For me; a sure sign that I'm reading a potential favourite book is when I have recurring intrusive thoughts about it as I'm going about my day-to-day activities. It feels like that rush you have at the beginning of a romantic relationship where you cannot wait to see that person - only its a book, not a person. Thanks for sharing your great list. My two favourite reads of 2023 are "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin and #1 fiction is "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese. I'm currently reading: "Wellness" by Nathan Hill, and I'm obsessed. lol. Happy New Year to you, I love your book reviews and enjoy how you talk about books! Cheers.
Yes! You describe that feeling so well. I was just talking with my mother about Verghese's recent book. She said she couldn't get into this one but had enjoyed his past books. I'd like to try reading his work. Happy New Year!
Boulder sounds so good! You also convinced me to add The Bee Sting to my TBR. I like the way you describe books! You provide an excellent synopsis so I know what it is about as well as your own perspectives and what it means to you as a reader. I enjoyed this video very much and subscribed.😊
100+ books read in 2023 - wow! I’m a slow reader and the number of books I read each year is in the teens, and I alternate fiction and non-fiction (mainly history and biography). This year, I particularly “enjoyed” In Memoriam, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, and Trespasses. Next year, I’ll definitely be reading The Bee Sting (having enjoyed reading Paul Murray’s previous two books) and Babel. Thank you, Eric, for your always interesting reports, and enjoy 2024’s books.
My 10 best books of 2023 are as follows Haven. By Emma Donahue. More Than I Love My Life. By David Grossman. Soldier,Sailor. By Claire Kilroy. Trespasses. By Louise Kennedy. Prophet Song. By Paul Lynch. Cold Earth. By Sarah Moss. The Bee Sting. By Paul Murray. Absolution. By Alice McDermott. We Don’t know Ourselves. By Fintan O’Toole. A View Of The Empire At Sunset. By Caryl Phillips. I am so pleased that you love The Bee sting. I take great pleasure in saying I told you so. Happy New Year
Eric, I’m just thrilled and so happy that you name Cartarescu’s SOLENOID as your book of the year. I couldn’t agree more. (Nor the Los Angeles Times, which also awarded it book of the year earlier this year.) I now know that SOLENOID is the culmination of a string of books by Cartarescu (like BLINDING, NOSTALGIA) which dig deep into his own autobiography, a massive phantasmagoric diary. His latest novel, THEODOROS, is a spin on Alexander the Great…so completely different. Sean Cotter’s translation should arrive in 2026…!
The Birthday Party is one of my favourites this year too. Still think about it months later. Not many others have mentioned it. It's just so good. Love your videos.
Thank you, Eric. It's a joy how you share your enthusiasm, very engaging and appealing. I've added some of your 2023 favorites my TBR list. I have several favorites from 2023, but one of the best ones is Covenant of Water by Abraham Varghese. I know you discussed this book and had a different take on it than I did. I didn't want stop reading. I thought the ending was so powerful. I loved the writing. I look forward to continuing to watch you. Take care and Happy New Year from Massachusetts.
This list is amazing! Boulder was one of my favourites of the year too and I must admit when I initially picked it up I really underestimated it..never has a book as short as that lead me to reflect on so many avenues of life, self and relationships. Currently reading The Bee Sting and Solenoid and both have me gripped but Solenoid takes the win for leaving me in absolute awe of the authors craft. A book that has me dying to jump back into it when I’m otherwise occupied!
I’ve seen Boulder make several best of the year lists now, I’m going to have to get to it in 2024! Loved seeing your best of the year Eric - hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas 🎄
Thank you Eric for your channel - I am eagerly awaiting each video! My top three books I read in 2023 are: The Covenant of Water; This blinding absence of light; The house of spirits.
Thank you Eric! More new ideas for 2024. And your influence is definitely there for my Best Books I Read in 2023 list: 1. Pride & Prejudice: This book never loses its charm. 2. Stone Blind: Natalie Haynes + greek mythology = I am always there! 3. Liberation Day: Dark tales from an author I wish lived next door and was my friend. 4. Demon Copperhead: I can imagine David Copperfield reading this and approving that he is still the hero of his own story in this whole new world. 5. The Waves: Is this my new favorite Virginia Woolf? (Don’t tell To The Lighthouse just yet. I need a reread soon…) 6. Homesick: I’m still a bit confused if this is memoir or fiction, but I DO know it is by a most brilliant author & translator. 7. Forbidden Notebook: Took me back to my beloved Elena Ferrante/Neapolitan Novels-land. By the same translator too. 8. Frankenstein: Reread this classic that is so much more than a “monster” tale. 9. Prophet Song: Reading this was, to quote Lit Hub, “a 300+ page panic attack”. I don’t know Paul Lynch’s intent, but I take this as a warning of where the USofA is headed if a certain clown gets back into office. Bonus: it won the Booker Prize as I was nearing the end of my panic attack. 10. Bee Sting. So many things (and so many pages! But not even one too many.). Family secrets, relationships, sexuality, environment, economic downturns, Ireland. For a few examples. Loved the various points of view.
