Best Books of 2023

 

Best Books of 2023

FICTION

In 2023, i read over 100 books, and many were very good. I tried to pick my top 10 each in fiction and nonfiction. This was much easier with the nonfiction, since I read mostly fiction. I also found, that like the Oscars, the most recently read books were easier to pick as favorites as they were more clearly on my mind. While I love Limberlost, I did wonder if it would have made the top ten if I read it last January instead of in December. Please let me know what some of your faves were in 2023, they may make my 2024 list. 

                     

        

 

Limberlost by Robbie Arnott

Set in southern Australia, Limberlost tells the story of Ned, a teenager living on an orchard with his father and older sister during WWII, as they await news of the two older brothers who have been called up to war. Ned wants to work to buy a boat, but he doesn’t want others to know of his desire to buy a boat. The writing is idyllic and describes the flora and fauna of this southern island, dry and spare, just like Ned’s father, a man of few words, and a holder of secrets. While the book imparts brief scenes of Ned’s life after this pivotal summer, the main story takes place over two or three months of his life.

 

When Women Were Dragons  By Kelly Barnhill

Alex, the main character in this story, is a young girl when there is a mass dragooning in 1955. Although men could dragon, almost all the accounts of dragoning are of women who suddenly metamorph into dragons. This was recommended to me by a friend and when I first heard of it, I was not too interested because fantasy is not my favorite genre. But, I decided to trust Rosie and read it. Wow! The women generally dragon when life in the real world becomes unbearable, largely because of an inhumane husband, lover or boss. Alex’s aunt dragons during the mass dragoning. And her parents take in the young daughter, Alex’s cousin, who becomes her beloved sister. Over the next 10 years or so, Alex lives her life with questions. What is dragoning, does it really happen, why won’t her mother acknowledge the loss of her sister, why do men refuse to talk about dragoning as a real thing? This book deals with feminism, misogyny, family relationships and education of women. A great read! Barnhill has also won a Newbery Medal for her children’s book  The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

 

Disappearing Earth By Julia Phillips

I first read Disappearing Earth because my sister is good friends with the author’s aunt. I read it again in 2023 because one of my bookclubs had picked this. I was blown away a second time. I think I liked this book even more on the second read. Told through interlocking short stories, this is roughly the story of two young girls who disappear from the coast of eastern Russia. Each short story is connected to the theme of disappearing in some way and is also connected to the disappearance of Sophia and Alyona. Phillips is a young author, but was able to convey the feelings and personas of a variety of characters, men and women, young and old. Her portrayal of the girls’ mother, how devastated she was, how hard it was to go on living her life without her daughters is visceral and touching, without being cloying.

 

Tom Lake By Ann Patchett

When Ann Patchett has a new book out, I am not far behind in reading it. This is the slow moving story of Lara, her husband Joe and their three adult daughters as they all converge on the family cherry orchard in Michigan during the pandemic. Lara tells her daughters the story of her time as an actress and her brief affair with a man who has since become a mega-star. All three daughters have distinct personalities and they enjoy this story for a variety of reasons. Lara is immersed in the story as well. There are parts of the story that are not told to the daughters, but the reader is privy to, as any mother would desire to keep some secrets for herself. In addition to the plot and multiple characters, the reader learns much about cherry orchards, and the somewhat peaceful life on a family farm.

 

Hello Beautiful By Ann Napolitano

This is a beautiful book from the opening line to the end. It is the story of four sisters, growing up in Chicago, their dreams and the reality of their lives as teens and then beyond for several decades. It is also the story of disfunction within a family and parents who make mistakes (don’t we all!). As the oldest sister, Julia knows what she wants and she goes after it, first a husband, William, then a daughter. Sylvie also seems to know her own mind, but she approaches life more cautiously than Julia. When an event in their lives interrupts their sisterhood and friendship, there is great sadness, but they both go on with their separate lives. In the meantime, the two youngest daughters grow up and live their lives as passionately as the two older sisters. Spoiler alert: there is an attempted suicide that is described so realistically that it may trigger memories for some readers. Overall, the book is as beautiful as the title.

 

In the Orchard By Eliza Minot

Maisie is a young mother with four children, the youngest a newborn. She worries about money and her children and life in general. This short novel is a stream of consciousness over one night and day. During the day, Maisie and her husband take the children to an orchard to pick apples. Not much happens, but it is evocative of that period of my life, newborns, sleepless nights, money worries, all of it very familiar. And I just noted that this is the third book I picked this year that has to do with an orchard. Weird!

 

 

Birnam Wood By Eleanor Catton

This is a long, somewhat complicated novel, set in New Zealand. It starts in a large city, maybe Christchurch, with a collection of guerilla gardeners led by Mira. Mira’s motivations are not always pure, but she tries. And in this case, she is trying to make some money with the gardening so the group can make more of an impact. She is alerted to a tract of land that seems to be available located further south on the South Island. But, she is unaware that this land is being used by an American billionaire who wants to build a bunker for the end times. These two meet and agree that they can both use the land, although Mira has no idea what the billionaire is up to. From there, there is intrigue, jealousy and rekindled old loves as well as a surprise ending.

