This year, I challenged myself to read ten books. I was able to complete this challenge, and it was the most books I had read in a year in a long time. There was a mix of romance, historical fiction, and self-help. Here are the ten books I read this year and my thoughts~
1. Say You’ll Be Mine
This book made Amazon’s Editor’s Picks Best of the Year in Romance for a reason! Naina Kumar writes about Meghna, a theater teacher who is recently heartbroken, and Karthik, a dry engineer who is hopeless about love. Kumar shows us that love can happen even when we hide from it in the most unconventional ways.
2. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
Written by the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams, this book is a great way to learn more about the components of happiness and joy. I finished this one in the dead of winter in the beginning of the year, so learning about pillars of joy like gratitude and acceptance were especially helpful.
3. The American Roommate Experiment
If you have read The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, this book is the sequel to that story in the Love Deception series. You can find my review of the first book here. However, you don’t need to have read the first book to feel the chemistry and tension between our two main characters Rosie and Lucas, who fall into a forced proximity romance that buds from being roommates. I love Elena’s writing style, and I recommend this one if you like a slow-burn romance.
4. The Long Game
Also by Elena Armas, this is the first book in a new series of hers called Green Oak, which refers to the small town in which the main character Adalyn Reyes is forced to go to after her father kicks her out of her job from his company for a major press mishap. While she is stuck coaching for a much *smaller* soccer team, she does meet a hunky Cameron along the way. Does Cameron make her time in Green Oak more or less bearable? You decide!
5. Before the Coffee Gets Cold
This is the first book in a five-book series so far by Toshikazu Kawaguchi that, as the full title suggests, explores magical realism, time travel, and the power of healing. There are four different stories in this book that involve time travel and characters who visit a specific coffee shop in Japan. Each character has their own reasons for wanting to go back in time. All of the stories had powerful lessons, but the second one made me cry my eyes out and reminded me that life if short. I highly recommend this one and look forward to reading the second one in the series!
6. Marriage and Masti
I am a die hard fan of Nisha Sharma’s writing and her stories, and had been excitedly waiting for this one to release for almost a year. This is the third book in Sharma’s series, If Shakespeare Were An Auntie. I think each book in her series gets better and better. The story of Veera, a quiet, sweet, yet determined financial consultant, and Deepak, the logical and rational son of a wealthy Punjabi family vying for a CEO position, was one for the books. It really showed me how sometimes love is shown in quiet and considerate ways, and that you can show someone you care by taking the time to truly understand what makes them happy.
7. A Singh Family Christmas
Also by Nisha Sharma, this book is part of the Singh family series, which covers the three Singh brothers and their journey with South Asian romance, navigating their careers which are impossibly intertwined with their families, and finding themselves. I wanted a short read so this was a very sweet romance story between Bhram and Rafael, who went from coworkers to dating to maybe life partners?
8. Big Dating Energy: How to Create Lasting Love by Tapping into Your Authentic Self
If you’ve seen Jeff Guenther’s videos on Tiktok, you know he is a charming and funny therapist personality who gives the best dating advice. I loved this book because it covers all the possible stages of dating and what we can do in each stage to make sure we are showing up for ourselves and our partner. I highly recommend this one no matter what your relationship status!
9. Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find-and Keep-Love
This book by Amir Levine covers attachment theory, how you can be self-aware of your attachment style, and figure out how to nurture your needs and communicate and show up in a healthy relationship. I love the examples they give throughout the book! This one’s a great read for everyone!
10. Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life
Humble the Poet is such a wise yet gentle social media creater and artist so I was excited to read his book. His truths are so powerful yet succinct, and I think this book really helped me put some things into perspective. I can’t wait for his next book Unanxious to drop next year!
Final thoughts
This was my first year participating in the Goodreads challenge and I am glad I did it! I stayed within my comfort zone with genres like historical fiction, self-help, and romance this year, because I wanted to begin by reading genres I know I would like. Maybe next year I will explore some other genres though. Let me know if you have a genre or specific book recommendation and happy reading! 🙂
Life of an Aloo 