Happy New Year, Eric! What a fantastic and intriguing list!! After Orlando, I’m certainly going to turn to The Waves. The Birthday Party gripped me too…but before that I was just sauntering along. It’s such a memorable experience. I couldn’t help but talk about it in another video that’s upcoming. I’m glad it’s on your list! I’m just going to have to dip into Solenoid. I see it sitting on the shelf at the library. I’ve picked it up and put it back down several times!
I have mixed feeling about the Birthday Party. I liked the way the story unpacked logically with each succeeding bizarre event relating back clearly to a previous one, and I liked the characters, too - especially the neighbor, including her dynamic with the family. However, the story itself - as well as it is told - did not excite me. When I encounter this phenomenon I think back to a lecture during sophomore year where it was revealed that the magic of Madame Bovary was its existence as a middle class tragedy. Nonetheless, without some greater connection to the rest of the world a birthday party gone bad in a small town in France was simply a good story.
Thank you, happy New year! Solenoid definitely takes dedication but is so worth it and I'm so eager to hear what you think of The Waves. My sister told me recently she didn't enjoy it much but is interested to reread it because she thinks she'll appreciate it more revisiting it.
@@EricKarlAnderson , Speaking of re-reading: I’ve never done it but did this year. Wow. I had no idea that re-reading a book could mean a whole different and/or richer, nuanced experience!
Happy New Year! Thank you for another great list. (What! No Demon Copperhead?! 😉) In Ascension is on my night stand. I really loved The House of Doors.
These top 14 fell in my favorite 40 books of all time, meaning one third of my favorite books were read in 2023. First book doesn't count as I'd read it before in other versions. 0) New American Standard Bible (copyright 1995) 1) “The Insulted and Humiliated” by Fyodor Dostoevsky 2) “Vilette” by Charlotte Brontë 3) “Chesapeake” by James A. Michener 4) “Poland” by James A. Michener 5) “Even If This Love Disappears Tonight” by Misaki Ichijo 6) "Childhood, Boyhood" by Leo Tolstoy 7) “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë 8) “Teacher Man” by Frank McCourt 9) “Demons” by Fyodor Dostoevsky 10) “The Complete Poems of Anne Bronte” by Anne Brontë 11) “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair 12) "Caribbean" by James A. Michener 13) “Hawaii” by James A. Michener 14) "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
@@lauraluzi9920, I put them in order of favorites, but here is where they fell in the top 200 books of all time for me. I only began reading him in 2023. 12) "Chesapeake" by James A. Michener 13) "Poland" by James A. Michener 36) "Caribbean" by James A. Michener 37) "Hawaii" by James A. Michener 197) “Mexico” by James A. Michener I skimmed many of his books that I didn't read, those would be: "The Souce," "Centennial," "Kent State: what happened and why," "The Covenant," "Recessional," "Alaska," "Iberia," "The Eagle and the Raven," and "Journey: a novel."
Thanks for this! I loved Blackouts and Western Lane too, even though they didn’t make my best books list (I had to narrow down from 156 5-star reads). It’s lovely to hear you talk about them and remind me how amazing they are. I have added Forbidden Notebook to my TBR based on your comments.
Ah what a treat of a video! Thank you. Some FANTASTIC books. I adored In Ascension, The Bee Sting, Western Lane and In Memoriam and agree so much with your feelings for them.I heard a person say that they felt squash was a strange or odd choice for the Western Lane narrative. I can see what that person meant but for me I found it to be a really suitable representation of how a person may experience grief and how it doesn't make "sense" and there is no right way to process or deal with it. When a person loses all sense of their reality and their life is altered through this grief then would it matter what the focus was, as long as it was something. I found this to be really striking and I thought it worked so perfectly in this novel. I'm itching to get to Mrs S and The Birthday Party as I have them all ready and waiting, I just need to find some more time! 🙈 Thank you for ALL of the reading joy and delight in 2023. Looking forward to doing it all again in '24 ☺️✨❤️
It's been fantastic discussing books with you, Selina. Thank you! And yeah, absolutely - everyone has their own way of dealing with grief like the girl in Western Lane. The squash court becomes this meditative space for her which is like a cage but also a place of freedom. I'll be eager to hear what you think of Mrs S and The Birthday Party when you get time to read them. Happy New Year to you!
