I meant to read more than forty eight books this year. But it turned out to be the hardest year of my life and the best we can do is all we can do.
Top Ten of 2023:
1. November Road-- Lou Berney
Content warning for lots of sex and violence but my god I loved this book. I cried. Can we overcome who we have been?
2. Be Frank With Me-- Julia Claiborne Johnson
I usually hate precocious kid characters but this one was great.
3. Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, & the Last Trial of Harper Lee-- Casey Cep
Did you know at one point Harper Lee was apartment neighbors with Hall & Oates?
4. A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland-- Troy Senik
5. It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror-- Ed. by Jose Vallese
6. Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics-- Stephen Greenblatt
7. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts-- Kate Racculia
8. 100 Places To See After You Die: A Guide to the Afterlife-- Ken Jennings
9. Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders-- Kathryn Miles
10. Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History & Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!-- Claire McNear
Honorable mentions: All Things Aside-- Iliza Shlesinger (nonfiction) and The Silent Land -- Graham Joyce (fiction)
And now the complete list. As always, my recommendations are bolded and sections are sorted alphabetically by author. Rereads are marked with ***. Here's to a happier 2024, and let me know what you think I should read in it!
Nonfiction
Black is the Body: Stories From My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, & Mine-- Emily Bernard
Born Round: The Secret History of a Fulltime Eater-- Frank Bruni
***Shakespeare: The World as a Stage-- Bill Bryson
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, & the Last Trial of Harper Lee-- Casey Cep
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground-- Alicia Elliott
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics-- Stephen Greenblatt
Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood-- Jessica Grose
Comedy Sex God-- Pete Holmes
100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife-- Ken Jennings
***Now I See You: A Memoir-- Nicole C Kear
The World Deserves My Children-- Natasha Leggero
Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History & Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!-- Claire McNear
Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders-- Kathryn Miles
***Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves-- Farley Mowat
The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter & Savior of American POWs-- Robert J Mrazek
The Impossible First: From Fire to Ice-- Crossing Antarctica Alone-- Colin O'Brady
The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, & the Kidnap That Shaped America-- Matthew Pearl
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity-- Esther Perel
We Thought We Knew You: A Terrifying True Story of Secrets, Betrayal, Deception, & Murder-- M William Phelps
The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, & Mutiny in the South Pacific-- Brandon Presser
Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, & Live Bolder-- Reshma Saujani
A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life & Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland-- Troy Senik
All Things Aside: Absolutely Correct Opinions-- Iliza Shlesinger
Missing, Presumed-- Susie Steiner
***Unfriending My Ex & Other Things I'll Never Do-- Kim Stolz
Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body-- Rebekah Taussig
It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror-- Edited by Joe Vallese
The Witches Are Coming-- Lindy West
O My America! Six Women & Their Second Acts in a New World-- Sara Wheeler
Fiction
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer & Longer-- Fredrik Backman
November Road-- Lou Berney
Five Little Pigs-- Agatha Christie
Long Black Veil-- Jennifer Finney-Boylan
*** The Ocean at the End of the Lane-- Neil Gaiman
***The Wind in the Willows-- Kenneth Grahame
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor-- Hank Green
The Thin Man-- Dashiell Hammett
The Utterly Uninteresting & Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant-- Drew Hayes
The Queen of the Tearling-- Erika Johansen
Be Frank With Me-- Julia Clairborne Johnson
***Howl's Moving Castle-- Diana Wynne Jones
The Silent Land-- Graham Joyce
Before the Coffee Gets Cold-- Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Interesting Times-- Terry Pratchett
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts-- Kate Racculia
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle-- Stuart Turton
Quick Service-- PG Wodehouse
Lemon-- Kwon Yeo-sun
