Historical Fiction Archives - Novel Visits

BEST BOOKS of 2023

Susie — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 11:00:12 +0000

2023 has been a busy year! I think I tried to get in a lot of the traveling I missed over the last couple of years. I traveled to Greece and Turkey in the spring, then France and England in June. Both trips were wonderful and we had absolutely perfect weather, mid 70’s the whole time. Back in the U.S. there was a weeklong family reunion in Lake Tahoe and a trip to Washington D.C. this fall. Lots of other smaller trips, and of course I spent several weeks in beautiful Sunriver, Oregon. Phew! In 2024, I hope to get more traveling done, but maybe not quite as much. I was also lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my 5 grandkids who are growing up too fast!

As for books, I’ve heard people complain that this wasn’t a great year for books, but I disagree. I read so many books I loved, and some I didn’t, but truly appreciated what the authors were trying to achieve. I also read some clunkers and had a few I couldn’t finish. Right now I’m at 153 books and will likely get in a couple more before the 31st rolls around. Still, I’m confident no other books will be squeezing in on this list. I shared My Favorite Debuts of 2023 on Tuesday and if you want to see my Underrated Gems or Hyped Books, you can find those on Instagram. (Where you can follow me to get ALL my reviews.)

For my Best Books of 2023, I’m only including fiction for two reasons. First, I just don’t read that much nonfiction and what I do read is usually on audio. I’ll be covering my nonfiction audio favorites on a post next week on Instagram. (I’ll also cover my favorite fiction audiobooks.) Second, choosing the best was plenty hard without throwing nonfiction in there, too! Now on with 2023 books….

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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 October 2023

Susie — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 10:00:32 +0000

Fall is most definitely in full swing and before we know it we’ll be facing winter and then a new year. I’ll never get over how quickly time flies and I had to chuckle recently when my 7-year old granddaughter was making the same observation. I told her she didn’t know the half of it, which if you’re familiar with 7-year olds, you know that comment only led to more questions!

I feel like this year’s crop of fall books isn’t quite as good as in some other years, but I still have four October releases, I’m excited to share today. All of these are sort of under the radar gems, so hopefully you’ll find a book or two you haven’t heard anything about.

Three out of four of this month’s favorites are all from authors who are new to me and the other is from a trusted author who again did not disappoint. As always, you can follow me on Instagram @novelvisits, where I most often share books near their release date. …

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Favorite Books of September 2023

Susie — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 10:00:37 +0000

When I was teaching, September was my most dreaded month of the year, but now? I LOVE September. The weather is great, nothing is crowded. It’s amazing. I just returned from spending two weeks in Sunriver, Oregon (one of my very favorite places), and it was bliss. Sunny days with long walks and/or long bike rides, plus plenty of reading time. I hope the start of fall has been as nice for you as it has for me, and the three books I’m sharing today might make it even better.

This month’s favorites are all from authors I’ve read and loved in the past and their latest releases set their bars even higher! 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 June 2023

Susie — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 10:00:10 +0000

It’s been a busy spring and summer isn’t looking much slower. By the time this posts, I’ll be arriving in France. It’s a short girls’ trip all centered around a wedding reception one of my friends really wanted to attend. Over the course of our 11 day trip we’ll be in Paris, Bordeaux, and London. Not enough time in any of those places, but still enough time to have plenty of fun! Paris is my favorite city anywhere and it’s been much too long since I’ve been there, so I’m very excited about that. I’ve never been to the Bordeaux area and am looking forward to exploring…especially the wine!

I probably will get almost no reading done on the trip, but that’s okay. I’ve made up for it with five favorite books of June that I’ve already finished. It seems like this month I either really liked a book or I didn’t like it at all. Very little middle ground. Of course, you’re getting the the ones I most highly recommend.

If you’re interested in knowing what my Favorite Books of 2023 (so far) are, you can follow me on Instagram (@novelvisits) where I’ll be posting that stack sometime this week. Now, for this month’s favorite books! I definitely have a little bit of everything here for you today….

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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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February 2022 Book Reviews

Susie — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 11:00:07 +0000

I hope February has been good to you and yours. It feels like it’s ending a lot better than it began in terms of COVID and that’s a much needed hopeful sign. Right now it’s freezing here in Washington, but thankfully dry, so no snow. I know that’s not the case for much of the rest of the country, so hang in there! At least the chilly weather gives us all the perfect excuse to stay in and read, read read! I’ve done that quite a lot this month and today am sharing six of my favorites read for February.

I’ve also been dipping into some backlist books and will share a post focused solely on those in a couple months. As always, if you want to see ALL my reviews and in a more timely fashion, you can follow me on Instagram @novelvisits….

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