2023 My Year in Books: Sarah

We work in a library. Of course we love to read. In all seriousness, we really do love reading. Although my job consists of many other duties, I’m thankful I get to read a lot of different books, both for work and for fun. Many of us on the Social Media Team kept track of our reading goals and habits over the past year. Now, we get to share our progress on those goals, as well as some of the books that stood out to us in 2023.  

One goal I set for 2023 was to read 30 books. I read a total of 89, so I’m thrilled that I exceeded my goal. My shortest book of the year was Still Dreaming / Seguimos Soñando at 40 pages, while the longest book I read was Kingdom of Ash at 980 pages. All books I read in 2023 are logged on my Goodreads profile. Feel free to connect with me there. 

 My main goal last year was to expand my reading horizons and read more outside of my usual genres. I generally gravitate toward genres like young adult fantasy, classics, and romance, although I have started to enjoy more nonfiction, especially memoirs. I’ve also discovered a deeper appreciation for poetry. Reading from a variety of genres is something I hope to continue doing in 2024. 

So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are some of my favorite books I read in 2023: 

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A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber:

This was my most anticipated read of the year. A Curse for True Love is the final book in Garber’s Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy (all three books are newly available in the Rec Reads section of the library) and it proved to be a satisfying conclusion. This YA romantasy series follows protagonist Evangeline Fox, who travels to the Magnificent North in search of her happily ever after, and makes a dangerous deal with the immortal, enigmatic Prince of Hearts.  

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien:

Full disclosure: this one is technically a reread, but it had been ten years since I read Tolkien’s groundbreaking fantasy epic, and now I can safely say that it has become a favorite. Although it likely needs no introduction, The Lord of the Rings follows hobbit Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring on their quest to destroy the One Ring of Power and thwart the plans of the evil being who created it. 

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas:

Enslaved after a devastating betrayal, assassin Celaena Sardothien is offered the chance of freedom—if she agrees to be the prince’s champion in a deadly competition to become the kingdom’s royal assassin. When someone or something begins killing the champions one by one, Celaena, the prince, and the captain of the guard investigate. In doing so, she discovers that she is destined for something far greater than she could imagine.  

Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson:

I was a creative writing major in college and have gotten back into writing fiction and poetry over the past year. This was one of the books that caught my attention when looking for ways to better my writing. I am very grateful it did! Conversational and easy to read, Peterson’s memoir on creativity and calling offers wisdom, truth, and encouragement for writers and artists in their craft, and more importantly, in their faith. 

The Scandal of Holiness by Jessica Hooten Wilson:

This book made me think a lot about the correlation between literature and faith—a riveting topic for me. In the age of countless internet trends, literature scholar Jessica Hooten Wilson offers a different approach to the old question of how can we become better people? Dr. Wilson’s solution: through the reading of great books. The Scandal of Holiness walks readers through eight carefully selected novels, explaining how Christians can learn from the lives of literary saints. 

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Want more recommendations? You can check out Amber’s Year in Books here and come back next week for Rachel’s Year in Books. 

Sarah Blevins’ reviews reflect her personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university. 

A Library Spotify Wrapped

Spotify released its annual Wrapped in late November—personalized listening data from the year compiled into a sharable, dynamic format. Getting to see social media stories of friends’ eclectic listening habits and going through my own “Top Songs of 2023” playlist made me (Sarah) think about how one’s reading habits can be just as wide-ranging as one’s taste in music. So, why not link the two? I’ve asked the social media team to join in and pair a song, album, or artist they’ve had “on repeat” this year with a book they also enjoy.

Amber Owrey, Instruction Librarian: “Long Haul” by Ian Munsick was our first dance song at our wedding, which is why I chose it. The song talks about staying with someone for the long haul, not just for the short infatuation/romance at the beginning of the relationship.

The idea of the long haul and the nature descriptions in the song made me think of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Although I wouldn’t necessarily say I approved of all the relationships in the book, Kya is very into nature, biology, and ecology. The book takes place in the marshes, and Owens describes the scenery well. Tate and Kya have a long relationship, with Tate teaching her to learn to read and eventually falling in love. (Again, not condoning the actions throughout the book of either character, but Tate is in it for the long haul with Kya).

Darius Mullin, Evening Circulation Supervisor: My most listened-to album of 2023 was With Love From Rob & Jay by Rob & Jay, a duo from right here in Jackson, Tennessee. Another writer from Jackson whose work I’ve enjoyed recently is Union University’s very own Bobby C. Rogers, whose excellent collection of poems, Shift Work, was published last year.