Another great wrap-up. In Memoriam is on my fav books on the year as well. Others: My Husband by Maud Ventura; Big Swiss by Jean Beagin; Everyone and Everything by Nadine J. Cohen; Wellness by Nathan Hill; No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister; The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff; Queen Bee by Ciara Geraghty; Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. Best wishes for 2024.
I read "Blackouts" last week, and like you, I'm still thinking about it. The novel is told in fragments, and it does not offer a complete narrative. This is in keeping with something the narrator says twice: "Not all ambiguities need to be resolved." I plan to reread this novel after I've sat with it a while. Thank you for this thoughtful, engaging list.
Thank you for your work - appreciate your reviews 🥳 I resonate with your list : Birthday Party jaw dropping , all nighter read, Bee Sting .. compulsive - gobbled it up read , and now I’m half way through Solenoid - chose it as my holiday read due to density and commitment it requires : it is depressing , delightful, utterly stimulating, creative beyond any descriptive words that I have , an utter joy and privilege to read
I had saved Boulder for my New Year’s Day First Book Novella to start the year off on a magnificent note. My library hold from 2 months ago didn’t seem to be moving forward at all and was stuck at 6 weeks forever. Then today it showed up and I’ve snatched it up! I’m so happy to know it’s ranked so high in your choices, I’m assured it was the perfect choice! Maybe a year from now it will be in my top ten for the year too!
A science fiction lit TH-camr I follow was also raving about In Ascension. As someone who likes a lot of SF (from the pulpy to the literary) alongside lots of literary fiction, I'm eager to read it! Thanks for the lovely account of the book - and of Solenoid, which was one my favorite reads this year too!
i am so pleased to hear about these books! In fact I purchased three of them and am very eager to read them. Your specific choices of material very much aligns with mine and I appreciate your thoughtful summaries of each book without giving too much away. Thank you very much!
I read so many good books this year but stand outs would be, in no particular order: The Iliad (trans Emily Wilson), By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, Giovanni’s Room, In Memoriam, Vaster Wilds, Lady Susan, War and Peace, House of Doors,
I also enjoyed Boulder. My library finally got The Bee Sting so I'll be reading it soon, and I just bought a copy of Western Lane. Adding The Birthday Party and Forbidden Notebook to my list. Great wrap up!
I find if I can put myself in the main character’s shoes and somehow identify with what they’re feeling, it’s a great read. I felt that with The Vaster Wilds and A Portrait of a Marriage. Both had some historical elements which I find interesting and educational. Also great writing is an element I appreciate. There are some books on your list I need to revisit. Thanks for your reviews and look forward to more in the new year.
I liked vaster wilds, too. I read it not too long after reading the matrix, another book I loved. I put Lauren Graff on my "read book right off the press" list.
The only one on your list that I’ve read is ,The Bee Sting. My number one remains the same since I finished reading it ( via audio) in February 2023 Deluge by Stephen Markley Happy New Year Eric 🍀👋☘️📖☕️📕🇮🇪📚
We share a number of favourites this year - Im hoping to get to The Birthday Party soon. Really looking forward to Blackouts as it has been on a few favourites list - unfortunately its not out in New Zealand until next month.
I'm just starting a list of 40 reads before 40 and first up is The Waves. Very excited as I have loved Virginia Woolf before and your recs have never led me astray yet 😂
That makes me so happy to hear, Harriet! Be patient and just get into the flow of Woolf’s narrative rather than trying to focus on the story or any particular meaning. I hope you grow to love it as much as I do! 🌊 ❤️
I loved The Birthday Party, both the story and the very very detailed story. I love writings about a short period of time. I wonder if there's a similar book out there like that.
Tho we continued to love each other until the day he died - when I was 19 - my father and I mutually gave up on each other around the time I developed a coterie of friends evincing social values that were the antithesis of those my father's friends, many of whom I struggled to respect in the degree he demanded.
my top 10 - yellowface, any man, the mountain is you, the power of now (re-read) , Trust by Hernan Diaz, The Kind Worth Killing, Babel, Biography of X, The Millionaire Fastlane and Why has nobody told me this before? Also I just finished reading the bee sting. Sorry. Don't recommend it. Broke my heart a few times but too sad, too glum.
