2023 reading recap

Stats:

• 42 books read (my lowest since I started tracking in 2020). 5 were nonfiction and the rest were fiction.
• Of the 42 books, 10 were published between 1900 and 2000. 9 were published before 1900.
• Oldest book read: Evelina, published in 1778 (rating: 5)
• Newest book read: Glossy, published in September 2023 (rating: 4)
• 22 5-star ratings, 6 of which were rereads
• July and December were the months in which I finished the most books (five for each month)
• April and May were the months in which I finished the least amount of books (only two per month).

Of the 16 new (not a reread) 5-star ratings, my five favorite books were:

• Honey in the Horn (1935) by H.L Davis, a coming-of-age western with a plot that moves and a compelling protagonist. I like Oregonian westerns. I heard about this book through a book of essays by Le Guin. I originally checked out from the library, and the book I checked out was an actual first edition. I’ve never had that happen before!
• The Jump-Off Creek (1989), a super tight novella that’s also an Oregonian western and also has a great Jane Austen-esque proposal that ends in a definitely-not-Jane-Austen way. Molly Gloss is author of The Hearts of Horses (one of my favorite books) and The Dazzle of Day (a book I thought was just okay). I’d previously started Falling From Horses and stopped just a few pages in so was hesitant to try another one, but The Jump-Off Creek was great. I subsequently tried to read Wild Life and again bailed out after just a chapter or so. Le Guin calls Gloss the true literary heir of H.L Davis.
• A God in Ruins (2015), which Kate Atkinson (one of my favorite contemporary authors) describes as a companion piece (not really a sequel) to Life After Life, another one of the best books I’ve read in the last few years. It covers the life of Teddy Todd, brother to Ursula Todd (protagonist of Life After Life). I avoided reading A God in Ruins because I thought it would just be about WWII – in Life After Life, Teddy is a RAF pilot. But I’m so glad I read the book, because it was so compelling and not too “war-y”. It didn’t have the time loop structure that Life After Life had, but the ending made the connection between the two books and the time loop framework clear in a very satisfying way.
• The Latecomer (2022) by Jean Hanff Korelitz, a new author for me. The book is about a wealthy family in New York City that has triplets in the 1980s and when the triplets go off to college, have another child. I devoured this book in two days while on honeymoon in London. I liked the really rich, dense descriptions, interesting but not fully likable characters, and fleshed out minor characters. The book spans multiple generations (mainly two) but it’s still tight and not just about the characters – the plot is good! Everything wraps up in a satisfying, cathartic way in the end.
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891). I’ve technically read this before, but I’m not counting it as a reread because I previously just skimmed it for a class. On my first “actual” read, it was great. The criticism and judgment Tess continually faces feels relatable and current, though maybe not in its extremity.

I read two 2-star books this year, Matrix by Lauren Groff and Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. I read Matrix on recommendation from my mother-in-law only to find out later that she didn’t actually like the book.

My biggest disappointment books of the year were Trust (it won a Pulitzer and was recommended by Anne Helen Petersen, plus I thought it had a cool premise) and The Wall (cool dystopian premise, which I first read about in this article, plus I’m trying to read more translated fiction). Trust was overwrought and too stylish, plus the twist wasn’t really worth it. It has four sections, one of which was an unfinished manuscript that had a lot of notes (“flesh this out”) and sentence fragments. Another section was a diary with a ton of abbreviations (“prob.”). Both of these things were grating.

Two choice comments about Trust from Goodreads reviewers:

• “It's just the author sort of patting himself on the back for reaching the most basic level of conclusions about these topics. "People with money get to control the narrative!" "Women are treated like props for men!" "Behind every great man is a woman!"”
• “Joint winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Which doesn’t suggest American fiction is in a very healthy state.”

Other notable reads were The Semi-Attached Couple and The Semi-Detached House, both by Emily Eden. I’d been casually looking for a copy but couldn’t find one. I finally found an early edition in Bath Old Books in Bath, England. I also loved (and read in about two days) In Memoriam by Alice Winn, despite it being a war book.

In 2024 I’d like to finally tackle Lakota America, and would like to continue my slow walk through Gaskell’s books and read Mary Barton.