My Favourite Reads of 2023

Posted: December 23, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Please note that not all of these books came out in 2023 (in fact, most of them didn’t), just that these are the reads I enjoyed the most this year. Also, I am not including books that I’ve already read ten times or more, just because. I may or may not do an additional list for comics and graphic novels if I have the time or inspiration later on because I read a bunch of bangers in that medium as well this year. Also, this list is in order of when I read the book, not how much I ranked each above the other; I try not to play favourites like that, y’all.

Beloved – Toni Morrison

The more Toni Morrison that I read, the more I think that she deserves to be counted among the American Masters of literature. There’s so much to take and deconstruct from this beautifully harrowing novel, so many perfectly painted scenes of poignant and brutal love, so much delicate consideration for the world around these generationally damaged people, and so many observations of hard-lived lives that I am left in total awe of Morrison’s prowess and powerful pen.

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt

What an incredibly paced and beautifully structured and built story! I wasn’t sure what to expect from this when I started it, but I got more than I would have wished for, packaged in gripping and perfectly plotted prose. Although most of this story is outside of my personal realm of experience, I found that Tartt completely nailed the existential angst and isolation of a traumatised and emotionally isolated teenaged psyche and life in the Vegas chapters, and for that alone this book stood high above most other things I read this year, but rest assured that the rest of the novel is just as wonderful throughout – That part just stood out for me because it’s so rarely done right.

Near Death by A Thousand Cuts – Andrew Butters

As a fellow klutz of epic proportions, this book was an entirely relatable and really fun ride through one accident-prone man’s incredibly injured existence. Bad choices abound and forces align against him, and Butters lays every hilarious horror out on the table vividly in a manner sure to leave you with a smile and giggles throughout. I laughed out loud to this short collection more than I did during any other book this year.

Ghostwritten – David Mitchell

Solid five stars – Having read a couple of other Mitchell books, I was expecting good things from this as it was his first novel, but oh mama! This one took my expectations and laughed at them in the rearview mirror as it shot right past them! Told through several seemingly sparsely connected chapters in the form of short stories, everything comes together in the end to make it a strongly cohesive narrative that ties up all of its loose ends in a wonderfully poetic and spectacular fashion. Mitchell is quickly becoming one of my favourite story-tellers and my only complaint is that I didn’t take the time to read him earlier.

The Jewish War – Josephus

Wow, what a treasure of antiquity – I mean, how many incredibly detailed first-hand accounts of the Jewish uprising against the Romans that took place almost two thousand years ago have you read? Because for me, this is the only one and it was a wild ride, babydoll! The person who recommended this to me positioned it thusly: “Imagine if the British had won the Revolutionary War and Benedict Arnold got to write the official history of it”, and that pretty much nails it – Josephus was a Jewish general who switched sides after being captured, and therefore is able to provide the rationalizations of both sides of the conflict. Murder, mayhem, machismo, and malicious double-crosses abound! Drama seeps out of every page and the descriptions are lively. Having been to Israel a few times, it was especially fun (and disturbing) to think of the blood that once flooded the streets where my own feet have walked, and the ending at Masada shook me – It’s one thing to hear a tour-guide tell you something, but to read about it from someone who was part of the war? Wow.

My only problem with this book was my own issue – I have problems with difficult names, and this tome is full of them, and many of them repeat so I had a hard time keeping some people straight. ‘Antiochuses’ abound and ‘Judases’ come at you willy-nilly, but eventually with the help of the time-line in the Appendix, I was able to get that sorted.

My favourite thing was putting this in context with Antony and Cleopatra who play a small part in the drama, and also the complete and total lack of Jesus (who was very active during the time of this very thorough narrative) was kind of cool, but expected as Christianity was still only just a small Jewish cult at the time of Josephus’s writing.

All in all, if you’re into war and history, you can’t go wrong with this book.

The January Sixth Report – US Senate Bi-Partisan Select Committee

I watched the hearings live and was appalled, but having it all laid out in black and white with footnotes galore really takes it to another level. The amount of malfeasance coming out of Trump’s White House around election fraud is unparalleled it’s truly frightening how close the checks and balances in American democracy came to failing that day. I know it takes a while to build a good case, but the DoJ has a ton of the work done for them right here, so let’s start seeing some of those higher up indictments moving more expeditiously through the courts, goddammit! Those involved do not deserve to get away with what they attempted and the ongoing damage done by their actions.

The Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer

Woof, that was a long one! But very much well worth the while. I’m not going to lie – I was pretty intimidated going into this one what with the length and my unfamiliarity with Middle English, but once I got going with the rhythm, the language became relatively easy to parse and I only had to rely on the gloss minimally, so that was great – I actually found the prose sections even easier than the poetry sections for the most-part which was a pleasant surprise.

In my opinion, the best stories were almost exclusively in the first half of the book – That’s where you get most of the farting and the more humourous incidents, but the second half is just as worthwhile. I did find the final tale, The Parson’s Tale, to be much less of a story and more like eighty pages of moralizing and preaching that went on just a bit too long, but it was still a really interesting read an exploration of sin and redemption in the real olden days.

All in all, very much worth the time I put into it, and I’m so glad that I faced down my fears and dove in because it was a refreshing and enjoyable read and had me laughing hysterically out loud at some points, and even drew a tear or two at others.

The Twelve Ceasars – Suetonius

Holy shit, this book is balls to wall insane! Come for the military and societal history, but stay for easily some of the most disgusting, violent, and perverted things you’ll ever read! They say that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ and I don’t have the personal experience to say whether that’s true or not, but this book is a strong testament to the veracity of that the statement. Jeez, Louise – I’ve read a lot of disturbing stuff in my time, but this takes the cake! I would have been way more interested in Roman history if this was the shit they taught in school, but of course they can’t teach this in school because some of the actions portrayed in this book would definitely be considered problematic by those who believe that books were made to be burned, not read. As for me, I’ll be re-reading this one again sooner rather than later because it was just so bloody fascinating and I’d like to read it once I’m through the shock brought on by some of the more surprising passages (looking at you Tiberius).

Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut

In the dictionary, the definition of ‘tragicomedy’ should say: “See Slaughterhouse-Five”.

Finnegans Wake – Jame Joyce

Jeez Louise, what a workout! I can definitely see why people hate this book. I am not one of those people. Beneath the nonsense of the language there lies a lot of heart, beauty, and love. How do you review a book so inaccessible, yet so thoroughly enjoyable to the point where I was caught by fits of hysterical laughter or unwanted tears? An almost completely incomprehensible novel about life, death, Dublin, and, well, pretty much an all-encompassing look at everything ever, I don’t know what any of it means, yet the meanings resound all the same. Every sentence I (try to) read lights a spark of inspiration in my imagination more than any other book I’ve ever read. Finnegans Wake is truly crazy, like crazy-insane crazy, but also wholly wonderful.

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