I’m reading “In Ascension” now and I’m in love with the writing of this book. I was hoping this would make your list, and was thrilled it was included in your carefully considered favourites of 2023. I’m happy you loved it so much. Thank you, Eric 😊
I’m just about to finish part one of Solenoid. Yes this book demands time! But so worth it. I also started Blackouts yesterday. This has such a quiet tone, enjoying so far q
1. The World and All That It Holds 2. Prophet Song 3. Chain Gang Allstars 4. On the Ravine 5. The Late Americans 6. SOLENOID 7. In Ascention 8. The Librarianist 9. House of Doors 10. The Passenger/ Stella Maris ( Yes, released late 2022, but I read this in January of this year, just before the author, the brilliant Cormac McCarthy, who passed shortly after I finished his final two works, officially..). RIP To the legend :(
Ya, the translation of Solenoid was incredible, the prose through translation was meticulously perfect. Some of the sentences, maybe just ten words deep, I had to stop, re-read the sentence over and over, as his prose is so poetic, this book delighted my vocabulary and tickled my intellect. Hard to do for a Solipsistic Reader. Challenge my beliefs. In Ascention made me think of God, Solenoid made me obsessed with Romanian fiction. Was a good year..Just ordered Blackouts & Bee Sting
Here’s my top 10: In Ascension Solenoid The Birthday Party Elena Knows In Memoriam The New Life Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Demon Copperhead God’s Old Time The Bee Sting Honorable Mention: Boulder Solar Bones Biography of X Western Lane Our Wives Under the Sea This Other Eden Prophet Song
For me; a sure sign that I'm reading a potential favourite book is when I have recurring intrusive thoughts about it as I'm going about my day-to-day activities. It feels like that rush you have at the beginning of a romantic relationship where you cannot wait to see that person - only its a book, not a person. Thanks for sharing your great list. My two favourite reads of 2023 are "The Creative Act" by Rick Rubin and #1 fiction is "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese. I'm currently reading: "Wellness" by Nathan Hill, and I'm obsessed. lol. Happy New Year to you, I love your book reviews and enjoy how you talk about books! Cheers.
Yes! You describe that feeling so well. I was just talking with my mother about Verghese's recent book. She said she couldn't get into this one but had enjoyed his past books. I'd like to try reading his work. Happy New Year!
Boulder sounds so good! You also convinced me to add The Bee Sting to my TBR. I like the way you describe books! You provide an excellent synopsis so I know what it is about as well as your own perspectives and what it means to you as a reader. I enjoyed this video very much and subscribed.😊
Trespasses was one of my favorites of the year.
100+ books read in 2023 - wow! I’m a slow reader and the number of books I read each year is in the teens, and I alternate fiction and non-fiction (mainly history and biography). This year, I particularly “enjoyed” In Memoriam, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, and Trespasses. Next year, I’ll definitely be reading The Bee Sting (having enjoyed reading Paul Murray’s previous two books) and Babel. Thank you, Eric, for your always interesting reports, and enjoy 2024’s books.
That's great, thank you. I hope you enjoy The Bee Sting as much as I did and that you discover more great reads in 2024. 📚
My 10 best books of 2023 are as follows
Haven. By Emma Donahue. More Than I Love My Life. By David Grossman. Soldier,Sailor. By Claire Kilroy. Trespasses. By Louise Kennedy. Prophet Song. By Paul Lynch. Cold Earth. By Sarah Moss. The Bee Sting. By Paul Murray. Absolution. By Alice McDermott. We Don’t know Ourselves. By Fintan O’Toole. A View Of The Empire At Sunset. By Caryl Phillips.
I am so pleased that you love The Bee sting. I take great pleasure in saying I told you so.
Happy New Year
Eric, I’m just thrilled and so happy that you name Cartarescu’s SOLENOID as your book of the year. I couldn’t agree more. (Nor the Los Angeles Times, which also awarded it book of the year earlier this year.) I now know that SOLENOID is the culmination of a string of books by Cartarescu (like BLINDING, NOSTALGIA) which dig deep into his own autobiography, a massive phantasmagoric diary. His latest novel, THEODOROS, is a spin on Alexander the Great…so completely different. Sean Cotter’s translation should arrive in 2026…!
I can't wait to read The Bee Sting!
I Just finished Deamon Copperhead, it was so amazing I don’t know what to follow it up with because I don’t know how any other book can hold up to it.
The Birthday Party is one of my favourites this year too. Still think about it months later. Not many others have mentioned it. It's just so good. Love your videos.
Lovely to hear you chat about these books, Eric 😊 I also LOVED Boulder last year. Totally fascinating - I tore through it.
