Top Ten Books of 2023 + A Chat About Representation

Hey, guys, it’s me, Daijah! So, I know that in one of the posts I released during this year I mentioned that I was going to spend the next few months recapping each one of the books I read in 2024. Scratch that. I read so many books last year that going down a definitive list would just be exhausting. So, I decided that I would just do what my younger sister, Z, did and make a short list of my top books to share. Nonetheless, I will share a couple extra books, including some flops that made me think about things that should be changed– BUt let’s not get too into that right now. Instead, let’s dive into the list.

Oh, wait! Let me fall back! Welcome to or welcome back to my blog, DaiDreamer! If you’re new here, you should know right away that this is a blog about books and movies and loving yourself and other people by loving God. And if you’ve been here before, you know the drill.

Okay, now back to the topic of this post, my top ten books of 2024!

The list begins with number ten. Why would I start with number one if I wanted you to keep reading?

I’m From, by Gary Gray and Oge Mora, was a terrific surprise I found in the library one day on the new books shelf. I love Oge Mora, so I was shocked I didn’t know about it before it released! This book is about a young brown-skinned boy whose friends constantly ask him where he is from. The question makes him uncomfortable at first, but when he thinks about where he’d from, he realizes that he is more than a simple label, and that his heritage is a lot more complicated than he can explain to his classmates– it’s something he has to realize for himself.

Okay, I just looked up her books and on Oge Mora’s website, she already is preparing illustrations for a new release. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out until winter of this year. *sigh*

But, back on track.

My number nine book is in a tie with Song in a Rainstorm, a book about a blind, autistic, Black pianist whose piano career is controversial, though his music is beautiful. As I started typing this paragraph, I looked him up because I still haven’t heard any of his music, and I am now listening to the very climactic “Battle of Manassas”, which he created.

Song in a Rainstorm, by Glenda Armand, was a great introduction to the life of “Blind Tom” Wiggins. He is truly a little known figure, yet a remarkable one. We admire Beethoven for composing works even being deaf, but Tom Wiggins was blind, enslaved, and autistic. Those are things that would work against any young man today, and even more so back when he was alive. We ought to pay mind to Tom’s legacy as well.

I just put on Water in the Moonlight by Tom Wiggins, which is the namesake for the aforementioned book, and it is amazing. Really does remind me of a rainstorm. It sounds almost nostalgic in a way.

But, pardon me. The second number nine book is a book about a woman who brought light to a historical event that lacks it.

The Tower of Life is the story of Yaffa Eliach, who created a moving and yet poignant exhibit of people who lived in the town where she grew up. “The Tower of Life”, the title of her exhibit, is a memorial of sorts, which is made up of letters written by and photos of people who lived in the town before it was invaded and destroyed by Anti-Seminists during WWII. I got a chance to see some of the collection online, and it really moved me, especially because many people were not even able to be identified. Yet it was hopeful because I could truly see the joy that young Yaffa’s village was filled with. And gladly, many people could be recognized and remembered joyfully. *snif*

Let’s move on before I start crying. Despite the Tower of Hope, the Holocaust was still so awful and unfair!

My number eight book is one that really got me thinking about how we can love our friend and family better, about how I could understand my own needs better.

A Teen’s Guide to the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman presents the concept introduced in his marriage book, The Five Love Languages, and presents them in a way applicable and appropriate for teenagers. If you don’t read anything else on this list, check out this book. If it doesn’t change the way you see relationships and begin conversations you never imagined having–in a good way– I’ll be surprized.

Okay, so, by the way, I finished my musical journey through the compositions of Tom Wiggins. I can only digest do much classical music at a time.😁

So my number six books (yes, there was another tie), are both form the same series, a survival/adventure series called Off the Itinerary.

Avalanche by M. Liz Boyle, was a shockingly good self-published read. The story follows a fifteen year old girl named Marlee, her sisters, and her best friends, two polar opposite boys, when they sneak off on a midnight hiking trip from the campsite where they are staying with their parents during a family hike. The group encounters an avalanche that throws them off track and forces them to trust God and each other more than ever before in order to get back to their parents.

So, the second book in this series was kind of blah. But this book? I couldn’t put it down! I have always loved survival stories, and this one satisfied all of my expectations. Good sibling relationships, just like in the first book. Good blossoming of the romance introduced in the first book. On top of that, a side plot about forgiveness and leadership bring the book together in the perfect Christian YA package. We NEED more books like this! Adventurous, character-building books filled with godly friendships and romantic bonds.

Now, before I move on from these books, I want to talk about a book written by another self-published author who actually is friends with the author of the Off the Itinerary books.

Her name is Courtney M. Whitaker and she wrote two books, both of which I’ve held in my hands and at least thoroughly skimmed through. The book I want to talk about in depth is her debut, Faith Under Pressure.

I had high hopes for this book, to be completely honest. I think I may have posted about it on my blog before. Yet the book was a big disappointment because of the author’s, perhaps unbeknownst, offensive messages.

