We're well into 2024 and I'm finally getting to my 2023 wrap-up posts. I'll list my favorite books today, then look at statistics, reflections, and resolutions over the weekend.
Overall, 2023 was a very good reading year. I was slightly off my usual pace of one book per week, but that was mostly due to reading some really long books. (I'm looking at you, Lonesome Dove!) I did not consider rereads when choosing my favorites, but Pride and Prejudice would certainly be here otherwise.
FICTION FAVORITES
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
(read/listen combination)
(read/listen combination)
(read/listen combination)
Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman
(read/listen combination)
by Anne Berest, translated by Tina Kover
(read/listen combination)
(read/listen combination)
(print only)
(print only)
Honorable Mention
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly
NONFICTION FAVORITES
(read/listen combination)
by Jake Bittle
(read/listen combination)
Yes, Lonesome Dove took up a lot of my listening time this year, too! I'm glad you shared your favorites, so I can put some of these on hold at the library. I especially want to read The Latecomer, Pete and Alice in Maine, and Chorus. I have The Road to Dalton in my stacks, and Day is ready to be picked up at the library. Here's to some great books in 2024!
ReplyDeleteLes - Although I didn't put these books in any particular order, Tom Lake and The Latecomer are the clear top two in my mind. It gets a little murky after that. I had a lot more 5-star reads than usual and hope 2024 will bring more of the same!
DeleteI remember when you were reading Nine Black Robes. I am glad to see it made your list. I hope to read that one someday. Chorus sounds really good too. I am glad you had a good reading year, JoAnn! May the new year bring many more good books your way.
ReplyDeleteWendy - Nine Black Robes was an outstanding read. Even though much of it was news stories and other events from the past, considering it all together had even more impact.
DeleteGreat bunch of books, JoAnn, including two of my all-time favorites (Lonesome Dove and Tom Lake). Lonesome Dove is my very favorite novel, and has been since the eighties when I stumbled across it. Tom Lake is among my all-time favorites at the moment, but I won't know for a while if it has the staying power of a Lonesome Dove. Several others on your list I need to revisit, too.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of not formerly including re-reads on a current year top ten list, but slipping them in as a qualified honorable mention that way. I need to try that next time.
Sam - I'm also interested in the staying power of Tom Lake... time will tell. Have you read the other books in the Lonesome Dove series? I assume you have and am considering trying Streets of Laredo this summer.
DeleteMentioning Pride and Prejudice like that was a little sneaky, lol. Probably should have done the same with Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen, another all-time favorite!
Of your list I have read The Latecomer and enjoyed it very much. So much that I looked for more of her work. The Great Displacement was also a 5 star for me in the nonfiction category. Looking forward to a few others you mentioned here - Day, The Road to Dalton and Trust - are all on my library holds for Kindle.
ReplyDeleteThis is shaping up to be a good reading year and i have a few stacks I WILL get to this year!
Tina - Tom Lake and The Latecomer were my clear top two books last year. I've read everything Ann Patchett has written, with the possible exception of Taft.I still hope to read The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz sometime this year. The Great Displacement was pretty scary stuff... not sure I'll ever be up to reading climate-disaster fiction!
DeleteJoAnn, I haven't read any of your favorites but I'm fairly certain I have at least one of them on my Kindle. Maybe The Latecomer. Hope to get to it this year - along with about a million more. Ha! Hope things are going well for you guys.
ReplyDeleteKay - I know that feeling! If I made a list of all I hope to read this year, I'm sure it would already exceed what I read last year. We're doing well as the repairs continue. Arranging for final interior work, then we'll begin on driveway and landscaping. Feels like it will never end...
DeleteI really need to get reading Hello Beautiful. I wonder if it would work as an audio book.
ReplyDeleteHelen - Hello, Beautiful was a read/listen combo for me and I probably listened to at least 50%while walking. The audio was excellent!
DeleteI have Tom Lake and The Postcard on my TBR and am looking forward to both. Lonesome Dove is one I've never thought about reading but am now reconsidering!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I hope you enjoy them, too!
DeleteAll of these sound so interesting! Several have been on my radar for a while but a few others here I'm going to have to look into a bit more!
ReplyDeleteIliana - Hope some appeal to you!
DeleteNice list. With Demon Copperhead and Covenant of Water along with Lonesome Dove you read some substantial tomes this year!! I still need to get to Hello Beautiful, Birnam Wood, and In Memoriam. Those seem to have been on my TBR for all of 2023, lol. I'm curious about The Road to Dalton and will consider adding it. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteSusan - 2023 unexpectedly turned out to be the year of the tome! I've still got In Memoriam on my list, too.
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