My Favorite Reads of 2023
I’ll come right out and say it: while I read some fabulous books this year, my year in reading was not nearly as diverse as I would’ve liked it to be. It’s been really sobering to look back at my year in reading critically. While I still whole-heartedly recommend all of my favorites below, I strongly feel I should’ve made more of an effort to read diversely. In 2024, I aim to complete the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. If you’d like to diversify your reading, I hope you’ll join me!
Note: this post contains affiliate links, but I would never link to something I don’t recommend. You can read more of my policy here. Only links to bookshop.org are affiliates.
Okay, technically these are two books by A) this is my blog and I do what I want and B) as they’re both novellas, you could read both in the time it takes to read a single 300-page book. Part of the blooming new genre of “cozy sci-fi/fantasy,” these delightful books follow a tea monk who’s absconded to the woods to reflect on the direction of their life. In this futuristic society, no one has seen a robot since they peacefully retreated to the woods 200 years ago…until Sibling Dex stumbles on one while trying to find an abandoned temple. The robot has one question: “what do you need?” The probe of this question is both gentle and powerful. I recommend these books to anyone who feels adrift.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde is an exceptional dryadologist - faerie scientiest. At only 30 years old, she’s almost completed her life’s work: an encyclopedia of the Hidden People. Her final research location is the hardscrabble town of Hrafnsvik on an island off the coast of Norway. While she may excel at studying faeries, however, she’s not quite as good with human beings. When her academic frenemy Wendall Bambleby shows up and charms the locals in a way Emily never could, she starts to probe deeper into her suspicions that there’s more to his affable exterior than sheer charisma. This book is delightful - well-written and charming with high enough stakes to keep the reader engaged and enough bucolic atmosphere to make it decidedly cozy.
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths (2022)
Kinsey Millhone, the rough-around-the-edges protagonist of the classic mystery series starting with A is for Alibi, has been reincarnated in a British lesbian Sikh detective named Harbinder Kaur. The death of a 90-year-old woman shouldn’t be terribly suspicious, but when her caretaker shows the police the hundreds of crime novels dedicated to the woman, then one of them is stolen at gunpoint, and then the author of the stolen book turns up dead, it’s clear there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. Griffiths’s writing strikes the perfect tone between intensity and intrigue, while fully developing even the side characters. Kaur is a delightful curmudgeon, and while this was my favorite of the novels in the series, they’re all worth a read.
Weyward by Emilia Hart (2023)
I’ll admit - I chose this book mostly based on the cover. The writing of this multi-generational saga is just as lush and imaginative as the cover art! Pregnant and terrified, a young woman named Kate flees a physically abusive relationship to protect her unborn child. She only knows of one place to go where he can’t find her: the ancestral cottage left to her in her great-aunt’s will. What unfolds is an inter-generational story about the power of women’s resilience and creativity spanning five centuries. More magical realism than fantasy, the rich writing and earthy themes are perfect for reading in that part of winter when you’re just so ready for spring.
Content warning: contains strong depictions of domestic abuse.
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey (2023)
Even though she’s recently divorced, Maggie is totally fine, she’s doing really well if you want to know the truth, she’s not quite sure why you keep asking her if she’s okay. Maggie is really good, actually. This book is straight-forwardly linear: we follow Maggie for the first year following her divorce. We get to know Maggie’s opinions intimately, and watch with horror at her emotionally-charged foibles. Absolutely hilarious and so cringy you can’t look away at the same time, Maggie’s story invites us to look at the way we judge our choices. She’s one of the least perfect protagonists, and there are no perfect endings, but hopefully you walk away with a little more self-compassion.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (1995)
I’ve never been wowed by the film Practical Magic. Despite excellent casting and impeccable aesthetics, the story has always felt lopsided to me, with a soundtrack that doesn’t match the score and a plot that raises and lowers intensity haphazardly. Turns out, the book is better than the movie - who woulda thunk?! The entire book is written like a bedtime story, like your favorite aunt recounting her family history. The evocative use of the natural world builds a chlorophyllic setting (even though it is largely set in New York City). A complete departure from the movie, the book more powerfully builds on the ways sisters can tear each other apart, but have a special ability to build each other up.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou (2022)
Ingrid Yang’s PhD dissertation is due by the end of the school year, but after nine years, all she has to show for it is many hours spent in delirious boredom at the archives and an antacid addiction. When she stumbles on an anonymous note, it takes Ingrid on a head-spinning journey questioning everything she ever thought she knew. From her on-campus rival to her doting mentor, no one is safe from Ingrid’s shift in perspective. This book is an incredible one for discussion - it asks a lot of hard questions and leaves you with no answers. It also handles really tricky subject matter - like cultural appropriation and campus speech - with a shocking amount of humor. It’s a rare book that can blend wacky and introspective seamlessly.
The Change by Kirsten Miller (2023)
The middle-aged women of Long Island are going through a change. It starts with Harriet Osborne - an ambitious career woman whose life crumbles, only for a vindictive garden to rise from the rubble. And as she gets older, local gym owner Jo Levinson seems to be burning hotter and hotter - and doesn’t know how to cool down. Finally, when her twin girls go off to college, widow Nessa James sees something she’s ignored for a long time - the ghost of a murdered girl, asking for her help. The unlikely trio bands together to protect and avenge the girls in their community. It’s a book palpable with unspent cathartic rage, in a frustrating take on how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (2021)
In my ever-present quest to read fantasy beyond the classic dragons-orcs-et cetera worlds, a staff member at my favorite indie bookshop (shout out to Old Firehouse Books!) recommended this excellent work. Set in what is loosely supposed to be the Gulf of Mexico with lore inspired by pre-Columbian societies, Black Sun follows several characters as they converge on the most important spiritual day in years - a total solar eclipse. From a priest trying to stop a coup, to the son of an oppressed clan, to a sea captain (who might be something more), to a strange young blind man, all their overlapping priorities converge on this one looming day. I cannot wait to read the next installment.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (2023)
When I read the Mistborn series a few years ago, I was impressed by the plot and the world-building, but I wasn’t stoked on the writing. Tress has totally revised my opinions on Sanderson’s artistic sensibilities. When the boy she loves is kidnapped by the Sorceress, a sheltered young woman named Tress makes a rash decision: to leave the barren island she calls home and sail the treacherous spore sea. Armed with only her beloved cup collection and her wits, a cheeky narrator (that frequently breaks the fourth wall), recounts how Tress unlocks the secrets of the pirate ship she lands on. Sanderson dedicated this book to his wife, who helped him find his creative voice again, and I wish her a hearty “thank you!”
