It’s the one for books! What have you read this year that you have loved & would like to share with your fellow AW mob?
No need for them to be 2023 releases, anything goes I reckon
note to self. Shelf space is low, you know you get eye rolls when yet another books lands on the mat & your excuse of ‘oh this, I preordered it months ago’ does not carry any weight! Just because a book sounds interesting does not mean you should immediately buy it & leave on you shelf!
Here are mine;
The Tastemaker – Tony King
Before reading about him in Elton Johns book I knew very little about Tony King. After hearing him on the Rockonteurs podcast talking about his work & friendships with (amongst others) Elton, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury & Bowie I thought that this would be an interesting read & it really was. Some great anecdotes throughout & a top read
The Brain by Sophie Scott.
Sophie Scott was a guest on the 2nd episode of Jon Snows ‘Snowcast’ & I’ve listened to it 3 times now! She is really passionate about all things brain related & the book is 10 essays exploring this. It is accessible but avoids over simplifying the complexities involved & is a fantastic read because of this. It all made sense when I was reading it, but I am useless at retaining information so is one I will certainly read again!
The Decade In Tory by Russ Jones.
If you follow RussInCheshire on twitter you’ll have likely seen his ‘week in tory’ threads which highlight just what has happened in government on any given week. It’s usually a description of nightmarish incompetence (at best) and/or willful corruption.
This book is that on a much larger scale and covers 2010-2020 in depth. Not one to read if you suffer from high blood pressure, but it is also very funny and a great read.
Ashes to Admin by Evie King.
It’s rare for a book to make you laugh out loud and cry at the same time, but this book managed it. It’s set in the rather macabre world of a Council Funeral Officer and part of their remit is to organise the funeral of someone who doesn’t have the financial means to pay for a funeral or any family who are able or willing to pay either. It should be a very dark read, but is actually really insightful & touching whilst also being very funny. It could be the 2023 version of Adam Kays This Is Going To Hurt (without the casual misogyny!) & is well worth a read
Reach For The Stars by Michael Cragg.
If you are a fan of that classic era of Pop (96-06) (GUILTY!), then this is a book for you. It is told through the voices of the people involved & includes some amazing anecdotes*.
If you grew up in this period this is the perfect book. If you’re interested in the music industry you’ll learn something new. If you just want a good read then look no further!
*My favourite anecdote – Blue being invited to perform for Donatella Versaces birthday party & being flown on private jet to Italy with lots of gifts bestowed upon then & getting kitted out in the latest Versace range. After performing they met her & she was quite abrupt & rude to them which puzzled them slightly. It was only when they got back home they were told she was expecting Blur……
Bloodbath Nation by Paul Auster.
Paul Auster is one of my favourite writers (he could rewrite the phonebook & it would be engaging & brilliant), so I am a little bit biased on this one.
This is a very short read & is a review of the gun culture in the US & why/how they are where they are, with 75% of all global mass shootings occurring in one country. He is clear with his views, but also nimbly points out why banning all guns could make the situation worse & a more nuanced approach is required. Paired with how the history around the second amendment has impacted 2023 and the power the NRA has garnered, this results in a really interesting read & some parts that will definitely stay with me for some time
When The Dust Settles by Lucy Easthope
I read a review of this & thought it sounded interesting so gave it a go. I’m very glad I did as it was very well written & fascinating, whilst being something I not would usually go for. The book shines a light on her role as a disaster planner & covers a wide variety of eye opening things she has been heavily involved in & all the emotions that go with it too. Very enlightening & sad at times, but with a blend of day to day humour which makes it incredibly readable.
Did Ye Hear Mammy Died by Seamas O’Reilly
Seamas is a fantastic writer from Derry & has written some really funny articles in the NYT, Guardian & many more publications.
When he was 5 his mother sadly passed away, leaving him, his 10 brothers & sisters, and their beloved father in rural N.Ireland. This book is about his upbringing & although there is no sadder start (the title comes from how he, as a 5 year old was cheerfully welcoming people to the wake), it is full of love and seriously good family stories, some of which will make you weep with laughter & others just weep in general. Stories about his local community at halloween & the local priest blessing the caravan before a European camping trip had me genuinely laughing out loud. Would definitely recommend
Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying To Me by Rob Burley.
I loved this book. Quick disclaimer, I am a bit(!) of a loser & have a keen interest in politics. As such I love to watch PMQs/Question Time etc. which helped with the enjoyment of this book enormously.
Rob Burley has worked with most of the heavyweight political intervewers of the UK over the last 30 or so years (Paxman, Neil, Marr, Maitlis and now Rigby), so this book is full of behind the scenes stories & anecdotes. Hearing first hand about interviews with Prime Ministers Johnson, May and Cameron is fascinating & has lots of insight into both their on-screen and off-screen personas.
