Well, another year has come and gone, and it’s time again to hammer out the top ten reads for the year. Can you believe it? Seems like I was just typing up this list for last year not all that long ago!
I have to admit, it was kind of hard to put this list together this year. 2023 has been a time of intense struggle for both my husband and me. Things just kept happening. Every time we turned around, some fire or another needed put out. Writing struggles, Hollywood strikes, car accidents, health scares, and to cap it all off, we had to put down not one, but two darling feline fur babies this year. That says nothing of the events going on in the world at large, and how trying those can be! Sometimes, it was a real struggle to keep up on my book stack.
However, the show must go on, and so must the reading! And I’m happy to say that some absolutely wonderful books found their way to me this year, and I managed to narrow it down to ten amazing titles, plus some honorable mentions, to put on this list for you. Books that, in their own special way, helped me get through such a challenging year. By putting things in perspective, providing me an escape, answering my questions, or just giving me the comfort we all get from curling up under a blanket, sipping some coffee (or wine…lots of wine…), and reading. You can’t put a price on that, can you? 😊
So, without further ado, here are my top ten reads for 2023 – in no particular order:
Someone Knows My Name – Lawrence Hill
One of my first reads of 2023, I just happened to see this book peeking out at me from the library shelf, and the title seemed intriguing. Now, I know Aminata Diallo’s name, and I won’t soon forget it. This detailed and astoundingly researched historical fiction novel had me absolutely hooked. From her horrific capture from her homeland in Africa as a little girl, to her journey across the sea on the slave ships to the plantations of South Carolina, then to Nova Scotia after the Revolution, then back to Africa, then eventually to London, Aminata’s life across the world was gripping, gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, but in its way, hopeful. Because she made a difference. A really big one. Not just in the people close to her, but to her entire community. This book had a huge impact on me, and I didn’t stop thinking about it all year long.
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry
Will all the Friends fans in the room please stand up? Chandler Bing has always been one of my favorite television characters of all time. So as soon as I heard that Perry was penning a memoir, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy as soon as humanly possible. It was a fast read, one that I finished over just a couple days. Perry’s heartbreaking story of addiction was brutally honest, painful, and tragic. But the way he helped people with their own struggles, and the beautiful things he had to say about faith and higher powers – well, it helped me keep my own faith in check over a year of immense challenge. I will always be thankful to him for that, among many other things. I learned about Matthew Perry’s death while in the middle of our annual Halloween Bash. We immediately put the Friends theme on to give tribute. Tribute to a wonderful human, a comedic genius, a helper, a friend. All the love to Matthew Perry. He will be sorely missed.
Five Little Indians – Michelle Good
This book follows five characters, boys and girls, who were kidnapped from their parents as children and forced into boarding schools for Natives. Some escape, some are released, all endure horrific abuse. Then, they are sent off into the world with no real chance to get ahead. While the book itself is fiction, the stories are all too real for countless Native families over generations who lost children to these schools. However, the story is also a great testament to the strength and survival of the Native/Indigenous communities who have been subject to so much pain and injustice. I highly recommend this book as a way to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, which will hopefully help us somehow right the wrongs.
Hidden Valley Road – Robert Kolker
There’s a lot we as a society don’t understand about mental illness – especially Schizophrenia. A disease that has been misrepresented and often-times completely skewed by pop culture, which doesn’t help when it comes to sufferers and their loved ones. Robert Kolker’s book, which follows the very real journey of a couple who gave birth to twelve children, and had a whopping half-dozen of them diagnosed Schizophrenic, sheds a lot of light on this troubling disease. Alongside the story of the Galvin family, Kolker lays out all the latest research on Schizophrenia, the dizzying scientific journey that got us the information we do have, and ways that we can work together to better the lives of sufferers.
11/22/63 – Stephen King
What would you do if you could go back in time to 1958? Enjoy the poodle skirts and happy-go-lucky music? Or try to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy? For Jake Epping, the answer is quite obvious. Stephen King’s horror stories aren’t my typical genre of choice, but this book falls well outside the horror realm and is more of a time travel thriller – with the most intricate details and plot devices that will keep you guessing, reading, and engrossed. Two thumbs way, way up for this incredible novel that was worth every page. And there are a lot of them, but like I said. Totally worth it.
A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
I’ve seen her name everywhere. And I mean everywhere. So this year, even though fantasy isn’t one of my typical genres, I went ahead and picked up some books by Sarah J. Maas. The first one I tried was Crescent City, which didn’t really do it for me. So when a friend recommended the ACOTAR series, I was hesitant. And indeed, it took me a few chapters to really get into it. But once I was in, I was all in. Feyre’s story is action-packed, and pumped full of dazzling triumphs, terrible tragedies, glittering magic, and swoony romance. And while I very much enjoyed the first book, it was the second one that really put this series over the top for me, as we learn more about the people along Feyre’s journey, their true alliances, and their actual motives. And can we talk about the ending? What an ending. Geesh! Such an amazing story, I can’t wait to continue with the series next year.