 

Fellowship Point  By Alice Elliot Dark

The story of two eighty+ year old women, Agnes and Polly, who have grown up together outside of Philadelphia with summers spent on a point of land on the coast of Maine. This exclusive enclave has been their refuge and they wish to preserve it for future generations as well as the animals who live there. Agnes, a spinster,  is a children’s book author, something that very few people know as she uses a pseudonym and does not do interviews, etc. Polly has had a long, somewhat happy marriage and has grown sons and grandchildren. The book jumps back and forth in time, so we get much of the backstory of these two women’s lives. It is a well-told story of people trying their best to do something good. While not all events are peaceful, the overall feel of the book is peaceful.

 

Pineapple Street By Jenny Jackson

Sasha has married into a uber wealthy family in Brooklyn and is gifted the family home for her and her new husband to live in. Just one caveat: they cannot move or get rid of anything. The living room is full of old furniture that is not her style. The bedroom’s are full of the siblings’ memorabilia, which she cannot even move into storage without someone getting mad. Her husbands’ two sisters live close and drop in on a whim. They each have their own problems, which add spice to the story. If you are a fan of family fiction, you would love this one.

 

The Violin Conspiracy By Brandon Slocumb

Ray is a young black violinist who has inherited a Stradivarius violin from his grandfather. Although from a very poor family with few resources, Ray has risen to be a star violinist and is on the move across the country, playing with the best orchestras in the biggest cities. Then his violin is stolen and then the family who “owned” his enslaved ancestors claims the violin belongs to them. This is a good mystery with a large helping of music. Slocumb makes the music come alive on the page. And he’s from North Carolina!

 

NONFICTION

      

         

           

 

 

 

Genealogy of a Murder By Lisa Belkin

While visiting her mother and new stepfather, Belkin learns of the story of a murder that her stepfather feels partly responsible for. It seems that when he was a young doctor, he worked briefly for the armed forces, overseeing experiments with malaria medications on the inmates. One of the inmates was helping him in the lab and asked for a letter to go to the parole hearing board. After much deliberation, the doctor wrote a letter praising the work and work ethic of the inmate. When the man was released on parole, the doctor helped him get a job. Subsequently, the former inmate robbed a bar and in running away he killed a police officer. The doctor, now in his 90s still has remorse over this incident. Belkin turned this into a nonfiction book that reads much like a novel. In addition there are sidenotes about Leopold and  Loeb, the notorious killers of a young boy who killed just to see if they could get away with it, as well as the prison parole system, both quite interesting. Very well done!

 

Tiny Beautiful Things  By Cheryl Strayed

Writing as Dear Sugar in The Rumpus, Strayed answers letters from readers asking for advice. This is not your typical Dear Abby advice. For one thing, the answers are generally several pages long, with digressions and examples from her own life. For another, Strayed’s language is sprinkled with expletives that would definitely not have been published in most newspapers during the Dear Abby time period. I had read Wild years ago and found Strayed to be arrogant and way too forthcoming in her memoir. So, I was not looking forward to reading this when it was picked by our library bookclub. But I was pleasantly surprised. Strayed dishes out advice with a sympathetic tone and often seems to hit the right balance between directly telling the advice seeker what to do and giving options and rationale for making a wise choice. If you can get past the language, you may find some nuggets of wisdom for your own life here.

 

Necessary Trouble By Drew Gilpin Faust

Born in 1947, Faust was raised in gentile Virginia to become a southern belle. At least that was what her mother expected. Faust, herself, had other ideas. She grew up to become the first female president of Harvard University. In this memoir, she recounts her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, giving us a picture of her as a dedicated anti-racist in spite of the racist environment in which she grew. Faust spent two summers with a Quaker sponsored multi-racial student group touring Eastern Europe and then the American South. She learned about oppression, in Europe and the US, and became dedicated to the cause of racial and economic justice. The memoir is extremely readable and gives us a picture of a young woman who had many advantages, but still had to overcome the disadvantage of being a woman in a man’s world.

 

In Love By Amy Bloom

Amy Bloom writes with passion about helping her husband, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, to plan and carry out his death with the aid of Dignitas, an organization in Switzerland. Bloom spares the reader no psychological pain, both observed in her husband and felt by herself as they went through this ordeal. When Brian first began to exhibit signs of dementia, he expressed a belief that he wanted to decide for himself when to leave this world. It is not legally possible to do this within the US and Blook began searching for a place where Brian could be assisted in taking his own life. This is such a personal decision and difficult for many to determine what is right or wrong. Blook makes a case for the right to make this decision as a family and Brian and Amy’s extended family all were involved with this decision. Don’t expect to read this without tears.