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff (2023)
Mileage may vary on deeply flawed protagonists, but I think Shroff pulled off a messy, complicated, yet earnest main character in this novel. When Geeta’s husband Ramesh left her 5 years ago, rumors swirled in her small Gujarati village that she killed him. She’s used her reputation to her advantage, building a successful jewelry making business and keeping to herself. When a fellow member of her women’s loan group asks for help killing her husband, though, it threatens Geeta’s deadly reputation…as well as the veneer of self-protection over her deep isolating loneliness. Ultimately an exploration of the complexity of female friendships, this book is as twisty as it is thought-provoking.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson (2022)
Let’s get it out of the way - it’s a little weird that this book is a snowed-in ski lodge setting…in Australia. But if you can shake the visions of the Gold Coast out of your head, you’re in for a real treat. A somewhat shady Australian family gathers for a reunion at a remote mountain resort, including the brother convicted of murder, and the narrator, the person instrumental in his conviction. It’s a classic snowed-in whodunit, with cheeky narration that breaks the fourth wall. The writer also recounts Roland Knox’s 10 Commandments of Detective Fiction, and it’s fun to frame the story progression against the classic tropes it explores.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (2023)
If someone took the Thursday Murder Club and combined it with The Bonesetter’s Daughter, it turns out, you can write a pretty lovely mystery. Vera Wong is only 60 years old, but after the death of her husband, she is left alone to run their tea shop in San Francisco. Her customers dwindle by the day, her son rarely speaks to her, and nothing exciting seems to happen to her. That is, until a dead body is discovered in her tea shop. At first Vera seems deeply unlikable; she is prickly, opinionated, strong-willed, and quick to share her opinions. However, the more you spend time with her, the more her prickly outer shell reveals a soft, caring underbelly. You’ll fall in love with every character, most of all Vera.
My Favorite Non-Fiction Reads of 2023
Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse (2023)
It’s rare that a true crime book has truly stunning writing - but look no further than this book. Erika Krouse has always had one of those faces, one that seems to say, “tell me everything.” After a chance meeting with a lawyer at a bookshop in Boulder, he hires her to become a private detective for his firm, speaking with witnesses and convincing them to testify at trial. After only 6 months, though, Erika’s skills are tested by the firm’s biggest case - a sexual misconduct lawsuit against the University of Colorado (Boulder) football program. Through the investigation, Krouse must reckon with her own history as a sexual abuse survivor, while taking down a local institution.
Content Warning: many stories of sexual assault.
The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara (2019)
The best biographies, in my opinion, tend to take a deeply personal approach to their subjects. I want to read about a real person, not a detached version of them! In O’Meara’s account of the life of one of the most influential Hollywood artists you’ve never heard of, her search for information on the elusive Millicent Patrick is almost as enthralling as the stories about Patrick herself. As one of the first female animators at Disney, one few women in the first class of what is now CalArts, and the only woman to design a classic Universal movie monster, little was written about Patrick - until now. You’ll end up with a deeper love for the art in movies, and for the role of women in building the film industry.
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe (2023)
Patrick Radden Keefe has made an appearance on my favorites list before - so it should be no surprise that this collection of his investigative journalism is on the list again. Each chapter is an article Radden Keefe wrote for a major publication about a different criminal of some kind. From the woman who took down the most powerful mobster in the Netherlands - her brother - to a woman who opened fire at a biology department meeting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, each article is an in-depth look at a fascinating story. Even better, it’s easy to read this book at a casual pace, since each chapter is a single article. It makes a great gift. for a casual reader who likes true crime.
Trust the Plan by Will Sommer
After hearing an interview with Will Sommer about this book, I knew I had to read it. Sommer is an affable character - quick with a laugh and an easy anecdote. Interestingly, this makes him an ideal person to report on the story that’s enveloped his career for nearly the last decade: the rise of QAnon. Not only does this book comprehensively cover the history of the movement from the beginning, but Sommer treats the people in the book with the utmost respect, even when their views seem nonsensical from the outside. I recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about QAnon, and anyone looking to understand those they love that have become wrapped up in it.
Just As I Am by Cicely Tyson
Celebrity memoirs are usually best when written as a career retrospective, and no one did that like Cicely Tyson. In fact, just one week after the book’s publication, Tyson passed away. The other best feature of a celebrity memoir is how much tea is spilled, and booooooy howdy, Tyson sloshed that tea all over the place. From her complicated relationship to jazz great Miles Davis, to detailing how she got away with pretending she was 10 years younger than she actually was for 6 decades, to revealing a secret daughter that no one knew about (!!), this book is a fountain of interesting knowledge. Even if you don’t know much about Ms. Tyson - look her up, then read the book.
Honorable Mention: I really enjoyed the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne series by Julia Spencer-Fleming this year, although some of the books were political in ways that didn’t necessarily age well.
What were your favorite books this year? Let me know in the comments!
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