Book Shelf: Every book I read in 2023

56 books, my ratings of them, and some reading patterns.

This newsletter is exactly what it says on the tin: Every book I read last year, and the ratings I gave them. I’d recommend everything with 4 or 5 stars. 5-star books are bolded - every one of them would make a great summer read if you’ve got a little more holiday left, or for weekends laying outside or sheltering inside.

Here’s the list, and my Goodreads Year in Books is below it if you’d prefer to look at/screenshot covers vs titles:

1. Bliss Montage, Ling Ma ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2. We Do What We Do in the Dark, Michelle Hart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3. Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5. Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

6. Last Resort, Andrew Lipstein ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

7. Really Good, Actually, Monica Heisey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

8. Winter in Sokcho, Elisa Shua Dusapin translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

9. We All Want Impossible Things, Catherine Newman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

10. Sunbathing, Isobel Beech ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

11. You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty, Akwaeke Emezi ⭐️⭐️⭐️

12. The Swimmers, Julie Otsuka ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

13. The Anniversary, Stephanie Bishop ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

14. Tin Man, Sarah Winman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

15. Romantic Comedy, Curtis Sittenfeld ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

16. Heartburn, Nora Ephron ⭐️⭐️⭐️

17. Search History, Amy Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

18. Best of Friends, Kamila Shamsie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

19. Happy Place, Emily Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

20. Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

21. Yellowface, R.F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

22. Talking at Night, Claire Daverley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

23. Love Marriage, Monica Ali ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

24. The Happy Couple, Naoise Dolan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

25. The Rachel Incident, Caroline O’Donoghue ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

26. A Perfect Vintage, Chelsea Fagan ⭐️⭐️⭐️

27. Games and Rituals, Katherine Heiny ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

28. The Guest, Emma Cline ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

29. This Ragged Grace, Octavia Bright ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

30. Wifedom, Anna Funder ⭐️⭐️⭐️

31. Pineapple Street, Jenny Jackson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

32. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

33. Everything’s Fine, Cecilia Rabess ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

34. Limelight, Daisy Buchanan ⭐️⭐️⭐️

35. August Blue, Deborah Levy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

36. Big Swiss, Jen Beagin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

37. So Late in the Day, Claire Keegan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

38. I Have Some Questions For You, Rebecca Makkai ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

39. Green Dot, Madeleine Gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

40. I’m A Fan, Sheena Patel ⭐️⭐️⭐️

41. Joe Cinque’s Consolation, Helen Garner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

42. Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast, Karina May ⭐️⭐️⭐️

43. The Modern, Emma Kate Blair ⭐️⭐️⭐️

44. What Writer’s Read, edited by Pandora Sykes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

45. Good Material, Dolly Alderton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

46. Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

47. The Woman in Me, Britney Spears ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

48. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

49. Glossy, Marisa Meltzer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

50. Trivial Grievances, Bridie Jabour ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

51. Stoneyard Devotional, Charlotte Wood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

52. Stray, Stephanie Danler ⭐️⭐️⭐️

53. Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

54. Day, Michael Cunningham ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

55. So Sad Today, Melissa Broder ⭐️⭐️⭐️

56. The Vulnerables, Sigrid Nunez ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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My Goodreads Year in Books

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A few observations about my reading habits:

• I mainly read books by women. In 2019/2020, I read only women, and found the quality of my reading years drastically increased - I read and enjoyed more books. I wonder why my reading shapes up this way: seeing myself more in the characters, better resonating with the themes explored, fewer terrible sex scenes?
  
  In 2023, just 2 out of the 56 books I read were written by men: Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein and Day by Michael Cunningham (interestingly, both 5-star reads). Two! 3.6%. That shocked me.

• The buzziest books of the year lived up to the hype: Green Dot, Yellowface, Good Material, Romantic Comedy, Tom Lake, The Rachel Incident, Demon Copperhead. All subject to a lot of chatter. All five-star reads in my book.

• It was a great year for Aussie fiction. Sunbathing, The Anniversary, and Green Dot - a quarter of my five-star books - are by Australian authors. An honourable mention to Search Party, Amy Taylor’s debut which you’ll love if you enjoyed Green Dot, and Charlotte Wood’s contemplative, deep Stoneyard Devotional. In total, I read 10 books by Australian authors.

• I read more non-fiction than I thought I did. For the past few years, I’ve read a lot of memoirs, but I turned to books to escape this year, so fiction felt like my happy place.
  
  I expected the non-fiction number to be very, very low, but I read eight: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, This Ragged Grace by Octavia Bright, Wifedom by Anna Funder, Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner, What Writers Read edited by Pandora Sykes, The Woman in Me by Britney Spears, Glossy by Marisa Meltzer, and Trivial Grievances by Bridie Jabour.

Any observations from your own 2023 book list to share? Any of your faves on my list? Any summer reads you’ve inhaled, or are looking forward to sinking into?

Until next time,

Britt