My Best Books of 2023

I usually share this towards the end of the year, but here we are well in January and this is my first chance to reflect on my reads of 2023. Reflecting at the end (or in this case, beginning) of the year, is helpful for me to look at the big picture. Each book has an impact, but I love looking at trends as well.

reads

For the first time, in addition to a quantity goal, I set sub-goals for this year. Those were to read four books with 500+ pages, four books published between 2018 and now, and four non-fiction books. I exceeded my overall quantity goal of 30, but instead of a complete list, let’s use the sub-goals to frame this year’s highlights.

Books 500+ pages (I fell short of my goal, but LOVED all three of these):

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Books published between 2018 and now (I read 14! These are my top four):

The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales

Nonfiction (My top four):

Finding Me by Viola Davis
Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Slow AF Run Club by Martinus Evans

Other Favorites:

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Huston
Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Reflections

You know classics are my favorite. Inspired by my friend Brooke, I wanted to spend time with a few books I wasn’t able to appreciate in high school. Their Eyes Were Watching God doesn’t need me to endorse its brilliance, but I will! It was a beautiful read and wonderfully enhanced by listening to the Close Reads podcast episodes as I went. American Lit was difficult for me to understand in high school. Revisiting as an adult has allowed me to fall in love with the genre.

If we swing to the other end of century to talk about new releases, I’ve got more than ever to pull from. The four I highlighted above are indeed remarkable. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies lingered with me the longest. It is incredibly written! As a collection of short stories, the book is able to touch on a multitude of factors influencing modern life.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf also begs to be shared. By the time I was halfway, I could not put it down. Most of the time, great writing inspires me to write. This may be one of the first times great writing simply left me dumbstruck. There is nothing for me to compare it to, this book stands completely on its own. (Though I know - from listening to his podcast - James would disagree with me.) The book is long, but totally worth it.

As I look back on 2023’s reads, I see a thread of discovering oneself and how the self affects others. From Raskolnikov spiraling on the bed in Crime & Punishment to Akin navigating the repopulation of Earth in Adulthood Rites, protagonists young and old struggled with duty and desire throughout my reads this year. A struggle I think we all come across in our own lives from time to time. I love that books allow us to explore the way others navigate situations that are familiar to life.

Cheers to a fun and thought-provoking year in books; may 2024 bring many more.