 

Master Slave Husband Wife By Ilyon Woo

Woo rewrites the true story of Ellen and William Craft, both enslaved people in Georgia wanted to have children, but were adamant that they would not do this while they were still in bondage. So, they formulated a daring plan: They would pose as a white gentleman and his servant/slave. Ellen was fare skinned, thanks to the rapes of her mother and grandmother by white owners. They dressed Ellen as a sickly traveler and William took great care of him/her on the train ride out of slavery. Upon reaching Philadelphia, they were assisted by many free blacks, former enslaved people, and white abolitionists, making their way eventually to the Boston area. But, even there, they could not relax, as the law was clear that anyone could arrest runaways and force them to return to their “owners” in the south. The Crafts travelled to England and spent many years there, finally returning to the US after the Civil War. These are two brave people with a strong love and an even stronger desire for freedom. The author is Korean American and has done a great job with researching and writing this story.

 

Paved Paradise By Henry Grabar

Grabar looks at our cities with a different and very interesting lens. What makes cities grow or stagnate? What is raising the cost of both residential development and shopping centers? What is causing headaches for city commissioners all across the world? That would be parking, according to Grabar, and after reading this book, I totally agree with him. He talks about regulations for number of parking spaces and how it raises the cost of apartments exponentially, pricing many low and medium income folks out of affordable housing. He describes the city council of Chicago, which sold the income from parking meters in their city to a large financial institution, ending up costing the city more than they were paid. Nightmare! And he offers a few solutions that just might work. While the subject of this book sounds boring, the writing and the stories told make it anything but! Even if you do not own a car, you will be fascinated with this book!

 

 

Go Back and Get It By Dionne Ford

 

 

Benjamin Banneker By Rachel Jamison Webster

I have put these two together because they have so many similarities. Both women are writing about their own history, their current lives, cousins and connections as well as their ancestry. One (Webster) is white and the other (Ford) is black, and both have a mix of white and black ancestors. At some point, a branch of Webster’s ancestors chose to pass as white, moving out of the caste of blackness as it existed (and still exists within the US). Both women became obsessed with this research and both found similar roadblocks. There is often a dearth of information on the ancestry of black Americans because they were not seen as human and their life events were not recorded as they were for most white people; oral histories are not always accepted, even when different branches of a family can testify to the same oral history; when a family has both white and black branches, there are often surprises as well as disagreements on what happened and why. Both of these books are fascinating stories and include hard topics that must be addressed in our country today.

 

Trailed  By Kathryn Miles

In 1966 Julie Williams and Lollie Winans were camping in Shenandoah National Park, exploring their relationship, and enjoying the wilderness. Sometime in the middle of the third night of their trip, they were murdered. The killer left few clues, and the murder was investigated by a variety of jurisdictions, the park service, the state police of Virginia, the local police. But no one could come up with a name or a face to arrest for this murder. Forty + years later, Kathryn Miles decided to look into this murder. She contacted one of the original investigators, read police reports, went to Shenandoah to see the location for herself and worked with a myriad of people online who were acting as amateur detectives. She also explored crime within the national parks. It turns out, in spite of the denial of those who run the parks, campgrounds and trails within the parks are not all that safe for women. Even two women traveling together are not very safe, as proven by the murders of Williams and Winans. Other women have also been attacked and killed within the huge confines of our national and state parks, but many of these incidents are downplayed and not advertised to the public. Miles does a great job of exploring the many issues surrounding this case and the lack of a suspect. She may have even solved the crime, although no arrests have yet been made. If you are a fan of true crime, this is the book for you.

 

The Best Minds By Jonathan Rosen

Michael Laudor was a brilliant student and a worthy opponent for Jonathan Rosen. They had much in common when Jonathan’s family moved into the quiet NY suburb in 1973. They were both highly motivated, highly intelligent, sons of professors at small colleges and fiercely competitive. They both went to Yale although by this point, they were no longer as friendly as they had been as teens. Then Michael finished early, took a job in finance with the plan of making enough money to quit working and live a stress-free life as a writer. Somewhere along this path, Michael experienced a psychotic break and was hospitalized, diagnosed with schizophrenia. And that’s where the fairy tale would normally end. But Michael was brilliant and his family refused to accept that this was the end. They encouraged Yale to follow through on their acceptance of Michael into their law school. The parents and the administrators of Yale provided safety nets and accommodations and Michael graduated with his class. Yet, his mental health was deteriorating, and he was not taking his medications. Ultimately, in a psychotic allusion, Michael killed his fiancée and is now in a mental institution. Rosen explores not only the relationship he had with Michael, but the state of mental health care within our country. This is a fascinating read, in spite of the brutal murder, and anyone who has ever questioned the mental health services provided in our country would gain more insight from these pages.