the trip with three days in Istanbul and I could have easily done a couple more. Okay, enough about me. It’s time for books!

My numbers were down a bit in both April and May, but I’ve read some truly wonderful books, including one that just might be my favorite book of the year so far. Three are from authors I’ve read before and I’ve even got a memoir in here. I hope you find something to add to your own TBR list!…

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Favorite Books of March 2023

Susie — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 10:00:32 +0000

Thank goodness for spring and for light! Here in Washington we’ve had some sunshine, but it’s still pretty darn cold. Staying light into the evenings and getting lighter earlier and earlier are always welcome balms to my soul. March has been a busy month, so I’ve not read as many books as usual, but the four favorites I’m sharing today are all books I really liked and feel confident many others will too.

Next month, I’ll be on a trip at the end of the month, so will either do April late or combine it with May in one big post towards the end of May. It depends on how crazy things are when I get home and I suspect they may be crazy. In the meantime, my reviews show up earlier on Instagram. And now, in order of publication……

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Spring Preview 2023

Susie — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 10:00:07 +0000

So far, my reading this year has been a bit of a roller coaster. Early in January I read a few books I loved, but then I hit a patch that made me feel I was about to head into a slump. You know that feeling? Then, my February reading really took off with so many books I loved, including several from my Winter Preview. Now it’s time to see if the spring crop of books can keep that streak going. I considered SO MANY for this Spring Preview 2023 and I hope the 20 I settled on will give us all hours and hours of reading pleasure. As an added bonus, while putting this all together I realized that this list includes 11 debuts, hopefully bringing with them much to look forward to in the coming years….

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Favorite Books of January 2023

Susie — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:00:49 +0000

My January reading has been all over the place. I’ve read 17 books which is an all time high for me. Of those, I’ve truly loved four books, at least a couple already in contention for Best Books of 2023. That’s awesome and I’m excited to share those books, here, but none come out this month, so you’ll have to wait for my February and March posts. Books released in January have had me more in a so-so range. However, the three I’m sharing today were the bright spots among my January books.

For ALL my reviews delivered close to publication, you can follow me on Instagram.………

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Favorite Books of November 2022

Susie — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 11:00:35 +0000

With Thanksgiving is behind us, I hope yours was lovely and that the rush of holiday madness in front of us will be filled with laughter. It’s difficult to believe that there is only one more month left in this year. Time truly flies, even as the world sometimes feels a little upside down. But, let’s not worry about any of that, instead let’s talk books. 2022 has been an amazing year for books and I’ve got three November favorites to share today.

You may be seeing one or two of these in the coming week when I share 2022 Underrated Gems, My Favorite Debuts of 2022, Best Books of 2022 and maybe more! As always, for all my reviews delivered close to publication, you can follow me on Instagram.……

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Favorite Books of September 2022

Susie — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 10:00:37 +0000

Fall is officially here, though it always feels like fall to me as soon as kids go back to school. It’s impossible to get rid of those teacher habits, but this fall I’m learning a fun new habit, that of fall vacations. I spent 10 days this month enjoying Sunriver, Oregon after all the summer crowds were over and it was delightful. Next month, I’m heading to Morocco for two weeks and could not be more excited for that trip. Because of that, I don’t anticipate getting a ton of reading done in October, so I’ve tried to go hard this month. I’ve read some really great September books…and some stinkers. Today I’m sharing two I loved, and one I liked and felt compelled to share because, well, it’s Backman!

As always, for all my reviews delivered close to publication, you can follow me on Instagram!…

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Favorite Books of July 2022

Susie — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 10:00:49 +0000

How’s your summer going? Mine has been a little strange, but things are settling down. I’m lucky to be spending time in beautiful Sunriver, Oregon relaxing, playing, and going on adventures with family. It’s a gorgeous area and being here always revives me. Before I headed out, I did a lot of July reading and it was a bit of a roller coaster, but the highs were HIGH. This month’s favorites, which includes a 6/28 release, brought four (FOUR!) books that will at least be in the running for my Best Books of 2022. One might even be THE Best book.

So, to be clear, I HIGHLY recommend all of these books. You can’t go wrong with any of them!…

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Favorite Books of June 2022

Susie — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:00:34 +0000

Well, the end of June is almost upon us and the world seems even more upside down than it did at the start of the month. Nothing surprises me anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m not devastated. We are on a slippery slope and if the “majority” of Americans who say they believe in women’s reproductive rights, who say they believe in same-sex marriage, who say they believe in racial equality, who say they want stronger gun laws, don’t start voting that way, then we are lost. Okay, rant over!

June has been a fantastic reading month for me. I could easily highlight many more books than the three I’ve selected. These each are here because they’re a little different and a lot of fun. I don’t want to leave the others completely out, so am including the titles and links to my Instagram reviews at the bottom of this post to fully cover my favorite books of June….

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