Top Reads of 2023
This past year I was able to finish 108 books as of the time of writing this on Dec. 21, and while I'm sure to finish more before the year-end, my pace will undoubtedly slacken as I come to deal with the hectic realities of the holiday season. So I determined that now was as good a time as any to talk about my top reads of 2023.
I think the best way to do this is to split them into very generic groups and rank them within those. So what follows will be the top five reads in Fiction, Non-Fiction, Other (I know that 'Other' is a bit ambiguous, but it is what it is), and Rereads.
Top Fiction
Parts of this list were no-brainers, I’m talking of Crowley of course, and others have me still pondering whether they were right or not. I’m fairly selective in my reading so I’m not likely to start a book, much less finish it, if I don’t think it will not be enjoyable.
(I couldn’t keep myself to only 5, so this category get 7!)
- Little, Big by John Crowley
- Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley
- Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson
- Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- True Grit by Charles Portis
- Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka
Little, Big
For anyone that knows me, it should be no surprise that Little, Big, John Crowley's epic quasi-fantasy novel of family, memory, and the world of faerie has placed this high. What might be surprising is that this is my first read of it! I had put this off for a few years because I doubted it could match the Aegypt Cycle in sheer majesty, and I was right. I was also worried that it might be as good as, if not better, which I found unbelievable and rather distressing. Overall I needn't have worried, while Crowley has written them both, Little, Big is something altogether different. It appeals to a larger audience and that is understandable, but it still has those aspects of the occult, Hermeticism, and memory-play that appeals to me most about Crowley's work. On it's own it is a masterpiece of modern fiction, and only in comparison to the Aegypt Cycle, is it lacking.
Top Non-Fiction
- The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation by Scott Carney & Jason Miklian
- Long Live the King: The Mysterious Fate of Edward II by Kathryn Warner
- Dionysus: Myth and Cult by Walter F. Otto
- The Last Days of Smallpox: Tragedy in Birmingham by Mark Pallen
- The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones
The Vortex
I had not expected this book to stick with me as long as it has. I finished this book in March, and I'm still thinking about it all these months later. It isn't an easy book to forget. It is about the largely forgotten Great Bhola Cyclone and the resulting civil war that would split Pakistan into two separate countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It says a lot about the powers that be that this story is not more commonly known about, likely due to the less than stellar response from the West, including the United States and Great Britain, who unwittingly caused at least part of the tragedy when they exited India. This story has it all political intrigue, war, environmental disasters, horrific villains, and the unyielding human resiliency that was able to overcome it all to bring, if not victory, a sense of balance to that area of the world which has since stabilized.
Top Other
- Cato Maior de Senectute by Cicero
- Oresteia by Aeschylus
- Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV
- I Am Hero by Kengo Hanazawa
De Senectute
I just finished this a few days ago, and it will be a standard text as I age I have no doubt. Cicero presents Cato the Elder speaking with two younger friends about how he can stay so positive in the face of great age and death. It is a marvelous work that reminds us all that youth and middle-age are not the end of one's life, and that without question old-age is a natural stepping stone along life's journey that is filled with just as much wonder and discovery, and pleasure as the previous years. It should be required reading for all, but especially for those "of a certain age."
Top Rereads
- The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
- The Inferno: A Verse Rendering for the Modern Reader by John Ciardi
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
- The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
The Name of the Rose
What really needs to be said here? This book is timeless and is one of my all-time favorites.