NPR’s Books We Love. LitHubs Ultimate Best Books. NYT’s 100 Notable Books. CBC’s Best of the Year. I love booklists. I love making lists from booklists. Then collecting, curating, and chugging books all year, while dodging library due dates, cramming audiobooks in the wee hours, and juggling finances for the hardcovers I want to own (which is always too many).
This year I managed to tackle 64 books. And what good is reading if not to share what resonates? This list isn’t a personal pat on the back, but more a desire to post the covers I felt were worth all those eyesore hours.
(And my hope is that you’ll share what you loved with me in the comments, and I can start 2024’s booklist with a bang).
Here are my picks for 2023 releases, and some slightly older books I read this year.
2023 Books
A swack of current releases were consumed this year. Graphic novels Roaming and Homicide, Elliot Page’s Pageboy, Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful, Emma Cline’s The Guest, and Heather Radke’s Butts (a journalistic probe into culture’s obsession with asses) really stood out. Conversely, some of the year’s most hyped books (Yellowface, Chain-Gang All-Stars, Age of Vice), though enjoyable, fell short for me, with underwhelming payoffs and tiresome voices.
These eight, though. Wowza.
1. Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
A deep dive into the “mirror world” of right-wing political agendas, conspiracy-fuelled podcasters, anti-vaxxers, and the diagonalist ‘Mom Army’ Steve Bannon eggs on. Terrifying, yet hopeful—and because she’s Naomi Klein, so readable and engaging.
2. Wellness by Nathan Hill
A 600-plus-page feat of satire and marriage malaise, Wellness is essentially about one Chicago couple’s waning relationship. But Hill fills the space with wicked narratives about 90s culture, placebos, identity, health trends, art, difficult kids, douchebag real estate agents, and annoying modern work culture (onboading! online cache!). Hill’s descriptions feel fresh, funny, and bang-on.
3. Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You by Lucinda Williams
Like her raw and honest lyrics, Lucinda Williams pours out the details of her Southern upbringing and her inevitable pull toward words and music. The daughter of poet Miller Williams, Lucinda grew up playing in Flannery O’Connor’s yard (chasing peacocks!), and the stories just get better from there. I highly recommend the audiobook, where you are led by Lucinda’s drawl and lived-in voice.
4. Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
Set in 1974, during the turbulent Boston school integration and busing protests, Small Mercies is a gritty mystery led by the foul-mouthed mother of a missing daughter. Lehane is so damn good at setting and dialogue, I felt like a South Bostonian for the entire read.
5. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
I love unbelievable true stories, and this one is just bananas. A short and captivating read, The Art Thief unravels the story of the most prolific art robber in history, who stole over 300 European works between 1994 to 2001. These heists are so lo-fi and bold, the book should be subtitled The Most Expensive Shoplifting Spree Gone Wrong.
6. Comedy Book by Jesse David Fox
Vulture senior editor Jesse David Fox is the only comedy journalist all the creative comedians respect (and probably the only comedy journalist, period). Erudite and completely comedy-nerdy, this book is a master’s thesis on modern stand-up and the cultural needs it serves.
7. Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan
A chilling account of the rise-and-fall of Ku Klux Klan grand dragon, David C. Stephenson—and the woman who finally brought him down. The events took place in the 1920s, but the blatant misinformation campaigns, fear of outsiders, and politicized racism is frighteningly close to today’s world climate.
8. Monsters by Claire Dederer
Can we still enjoy art from ‘canceled’ and awful people? Journalist Claire Dederer asks this question in part memoir, part essay, and part mind-bending analysis that had me questioning a lot of things, including myself. The reader snakes through her thought process, while wondering how we distance artists like Woody Allen, J.K. Rowling, Roman Polanski, Michael Jackson, and Pablo Picasso from their important cultural touchstones.
Favourites From The Last Few Years
I also caught up on some lingering titles from my past to be read lists…and these five really stuck with me:
1. The Overstory by Richard Powers (2021)
Characters entangle like roots in this extraordinary epic, where trees serve as metaphor, connection, story, and life.
2. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki (2022)
B.C. Islander Ruth Ozeki weaves the tale of a little boy who hears voices in everyday objects into lessons in Zen and how to grieve. An incredible read.
3. Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2022)
If you haven’t read this one, do it soon. In our new reality of AI, this story of an Artificial Friend developing feelings of loss, is extremely poignant.
4. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate (2009)
The only book you will ever need on addiction, from B.C.’s visionary physician, writer, and Main and Hastings foot soldier, Dr. Gabor Mate.
5. The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner (2019)
This intense woman’s prison story makes Orange Is the New Black feel like a Hallmark TV movie. A true page-turner.
Now You Show Me Yours
The pile of unread books scattered across my room and teetering on my nightstand gives me serious anxiety. Really, it’s a thing.
Next up, I’ll be cracking David Grann’s The Wager, Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act, and Kevin Chong’s The Double Life of Benson Yu.
And what the hell…will you please add to my TBR anxiety? What books did YOU love this year, older or new? I want to know and start a new pile…
Have a happy holiday, fellow Chasers! I am very grateful and motivated by the number of subscribers and the positive reactions I’ve had from this newsletter. Thank you and see you on the flipside!