Rachel Bloomingburg, Circulation Manager: The main time I’m listening to music is when I’m in my car, and I will often have K-Love playing. Listening to this can help to put me in a better mindset and to think of ways to actively live my faith. When I think of putting faith into action, I can’t help but think of Love Does by Bob Goff. Taking the time to listen to others and being there for them can make a big impact. While music is not a major part of my daily routine, my mom will have a song to sing no matter what situation we’re in.  The songs “You are My Sunshine” and “Skidamarink A Dink A Dink” are ones that are special to me because they’re ones that my mom would sing to me. Having a strong mother daughter relationship is something I cherish, and it makes me think of books like Ramona and Her Mother, Her Mother’s Hope, and Little Women.

Sarah Blevins, Circulation Associate: Like many, my top artist this year was Taylor Swift. With so many songs in her ever-growing repertoire, it’s hard to pick just one or two to pair with a book. However, I think that “The Archer” from Swift’s 2019 album, Lover, fits the twist on a fairytale romance found in Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. Staying in the vein of pairing Swift’s music and Garber’s books, “Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)” from the recently released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) encapsulates the fanciful, yet dangerous feeling of the game of Caraval.

Reading List: Authors with May Birthdays

As a May baby myself, I am excited to share this month’s author birthday read-alouds. You can find our Author Birthday Read Aloud series on Instagram, where we read a portion of an author’s work during their birth month. This list highlights some other authors who also have birthdays in the month of May. By the way, May is a very popular birth month for the library staff with 5 team members having birthdays. With so many May birthdays, we are also including our May babies’ favorite books on the list too. Happy reading!

Library May Birthday Recommendations:

Beth (Collection Development Coordinator) said her favorite book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.

Stephen’s (Systems Librarian) favorite book is The Great Gatsby.

Sara (Administrative Assistant and Circulation Associate) gave her favorite classic, Gone with the Wind, and her new favorite, the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy by Stephanie Garber.

My favorite (Amber, Instruction Librarian) books are Little House on the Prairie or Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Both books were read by my elementary school teachers and have special memories for me.

Darius (Evening Circulation Manager) doesn’t have a favorite book besides the Bible, but he did recommend The 100 Cupboards series by N. D. Wilson as one of his favorites.

Author Birthdays:

May 5, 1813, brought the birth of Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish theologian, poet, and social critic. Many also say he was the first existentialist philosopher. Kierkegaard is known by many for his philosophy, but you might want to check out some of his written works like Fear and Trembling, Either/Or, and Repetition.

You can celebrate Christopher Paul Curtis on May 10 by reading one of his beloved children’s novels like the award-winning Bud, Not Buddy or The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Curtis continues to write today, so you might want to try one of his newer books like The Journey of Little Charlie, which is part of the Buxton series.

Sara highlighted Daphne du Maurier who was born on May 13, 1907, on our Instagram. She is well known for her novel, Rebecca, which has been the basis for a few movies. Other works by du Maurier include Jamaica Inn and The House on Strand.

Eoin Colfer was born on May 14, 1965. This Irish author is best known for his Artemis Fowl series. And in case you were curious, his first name is pronounced like Owen.

Although best known for The Wizard of Oz, children’s author L. Frank Baum wrote fifty-five children’s books and celebrated his birthday on May 15.

Gary Paulsen was born on May 17, 1939, and shares a birthday with Beth, our Collection Development Coordinator. Paulsen has written more than 200 books; some of his best-known books are Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room.

Max Brooks was born on May 22, 1972, and is most known for helping to bring zombies into mainstream culture. Brooks is best known for his books World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide.

Finishing up our list of May Author Birthdays is Andrew Clements. Clements was born on May 29, 1949. He is known for Frindle, a book I remember reading in school. He also wrote popular novels like About Average, Things Not Seen, and Lunch Money.

I hope you enjoyed this month’s May birthday recommendations. Tune in next month as we celebrate more author birthdays in June.

My Year in Books: Sara

The Library’s Social Media Team is always busy reading! So, we are sharing some of our favorite books of 2022 in a blog series. Several of us also did a GoodReads Challenge, and you can check out our reading habits there. This series will highlight the Social Media Team’s year in books. You might want to read some of our recommendations or join a GoodReads Challenge of your own in 2023.