Reading how some (I’m looking your way Johnson!) have sought to undermine the importance of the political interview is quite infuriating, but how both interviewer and producer seek to overcome such obfuscation does give some hope & is very interesting.
Overall this is a fascinating read & is very very funny in parts
The Fraud by Zadie Smith.
I love Zadie Smiths writing & she has written some of my favourite novels of all time. I find the characters fascinating & her way of crafting a tale is second to none. I was a little nervous when I heard she was writing this, her first historic novel, as I wondered how she could do all of this this when the characters are based on real people. However, as per usual she has written another wonderful book that I was sad to finish.
The novel is based around the real life Tichborne case of the 1870s & is told through the eyes of Eliza Touchet, the housekeeper (& cousin through marriage) of the real life author William Ainsworth. The Tichborne case is where a man presumed lost at sea returns after a number of years to claim his inheritance & the star witness is Andrew Bogle, a former Jamaican slave who Eliza is fascinated by and keen to meet due to her being an abolitionist which is at odds with the life she has.
There book examines the the Victorian era ideas of identity, fraud, class inequality, colonialism, gender, the true realities of slavery, sexuality and freedom. There are many parallels with 2023 & it is written with the usual wit & charm of all other novels by her.
Hello World by Hannah Fry.
This book looks at the way in which algorithms are currently being used, and the way in which they might be used in the future too. It is split into different categories & covers areas such as Justice, Medicine, Crime etc. & details where we are now (or in 2018 when the book was published) & where we are headed. The writing is fantastic & explains things in such an accessible way that complicated theories & ideas are easy to understand, this is also written in a way where her passion for these subjects shines through, which makes it all the more enjoyable. She also uses some great stories to start each chapter to set the stage for the algorithm’s role in an area. The intros range from Garry Kasparovs showdown with Deep Blue in 1997 to an exchange with Mark Zuckerberg and a friend in the nascent days of Facebook, to training pigeons to access breast tissue for cancer!
If you enjoy books along these lines then I would recommend. It is fantastic
A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib.
This is a fantastic collection of essays celebrating the historical, pop cultural, and personal dimensions of Black performance in America. He covers figures such as Aretha, Beyonce, Whitney, Mike Tyson & Dave Chappelle, but for me the more interesting essays concern lesser known performers such as the dancer William Lane, magician Ellen Armstrong & singers Merry Claytons/Joe Tex. He also interwines his personal life & experiences brilliantly (for example, the Bey essay is entitled ‘Beyonce Performs at the Super Bowl and I think about all the jobs I’ve Hated’).
I found the writing style really hard for the first third of the book, it wast tricky to get into the flow of it and if it was not for great subject matters, it would have been a slog. However, once it clicked I really loved his style & reread the first part of the book again to appreciate some bits I had missed & I now want to read everything he has ever written. The book itself is beautiful & although it is very USA focused, it still had me gripped. I would recommend this to everyone & have already had copies delivered to friends who I know would appreciate it.
Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story by Daniel Rachel
I am a huge fan of all things Two Tone, especially The Specials who (in my humble opinion) are one of the greatest bands this country has ever produced. As such I am a bit biased so well set up for enjoying this one & I have been eagerly awaiting it’s release.
This book is meticulously researched and heavily features label boss (& Specials keyboardist) Jerry Dammers, along with all bands who released music on the label. Although there were some acrimonious splits during the labels existence, the book deals with all artists quite fairly & gives a balanced view of the wide range of perspectives.
As well as the music, the book brilliantly gives the reader a feel of the social history and the horrible racism & impoverishment of the late 70’s/early 80s that Two Tone was the soundtrack to. This is so important to the story of the label & is not shied away from in the writing of this book, which makes it a fuller read. If you have ever listened to The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, Madness etc. & enjoyed them, then I would recommend this book
And my favourite of the year;
Toxic by Sarah Ditum
The book starts with this paragraph:
‘This is a book about nine women so famous, you know them by their first names alone. Britney. Paris. Lindsay. Aaliiyah. Janet. Amy. Kim. Chyna. Jen. It’s about what celebrity did to them, how they changed celebrity, and why the early part of this century was such a monstrous time to be famous and female’
I bought this after it caught my eye in my local bookshop. The subject matter sounded interesting & it had an endorsement from the excellent filmmaker Adam Curtis on the back which was enough to make me gamble on it & give it a go. I am very glad I did as it is excellent. It is quite scary how awful the attitudes could be in the very recent past and it’s quite disconcerting to read at times as there is a lot to consider about the environment of 2023 too. Notably, has there been progress or simply change?
