favourite books of 2023: The Secret History, Beartown, and more
and some detailed notes on each of them
Talking about books, why we love them and recommend them is such an intimate and personal thing. I often find I really get to know others by the books they read. And it’s amazing to connect with people over a book and create a community that shares your bookish endeavours.
But not all books are for everyone, and that’s something I really learned in 2023. That’s why I will make it one of my goals in 2024 to longer force myself to finish a book purely because it’s hyped up or my favourite bookstagrammer raved about it. I really want to tune into my own likes and therefore write more honest and detailed reviews (I share a lot on Instagram but I want to include more detail on here from now).
This is all to say that I’d love it if you tried these books, but it’s important not to feel any pressure to read something if it doesn’t feel like your thing.
I didn’t get to my reading goals for 2023, alas. But I am beyond glad to say that I have discovered some absolute gems this year. And I just want to gush about them to you. I’ve listed them all in the order I read them in.
Book no.1
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I started the year off well with the infamous The Secret History. After having read and loved The Goldfinch a few years ago upon a recommendation from my mother, it was time to try my hands at the dark academia novel. And it didn’t disappoint. Donna Tartt can write highly suspenseful novels that are full of descriptive as well as emotional moments.
The Secret History is a murder mystery, but you already know whodunnit from the start, so it’s really more about the narrator recounting the events leading up to it and after. A page turner with a cult full of rich, self-absorbed individuals obsessed with Ancient Greece at an esteemed college.
Although it took me some time to get through it (I started it in 2022), it was a beautiful long ride and I’m already aching to read it again. The whole pretentious college aesthetic really scratches an itch I didn’t know I had. It’s funny writing about this novel now, as I recently saw the appraised movie Saltburn, which has such a similar setting, vibe and plot. I’d love to discover more in this overarching genre.
Book no.2
Boy, did this book make me fall in love with reading all over again. This was truly the hit of the year for me and has quickly made it into my top 5 all-time favourites. Plus, I discovered an author I’d never heard from before which really felt all the more special.
Beartown may look like a book about hockey, but it’s so much more than that. It covers topics that grip you right from the start as it switches between narrators and unravels a story from multiple perspectives that’ll break your heart and yet heal you in a way too. One thing is for sure, Backman has a talent for writing well-rounded characters that bring light into an otherwise dark place. Haven’t sobbed this hard after turning a page in a while. So I thank you for that, Backman.
Later in the year I also picked up the sequel in the Beartown series called Us Against You, and it picks up right where Beartown ends. Although the novelty of the book was gone, it was still beautiful. I was in a little bit of a Backman frenzy after this and picked up A Man Called Ove, which I sadly didn’t enjoy as much. But I’ll definitely read the third installment and try my hand at Backman’s other work in 2024 and I’m hoping to find something that’ll ignite a fire in me as much as Beartown did.
Book no.3
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
I may have only rated this 3 stars on my Goodreads, but I need to put it on my 2023 list because of the way it has stayed with me until the end - and that obviously has to do with the fact that the movie came out. Although I haven’t seen it yet (shame on me), I’m beyond excited to, since it’s so perfectly nostalgic.
If you didn’t already know, this is a prequel about President Snow, the tyrant behind the evil voyeuristic games.
Overall I found it a great villain origin story that doesn’t lean into the I-so-feel-for-the-villain trope. The book is a must for anyone who enjoyed the original Hunger Games series, as it really feels like more of the same. And I’m not complaining.
Book no.4
A dark horse in my reading this year was Fourth Wing, a romantasy book which transported me back to my teenage years binge-reading Vampire Diaries. It may just be a fantastical romance story about a girl at a dragon uni developing a romantic bond with both her childhood friend and her new enemy, but it’s so fun and gave me all the giggly feels. And Yarros wrote the dragon - an iconic fantastical element - with incredible depth, which isn’t easy.
Book no.5
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
I can’t even begin to explain how much I related to this memoir. I definitely don’t have Dolly’s past, but there’s just something about being in your twenties as a (in my case late) millennial that has a way of bonding us.
It’s a funny and beautifully honest memoir about the intricate and multiple ways to love and be loved. I marked a lot of passages I’ll be coming back to in the future.
Book no.6
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Another nostalgia-inducing read on the list but only because it has that YA style writing and plot to it. It’s reminiscent of John Green’s oeuvre in a way, and that may not appeal to just about everyone. But it did to me.
Two people meet and connect over videogames and we follow their friendship as it spans almost 30 years; observing the highs and lows as they experience a load of life’s trials and tribulations. It’s not a love story, but it’s a story about love - love we find in art, friendship, shared understandings, and the actions of others.
I may not have been the perfect audience for this novel were it not for my own love for videogaming as a child. Reading this book really transported me back to that childhood excitement over a new game and the late nights hiding under the covers playing through another level of Zelda. But I don’t think you need to love or have loved gaming to adore this story - it really is more about the importance of friendships and the creative genius that certain relations can bring about in one another.
Book no.7
This one left me absolutely devastated. The way Plath writes about the struggles of young women, the need to conform to societal roles and mental illness is so poignant, it’s almost scary how relatable it still is decades later.
It’s about a woman in New York working a dream summer job as a guest editor, but she finds herself misaligned with her peers and what’s expected of her, unable to join in the collegial quest to discover one’s identity. Lots of mental breakdowns and a psychiatric rabbit-hole follows. It’s definitely befitting of the #sadgirl genre, but it is altogether something else and way ahead of its time.
And the fact that it’s semi-autobiographical is simply uncanny. If only Plath knew how crucial and influential her writing has been.
Book no.8
Twisted and unhinged. I devoured it.
This book follows an unreliable narrator who deploys a manipulative, fetishistic female gaze by photographing interesting looking men. It’s quickly obvious something eerie is going on though, as her subjects turn into victims. I won’t say this is my favourite book ever, but it’s thought-provoking and unusual.
Although it can often feel a bit slow, it’s transgressive and very memorable.
Book no.9
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Just wow.
I know a book like this isn’t for everyone, as it’s not heavily plot-driven, but it spoke to me on so many levels. It gave me all the feels - longing, sadness, inspiration, nostalgia, hopefulness, ..
Cold Enough for Snow is about a daughter traveling with her mother through Japan in an earnest attempt to connect. The yearning to understand herself in connection to her mother and simultaneously the drift that occurs between them as they share stories is extremely profound and gives a lot of room for introspection.
Short but sweet, and 100% recommend.
Book no.10
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
A short and beautiful 47 pager about a man reminiscing over what could have been the love of his life. I wrote a dedicated blog post about it here.
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