Your Best & Worst Reads of 2023
grab your shrimp cocktail and gather 'round to see what's up among your fav lovers and haters this NYE!
Congratulations to all of us on making it through another year, leading us to this merry conclusion! Though I spent most of December convalescing, I hope you were all able to get into some hijinks this holiday season. My nebulizer and I are wishing you the very best.
I’m thrilled to unveil this year’s edition of your best and worst reads. There are some overlapping favorites this year (either with books mentioned in previous editions, or with each other), beloved books that have been adapted for film or TV, some hatereads, and exactly one mention of BookTok sensation Fourth Wing. Aren’t you just thrilled to dive in while you’re en route to a New Year’s Eve party?
In chatting with many of you, I’ve learned that reading felt a smidge lackluster this year. Lots of middling sequels came out, but very few standout standalones. A lot of good books got read, but not a ton of great ones. For me, 2023 felt like a year of catching up on celebrations and obligations missed during the height of the pandemic. I had a lot less brainspace for books I knew would bring me to my knees, and I tended to settle for the stuff I knew wouldn’t spur a hyperfixation for the sake of keeping to my social calendar. I’m hopeful that next year, I’ll be more intentional with the quality of what I read and make room for excellence. That’s as close as I’m getting to a new years resolution, anyway.
As ever, I’ve lightly edited and annotated your submissions because this is, in fact, *my* newsletter. I’ve also refrained from linking to any books, since you can look up any titles that intrigue you. Do not ask me about anything related to any mentioned romance novels, because I will plead the fifth.
Steven Rodas will always get top billing in my newsletters, because that’s how you treat a king. He’s suggested that we do a “best re-reads of the year” for 2024, so watch this space!
In the meantime, he named The Wager: A tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann as his favorite read of 2023:
“The only impartial witness was the sun.” Thus starts the best thing I read in 2023: The Wager: A tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann — which I was enticed into reading after the book version of a post-credits scene was stowed away at the end of Killers of the Flower Moon by the same author. Book summary here but in short, an 18th century shipwreck, a mutiny, multiple surviving factions, a job referred to as a “loblolly” — a word I love to say out loud— and a court-martial. Grann displays an uncanny ability to drop you into a world that brims with life and imbues historical (even tertiary) characters with agency while revealing a broader universal truth about human nature at its most desperate, desolate, greedy and/or downright in-human.
Without spoiling, after one seemingly heinous act toward the end of the non-fiction book, the author writes: “If true, members of the Wager’s company had now perpetrated virtually every grave sin under the Articles of War.”
There is no doubt a shipwreck historical non-fiction subculture out here, and whether I’ll join it or not remains to be seen. What I do now know…Hmm. I know port means left. I know lemons cure scurvy. And I know this was the best thing I read in 2023.
Stream The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot, baby. Also play Return of the Obra Dinn in full for a wild shipwreck mystery. Cannot believe you and Martin bamboozled me into watching the THREE AND A HALF HOUR long adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon IN THEATERS.
Speaking of, Martin once again presumptuously named himself as the love of my life in my precious Google Form while lauding When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut. (I simply must note here that it was recommended to me by Three Lives & Company staff while I shopped for Martin’s Christmas gifts last year.)
Martin also cited this review from The New Yorker: “Described by its author as ‘a work of fiction based on real events,’ it is as compact and potent as a capsule of cyanide, a poison whose origin story takes up much of the opening chapter—the first of many looping forays into the wonders and horrors unleashed by science in the past few centuries. It's a fun piece of historical fiction that leans heavily on historical fact.”
He says that if you liked Oppenheimer (2023), you'll probably like this.
My father Scott’s favorite read was David Copperfield by Charles Dickens because “the quality of the writing, the cleverness of the plot, and the relevance to modern times is tough to beat. I don't only think it's easily the best book I've read this year. I think it's one of the greatest books ever written.” Dickens himself loved this book the most, too! I look forward to reading it myself soon.
Dad did not enjoy his time spent reading Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, however. “It reminded me too much of MASH, and the crossword puzzle was more interesting. This may be my problem more than the book.”