Each chapter focuses on one of the nine women mentioned above, but due to the authors fabulous insight and analysis, much more is covered and there are some brilliant points made throughout. The chapters on Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are particularly sobering, but essential reading. As Helen Lewis (author of Difficult Women) says on the cover, ‘A Molotov cocktail hurled at the feet of celebrity culture’
Looks like an interesting read. But I don’t know all the nine women by their first names alone. I don’t know any Aaliiyah or Chyna. Janet I assume is Jackson? Amy Winehouse? Jen… Lopez?
Stop that at once. Female music stars are not allowed to have surnames in the US Nobody knows why.
This is why Adele did so well over there. Do you know her surname? I don’t.
I think it’s Sarkisian. Adele Sarkisian. Or might be Ciccone.
The last week or two has given me these:
Just finished yesterday – Home Going by Yaa Gyasi.
An astonishingly gripping, multi-generational saga exploring the origins and ripple effects of the slave trade with West Africa. If that sounds grim, it is in places – unsurprisingly – but the whole has a very positive resonance with a truly magical ending. It’s the debut from a brilliant young Ghanain American woman. Highly recommended.
Just started this morning – Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh
A travelogue from a young British Indian woman who decided to confront herself with the everyday reality of getting around the Indian subcontinent via 80 trains. Well, why not? If you have enjoyed Palin or Theroux or any of the great travel writers, here’s a new voice, full of wit and charm and a great eye for detail. Again, highly recommended, and I’m only 30 pages in!
‘O Brother’ – John Niven’s moving, funny, unbelievably well-written memoir of his troubled brother, with plenty of music thrown in as the author makes his way onto the fringes of the music business of the early 80’s. Tremendous read.
I have this on my shelf so will queue it up.
Oddly enough I was just trying to remember the books I’ve read this year. I don’t read nearly as much as I used to do – something to do with competing attractions and a tendency to fall asleep probably. Here are some books I’ve managed to dredge up from what’s left of the brain.
One Fine Day: A Journey Through English Time by Ian Marchant
I gave this to my sister for her birthday and she loved it so much I had to buy it for myself. If there was any justice Ian Marchant would be a national treasure for being one of the quirkiest authors of non-fiction around. This book stems from the discovery that his 7-times great grandfather had kept a diary from 1714 to 1728. He was a country squire in Sussex, and his diary was concerned with feeding his family, property matters, beer, his beloved wife who liked a night out, his grandchildren, politics, illness – topics you might well find in a diary written today. Marchant uses the diary as a springboard for his reflections on England now – if he’s not starry-eyed about life in the 1720s, he certainly isn’t about life in the 2020s. All this against the background of his own serious, possibly terminal prostate cancer – and if you think that sounds like a downer, you don’t know the man.
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
One of those big global thrillers, in which a fanatical jihadist plots against America by synthesising a hyper-lethal strain of smallpox, and only the deepest of deep-cover agents can stop it. It’s long, twisty, well-plotted and engrossing. (Not new, came out about 10 years ago I think.)
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly
Having binged on the tv series, I’ve embarked on a vague project of reading all the Harry Bosch books in chronological order. Anybody got any idea why I should be doing this? Whatever, I enjoyed this one.
Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov
This, first published in 1932, was in many ways a dry run for Lolita, in which a middle-aged art critic falls for a 17-year-old cinema usherette. She’s a manipulative gold digger as well as being what Wikipedia primly calls a seductress, and inevitably no good comes of it. Nabokov’s mischievous sense of humour is well to the fore.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
This year’s Booker Prize winner. Ireland is in the throes of a fascist takeover, now or thereabouts. A woman desperately struggles to hold her family together after her husband, a teachers’ union leader, is arrested for being an enemy of the state. The relentless logic of the situation feels very real, and you can’t help wondering if this is what we’re in for. We’re in the woman’s head and it’s not a comfortable place to be, believe me. I’m only about halfway through, but I already know it’s a masterpiece. If anybody’s interested there was an excellent interview with Paul Lynch on the ABC: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-book-show/id1339012522?i=1000636601105
The Trouble With Harry….
Mrs Ivan bought me a Bosch book a few years ago. Really enjoyed it. It was the 10th or 11th in the series and so I went back to the start, and love them. They’re perfect audiobooks as well.
Just beware that Michael Connelly LOVES having characters walk through each others books, so you’ll have Mickey Haller popping up, and Jack McEvoy and Terry something or other. It’s all the one universe, and that’s fine some of the time but there are other books and it’s like a double header and you find yourself wanting either a Bosch book or a Haller one but the shared stories can jar a bit…
Mind you, YMMV.
Fiction
Favourite novel of the year: Sebastian Faulks – Snow Country
Revisited modern classic of the year: E.M. Forster – Howard’s End
Bulk reads of the year: the novels of William Trevor, including The Children of Dynmouth, Elizabeth Alone, Death in Summer, The Boarding House and The Story of Lucy Gault. Trevor is best known as a short story writer but he has an impressive back catalogue of classy novels too.
Discovery of the year: the American writer William Maxwell. I read They Came Like Swallows and The Chateau and thoroughly enjoyed them both.
Non-Fiction
Discovery of the year: I’ve read all three of Marc Hamer’s autobiographical nature books, A Life in Nature, Seed to Dust and Spring Rain. Excellent writing with gentle musings on the big issues of life and their connection to the natural world.
Rediscovery of the year: George Orwell – Homage to Catalonia. I read all of Orwell’s novels many years ago. I’m now delving into his essays, journals and non-fiction.
Music
Biographies of the year: joint honours go to Philip Norman – George Harrison: the Reluctant Beatle, Stephen Duesner – Where the Devil Don’t Stay, a biography of the Drive-By Truckers and Paul McCartney – Lyrics. If you don’t want a huge slab of a coffee table book for the latter, Penguin have just issued McCartney’s book in paperback. It’s pretty essential.
Rediscovery of the year: Brian Epstein – A Cellarful of Noise, Epstein’s brief and somewhat less than candid (about himself) autobiography about his involvement with the Fab Four.
H’mmm, more Beatles-related material here than I realised…..
PS – I tried all that clever use of bold, italics and underlining above, but it’s clearly not worked….
Speaking of the BOLD ITALICS issue does anyone have any tips, thanks in advance,
You need a tiny amount of html wisdom.
Use the pointy brackets and letter b for bold and I for italic.
Beginning of the word: left pointy bracket b right pointy bracket (no spaces)
End of the word: left pointy bracket /b right pointy bracket (no spaces). Don’t forget the slash or your whole post will be in bold.
According to my Kindle I’ve read 47 books this year and I’m currently alternating between 2 books. They are Larry Niven’s ‘Ringworld Engineers’ which I first read over 40 years ago, my memory has yet to be jogged so it appears new to me up to now. The other is a James Swallow thriller ‘Dark Horizon’, I’ve read his previous Marc Dane series and they were enjoyable but had run their course by the 6th book. The new one is building promisingly, I started reading both books yesterday and I’m about 50/60 pages into each one.
@mikethep I also read the Terry Hayes book ‘I Am Pilgrim’ which I really enjoyed. I’ve just finished his new book ‘Year Of The Locust’ which was long winded and the storyline very convoluted leaving lots of questions unanswered. I finished the book which tells me I must have enjoyed it.
I have many ‘proper’ books on the shelves waiting to be read (150+ not an exaggeration) and have vowed to start on those in ‘24 starting with Kenneth Womack’s Mal Evans book which I suspect the good wife has bought for me.
according to Goodreads, these are some of the books I’ve given five stars to this year. All recommended (obviously)
Back In The USSA by Kim Newman and Eugene Byrne
a collection of alternate history stories and novellas set in a timeline where the USA and not Russia underwent a communist revolution in 1917, led by Eugene Debs after Teddy Roosevelt was assassinated and replaced as President by Charles Foster Kane. Al Capone is a Stalin figure, and Tom Joad and Buddy Holly are figureheads of the resistance against him. Meanwhile Britain tries to hang on to her Imperial possessions and gets sucked into war in Vietnam, where two lads from the North East called Bob and Terry find themselves posted….it’s tremendous fun.
Lords Of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The third and concluding volume of his Final Architecture series, so don’t start with this one, but the series as a whole is some of the best space opera I’ve read in years, highly recommended if galactic intrigue, cosmic mystery, properly weird aliens and lots of things blowing up is your bag
The Madman’s Library by Edward Brooke-Hitching
non fiction gift type book about weird and unusual books throughout history, from a Koran written in Saddam Hussein’s blood to books smaller than a fingernail or big enough to weigh 7.5 tons. One for the bibliophiles amongst us
Beware Of Pity by Stefan Zweig
a reread of this marvellous Mitteleuropan novel
Hopeland by Ian MacDonald
Part secret history urban fantasy, part near future SF, all written in wonderful prose, how this book starts is not where it ends. It’s a picaresque novel of climate change, taking us from the South Pacific to Greenland, via a riot torn London and a sprawling Irish family estate that isn’t always there. Deep and complex, but powered by likeable and well drawn characters, it’s quite the journey.
Five Decembers by James Kestrel
A stunning crime novel, one that really knocked my socks off. It starts with a murder investigation, as these things often do, but the twist to this one is that the murder happens in early December 1941 in Honolulu, and unknown to any of the cast a Japanese fleet is already steaming across the Pacific…I read the whole 400+ page thing in one day, blown away by the scope and plotting – I really loved it.
The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler
more SF, this time dealing with the First Contact trope, only here the aliens are highly intelligent octopuses from our own oceans. I do love an octopus so this was right up my street. Very good stuff
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
more aquatic SF, drawing together exploration of the deep sea and of space. Absolutely knocked out by this one, beautifully written metaphysical SF with strong 2001 vibes
Love And Let Die by John Higgs
non fiction, a romp through the last fifty years of British history inspired by the fact that the first Bond film and the first Beatles single came out on the same day. Higgs looks at our country through the contrasting lens of these two icons, one very concerned with death, the other with love. John Higgs has become a kind of subcultural Bill Bryson, able to take a subject and discourse informatively on it with a friendly and amusing eye.
The Perfect Golden Circle by Benjamin Myers
a tale of unlikely friendship and crop circles, set in the early 90s and redolent of that age.
A few what I read:
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Fantastic novel, how it is to be an immigrant from Nigeria living in the US and then to move back to your homeland. Racism, and how men are in relationships are covered among other things.
Small Town Talk by Barney Hoskins. Life in Woodstock with the music stars, The Band, Dylan and others. People wrecking their own lives and people wrecking other people’s lives. There’s stuff about music too.
Edie, American Girl by Jean Stein. Devastating account of a tragic existence told by those who were there. Extraordinary book. First came out in the 80s.
Echoes by Will Sergeant. Second volume of the Bunnyman’s autobiography. Two books in and we still haven’t got to The Killing Moon. He has a certain way of telling a story, I mean it’s entertaining. Darker times ahead.
bought the book on Edie in a charity shop, it is currently sitting on my ‘to read’ pile … have always been fascinated by the whole Warhol and his factory situation so am looking forward to it.
Thank you, @seanioio – I’ve been planning to do a book thread for 2023 for weeks, but I’ve been too stressed and busy to get on with it…and now I can relax! 🙂
In fact, I’ll have to return to this thread in a few days time or so, because I’m still stressed and busy! My highlights of -23 will have to wait until the Christmas peace finally arrives. I’ll be back!
This is where a Goodreads account proves useful! I read a lot. I have done so for as long as I can remember. My father started me reading before I started at primary school and I’ve never stopped. This year has been no different from any that have preceeded it. I’ve read a great many books. For this reason I’m not going to attempt a synopsis of any description for many of the following titles. The following are the ones I’ve cherry picked to list from the ninety four books I’ve read during 2023. I seem to have read fewer books this year than usual but some of these are pretty large blighters. So without further mucking about…
Re-reads.
As a few of youse lot may be aware I’m re-reading a selection of Dickens now and again and this year I deemed the moment was appropriate to re-read David Copperfield. It was from memory my favourite of all the Dickens I first read more years ago than I care to remember. It remains so.
Another former favourite read that didn’t disappoint upon being reacquainted with it was An Instance Of The Fingerpost by Iain Pears. I remembered reading this when it was first published in paperback and enjoying it immensely but I’d pretty much forgotten everything contained between it’s covers. It’s a remarkably entertaining read that I got to enjoy all over again. So glad I did so.
As the autumn advanced I embarked on Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy for the second time.They didn’t make as large an impression on me this time around but nevertheless I’m pleased I spent some time with them once again.
I decided to re-read Wolf Hall mainly because I’d never completed Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy despite having copies of the remaining two volumes sitting on a bookshelf awaiting my attention for some time. I deemed that the time had arrived to tackle them but decided I needed to read Wolf Hall again to get myself up to speed. They deserve every accolade that has been heaped upon them. Writing of the first water.
Crime & Punishment.
Checking with Goodreads it seems I read nine of Georges Simenon’s Maigret novels this year. I think I must have read around twenty or so of these by now. They are ostensibly much the same book with slight variations of characters and settings. They are passable entertainment and very brief, each volume is easily read in a few hours.
Thanks to Drakeygirl, formally of this parish, I read Blacktop Wasteland, Razorblade Tears and All The Sinners Bleed by S. A Cosby and I’m very happy to have done so. Blisteringly action orientated crime novels from a Black American/Blue Collar perspective. High octane fun.
I found time to slot in another of James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series namely The Tin Roof Blowdown. It was predictably entertaining. I am slowly making my way towards the end of this series of novels. I’m not in any rush. I read one now and again in the surety that I will be thoroughly entertained. Comfort reading of a high order.
A couple of The Dublin Murder Squad series from Tana French, A Faithful Place and Broken Harbour were enjoyed which leads me kinda to Kala by Colin Walsh, a debut novel. I must admit to being attracted to this by comparisons made on it’s cover to Tana French and even more so by a comparison to Donna Tartt. It is a fine debut novel. I liked it. I could see why Tana French was mentioned but Donna Tartt. Nah. I couldn’t find anything that reminded me of Ms. Tartt’s shtick in this at all.
I read The Secret Hours. How could I not read The Secret Hours. I am an unabashed Mick Herron devotee. It’s fabulous and if you dig his Slough House novels why haven’t you read this yet! Get it done. Stop slacking off.
Other worthy mentions… Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper. The Broken Afternoon by Simon Mason and City Of Dreams by Don Winslow.
All the other stuff…
I read one other Dickens novel this year Martin Chuzzlewit and I admit it was a bit of a chore. I hadn’t read this before and although sections of it were fun it went on and on and on and on…
Better by far was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry a novel set in India at the time of Indira Gandhi’s awfulness. It’s a sobering read that has been justifiable compared to Dickens inasmuch as both writers compassionately report on the plight of the poor and dispossessed albeit on different continents and at different times. Sadly some things never change.
Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell was a standout title for me as it seems it was for many others. If you haven’t read it please do. The Marriage Portrait I found less engaging. It’s a very fine book but not quite up to the mark when compared with Hamnet. Still highly recommended nevertheless.
I adored discovering Claire Keegan’s writing. Foster and Small Things Like These are both easily amongst my absolute favourite books of this year. Her ability to exhibit so much humanity in so few pages is immensely impressive.
Other writing that is new to me that I have found equally beguiling is from the Canadian writer Mary Lawson. I have only read Crow Lake her debut novel so far but I immediately purchased all her other books as soon as I completed Crow Lake. I expect 2024 will find me immersed in her writing and I am very much looking forward to that pleasure.
As the year draws to a close I have been left pondering what book of all I have been blessed to enjoy in 2023 has made the greatest impression on me and it has to be Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. I imagine everyone who takes an interest in these matters will know the set up of the novel and that Ms. Kingsolver won the Woman’s Prize for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize. She and her book thoroughly deserved both these accolades.
Some others of note…
The Island Of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak.
The House Of Doors – Tan Twan Eng.
Fire Rush – Jacqueline Crooks.
Pachinko – Min Jin Lee.
Black Butterflies – Pricilla Morris.
Still Life – Sarah Winman.
The Vaster Wilds – Lauren Goff.
The Glutton – A. K. Blakemore.
Strange Sally Diamond – Liz Nugent.
Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout.
So that’s a snapshot of my reading year. If you read this far. Well done and thank you.
Wassail me hearties.
I read David Copperfield this year as well. I thought it ran out of steam and meandered every so often, as Dickens often does, but overall it was a pretty good read. Bleak House remains my favourite Dickens, along with Great Expectations which as well as being a rattling good yarn is short enough not to outstay its welcome.
I agree unreservedly. David Copperfield is a nostalgic read for me. It reminds me of the only school teacher I remember fondly and of the only year of my school life I actually felt safe and content. I’ve yet to read Bleak House but it’s on my short list for 2024 along with The Old Curiosity Shop.
I forgot Demon Copperhead on my list. It’s an impressive work. Much of the humour and lively style compensates for the misery of the tale though I found it drawn out toward the end and was grateful when it stopped. I am glad I read it though. It’s excellent in many ways.
Yep I forgot that too – thought it was really excellent. Also forgot Kate Atkinson’s Shrines Of Gaiety, another enjoyable one.
I have a copy of the Kate Atkinson but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I shall nudge it towards the top of my frankly ridiculous TBR mountain.
@pencilsqueezer you recommended Demon Copperhead to me and it is absolutely beguiling and very well written.
I don’t get time to read as much as I used to – I intend to change that when I retire in April. I have enough books awaiting my attention that’s for sure.
Huzzah! Glad you enjoyed it Steve. I know you dig writing that touches upon blue collar America so I kinda knew you would.
Two really strong recommendations from me. I loved The Bee Sting by Paul Murray – a family drama set in Ireland. If you haven’t read his others do that too, especially Skippy Dies.
And Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton-Jack is fabulous.
Have read a lot this year but these are the two that stand out.
Great thread.
My fave books of 2023 were Liberation Day by George Saunders, On Women by Susan Sontag, Empire of the Sun by J G Ballard, And I Do Not Forgive You by Amber Sparks and The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut.
