2023 Reads
Another year passed, and another batch of books read. While in 2022 I somehow exclusively read fiction, all without turning a physical page (Kobo reader), 2023 was my reintroduction to non-fiction and the odd paper book (shock!).
Pushing me towards non-fiction in 2023 was my desire to deepen my knowledge and understanding of world events. If I want to know about something, I read about it. Much respect for people who can learn through podcasts and documentaries. These formats just don’t work for me, so I stick with good old words on the page/e-reader. I have a feeling I will read even more non-fiction in 2024.
So, here is the list of what I read in 2023. I’ve included a little commentary on what I thought of each book. As I did in my 2022 post, I’ve also included the link to each book on Good Reads, just click on the book’s cover to head there for more information.
Fiction
Drowning - T.J. Newman
Downing was my favourite fiction read of 2023.
Author T.J. Newman is a flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author. Her two books are, well, about aeroplane crashes.
Drowning, quite simply, is about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean. It sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside. An extraordinary rescue operation to save them plays out, with a relationship drama smack-bang in the middle.
It’s a thrilling, fast-paced, fun, intellectual blockbuster of a read.
I’m quite sure I read it in two days.
SO keen for Newman’s next book!
The Ferryman - Justin Cronin
I don’t usually eagerly await the launch of books, but this one I was looking forward to after having loved Cronin’s ‘The Passage’ trilogy.
I feel that my waiting was well rewarded with this novel. Cronin takes the reader on a twisting and intellectual journey in this multilayered and continually developing sci-fi tale. The characters are all super interesting, and their depth expands as each new dimension of this story unfolds.
There are survivors on an island utopia. There is psychological drama. There is social unrest. There is a whole lot of action and fun.
I admit it’s all a little tried and tested. The book doesn’t deliver anything groundbreaking for seasoned sci-fi readers, it’s true. But thanks to the great character development and word-building I still enjoyed it right to the end.
The Blood Tide - Neil Lancaster
I think the last book I read in 2022 was the first of this series. I must have enjoyed it, seeing as the first book I read in 2023 was the second in the series!
This was fun to read, I think Neil really locked in his ‘Scottish crime thriller’ format and seemed to start having more fun with the characters and plot.
Perhaps it’s all a bit cookie-cutter for some. I mean, it’s police procedural fiction, so don’t expect too much groundbreaking stuff here. Just enjoy the characters and the satisfaction of corrupt police being brought to justice.
The Night Watch - Neil Lancaster
Book three in the DS Max Craigie series. Full of Lancaster’s now trademark twists and turns, and of course the standard amount of killing, thrilling and blood spilling expected in a fast-paced crime-thriller.
Just like the last two, this was fun and engaging. A great escape-read for a busy work week. Sure, I didn’t really learn anything, but it was fun. Isn’t that a good outcome from a book sometimes?
Blood Runs Cold - Neil Lancaster
Book four of the DS Max Cragie series, and it’s much of the enjoyable same - with a human trafficking mystery and Albanian organised crime thrown in.
Best of the series thus far - despite the formulaic nature.
The Whistling - Rebecca Netley
I always leave a horror novel wishing I had been scared more.
This really was enjoyable to read, with engaging characters and locations. Rebecca captures the atmosphere of a Scottish island so well - I was really drawn into the location. The book entwines a lovely sense of location with it a mysterious ghost story. Creepy yes, deeply scary no. It was a good middle ground, and I really enjoyed it.
Please send me your horror recommendations.
I want horror to truly freak me out! While this didn’t, it was still a great book.
A History of What Comes Next: A Take Them to the Stars Novel - Sylvain Neuvel
This was such an interesting concept. A revolving mother-daughter team from an alien race who guide humanity over generations to develop space flight. A unique concept for sure, but I found the book slightly lacking in depth - and while I was constantly wanting to understand the characters better, the book never seemed to deliver on that point.
Still, there were some super fun moments in this alternative-history experiment, which I am sure are continued in the two other books in the series. I won’t end up reading them though.
The Last Human - Zack Jordan
A clever, futuristic sci-fi in which the last human in the universe (Sarya) lives out an expansive adventure as the adopted daughter of Shenya the Widow - a giant, spider-like creature. This story kicked off so well. I was thoroughly enjoying it until around halfway through when I found the plot got a bit wayward and increasingly hard to follow.
I enjoyed the start so much that I pushed on, although I’m not entirely sure it was worth the brain power to follow Sarya’s journey amongst the philosophising and the lengthy and confusing dialogues that made up the second half of the book.
