NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

Everyone seems to have their best of (and worst of) 2023 lists going, so let's discuss our best NetGalley reads of the year. :) If you ran into any you would recommend others avoid, feel free to add those books to the discussion too.

do you mean books published in 2023? or books we read in 2023? because I read some amazing ARCs coming out in the next year :)

I had a pretty good year with picking NG books!
So far I have read 33 of them (I am reading 2 right now, but I don't know if I will finish to add them to my stats).
I rated 9 of them 5 stars
The Heiress
You Can Trust Me
Zero Days
None of This Is True
All the Dangerous Things
The Break
Dark Corners
Gone Tonight
Wonderland (the audio - the book actually published in 2015)

I just had one that I rated one star and I could hardly get through it.
It was a non fiction biography.
The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson

I have to look at my stats more when we do the wrap up thread bc I am curious to see my percentages of stuff like new to me authors, NG vs all my reading, etc.

I meant books read in 2023, Nicole. Some may have published, others may still be available through NG. Just curious as to what books everyone loved this year.

Vicki - I still have The Heiress to read. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm away with my family for the new year, but hoping to at least start it before I return home. I'm really looking forward to that one.

I didn't really have any major stand outs this year but these were my favorite NGs for the year:



was a total surprise. I really liked the synopsis but then later realized the ratings were really low! I went in thinking I had made a mistake in requesting it but I ended up really enjoying it! thankfully, lol.

I only read 14 NG books this year, lol. NG is not my primary reading source so that's why. :)

My least favorite was:

I read 18 NG books this year. The top 5 were:

Rouge by Mona Awad
The Pomegranate Gate by Ariel Kaplan
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

I enjoyed Hello Stranger too.

Well, I read or listened to 169 netgalley books this year and rated 27 of them five stars and 9 of them best of 2023.
Here are the nine:
Sing Her Down
All The Sinners Bleed
Those We Thought We Knew
Happiness Falls
Bright Young Women
The Curst of Pietro Houdini
When the Jessamine Grows
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
Listen for the Lie

I've heard good things about Happiness Falls

I read 118 NetGalley books this year.

My 5-Stars were:
School Trip
Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music
Rebel Girls Animal Allies
The Wishing Game
Global: One fragile world. An epic fight for survival.
Dark Corners
Off the Map

I had mostly 4-star reads.

Elyse wrote: "I read 118 NetGalley books this year.

My 5-Stars were:
School Trip
Rebel Girls Rock: 25 Tales of Women in Music
Rebel Girls Animal Allies
..."

I really want to read Off the Map. Do you think I need to read the first two in the series to know the characters or can I just dig in?

Kristie wrote: "I really want to read Off the Map. Do you think I need to read the first two in the series to know the characters or can I just dig in?..."

They're all 3 excellent books but they are just companion novels so no, you don't have to have read the first 2. Especially because even though the trilogy is called The Beck Sisters, there are only 2 sisters and Off the Map is about a close friend that appeared in the first book. So even easier just to read Off the Map. But I loved Float Plan, the first one, the most.

Vicki Willis wrote: "I had a pretty good year with picking NG books!
So far I have read 33 of them (I am reading 2 right now, but I don't know if I will finish to add them to my stats).
I rated 9 of them 5 stars
[book..."

Ahh, in that case my top 5 were:

The Lazerus Key by Rachel Aukes
Baby X by Kira Peikoff
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
A Dark Roux by Blaine Daigle
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Lord by Celeste Connally

Elyse wrote: "Kristie wrote: "I really want to read Off the Map. Do you think I need to read the first two in the series to know the characters or can I just dig in?..."

They're all 3 excellent books but they a..."

Thanks. Maybe I'll start with Float Plan then. I'll just see where my reading takes me.

I almost got Baby X, Nicole! It sounds creepy good. So glad to see you enjoyed it.