Let me explain. So the main character, Katie, grows up in Africa, as a missionary’s kid. She later says that she didn’t have any friends there except for a girl who I assume was American. So she didn’t make friends with any of the people her father was ministering to? Somehow it seems very rude to me that she didn’t even seem to consider any of the children in Africa to be her friends. If any were, she never said so. It seems like she is very closed off right away.

But what really gets me is that she meets a Black (not African-American, please) girl at her new school in America who is adopted into a White family. She couldn’t even have a Black family? That makes her the only Black character in the book. And that bothers me because usually, Christian authors don’t try to include Black people at all. But since the author of this book did, why didn’t she also make other Black characters? Better yet, why not make a few random characters in the book Asian, Indian, Hispanic? That’s just a little problematic to me.

And that’s not even the worst part. The author pulls out all of her Black stereotypes and makes this Black character completely different from her family. In one scene, Katie and this girl go to sing karaoke. The Black girl says she’ll probably sing a Beyonce song. Are you kidding me? Not all Black girls do Beyonce! I actually chose to listen to Tori Kelly as a tween/teenager, and I know the song “Hollow“, which Katie decided to sing. I don’t even know the most of the words to the song this Black girl was talking about!

Then this bully comes over and makes some, not even clever remark about rhythm that, for real, for real, a Black girl would laugh her head off about. I know I would!

I just found this book very offensive. I feel like if you put a Black character in a book, she should be creatively depicted. And with that, I digress.

My number five book is a very detailed and engaging picture book about a biracial playwright.

Feed Your Mind by Jen Bryant, is the story of playwright August Wilson. After being wrongly accused and sentenced by his teacher, August literally quit high school and finished his education at the library, reading books about history and math and whatever suited his fancy. He went on to write several plays, none of which I’ve seen, but I know he did create a movie that is on Hallmark. And these weren’t the cheesy Hallmark days, by the way. I really enjoyed reading this book because it gave me a glimpse into what it’s like to grow up in a stream of cultures. You’ll enjoy it too; I know it.

Now, we’re really getting up there on the list. Woot, woot! Get ready for the best of the best. Get ready for the ties of the year. Get ready for the– Okay, okay, I’ll get to my fourth book already.

I really enjoy books about people who handle their trauma by creating. Roget was one of those types of people. After the death of his father, Peter Roget began to write a series of lists. Lists of Latin words, plant names, and at last, describing words. His latter list of words became the thesaurus we know today. This is a great book to read to children who might be undergoing change or just for you as a parent, to admire the busy illustrations and ponder the reason for writing such lists. (Or maybe that’s just me.)

Now that I’m thinking, I’m not sure why I said the August Wilson book wasn’t tied with The Right Word. But if I took too long pondering that, I would never be done with this list.

So, we’ve arrived at the top three. Drumroll, please!

Here is my number three book:

The Powerful Purpose of Introverts by Holley Gerth! Now, this book is a little more for adults. Not because it’s anything bad, but just because of the content. However, I think this is a great resource for parents to use to begin a conversation with your children about introversion and extroversion. This is a resource you should NOT pass up, as it explains facts behind things and introvert might not be able to voice, like sensitivity to sugar and overarousal.

My number two book is…

Drumroll, please…

Choosing Brave by Angela Joy presents the lynching of Emmet Till and the aftermath of the event in a way that doesn’t traumatize children but does open their eyes to the truth of what it was like to be a Black person during the Civil Rights movement. This book is illustrated with beautiful, moving paper-cut collages that stay in your mind long after you finish the book. While this book is painful to read, it is necessary.

I think this book would be a good pairing with Strange Fruit by Gary Golio, but only if you really want to address lynching with your children.

So, with that, we arrive at my number one book! If you’ve been reading my blog over the past months, you probably have an idea of what it is. Okay, or maybe you already know.

My top book of the year was…

Brave by Sissy Goff! This is a book that is definitely written for teen girls, so, if you parents are interested in the content, the author wrote two books for parents with the same content, except pertaining to an adult/parent: Raising Worry Free Girls, which you need to read if your daughter is reading this, and The Worry Free Parent. And the companion book for boys is called Raising Emotionally Strong Boys. This book covers reasons for anxiety and worry, tips for handling anxiety, and lots of questions to get some things off of a teen girl’s chest.

So, you guys, that wraps up my top ten books of 2023! And, man, we haven’t even scratched the surface of what entirely I read last year!

Therefore, I’m going to compile a list for you of the best of the books I read last year and attach it as a PDF in the comments, so look out for that. I hope you enjoyed this post! In fact, you better have because it has taken me two days to finish it. And you know I can’t rest until I’ve finished the task I set out to do.

Anyway, I am grateful that you took the time to read this post. Your valuable time, that you could have spent doing anything else. I hope you continue to use your time wisely today. I have a suggestion. Put down the phone and ask to go to the library to grab some of these books! (Excuse me for shouting, but you’ll thank me later.)

‘K, bye!

#review #picturebooks #middlegradebooks #bestbooksof2023 #middlegradebooks