2023 in Reading

/

— Y E A R I N R E V I E W —

What can I say? 2023 flew by. As always, I made some discoveries (noise cancelling headphones, Chat GPT, spicy mayo), grew up a little, regressed a little, established some good habits and didn’t shake some bad ones. Read some books in between. Let’s get to it:

Classic and Lovely: O Caledonia
Subtle, Scary, Satisfying: A History of Fear
The Main Character did WHAT: Waif
Plot Twist Party: The Pale Blue Eye IYKYK
Stranger Than Fiction: The Wager
Fuck Yeah Feminism: Maggie’s Grave
Biggest Disappointment: Exiles
Best Discovery: Preston & Child
Biggest Mindfuck: Penpal
Most Satisfying Reread: TIE - The Fisherman + Night Film
Tried Too Hard: Hidden Pictures
Quintessentially Kelly: Winterset Hollow - horror for lifelong readers
No Regrets: Hex

NEW CATEGORY OF RECOGNITION: Most Memorable

Sometimes books really stick and others fly out of my head the instant I finish them. I never know until months later, or at the end of the year when I’m looking at everything as a whole. Memorable doesn’t mean technically the best, or technically a favorite. Here are the stickiest from 2023:

  • Company of Liars - maybe because this book is so long, and I spent so much time with the characters, but I think about it constantly… especially the ending.

  • The Last Days of Jack Sparks - there are a couple of really insane, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it full circle moments in this story that I’m still not over.

  • No One Gets Out Alive - this book includes several mindblowing sequences, and I found it to be incredibly unpredictable, which I think is why I keep coming back to it… the “reveal” of the Big Bad OMG *shudders*

TOP 5: 

5) Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud is in here mainly due to The Butcher’s Table, which blew me away. Very excited to venture into this author’s other stuff early next year.

4) Stolen Tongues by Felix Blacktongue truly scared me (so rare these days but I keep chasing the feeling). Is it perfect? Absolutely not, but it is an absolute banger of a book and a must-read for horror fans.

3) Krampus by Brom is basically perfect. From premise to plotting to setting to execution to subverting and including the very best tropes, it’s just really fucking fun.

2) Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon - from my review: “This is by far one of the best books I've ever read. Most well-written, most enjoyable, most entertaining, most impressive, most well-plotted... it really tops the lists for all of those categories. It'll be in my best of the year list, and also my forever favorites.” And here we are.

1) A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs takes the top spot! For imagery and themes and trust me when I say this book has style. 

Listen, It’s an angsty, topsy-turvy time. Very heavy. Crushing, sometimes. I really love fresh starts, and I want to believe 2024 will bring good things. But truly the only certain thing is that books will keep providing escape, and I’m grateful for that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!