Betty Jo H.’s favorite is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, which was inspired by David Copperfield (though it’s set in contemporary rural America).
Lisa named Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon by Larry Tye as her favorite read of 2023. “i'm permanently in a kennedy phase, but this gave me a new appreciation for everything RFK accomplished and (even though i knew how it'd end!) brought me to tears — objectively written but thorough and nuanced, definitely humanized him and didn't focus too much on the more sensationalized storytelling surrounding the family, like the curses, conspiracies and camelot romanticism. highly recommend!” She notes that Netflix's Bobby Kennedy For President makes a great companion piece, since “there are a lot more visuals and recordings than you typically see.” She bestowed honorable mentions upon One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle and fun thrillers by Riley Sager, including The Last Time I Lied.
Lisa’s least favorite read of the year was It Ends With Us by my personal nemesis Colleen Hoover. “The absurd names alone. lily bloom????? zero redeeming qualities!” I’m thrilled to keep sipping the haterade on this book.
Madame Pompadour (aka my mother)’s favorite reads this year included Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, which “brings to life an important period in which women were discriminated against, and the heroine of the novel triumphs anyway,” and Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, “a brilliant evocation of Britain in the early 20th Century, thoughts of a woman in stream of consciousness.”
Leah Roth’s best read of 2023 was Weyward by Emilia Hart:
For fall I was really looking for a cozy read and Weyward delivered! I loved the concept of the novel following three generations of women from the same family tree, spread across hundreds of years. All three women at some point end up living in this family cottage in the English countryside to escape trauma. All three women are also witches, but not in a gimmicky Halloweentown sort of way. More like they are all spiritually connected to nature. Hart also does a great job at describing the cottage, surroundings, etc. - perfect for the ~vibe~ girlies
Keeping with the autumnal theme, her worst of the year was Autumn by Ali Smith. “I saw so many BookTok girls reading this and just didn't get it. Maybe it's too nuanced for me but I found it confusing, boring, and odd!”
And a bonus bad book from her: “I also was sooo disappointed by Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler. The concept is fun and interesting but I didn't like the writing at all. It feels intentionally confusing and verbose in a way that doesn't pay off.” I see this book on stoops across Brooklyn all the time, and I’m guessing it’s because it isn’t all that great. I’ve rarely heard anyone enjoy it!
In a rare twist, JB’s favorite this year was actually a traditional romance novel: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen. JB gets gold stars for not forcing me to write a disclaimer this year!
It was like Tombstone, You've Got Mail, and zombies had an urban fantasy baby wrapped up with delightfully funny writing and extremely endearing characters. It's the first time a traditionally published romance really knocked me off my feet and made me emotional enough to cry. It's not for the average bear—there's a lot of delightfully odd fantasy world building I can see making a lot of people confused—but it's entirely worth the read.
And for JB’s worst, we have Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata: “I'm autistic and like to read about autistic characters. It was pitched to me as witty and funny and insightful, and what I read was just an autistic woman being shit on by her circumstances for 200 pages. I do not trust a single person who laughed at this book.”
Ashdon, in a bid to annually test my love and patience, named Games With The Orc by Kathryn Moon and Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas as their favorites of the year. Sigh.
I honestly did not have a great reading year this year, no five stars at all, so these are the two that came close.
Games With The Orc is the first book in a sweet, spicy new series from my favorite monster smut author, Miss Kathryn Moon. Her books just feel like a warm hug in their depiction of consent-driven kink, and this book struck a great balance for me in depicting both the lead up to the relationship and after.
Heir of Fire used to be my least favorite Throne of Glass book, but on the reread it really pops off. The pacing is genuinely good, the characters have strong emotional development, and the mystery laced throughout ties in so nicely with the overarching plot. I love a badass bitch main character and I will not apologize for it!
As for Ashdon’s worst: “Den of Vipers by KA Knight was the most garbage thing I have ever devoted brain space to. There was one scene with a knife (the girlies who get it, get it) that almost made it at least interesting but beyond that this was just irredeemable. I had to DNF.”