I’d give Zack another shot, and will keep a lookout for his next novel - here’s hoping there is one coming.
The Fireman - Joe Hill
The reviews of this book had me at “worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion”.
For the majority of this BIG book (768 pages), I was very much enjoying the read. It sure took me a while though, and ehhh at the end things got a bit messy and I didn’t quite like the ending. But that happens - and regardless, I still loved the whole ‘people bursting into flames and mastering control of their personal, internal fire-ability while the world is ending’ vibe.
Flaming fun!
End of Story - Louise Swanson
This is a good book!
Clever. Dystopian-ish. Very well written.
Louise Swanson wrote this novel during the 2020 COVID lockdowns and in the aftermath of a family tragedy, something tangible to me throughout the book.
There’s not much that can be said without ruining the plot of this compelling read. What led me to read this was the book’s setting of 2035, several years after the government had banned all fiction. Novel writing is illegal, and to read a fairytale is punishable by law.
It’s difficult to describe this novel. It’s quite unique, and I found it very enthralling.
I highly recommend it.
The Sisterhood - Katherine Bradley
1984 is one of my favourite novels - and this feminist perspective of Oceania, Big Brother and the Brotherhood is a worthy expansion on George Orwell’s chilling look into the future (present?).
I see Katherine Bradley as incredibly brave in writing this book, and I’m so glad she exercised that bravery and gave readers another 400 pages of dystopian, anti-party vigilante action.
I’ve read some reviews that wish Katherine had expanded Orwell’s world much further than she did - but from reading her Acknowledgments, it appears Katherine was committed to writing within the world created by Orwell. I think she did that fantastically, and that The Sisterhood was every bit intriguing, frightening, enjoyable and important.
Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir - Jeremy Barlow, Juan Frigeri (Illustrator)
Yes, I read a Star Wars graphic novel.
It took me two hours on a summer afternoon, with an ice-cold beer and some salted nuts.
It was fun.
The End of Men - Christine Sweeney-Baird
This was the second ‘pandemic chaos’ book that I read this year. I guess they do say to write what you know, and well, who of us doesn’t know pandemics!
Anyway, it was more the idea of a world without men that attracted me to this book initially. The concept is pretty simple. Virus breaks out. It only kills men. The world (now mostly women) needs to figure out how to survive.
While I did enjoy some of this book, especially thinking about some of the complexities of a world that suddenly loses most of its male population, the writing style frustrated me a little. I found there to be too many characters, with not enough attention given to each of them. Also, the stories of each of the characters/women felt a little too similar - I wanted a bit more, and there could have been so much more!
Still. An interesting plot line, and it led me to do a lot of pondering. Worth a read.
The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson - Leah Purcell
Set in Snowy Mountains High Country in the late 1890s, this is a fantastic reimagining of the classic Henry Lawson short story which weaves in race, gender, and a whole lot of violence.
I loved the gothic-western style that Purcell brought to this novel, which was adapted from her award-winning play, and has now been adapted into a movie.
As many reviews have noted, there is a rapid shift from third to first person throughout this book - some readers might find that a bit distracting.
There are many sad, ugly and confronting moments in this book - which is a true telling of what life was like for women and First Nations Peoples in High Country in the late 1800s. Despite some flaws in writing, I found this quite a gripping story that is well worth reading.
Ring Shout - P. Djéli Clark
I love a good novella - and this certainly was one!
Ring Shout is a fictionalisation that builds on the horror that was the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. With top notch storytelling, the power of hate to breed hate is explored with the introduction of demons called Ku Kluxes. It is oh-so enjoyable to follow the lead female resistance fighters as they use blade, bullet, and bomb to fight these demons and stop them from expanding their hate throughout the entire globe.
The level of world-building and character development in this short book is a testament to Clark’s talented writing. It’s really great work.
If you’re ok with a bit of supernatural horror, and you like a fast and thrilling read, I sure do recommend this book!
Hench - Natalie Zina Walschots
So, I initially abandoned this book halfway through - I was bored. Then I missed it. So that’s something, I guess? I returned to it, and the story started to pick up again from halfway. To be honest, at times it felt a little too like reading my day-to-day office life, with a small villain/hero twist...but on some strange level, I enjoyed that.
Hench is simply a story following a young woman’s career as a supervillain’s hench. From temp worker to, well, you’ll have to read it to find out, I guess.
