Bolivian Argentinian Inex Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth-century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old-world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgottn. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns for the most: her globetrotting parents, who frequently leave her behind.

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers that the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.

We’ve successfully made it through another year and this one was a great reading one for me. Here are my top reads of 2023:

I’m actually quite proud of my reading accomplishments this year as, with a new job, it has been more difficult to find the time. But I set realistic goals for myself. Ones I know I can achieve as long as I try. I set myself up to read 80 books (last year I’d read 100 so I knew this was attainable), I promised I’d get into poetry (which I read but didn’t like), made sure to squeeze in some timeless classics, and actively sought to diversify my reading list every single time I went book shopping. Some amazing reads stood out to me this year above all others so here are the top 12 that I loved this year: