I Read 65 Books This Year — These Were the Best
Readers, start your engines.
Astonishingly, it’s been about a year since I started this little ol’ newsletter. And, while it’s kept me on my toes to deliver weekly reading lists and literary trend investigations, it’s also kept me honest on what I what I intend to read, and what actually makes the cut.
A quick review on last year’s new year’s post: I proclaimed that 2023 would be the year I finally cracked into some daunting classics. Didn’t happen. I wanted to read more non-fiction, also didn’t really happen. What did happen, though, were countless hours listening to my gut and, accordingly, picking books that spoke to me. I’m a firm believer that books, much like dogs, pick their people. They usually show up at the right time, even if they require a little work.
For reasons I won’t bore you with, this year was an ass kicker, and I leaned on books more than ever. True to form, they comforted and entertained me. They took my mind off the hard things going on off the page. And for that, I am incredibly grateful. I hope you’ve found books that nourished you this year, and I’d love to hear about them in the comments.
Below, my incredibly unscientific review on the top books I read this year — and some honorable mentions, too. Happy new year’s, y’all. May 2024 bring you peace, dreaming, and plenty of reading.
5 Top Books of 2023
“Ponyboy” - Eliot Duncan
This book was a top pick of the month, I encourage you to revisit that post for even more intel. This lyrical debut broke my heart and shook me awake. Duncan’s slim but hefty novel follows trans-masc Ponyboy who’s navigating the complexities of identity, love, and addiction. From a bender in Berlin to the sterile halls of a stateside recovery center, Duncan’s prose transports you into the choppy waters of Ponyboy’s psyche unlike anything I’ve ever read. Longlisted for the National Book Award, I can’t wait to see what’s next from Duncan.
“The Shards” - Bret Easton Ellis
Back after a 13-year hiatus from fiction, Ellis swings big with a novel that, apparently, had been marinating in his imagination since high school. Fortunately for us, he waited until it was fully cooked to deliver it to the masses. Returning to a faux auto-fiction of sorts, Ellis unfurls a harrowing homage to L.A. in the eighties, a creeping serial killer story that shadows the looming trauma that is confronting the inevitability of adulthood. Ellis’s prose is succinct and punchy as ever, while his skill for suspense is at its best.
“These Precious Days” - Ann Patchett
Though released last year, I only got around to picking up this essay collection over the summer — a case of a book finding me at the right time. I am enamored with Patchett’s fiction, however her essays, especially here, are immaculate. On a blistering beach in South Carolina, I chuckled through one passage and wiped a tear after finishing another. From befriending an elderly nun to navigating Covid with an unexpected house guest, Patchett yet again opens a window into her life and asks you to come in, sit down, and stay for supper.
“Open Throat” - Henry Hoake
If you told me that one of my favorite books this year would be about a mountain lion protagonist, I would have laughed in your face. I’m not the best at reading avant-garde or experimental fiction, though I fully believe that it’s a me issue and not a them issue. In any case, this shortie is a quick, but hypnotizing read. Written from the purrr-spective (I couldn’t resist, sorry not sorry) of the late P-22, the mountain lion who called the L.A. hills home, the novel serves as an investigation of humanity — who has it, who can’t seem to grasp it — and primal mechanisms that we all employ (or suppress) to survive.
“Chain-Gang All-Stars” - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Hoo, buddy. A National Book Award Shortlist title, this is another debut that continues to stalk my thoughts. TBH, at first, the pacing did me in. But around halfway into it, I was fully transfixed. Enter a near future where incarcerated folks have the opportunity win their freedom by participating in gladiator-like games, except you literally fight to the death (and uh, lose) or move to the next round until you lose (die) or become free. Following a pair of lovers who belong to the same team, or chain gang, this debut fully rips apart the rulebook and presents a searing examination on the U.S. prison system, race, class, and yes, even love.
Honorable Mentions
Best Horror: “A Haunting on the Hill” - Elizabeth Hand
Best Memoir: “Stay True” - Hua Hsu
Best Thriller: “The Silent Patient” - Alex Michaelides (tip: listen to the audiobook)
Best Novel That I’m Late to the Game On: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” - Gabrielle Zevin
Best Classic: “The Virgin Suicides” - Jeffrey Eugenides (This was pubbed 30 years ago, qualifying as a classic, at least to me.)