In 2022 I read 47 books, which totaled to 15,368 pages. My favorite genres include romance, fantasy romance, paranormal romance, romantic comedies, and… did I mention romance? While my favorite genre is obviously romance, occasionally I do enjoy a good memoir, biography, or other non-fiction book. So, if you enjoy the types of books I do, continue reading to find out what my favorite books of 2022 were. If you want to see more of the books I read, you can check out my GoodReads profile!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

This was the first book I read in 2022 and I enjoyed it so much that I went on to read the next two books of Maas’ award-winning trilogy as well. It focuses on Feyre, a teenage human girl living near the world of dangerous and immortal faeries. When she hunts and kills a wolf from the land of faerie, a ferocious creature confronts her and demands she live with the faeries as retribution. What follows is a story reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast with a surprising twist halfway through the novel that leads in an entirely different direction. While this book has lots of world building and introduction of many characters, it is worth the slow burn as the reader progresses toward the end. The full trilogy is available to check out in Union’s library! Please note that this trilogy is geared toward mature young adults aged 16 years and older due to some of the content.

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

If you read Stephanie Garber’s Caraval trilogy and enjoyed it, you may love her spin-off series even more! Jacks, the villainous fate featured in the original Caraval trilogy is now the main romantic interest in Once Upon a Broken Heart. When Evangeline’s beloved boyfriend chooses to marry her stepsister, she knows he must be under a curse. She approaches Jacks, a fate known as the Prince of Hearts, for help in stopping the wedding. In exchange, she agrees to a dangerous bargain with him in which she must bestow three kisses at the time and place of his choosing. Until then she is tied to him, a fate who cannot fall in love, for his kiss is fatal. I love forbidden romance stories, and this did not disappoint!  The good news is the second book in Garber’s trilogy was recently released and it’s even better than the first book. The bad news is that we must wait until September until the final book in the series is available to read. Although Once Upon a Broken Heart is not available in Union’s library yet, you can check it out through Interlibrary Loan. In the meantime, if you haven’t read the Caravaltrilogy, be sure to check it out from Union’s library!

Sara Hand’s reviews reflect her personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university.

Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

If you have not read Caraval, you probably know someone who has. The Caraval trilogy has taken the young adult world by storm. Stephanie Garber wrote several books before publishing Caraval, but this is the first book that has given her success within her writing career. Now it is a New York Times Bestseller and being sold in multiple countries.

Scarlett Dragna has always dreamed of participating in the fantastical game of Caraval. For years she writes to Legend, the master of Caraval, until he finally writes back and sends three tickets to attend the game. With the help of a mysterious and handsome sailor, Scarlett and her sister, Tella, escape from their abusive father and arrive on the island that Caraval is taking place on. Once there, Scarlett discovers that her sister has been kidnapped and the person who finds her will win Caraval and be granted one wish to use however they want to. Scarlett has only five nights to save her sister and win the wish.

*Mild spoilers ahead*

What Caraval gets right:

Since the identity of Legend is a mystery, every time Scarlett meets a beautiful and intriguing man the reader automatically begins to wonder if it might be Legend. Not much is known about Legend except that he is said to make women fall in love with him and he has the potential to be wicked. Garber does an excellent job of reeling in the reader with her variety of compelling male characters.  

Speaking of compelling, the romance that develops between Scarlett and Julian, the sailor, is well-written. The moments between them are believable and build anticipation for when they finally have their first kiss. But Julian is not all that he seems, and Scarlett finds herself questioning the authenticity of their relationship at the end of the novel. The ending is dramatic and full of twists and turns that make the reader want to find out more about the world of Caraval.

What Caraval gets wrong:

Personally, I did not find much wrong with Caraval. However, while I admire her writing skill, sometimes Garber uses an overabundance of metaphors and similes to describe the scenery and emotions of the characters. While necessary to allow the reader to better imagine what Caraval looks like, I think she could have refrained in some places and continued forward with the plot of the story.

Another small issue I had was with the execution of the game. While she plays the game of Caraval, Scarlett is tasked with finding five clues. The clues she found never seemed to make logical sense. She always knew something was a clue even though it never struck me to be an actual clue. 

Overall, Caraval is a fun ride that fuels the imagination and keeps the reader returning for more. You can find Caraval in the Recreational Reading section of our library. If you like it, you can also find the second and third book of the trilogy in our library as well!

Sara Hand’s reviews reflect her personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university.