Rachel Upshaw, who wrote a novel of her very own this year(!!!), loved the aptly-named The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donaghue. “Caroline’s descriptions are so brilliant but accessible. The book is a perfect time capsule slice of life with some very surprising ~incidents~”
Nothing but respect for my queen Olivia Crandall, who ALSO wrote a novel this year and also managed to read more than 40 romcoms in 2023 “for research.” ;)
Her best read of 2023 was Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv: “It really reframed the way I think about my own mental health and the mental health industrial complex, and it was the final push I needed to wean off my SSRI. That being said, it's definitely not like, pseudoscience or whatever. More of a collectivist, nuanced view of the shortcomings of psychiatry, as well as how the stories we tell ourselves and other tell us can help or harm us. If you want a more extreme version of this book, I recommend this substack.”
Conversely, “Exit Interview by Kristi Coulter and Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield really ground my gears for more or less the same reason: neoliberal white lady delusion—not the fun kind of delusion.”
Kurt G.’s best read of the year was A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine, due to it being a “great sci-fi angle on empire, 'otherness', and, well, memory.” The worst of the year was From Blood and Ash by Jennifer Armentrout, because “she needs an editor and to cut her worldbuilding in half.” You’re not wrong, Kurt!
Kasey, who started an MFA program in fiction at the University of Oregon this year, loved Sourdough by Robin Sloan, The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie, and Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix:
All of these are fun and ridiculous. Sourdough was fun and ridiculous set in the Bay Area with bread and soup! The Dog of the North was classic McKenzie (I loved The Portable Veblen, read in 2016) of fun and ridiculous hijinks, barbecue and one yappy animal! Horrorstor is literally a haunted house story set in a knock off IKEA. I used it to teach setting in my Intro to Fiction class. (I do think Hendrix should write a new version of it, the writing doesn't have his cinematic voice/storytelling that drive his newer books). It's fun and ridiculous until it's not.
I no longer have time for sad, dense books in this sad, dense world. These three books helped heighten my mood this year!
I love sad books, but I am also a known lover of Robin Sloan (particularly his newsletters). I also love that Kasey is teaching undergrads an Intro to Fiction course, where she learned that the children loved short stories by Anthony Veasna So and HATED Alice Munro. Appreciate this intel!
Maddy’s favorite read of 2023 was Bad Dolls by Rachel Harrison, which might just be her Roman Empire. “On average, it's probably popped into my mind monthly since I read it. It changed my perspective on what horror is and has inspired my own creative jaunts. Each story seems genre at the start but ends up swerving to address emotional demons. And goblins. I highly recommend it. I'd suggest it to my book club but they hate my suggestions :)” Goblins are not for the faint of heart, Mads!
Unfortunately for me, her worst read of the year was The Guest by Emma Cline. “It was dull. I got less than halfway through when I had to return it on Libby and I couldn't be bothered to place it on hold again. Just like the plot couldn't be bothered to have a point.” I loved rolling my eyes at this book, but I agree it had next to no discernible plot.
This year, Ashley’s extolling the virtues of The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski:
This collection of interrelated short stories introduces you to Geralt of Riva, the main character of the Witcher series and I lowkey love him. He's old and crotchety but very skilled at what he does and he cares about the "people" behind the monsters. I found myself engaged with each short story (a rarity for any short story collection) and the writing is just *chef's kiss.* If you've seen the first season of the Netflix adaptation, you will be familiar with most of the plots but I would still recommend reading it. If you have any interest in playing the Witcher 3 video game, it is a hard requirement to read the whole 7 book series or you will miss out on so much in the games – it's references to the books left & right.
The works of Piper J Drake did not do it for Ashley, however. “I really like her as a person/on this podcast I listen to, but man she just cannot write and it makes me so sad!”
Mel, who is perhaps the only other living person who witnessed gay age gap Shucked with me, named Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang as a 2023 favorite: “It's queer, it gets weird in the best kind of way, and it's not getting the buzz it should have.”
