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It’s that time of the year when I start hearing people’s best of lists for 2023. I always enjoy listening to and reading these lists, but I have to admit that I’m pretty bad at consuming current media. So, that’s a bit of an introduction to say that, for my next few blog posts, I will be sharing my favorite media that I consumed in 2023. The “best” items that I pick for each post won’t necessarily be picks that were released this year.
I’m also quite terrible at only picking one thing that I liked the best, always have been, so for my picks for my favorite books that I read this year, I have two:
Eversion by Alastair Reynolds. This sci-fi book was a literal trip that takes you through the wondrous, and many, ship journeys of Dr. Silas Coade. Dr. Coade is the surgeon for the 1800s exploring ship, the Demeter. He’s a physician, but he is also a writer, so he’s highly observant of the ship’s denizens and all of the strange occurrences that start to happen as the ship attempts to take the crew on a journey to find a mysterious artifact.
The book, just as the Demeter does for its crew, takes you on a spiraling series of journeys that has you crossing time and space as well as the veil between life and death. I found the characters mysterious and engaging, and I couldn’t put the book down until I got to the twist-filled ending.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. This book was published way back in 1995, so I’m really stretching the bounds of a best of 2023 list. But, remember, these were the best books I read this year, so, yeah, it still counts since this is my blog and these are my rules, hah! But this book was one of those books so chock full of humor and wit and actually great writing and life advice that it almost felt as if I was learning about the art and practice of writing through osmosis. Lamott has a wonderful way of using surprising turns of phrase to not only make you laugh out loud but to also stop you in your tracks in sudden recognition of a universal human truth.
I especially loved her section on jealousy. I’m not even an actual published author (outside of a few small websites and my own self publishing, of course), but I laughed at her descriptions of intense volcanos of jealousy that would erupt at seeing someone immensely less capabale being showered with success.
I did actually read a book that was published this year, Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital by Elise Hu. While I did enjoy this entertaining, but also somewhat depressing, insight into the massive beauty industry that South Korea has created and promoted globally, I didn’t find it as good as the books that I listed above. However, I still highly recommend it if you want to see how a developing nation engaged in the soft power of the exportation of its billion-dollar entertainment and beauty industries to drag itself into the new century. It was also fascinating to read about the flattening power of techno-monoculture powered by social media. Through filters and technology, we are losing our uniqueness and individual beauty. Like I said, a fascinating, but scary read.
I’ll also share the rest of my 2023 reading list thus far. I’m currently listening to Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, but since I haven’t yet finished the book, I’ve not yet added it to my list. Looking at my list, I can see that my problem with reading current books is that I set a goal for myself to read one work of fiction, one nonfiction book, and one classic in a rotating order (and, I have to say, one trashy romance novel). I also push myself to read works from minority authors. That rubric has left me with little time to read current fiction.
Chivalry, Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
Eversion, Alastair Reynolds
The Invention of Murder, Judith Flanders
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Pueblo Revolt, David Roberts
The Wide Starlight, Nicole Lesperance
Off The Clock, Roni Loren
Menopause Manifesto, Jennifer Gunther
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
You Will Find Your People, Lane Moore
Circe, Madeline Miller
Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures, Merlin Sheldrake
Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
Burnt Offerings, Robert Marasco
Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital, Elise Hu
One final note, you may have noticed that all of my links in this post go to Bookshop.org. This nonprofit aims to “connect readers with independent booksellers,” so why not give them a try instead of heading off to Amazon for your next book?
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