Richelle Hofer

It’s been a minute since I published something on my personal blog. It has been a wonderfully busy year! After taking a sabbatical in 2022, I was back to work in 2023. I didn’t have QUITE as much reading time as I did last year, but I still managed to take in some absolutely awesome stories! The first five books on my list this year are also now on my all time favorite books list.

So, without further ado, here are my favorites from 2023.

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver – Man, what can I even say about this book. It is raw, it is disturbing, it is heartbreaking, it is hopeful, but most of all, it is important. Barbara Kingsolver pulls back the curtain and gives you an up-close look at something we’d all prefer to look away from – poverty and addiction. The book is nearly 600 pages, but I didn’t want it to end. I feel changed by this book. I feel like I will always carry Demon with me. I can’t recommend this book enough. 
2. Operation Pineapple Express by Scott Mann – We all watched the images of people hanging from the landing gear of planes as US Forces left Afghanistan in 2021. And then nearly all of us shut off our televisions and resumed our normal lives. But life didn’t go back to normal for everyone… Operation Pineapple Express is “The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Honored a Promise in Afghanistan”. I listened to this book on Audible. It is read by the author and it is brilliantly performed. It opened my eyes and changed my perspective on so many things.
3. You Are More Than You’ve Been Told by Hosanna Wong – This book is easily in my All Time Top 5 for Christian Living. When I first started reading this book I could literally only do about 5 minutes at time before I had to put it down for soul searching and processing. There is nothing “fluffy” about this book. It was profound and life-changing from beginning to the very end. I am reading it again with a friend so that we can discuss it together. 
4. Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer – I was intrigued to read this book because my oldest son was a Veggie Tales fanatic when he was little. I used to love the videos too, so we watched them together. I owned a small Christian bookstore when the Veggie Tales movie “Jonah” came to theaters… and then Veggie Tales vanished. I expected that this book would be interesting, but I didn’t expect it to be so unbelievably profound. When I finished reading this book I cried for about 3 days. If you are a Christian business owner, this book is an absolute MUST READ. 
5. The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni – At the beginning of the year I read another one of Robert Dugoni’s books “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell”. I enjoyed that book so I thought I’d give another one of his titles a try. I picked up The World Played Chess. I have known many Vietnam War Veterans in my life and I’ve visited the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C. but I haven’t read much that’s been written about that war. The World Played Chess is brilliantly written. It is a gut-punch and an inspiration all at the same time. 
6. No Time Life the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox – This book surprised me. I always try to alternate reading fiction and non-fiction… I had just finished a great fiction book so I was searching for a non-fiction read when I stumbled on this book. Back in the day I watched Family Ties and Back to the Future so I thought I’d give it a try. I never expected it would make my Top Ten list for the year. I enjoyed every minute of this book. It is funny (I laughed out loud so many times) but it is also inspiring. It is so authentic that I almost felt like I’d met Michael J. Fox personally when I finished. 
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – I had really low expectations for this book when I started (I mean, an octopus is one of the main characters – weird!) and maybe that’s why I loved it so much (shrug). It’s not a “page turner” by any stretch… it’s just a really lovely, albeit unrealistic, story. I fell in love with Marcellus and I even shed a few years at the end. The Washington Post called the book “memorable and tender” – I concur. It was like a cup of hot soup on a cold day.
8. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – I am a Gen X girl who grew up believing that I could do anything a man could do. My mom and the rest of the Baby Boomer generation told me I could so I believed them. This book was a shocking picture of life as a woman in the 60’s. What was disturbing to me as I read this book, was how familiar some of the situations were… the difference in my life is that it has become socially unacceptable to specifically say “because you’re a woman”. This book really had me pondering and marveling. As women, we have come so far and yet we have so far to go. 
9. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger – unlike Remarkably Bright Creatures, this book is a heart wrenching and emotional book. It is set in Minnesota in the 1930’s and it tells the story of two orphans who escape a children’s home and set out to find “home”. The book is 450 pages, and like Demon Copperhead, I wasn’t really ready for it for it to end.  
10. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge – It was hard to decide what book to officially include as the last of my top 10 favorites for the year. West with Giraffes moved too slow for me in places, but I am so glad I finished the story. This novel is inspired by the true story of two giraffes who came to the San Diego Zoo during the depression era. The book tells the tale of an orphan boy who accompanied the giraffes on their trip. Like Remarkably Bright Creatures, it is a light read that is both enjoyable and inspiring.

This year, honorable mention goes to Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar, The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni, and Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.

I am planning my 2024 reading list right now and I’d love to hear what some of your favorites are! Drop your recommendations in the comments!