An honorable mention goes to Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, “which tbh is my real pick but I wanted to highlight something that didn't get as much attention. Other honorable mentions go to Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez, The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo, and Lone Women by Victor LaValle.”
A highlight of *my* 2023 was hearing about Mel’s least favorite book, The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni:
The writing was awful, I assumed it was a typical straight white man wish fulfillment thriller but apparently the author is a woman so she should know better. There were so many ridiculous things said about puzzles that I had to stop sending screenshots to the group chat because I was going to end up just accidentally forcing them to read the entire book.
When I convince Anna to give me my own hate reading column in the newsletter (note from Anna: the column is YOURS for the taking), you all can also be subjected to quotes like "His fame after Time magazine christened him the most talented puzzleist in the world" and "That is the nature of the puzzle: to offer pain and pleasure by turns." Solving a rubik's cube is described as akin to having great sex or completing a marathon. The main character has a very specific puzzle savantism that was caused by a football injury. The puzzleist keeps having sex in his dreams with Lilith, the succubus from the bible. A large part of the plot hinges on porcelain being the most divine substance on earth for some reason and also there's a whole middle section of the book devoted to a secret cabal of Jews making a porcelain golem which is..... A Choice. There's something called the god puzzle, which is maybe the key to immortality and also there's a haunted doll.
Just when you thought you couldn’t hear anymore about this book, Mel sent in an addendum:
I cannot believe I forgot to mention this but also despite the fact that the golem was created by Jews in 1909 they somehow included a line of computer code in the Hebrew which is the key to quantum computing and also immortality. And most importantly of all. Also 75% of the way in, the puzzle savant reveals he can also learn any language fluently because grammar is just a puzzle. The big reveal at the end of the book is that the key to the puzzle was the secret name of God and guess what folks, GOD IS NONBINARY. A direct quote from the book "it means that gender-fluid people are the most perfect reflection of God."
Anyway there is a sequel planned and that will probably be my worst book of whatever year it comes out in/the debut of my hate reading column.
Mel’s hate-read column is coming to an inbox near you soon, folks.
Kayla, my personal canadian goose, loved Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. “It was gay and had dragons. Why WOULDN’T it be the best thing I’ve read? 🤨” So true bestie so true.
Her least favorite was definitely The Puzzle Master in solidarity with Mel, based solely on the excerpts we heard in the aforementioned group chat. I think it’s really *our* least favorite book now.
The Only Emily selected two absolute bangers as her favorite reads of the year: Confessions by Kanae Minato and Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers.
There's "best thing I read this year for me personally" and "book that I loved and will recommend to everyone." Confessions was a book written specifically for me. I love fucked up little mystery and this one delivered. None of the POVs gave you what you expected, and it resolves in such a way that you're genuinely shocked. 5 stars for my brain which has been broken by reading more mysteries/thrillers than any person should.
HOWEVER, I've recommended Psalm for the Wild-Built to basically everyone this year and I can't not mention that here. It's so impactful and delightful, and a very quick read. I loved the future that Chambers builds and the main character is a little bit relatable for all of us. I cried on an airplane reading this book. (The follow up is great too, but does drag a little in the middle).
As for the worst, Emily is coming in hot to obliterate some very popular books. I stand by her unconditionally.
Once again this year, I am submitting a book with over a 4.0 rating on Goodreads. This is actually a really close call between The Bodyguard by Katherine Center or Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, but I think the latter made me more mad.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is unbelievably overhyped, to the point where I'm not sure that everyone else and I read the same book. One of our main characters is an overgrown man-child with one of the most annoying POVs I've ever read in my life. I cannot understand how people got past this.
The draw for this book is the octopus character and I got nothing brilliant or insightful from this POV like I was promised I would. His observations about humanity are all things I've heard before, and if an octopus could be considered a deux ex machina, He has information he has absolutely not a single reason to have, despite what I'm supposed to believe about his observational skills. (Note: when I was googling this book to make sure I had the author correct, the autofill in google said "Remarkably Bright Creatures: Give the Most Beloved Book of the Year this Christmas". Absolutely no.)
Ross reports that Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang “just edges out” A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers or Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez as his favorite read of 2023. “They all have very different vibes, but the hope and tragedy in Four Treasures of the Sky is so profound that it's stuck with me literally all year.”
His least favorite was Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth. “This got good reviews, and I expected to like it. But most of the book is just the main character talking about her petty and perceived grievances rather than anything of actual interest. The blurb feels like a mislabeling.”
Nicole’s favorite read was Penance by Eliza Clark. “It was not only a fantastic fictional true crime story that examined the whole genre but it also was the most (possibly only, and I've read a LOT of fandom books) accurate representation of being on Tumblr in the 2010s I have ever seen.”
Her least favorite was Y/N by Esther Yi, “because it was pretentious nonsense and even though I paid for it, after I read the line ‘the man's own lips suggested that if he had labia, they'd be parched and aloof,’ I simply could not do it anymore.”
This line, of course, has made the book skyrocket to the top of my list for its deranged audacity.
Kat also named Penance by Eliza Clark as their favorite of 2023, while their least favorite was The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon.
Chloe K, who served popcorn and kolaches at her iconic wedding, named Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung as her favorite read of 2023. “The fantasy mixed with sci-fi mixed with horror mixed with sometimes what felt like a hopeful ending was chef's kiss! I know it has been described as genre defying and it felt like that in the best way possible!” I’ve been sitting on this one for too long and will have to rectify that in 2024.
Chloe did not enjoy Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca, though, and it sounds like I wouldn’t either. “Take your pick: incredibly unresolved plot lines, the non plot point carrying MULTIPLE rape scenes, a weird deus ex machina ending (for SOME characters) and just the lingering over all question of ‘why were we forced to to witness an exercise in pointless violence of it all?’ Maybe I’m in the wrong for liking scary ghost stories over ‘edgy displays of hate crime violence’ so sue me.” You’re probably not in the wrong, that sounds miz.
Madison’s best read of the year was The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan: “So much to think about! Similar to The Handmaid’s Tale but more nuance and different perspectives.”
Her worst read was Spare by Prince Harry, which “needed heavy editing.” Cannot believe todgergate was this year.
My personal tastemaker Chelsey Saatkamp selected the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel as her favorite read of the year. “This was so hard to narrow down because while I read a lot of mid books this year, the standouts REALLY stood out. But Hilary Mantel's masterful writing stuck with me the longest. Her ability to immerse you INSIDE Thomas Cromwell's psyche...let's just say it adjusted my brain permanently. Here I am thinking I too could become a mega-wealthy Machiavellian puppetmaster simply because my boy Crumb made it seem so easy and reasonable. (Well, at least until the very end.) Historical fiction at its finest!!”
Other honorable mentions from Chelsey:
Best Horror: Rouge by Mona Awad. “This may appear as some people's worst of the year lol, but wow did it work for me.”
Best Fantasy: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by SA Chakraborty. “Liked it more than City of Brass, even. More middle-aged women as fantasy leads, please!”
Best Classic: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. “So mad I took this long to read this gothic masterpiece.”
Best Contemporary: Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. “Hilarious, razor-sharp and real.”
Best Nonfiction: From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty. “If you too enjoy thinking a lot about death.”
Best Romance: Fly with Me by Andie Burke. “Biased because I helped beta read this emotional and steamy sapphic romance but I knew as soon as I did it was something special.”
Best reread: The Hunger Games series. “This took the culture by storm for a reason!!”
Let’s also not forget Chelsey’s iconic journey with Ms. Rebecca Yarros this year: “Nothing sums up this year more to me than getting an ARC of Fourth Wing at an event at the beginning of the year, reading it, thinking "that was fine, whatever" and then it becomes the biggest thing of the year and said ARC becomes a COLLECTOR'S ITEM. I think I officially do not understand the zeitgeist anymore!” I scream, you scream, we all scream for the goofy dragon sex books I guess!!!!!
And there you have it! Cheers to 2024 — hope it’s an even better year of reading for us all!
Omg the sweetest shoutout!!! May my writing someday bring the same di$dain as Colleen Hoover 🤑🤑