I have no idea how many books I read in 2023. I used to do the Goodreads challenge every year and came to rely on it for keeping count, but I gave up back in the summer when it began glitching. Some books were logged, others weren't and the reading dates seemed to slip all over the place. It was probably user error on my part, but it was enough of an interruption to make me realise that I don't really care how many books I read. It's not a race and I'm not interested in bragging rights. What I care about are stories that move me, stay with me, and make me think.
So, here in no particular order, save for genre, are my most memorable reads of 2023. I've probably forgotten some, but I suppose that rules them out of being memorable anyway! This year, I'll be making a list in my diary.
Fantasy
- The Stranger Times, C.K. McDonnell (Books 1 to 3
- A Court of Mist and Roses, Sarah. J. Maas (Books 1 – 3)
- Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher
- When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill
- Earthlings, Ray Star
- Spells for Forgetting, Adrienne Young
- College of Shadows, Mark Wells (Books 1 -3)
- The Plague Stones, James Brogden
- A Canadian Werewolf in New York, Mark Leslie
General fiction
- Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Crime
- The Running Grave, Robert Galbraith
- No Sweet Sorrow, Denzil Meyrick
- The Last Devil to Die, Richard Osman
Non-fiction
- Writing the Shadow, Joanna Penn
- Citizens, John Alexander
- Ultra-Processed People, Chris van Tulleken