Hello bookish pals and a very warm welcome to damppebbles. For the next three weeks we’re chatting about the 2023 book releases that we luuurrve thanks to #R3COMM3ND3D2023! It’s day nine today and so far, since 1st November, we’ve added a grand total of twenty-four glorious books to the #R3COMM3ND3D2023 vault. With another three titles taking their place today!

And the person responsible for today’s picks is the fabulous Joanne of Portobello Book Blog. If you’re a book lover and you’re not following Joanne’s brilliant blog then you are seriously doing something wrong! Don’t delay, head over to Joanne’s blog now and hit the subscribe button (but don’t forget to come straight back so you can find out which three 2023 books Joanne recommends!).

So, what is #R3COMM3ND3D2023? It’s about sharing the book love. It’s a chance for authors, book bloggers, reviewers and bookstagrammers to shout about three (yes, *only* three) books they love. They can be written by any author, in any genre and published in any way (traditionally, indie press or self-published). But there is a catch. All three books must have been published in 2023. To make things interesting there are a couple of teeny, tiny rules; 1) the book must have FIRST been published in 2023 and 2) special editions and reissues do not count. See, it wasn’t too painful. I just like to keep you lovely people on your toes 😉

Here are the three books Joanne recommends…

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
It’s the story of a family from south India which seems cursed as at least one person from each generation dies from drowning. It follows this family over a few generations and gives a stunning portrayal of life in India through some turbulent years. The writing is just wonderful whether describing the natural environment of the area, the challenges faced by the characters, the progress of medical science as well as looking as caste, culture and colonialism. This is an outstanding book, first class historical fiction and a book you can really lose yourself in.
Joanne’s Review of The Covenant of Water

My (Extra) Ordinary Life by Rebecca Ryan
I loved this book and found the main character Emily to be so relatable in the way she felt that her life wasn’t just ordinary but couldn’t be any more ordinary. I’m sure many of us have felt that our lives are boring at times and made resolutions to improve ourselves in many ways. I thought this was an excellent debut novel. Emily went from having what she considered to be a very ordinary life to one which was more her and more extraordinary than she could possibly have imagined. It’s warm, funny and poignant and full of great characters.
Joanne’s Review of My (Extra) Ordinary Life

The Maiden by Kate Foster
I thought The Maiden was a brilliant piece of historical fiction, particularly since it was inspired by a real event. I found it to be a gripping and exciting read which had me thoroughly immersed in the story when I was reading it and thinking about the characters when I was not. Through Christian, Violet and Oriana the author has given voice to women of the era and they are not just footnotes in history. The Maiden is a book which taught me about a part of Edinburgh’s dark past I wasn’t familiar with and I loved it.
Joanne’s Review of The Maiden

Thank you so much, Joanne. Three absolutely gorgeous looking and sounding books!

About Joanne:
I’m a Scottish book blogger based in Portobello, which is Edinburgh’s seaside. Reading is my passion and I enjoy blogging the books I’ve loved. I am involved in organising my local community’s book festival which takes place each October.

Joanne’s Blog and Social Media Links:
| Portobello Book Blog | X (formerly Twitter) @portybelle | Facebook | Instagram @portybelle |

#R3COMM3ND3D will only run for the month of November this year so places are very limited. If you would like to take part in #R3C this year (and I would LOVE you to!) then please get your three choices in ASAP. If I’m unable to fill all 30 dates then any posts scheduled for the end of November will be brought forward and I will close the series early (but I don’t want to do that, it sounds miserable! 😂). Here are two different versions of the form if you fancy taking part.

If you’re a book blogger, bookstagrammer, reviewer or an author and you have three books published this year which you want to shout about then please complete the following form (or click this link: https://forms.gle/d6HbMLZJjEtUSm8FA)