The latter, in particular, was an impossible to put down page turner linking the bomb to AI and on to Go: three topics that have historically floated my boat. Couldn’t really miss.
I also enjoyed What We Owe The Future by Benjamin Macaskill, although I profoundly disagree with its premise – that we should consider in our decision making all the future human beings who might ever exist as if they do in fact exist.
Rather than list all the books I’ve read this past year I’ll just mention a couple that made a big impression on me:
The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. A great debut novel which creates such vivid characters and landscapes, from the early part of the 20th century to the end of WW2.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I can’t say the background of this novel – the video games industry – appealed to me very much but the story of the two main characters was so appealing.
I’ve bought my wife a Daunt Book subscription for Christmas where they send you a hardback book a month for a year. The hardest part was describing in some detail her likes, dislikes, favourite authors etc. Hope I’ve got it right.
That Daunt subscription sounds a brilliant idea – will check that out for future reference.
I’ve given a few Daunt subscriptions in the last few years and I think I’ve only had one book sent that the recipient already had. Daunt encourage the recipient to maintain a dialogue with them about the books sent so they can refine future choices.
The best books I read this year included:
New novels
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry – he really can do no wrong
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy – terrific story of love and adultery set in the Northern Irish Troubles
Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe – this short novel about the making of his final film, Fedora, set me off on a Billy Wilder odyssey this year. Most recently watched Double Indemnity which I hadn’t seen for years- what a film!
Non-fiction
We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole – wonderful history of Ireland during O’Toole’s (and my) lifetime – at times gob-smackingly unbelievable particularly around the operation of the church and the scandals that eventually emerged despite the establishment’s attempts to stop that happening.
Abbey Road – the Inside Story by David Hepworth – commissioned by Abbey Road so not exactly warts and all, but a characteristically enjoyable read, particularly about the studio’s early years up to the Beatles
Finally…time off from work start now, and I’m almost caught up with the preparations for Christmas, so now’s the time to salute the best books I read in 2023!
I could do it as a top 20 (I have one) but I won’t, not least because many of the books are by Swedish authors and not translated into English, so of very little interest to you lot.
In general I tried to buy fewer books this year, to save some money…I’m not sure if I managed that (I do my book stats on January 1). But I did buy a lot more second hand books for less money, at least – although the low prices made me buy more of them, so perhaps made up for the lower prices in the number of books bought?
I didn’t buy books from online bookstores this year, not counting the online second hand book service of course. But new books were only bought in physical shops, again: in an attempt to keep the costs down (yeah, that’ll work…)
This had the side effect of making me buy more books in Swedish – by Swedish authors or in translation – than I usually do. Partly because there are less books in English in the physical stores, but mostly to be able to share them with my mum, who can’t get enough books but is unable to walk to the library anymore (and I don’t have time to go there for her, easier to buy books for myself with the secondary reason of lending them to her). She can’t read English (nor speak it).
Anyway, here are just a few of my favourite reads of the year, in no particular order:
Ágota Kristóf – The Book Of Lies Trilogy
With the darkest of humour and nothing but unreliable narration these three-in-one masterpieces capture the madness and cruelty of war, and how war and oppression distort the moral concept; it’s about the loneliness of the flight from all of this, but most of all it’s about writing as a tool of survival.
Each book add another unexpected layer, with absurd twists and turns, giving the reader a surreal sensation of falling through the many layers of history while they dissolve and are rebuilt again in another shape each time we believe we have landed on firm ground again. An astounding achievement by the author and a brilliant “unputdownable” reading experience.
Barbara Kingsolver – Demon Copperhead
I won’t waffle on about it, since it’s already been praised here, but I really loved it. Having grown up reading David Copperfield once a year all through my childhood (and occasionally as an adult too) I didn’t just love the story she wrote and how she wrote it – I also found it so entertaining and brilliant to compare the details and names of the story to the original’s.
I agree about it becoming a little less engaging towards the end – but that’s also true about David C.
Natalia Ginzburg – Voices in the Evening
A short novel about smalltown claustrophobia…among other things. Very, very funny, but also heartbreaking. So well observed and well written, and containing so much in such a small package. A gem!
Maggie Shipstead – You Have a Friend in 10A
A short story collection – an artform I have come to love. Very few authors excel in the short format, but Shipstead is one of the few. From the first sentence to the last, she captures the reader’s attention and never lets you go. Combining very exact observations on a detail level, while at the same time leaving space for the reader’s own imagination, with often quite open endings that makes you think about the stories long after. And her language is brilliant, while her characters and situations are believable, unique, imaginative and realistic at the same time. Ten stories with unpredictable conclusions but nothing feels speculative or construed. All are very good, some masterful (my favourites being: the title story, Souterrain, and The Cowboy Tango).
