What I read in 2023

It’s that time of year again…

My 2023 was pretty great, in a lot of ways. Not all ways. But, after a long wait, it finally felt like I was able to experience some of the freedom and adventure I’d been craving.

I read 30 books. Honestly, I expected more. But there we go, that’s life with a smart phone and a data plan. Two books are redacted from the list because they were spicy texts for my friend’s book club (I didn’t really enjoy either of them, more for lack of characterisation than the content).

The other news is that I joined my local library! It doesn’t have an absolutely enormous selection, but enough that I’m looking forward to using it regularly throughout 2024, probably sprinkling in some purchases if there’s something more current or specific that I want.

As always, faves are in bold.

• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza
• The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
• [redacted]
• The Conquest of Plassans by Emile Zola

• Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (excellent sequel to Bardugo’s adult fantasy Ninth House)
• The Book of Night by Holly Black
• [redacted]
• The Wood That Built London by C J Schüler (fascinating non-fic about the Great North Wood)
• Tenderness by Ann Macleod
• Death in Ten Minutes by Fern Riddell (the hidden history of the suffragette Kitty Marion and her fierce and fearsome sisters)
• The Art of Letting Go by Damon Zahariades
• When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chadron
• The Transgression of Abbe Mouret by Emile Zola (lush!)
• Set in Stone by Stela Brinzeneau (historical fic with a unique setting and romance)
• Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
• Trust by Hernan Diaz (structurally so unusual and absorbing…a great companion piece to the Lehman Trilogy!)
• The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz (optimistic sci fi with so many original quirks…never thought I’d be rooting for a talking cat and a sentient train to get together but there we go…maybe my second most enjoyable read of 2023)
• Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott (while this wasn’t an absolute fave, I really, really loved the historical setting of this – the period of time after the Romans left when London was uninhabited for a few hundred years)
• Godkiller by Hannah Kamer (so much to love about this fantasy but the hardbitten, cynical, warrior female lead was a particular draw. Probably my most enjoyable read of the whole year)
• Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (it’s no Life After Life, but I find Atkinson’s work *so* absorbing)
• House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (a memorable Sapphic Gothic with a twist)
• Femina by Janina Ramirez
• Young Alexander by Alex Rowson (great combo of history and archaeology – really brings the period alive)
• Arrangements in Blue by Amy Key (uncomfortably relatable; devastatingly honest; life as a single woman laid achingly bare)
• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (gripping, tragic, vivid – masterful)
• The Flea Palace by Elif Shafak
• The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (really unusual historical setting and interesting, but sad, queer history)
• The Cloisters by Katy Hays (a fun one to close the year – twisty mindgames and Renaissance artefacts with a suitably nerdy setting)