I enjoyed this - it was familiar yet unique. I will be reading the second in the series when it comes out later this year.
Aurora - Kim Stanley Robinson
I’m a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson’s work. I think the NYT quote on the cover of this book is totally accurate “If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson.”
Aurora is a tale of humankind’s first journey beyond the solar system. It is scientific, philosophical, and a thoroughly detailed description of the possible complexity of space travel. I really enjoyed reading this book, especially the musings of the ship’s artificial intelligence throughout the voyage.
Great hard science fiction.
Non-Fiction
Going Home: A Walk Through Fifty Years of Occupation - Raja Shehadeh
My favourite non-fiction read of the year by far.
What a beautifully written memoir, analysis, and historical journey through 50 years of Palestinian life. Raja Shehadeh revisits Ramallah, the town in the West Bank in which he grew up (and which is currently being subjected to ongoing violent and deadly raids by the IDF), and allows us into his heart and the personal and political history of his people.
This is a generous and touching book. It is a meditation on joy, pain, hope, and despair. Reading it felt like an honour.
In the book's final pages, Raja writes:
"For fifty years I've been possessed by the feeling of insecurity whenever I come back to my house. Will this precariousness ever come to an end? Nothing lasts forever: not this occupation or these turbid murmurings of my heart. The day will surely come when I will be free of apprehension. Yet for now I needn't dwell in fear, for at long last I have found what I was searching for, my home, and no one can take it away from me."
I hope you find the space to read this book. It will enrich your soul and be worth your time, I promise.
The Declaration of the Rights of Women (The Original Manifesto for Justice, Equality, & Freedom) - Olympe De Gouges
Well, I enjoyed this presentation of Olympe De Gouges’ manifesto, The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen, so much that I wrote a blog post on it. Take a look at the post so you can view some of the fantastic images within the book, and how they visually express the articles from De Gouges’ manifesto and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine - Ilan Pappe
Ilan Pappe is one of Israel’s New Historians, who used the release of British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980’s to rewrite the history of the creation of the modern state of Israel.
Born in Haifa, Israel, and now residing in the UK, Ilan’s writings have resulted in him being directly spoken against by the Israeli Government, along with receiving death threats by post, email and phone.
Once you read ‘The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine’, you might understand why.
There is much I knew about this period of history, but reading this book was a revelation. Pappe’s work is meticulous, shocking and so densely packed that it took me a few months to get through this significant piece of academic work.
There’s not much more I’ll say here, except this book is an absolute must if you want to learn about the events of 1947/48 through a critical historical lens.
This is an enriching and comprehensive exploration of antisemitism. Julia Neuberger provides a detailed and distressing account of the historical background of antisemitism and of its ongoing influence around the globe.
There is a timely, and well-written chapter in which Julia breaks down her understanding of the difference between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of the state of Israel.
I highly recommend reading this book, right up to the chapter about antisemitism in the British Labour Party … which I found far too detailed, party-specific and outdated to warrant my reading.
An important and timely book - I recommend reading this.
How to They/Them: A Visual Guide to Nonbinary Pronouns and the World of Gender Fluidity -Stuart Getty
This little gift of a book is everything to do with They/Them - discussed with grace, humour and kindness!
I scored this delightful book from a second-hand stall and proceeded to read it in one sitting. The illustrations are so great, and really help make the book an enjoyable read.
Stuart Getty brings the writing, and Brooke Thyng the illustrations - all you must bring is acceptance and willingness to learn. Do that, and this lovely little book will gift you a joyful experience.
This Book Thinks Ya Deadly!: A Celebration of Blak Excellence - Corey Tutt (Illustrations by Molly Hunt)
Recently, I finally landed a copy of this great book at an airport during a 4-hour flight delay and proceeded to read most of it without delay.
This is a fantastic compendium of the success and diversity of the lives and careers of over 70 First Nations Peoples. Each turn brings a page of text alongside a fantastic illustration from Molly Hunt - it’s such an enjoyable experience to turn the page and see who you will be reading about next.
I’ve been following Corey Tutt’s journey on LinkedIn for years now, and it’s no secret that I am a big fan of his success and the good that he does through the organisation Deadly Science.
I liked this so much that I purchased another copy for my workplace’s secret Santa this year!
I really appreciated the range of fields in which people are celebrated throughout this book: sport, art, activism and science, politics, education, and literature. Reading about the deadly accomplishments of familiar people, as well as those I’d not yet heard of, was really uplifting and inspiring.