Maggie O’Farrell – The Marriage Portrait
Everyone compares it to Hamnet and are disappointed – I have the advantage of not being able to compare them. Not because I haven’t read Hamnet, but because I was so sick when I did that I can’t remember anything about it! (I really must read it again some time…) I know I enjoyed it, but the fever fog I was in at the time makes it seem like it never happened.
But I do remember The Marriage Portrait, and I really liked it (my only quibble with it is that I wish she had written the ending in the same style as the rest, and not as a hazy, dreamlike summary – but I respect it, since it IS a dream in a sense; that’s not how the real Lucrezia ended up). I was there, I felt it on my skin, heard it, saw it, tasted it. Loved the language and its images. So until I (re-)read Hamnet at least, this is my favourite by O’Farrell so far!
OK, I’ll make a short list of some other favourites, without descriptions (because I’m tired now):
Shehan Karunatilaka – The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Sebastian Barry – Old God’s Time
Abdulrazak Gurnah – Desertion
Abdulrazak Gurnah – By the Sea
Bernadine Evaristo – Mr Loverman
And number one and two on my ranked list were both books by Swedish author Kerstin Ekman, one older and one brand new. The best book I read in 2023 was her collection of essays about forests; “Herrarna i skogen”, which I never wanted to end.
The second best was her essays about books and reading experiences, “Min bokvärld”, which made me want to read books I’ve actively avoided all of my life, thinking they were not worth my time…
A Dark Matter – Doug Johnstone. Someone here put me on to these books. It’s a series of 5(so far) and I’ve read 4 of them. Set in Edinburgh, the characters are part of a family business of funeral directors, with a sideline of private investigators. Dark humour. A bit cliched at times and a bit unbelievable too, but easy to read and funny. I would recommend.
Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You – Lucinda Williams. Memoir. Poorly written (IMHO) with interesting detail of her early life but nothing about anything recent. Nothing at all about her last 10 years or so. I like Lucinda, but I didn’t like this book.
Heart Full Of Headstones – Ian Rankine. This year’s Rebus book. I buy them without thinking. It’s fine…..just another Rebus!
News Of The Dead – James Robertson. Historical Scottish fiction. 3 different eras. One ancient, one modern and one in between. Myths and stories and how they pass through the generations. Fascinating!
Prine On Prine – Holly Gleason. There are only 4 books about John Prine and I have them all. I haven’t actually finished this yet because I just can’t be bothered. It’s transcripts from (mostly) radio interviews. At least the first 10 of these interviews are from his early years, and they all cover exactly the same thing i.e. mailman, army, fifth peg, Kentucky etc. etc. How many times do we have to read about it. Love John Prine….hate this(so far).
Demon Copperfield – Barbara Kingsolver. Enough been written here about this already. 500(probably more) pages of misery. Wonderful!
Treasure Island – R.L. Stevenson. My retired journalist pal has written a book about Stevenson and put some of his poems into song. Anyway, my partner and I went for a meal in Edinburgh at a restaurant called The Hispaniola. This used to be a pub where Stevenson and his pals would hand out in whilst at Edinburgh university across the road. The restaurant is all decked out like an old ship from these days. It made me re-read the book. Wonderful!
BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Secret Hours (Mick Herron)
What with the Apple TV series of Slow Horses getting better and better and TSH marking a timely and very successful move away from/expansion of his Slough House universe, this is the point at which MH went from writing very good books to absolutely brilliant ones
ART/MUSIC BOOK
Poparetery (Andy Partridge)
AP’s quirky visual interpretations of some classic XTC bangers
CRIME
Squeaky Clean (Callum McSorley)
Fabulous (and often very funny) debut from new addition to the Scottish Noir school of
THRILLER
Strange Sally Diamond (Liz Nugent)
CINEMA
Pandora’s Box: The Greed Lust and Lies that Broke Television (Peter Biskind)
Easy Rider, Raging Bulls’ authors typically incisive take on the Oz-initiated Golden Age of Television
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Abbey Road (David Hepworth)
Answered Prayers (Duncan Hamilton)
To DIe in June (Alan Parks)
DISCOVERIES
Laura Lippman (Prom Mum)
SA Crosby (All the Sinners Bleed)
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Joe Thomas (White Riot) Too many characters, too little insight for my liking
Don Winslow (City of Dreams) Don counts down the days to his retirement with the second in a by-the-numbers family trilogy
YET TO READS
The Bee Sting (Paul Murray)
Yellowface (Rebecca F Kuan)
Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning Prophet Song currently 99p on AUK