A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
A long time ago, I had a friend named Dan (click here to learn more about him). When he passed away, I didn’t think I’d get to see him in this lifetime again – until I picked up “A Man Called Ove” on the recommendation of a friend. Suicidal tendencies aside, Ove reminded me so much of Dan, right down to the pesky cat that is constantly weaving in and out of his ankles. A touching story of a man at the literal end of his rope who manages to find comfort and hope in friendship, even when he thinks he doesn’t want it. This book was a beautiful reminder of the power of kindness, the impact we all have on others, and the wonderful experience of connecting with other humans. It was a comforting message right exactly when I needed to read it, and it felt like a friendly hello from my dear friend Dan.
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
When “the Martian” came out in 2014, I gobbled that book up faster than Mark Watney does his Martian-grown potatoes. Because I do have a bit of a side-hobby interest in astrophysics and quantum mechanics, and I found the story pretty hard to resist. While I didn’t get around to reading Artemis, my dad, who never really steers me wrong with reading, strongly recommended Project Hail Mary. So much so that he even lent me his own cherished copy. Project Hail Mary once again has a nerdy but oh-so-likeable science guy, Ryland Grace, racing against the clock to solve one space problem after another, but this time, life on the entire planet Earth is at stake. He also gets help from a most unexpected and unlikely place. With two major plot twists that left me reeling, and an unexpected focus on the beauty of friendship, Project Hail Mary was just as juicy of a read as the Martian. Plus, science. All of the science.
Last Second in Dallas – Josiah Thompson
Since this year marked the sixtieth anniversary of the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy, it seemed only fitting to pick up some books on the subject after years of letting my old Kennedy volumes collect dust. Back in my teenage years, when I studied this subject somewhat intensely, my absolute favorite assassination book was Josiah Thompson’s “Six Seconds in Dallas.” Released in 1967, it was one of the first volumes to openly challenge the Warren Report. Although it did so sensibly, focusing solely on the evidence available and leaving the more theatrical theories to the side. I was floored to find out that Thompson released a sequel in 2021. A book that focuses primarily on acoustical evidence to piece together what may have happened in Dallas on that tragic day, while also detailing Thompson’s personal experience with the Kennedy assassination, providing rare inside glimpses of the House Select Committee on Assassinations and other subsequent investigations. While I’m still not sure what actually happened that day, reading this book felt like brushing off an old piece of myself. And that in itself was immensely enjoyable.
The Marriage Portrait – Maggie O’Farrell
“Hamnet,” a book also penned by Maggie O’Farrell, made my top ten list the year that I read it. So I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that the wildly talented O’Farrell has made it onto my list again. This time with the chilling, based-on-a-true-story novel about Lucrezia, the quiet and demure daughter of the Grand Duke of Florence circa the 1550s. Her life seems pretty set and comfortable, until her sister dies unexpectedly, and Lucrezia must step in to fill her shoes – right down to marrying her betrothed. With the stroke of a pen, Lucrezia is shoved into the royal limelight and all the political intrigues that come along with it. And when she has trouble producing an heir for her turbulent husband Alfonzo, her situation becomes ever more precarious. Another amazing work by Maggie O’Farrell, I was hooked from start to finish.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Spare – Prince Harry
This book dropped into the world with quite the media splash, and I had no real interest at first. However, I eventually picked it up just to keep up with the literary pace of things. The book surprised me, being a very real and sometimes very emotional account of what Harry has been through – focusing heavily on the tragic death of his mother in 1997. For this tell-all book, Harry managed to snag a heck of a ghost writer, who worked in a lot of beautiful and eloquent writing.
The Book of Two Ways – Jodi Picoult
This is my first foray into the Picoult world, and I lapped it up with great enthusiasm. The book is essentially two stories in one, exploring two directions main character Dawn’s life might have gone. One laden with Egyptology and adventure, one laden with family and dealing with death. Which way the dice falls all comes down to a plane crash. With a twist ending that packed a punch, this book definitely left me interested in reading more Picoult.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask – Anton Treur
I randomly found this book at the library, on a display set up for Native American Heritage Month. The title spoke right to me, because yes, as much as I want to learn, I’m often afraid to ask! The last thing I’d want to do is give offense. Luckily, author Anton Treur makes it easy with this book. Indeed, it’s packed with everything you’d want to know about the Indigenous community. Give it a read and learn!
And that’s a wrap for 2023! Let me know about your 2023 favorites in the comments below!
See my Top 10 Lists from other years: