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Wednesday, December 27, 2023

What I'm Reading: Becky's Best Books That I Read in 2023

For the seventh year in a row, I am doing my best books that I read during this calendar year in a category list rather than in some kind of ranked order, Why? Because why I loved these particular books matters more to me than the order in which I would place them. How I interacted with them, how they affected me, how they stayed with me over the course of the calendar year, this is what is most important because it is why they are my on personal "Best" list.

Some of the categories are the same from year to year, others change. This is because the books I read create their own experiences and categories to me personally and I want to capture that experience each year along with the titles. I am not a robot, I am a human reader, even if reading and suggesting titles is my job. In order to remind myself [and all of you] of the joy in what we are paid to do, I strive to create a year end best list that captures, celebrates, and acknowledges that.

By this time, lots of people have already weighed in with critically acclaimed "best" lists for weeks now, but I always wait to post this until end the year here on RA for All. So I am keeping that tradition. [This is my last post until I return from vacation on January 8, 2024.]

I also wait to post because my list is about my reflections on myself as a readers over the last 12 months. It is not just another best list. This is a list that is personal to me, my tastes, and my weird quirks. You can use it to help other readers, yes, but because it is so specific to me, it is actually better used by you as a conversation starter. (Click here for my post about turning conversation starters into displays)

For example, you can ask people "What is the most fun you had reading a book this year?" or "What title was the biggest surprise to you?" Those are questions readers can answer much more quickly and easily than "What was your favorite book?" And these are the types of questions that engender dialog.

The categories I have listed here provide great conversation starters to offer to your patrons. You can even use my answers to keep the conversation going by saying, "I was thinking about this question because Becky said [fill in the title] as her answer."

The point of my "Best" list is to both offer books that I loved this year, while also presenting an example of a regular reader view of a "Best" list.

Below you will find my list of the best books I experienced in 2023 [regardless of publication year] in 14 categories created by meIt is an arbitrary amount, but so what? It's my list of what mattered to me the most this year so I get to decide how I present it. Each title links to a longer review which will explain why it is the "best" book for that category.

Some general comments about my list this year. Compared to last year, when I was on the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellent in Fiction and Nonfiction Committee, I did not read in many books outside of Horror and I barely read any nonfiction. But, that was a good thing. This year was a refreshing break after the intense reading for work last year. While I loved that ACM experience, having a year to reset and read only what I was assigned for review and what struck my fancy during the times between deadlines, was necessary.

[For more about the unique reading year that 2022 was for me you can read my 2022 Best Books I read post here.]

Click each title below for reviews and more appeal information

And for my backlist of Best Books I Read post, you can use the blog archive at the bottom of every page in the right gutter. I make sure this annual post is always one of the last posts of the year, that way when you click on the year, it is one of the first posts that pops up.

I'll be back on January 8, 2023 with Part 1 of my Reader Resolutions. Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Now what you have been waiting for.....the list!

Becky's Best Books I read in 2023

Best Feel Good Read: Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune [sweet, engaging, character driven]

Book That Stayed With Me All Year and Best Debut: Chlorine by Jade Song [weird, wonder, extreme unease]

The Most Fun I Had Reading a Book in 2023: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle [neurodiverse MC, cinematic, religious cults]

Best Book From 2022 Best Lists That I Read in 2023: Tomorrow and Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin [Relationship Fiction (Friendship), Thought Provoking, character centered]

Best Surprise: Better Living Through Birding: Notes From a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper [Surprising, Engaging, Reflective]

Best Speculative Fiction: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus [harrowing, survival thriller, moving character study]

Best Horror: My Top 10 Horror for 2023 is posted here. If forced to pick a single "best" title I choose The Reformatory by Tananarive Due [engrossing, 360 degrees of fear, nuanced]

Best Graphic Novel: Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky [fun, nuanced, thought provoking]

Best Audio: When the Angles Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb [Jewish Folklore, Historical Fantasy, Richly Plotted]

Best Historical Fiction: Lone Women by Victor LaValle [pervasive unease, strong sense of place, masterfully paced]

Best Collection: Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman by [immersive, intensely unsettling, utterly original]

Best Nonfiction: 101 Horror Books To Read Before You're Murdered by Sadie Hartmann [Genre overview, participatory, conversational tone]

Best WTF Read: What Kind Of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman [body horror, psychological horror, viscerally terrifying]
Editor's Note. This is a brand new category, but as I said in The LineUp last week:

WTF For the Win: Maybe it is because we have all lived through some wild times recently, but this past year, there were a handful of books that took a left turn, sending the story down a path that, in less talented and imaginative hands, could have been disastrous. Instead, in these novels, it is exactly the authors’ willingness to take those risks that made them some of the most memorable reads of the year. 

I have a feeling this category might stick around. Time will tell. 

And that's a wrap on 2023. See you next year!

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