Every month this year, I posted on Facebook what I’d read and which books I liked (all those posts are public). With the addition of serious use of Audible this year, I powered through so many books (and just mind your business about the 50 unread books in my Audible queue, it’s a lot neater than a nightstand).
In total, I read (and I consider an Audible a “read” too) 71 fiction books and 28 nonfiction.
I decided I’d write about my top 5 fiction reads because as you can see from my annual count I love fiction, and I only have one truly “favorite” in nonfiction. Before delving into the individual books, I wanted to mention a few *new-to-me* authors this year I really enjoyed even if their books didn’t make it into my top 5 list. They include Abby Jiminez, Sara Nisha Adams, JoJo Moyes, Nita Prose and Kevin Wilson. I read more than one book from each of them and I hadn’t ever read any before this year. Some of my regular favs also made appearances in my queue this year, including Kristin Hannah, Katherine Center, Ann Patchett and Emily Henry. I tackled a few classics I’d read numerous times before and I plan to do it again in 2024.
Top 5 Fiction for 2023:
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams – I have recommended this to everyone. The story is told from two character’s perspectives, every other chapter. Mukesh is a widower living in London and desperately missing his wife. Aleisha is a teen girl who stumbles upon a crumpled “Reading List” of books at the library where she works. As each character reads the books from the list, the story unfolds and they develop a unique connection which winds around to a beautiful ending. In addition to being original and moving, this also sparked the desire of me to read other books from this Reading List. I read Rebecca for the first time, which I loved; I reread Pride and Prejudice which is still my number one book of all time; and I added Little Women and Beloved to my reread list.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – There are so many beautiful Hannah reads, but this is my new favorite. Set in the 1970s, in the wilderness of Alaska, the story takes places over the years of the protagonist’s teenage years alongside her hippie mom and abusive Vietnam vet father. It is beautiful and sweeping and intimate and utterly heartbreaking and I cried at the end and I haven’t done that in a while. It stands alongside Four Winds as some of her best work. This year I also read Magic Hour and Winter Garden by Hannah and would recommend both of those as well if you get addicted to her writing as I have.
The Maid by Nita Prose – I was torn with whether to put The Maid or The Mystery Guest in the top 5, but I had to select The Maid because it is the book that starts it all. I fell in love with Molly the Maid and found her voice charming and original. She reminds me every so slightly of one of my beloved childhood heroines, Amelia Bedelia. Molly is quite literal like sweet Amelia and her careful study with how to engage with the more ordinary among us is poignant. While her loneliness after the death of her gran is sad, she is not pitiable but rather endearing and plucky and I love getting the bottom to this fun mystery.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson – I’d never read Wilson before and now I’ve read three of his books. This is the clear stand out. He’s a weird genius. This book is about two children who spontaneously burst into flames, and that’s all I’m going to say, and it doesn’t give anything away because they’re on fire on the cover. The story tells so much more than what’s on the page and I love how bizarre and wonderful Wilson’s imagination is.
Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes – this was a tough one. I actually read five of her books this year. My first one was The Giver of Stars which is period fiction and the strength of the character and nature of the women’s friendships nearly won out over Someone Else’s Shoes. This one is set in modern day England and isn’t a classic “best of” book but I loved how the two lead women characters grew and transformed from this one pair of shoes and how their stories ended up dovetailing into each other’s with a wonderful ending (life’s too short for only hard tragic endings).
With an honorable mention of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I go back and forth on this because I listened to this book on Audible narrated by Meryl Streep. The narration was excellent. I’ve talked to several friends who have read it now and I wonder whether I would have just thought the book was “good” if it wasn’t for Streep’s performance which made it “great” for me. So ultimately I moved it to an honorable mention because the story does start slow, but it was in the top 5 for most of this post. I loved the lead character’s reconstruction of her youthful love affair and how it ultimately paved the path for the beautiful life she led.
And while I don’t have a nonfiction book in my top 5, It.Goes.By.So.Fast by Mary Louise Kelley would absolutely be the number one pick on my nonfiction list. This shares the story of Kelley’s oldest son’s senior year and her work to slow down her career to be able to experience it. She’s had an extraordinary career but sometimes that’s come at the expense mothering two sons. The story about the school nurse calling her while she was in a war zone in the Middle East and her feeling so helpless felt incredibly relatable. If your kids are growing up too quickly, as mine are, and you fight being everything for everyone, this is a must read.
As for the books that I am MOST looking forward to in 2024, the first is absolutely The Women by Kristin Hannah. I can’t wait! I’ve also preorered Alex Michaelides’ The Fury which releases this month – he wrote The Silent Patient which was a crazy twisty thriller and I expect this to be as well. Daisy Goodwin’s Diva is about to drop, historical fiction about Maria Callas, and I thoroughly enjoyed her earlier books, The American Heiress and Victoria. Some of my other favorite authors have new books dropping in the next 6 months, including Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray, Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez, The Twilight Garden by Sara Nisha Adams, Funny Story by Emily Henry, The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson and The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center. SO MUCH GOOD COMING! I’ll be here to give you the skinny when I tackle them.
Sound off! What did you read this year that I must pick up? What should I avoid? (If you’re curious, I would warn you off of the horrific Colleen Hoover, I tried one this year and was disgusted; also I didn’t like Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post, Lincoln in the Bardo, The Jetsetters, An Immense World, and several Hilderbrand’s.)
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