Here is my annual list of books that I rated at 9 or above. I rate most books I really enjoy as 8, but since that list would be over 100 books, I feel the need to limit myself.

Here is my standard disclaimer about rating books:

“I have never liked doing a public scale rating of books – the librarian in me would rather describe what’s in the book and let you decide if it sounds good for you. But I do give books number ratings on my own private spreadsheet. I shamelessly borrowed the Book Smugglers’ 10-point rating system for this, where 0 is “I want my time and my money back”, 5 is “meh” and so on. For my purposes, 7 is a book I enjoyed, 8 is one I loved and 9 is one I really, really loved. 10 only gets given out retrospectively to books I find myself re-reading and thinking about a lot – a true personal classic.”

Middle Grade

• The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon by Grace Lin
• Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz
• Silverborn: the Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

• The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall. Illustrated by Matt Phelan. 
• The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell. Illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie
• All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Teen

• Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen
• Brownstone by Samual Teer and Mar Julia.
• Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee

• Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani
• Memories of Ash by Intisar Khanani
• Debts of Fire by Intisar Khanani (Alas for my saying I’d write a longer review of this series!)

• Heartstopper v. 3 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper v. 4 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper v. 5 by Alice Oseman

• Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman
• Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko. Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
• Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko. Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

• Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
• Tangleroot by Kalela Williams

Adult

• All is Bright by Llinos Cathryn Thomas – I bought this cozy sapphic Advent-calendar romance novella set in Wales for myself and will probably reread it every year.
• Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
• A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence by Stephanie Burgis

• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher.
• The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
• The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

• Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
• Spear by Nicola Griffith
• The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

• A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
• A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
• Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

• Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
• Time of the Cat by Tansy Raynor Roberts
• See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• The Elements of Baking: Making Any Recipe Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free or Vegan by Katarina Cermelj
• Patty Lyons’ Knitting Bag of Tricks by Patty Lyons

Rereads

• Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.
• Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
• Oathbound by Tracy Deonn. 

• Heartstopper v. 1 by Alice Oseman
• Heartstopper v. 2 by Alice Oseman
• Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

• The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
• Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Wundersmith: the Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

• Accidental Demons by Clare Edge
• The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal

• Claws and Contrivances by Stephanie Burgis. Read by Emma Newman
• Snowspelled. The Harwood Spellbook 1 by Stephanie Burgis
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune – Read this time for a book club, but appeared very near Claws and Contrivances in my 2023 favorites list, too.