Thank you, Eric. It's a joy how you share your enthusiasm, very engaging and appealing. I've added some of your 2023 favorites my TBR list. I have several favorites from 2023, but one of the best ones is Covenant of Water by Abraham Varghese. I know you discussed this book and had a different take on it than I did. I didn't want stop reading. I thought the ending was so powerful. I loved the writing. I look forward to continuing to watch you. Take care and Happy New Year from Massachusetts.
I've not read Varghese's book but I've been wanting to explore his work. Thanks so much and Happy New Year to you!
This list is amazing! Boulder was one of my favourites of the year too and I must admit when I initially picked it up I really underestimated it..never has a book as short as that lead me to reflect on so many avenues of life, self and relationships. Currently reading The Bee Sting and Solenoid and both have me gripped but Solenoid takes the win for leaving me in absolute awe of the authors craft. A book that has me dying to jump back into it when I’m otherwise occupied!
I’ve seen Boulder make several best of the year lists now, I’m going to have to get to it in 2024!
Loved seeing your best of the year Eric - hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas 🎄
Great! I think it has a unique voice and *think* you'll like it! Hope you had a great Crimbo too and Happy New Year!
Thank you Eric for your channel - I am eagerly awaiting each video!
My top three books I read in 2023 are: The Covenant of Water; This blinding absence of light; The house of spirits.
Thank you! And I still need to read all three of those. 📚
Thank you Eric! More new ideas for 2024. And your influence is definitely there for my Best Books I Read in 2023 list:
1. Pride & Prejudice: This book never loses its charm.
2. Stone Blind: Natalie Haynes + greek mythology = I am always there!
3. Liberation Day: Dark tales from an author I wish lived next door and was my friend.
4. Demon Copperhead: I can imagine David Copperfield reading this and approving that he is still the hero of his own story in this whole new world.
5. The Waves: Is this my new favorite Virginia Woolf? (Don’t tell To The Lighthouse just yet. I need a reread soon…)
6. Homesick: I’m still a bit confused if this is memoir or fiction, but I DO know it is by a most brilliant author & translator.
7. Forbidden Notebook: Took me back to my beloved Elena Ferrante/Neapolitan Novels-land. By the same translator too.
8. Frankenstein: Reread this classic that is so much more than a “monster” tale.
9. Prophet Song: Reading this was, to quote Lit Hub, “a 300+ page panic attack”. I don’t know Paul Lynch’s intent, but I take this as a warning of where the USofA is headed if a certain clown gets back into office. Bonus: it won the Booker Prize as I was nearing the end of my panic attack.
10. Bee Sting. So many things (and so many pages! But not even one too many.). Family secrets, relationships, sexuality, environment, economic downturns, Ireland. For a few examples. Loved the various points of view.
In Ascention blew my mind, been reading stuff like this, but it was so fascinating, how the Sea equaled Space. Cinematic and beautiful
Yes! ✨
Happy New Year, Eric! What a fantastic and intriguing list!! After Orlando, I’m certainly going to turn to The Waves. The Birthday Party gripped me too…but before that I was just sauntering along. It’s such a memorable experience. I couldn’t help but talk about it in another video that’s upcoming. I’m glad it’s on your list! I’m just going to have to dip into Solenoid. I see it sitting on the shelf at the library. I’ve picked it up and put it back down several times!
I have mixed feeling about the Birthday Party. I liked the way the story unpacked logically with each succeeding bizarre event relating back clearly to a previous one, and I liked the characters, too - especially the neighbor, including her dynamic with the family. However, the story itself - as well as it is told - did not excite me. When I encounter this phenomenon I think back to a lecture during sophomore year where it was revealed that the magic of Madame Bovary was its existence as a middle class tragedy. Nonetheless, without some greater connection to the rest of the world a birthday party gone bad in a small town in France was simply a good story.
Thank you, happy New year! Solenoid definitely takes dedication but is so worth it and I'm so eager to hear what you think of The Waves. My sister told me recently she didn't enjoy it much but is interested to reread it because she thinks she'll appreciate it more revisiting it.
@@EricKarlAnderson , Speaking of re-reading: I’ve never done it but did this year. Wow. I had no idea that re-reading a book could mean a whole different and/or richer, nuanced experience!
North Woods was my favorite novel and Master, Slave, Husband, Wife was my favorite non-fiction.
I’ll be starting Mason’s novel with my book club in January! And that nonfiction title does sound good.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for another great list. (What! No Demon Copperhead?! 😉)
In Ascension is on my night stand.
I really loved The House of Doors.
Happy New Year! Demon Copperhead was on my top ten list last year. I hope you enjoy In Ascension and I loved Eng’s novel as well.
These top 14 fell in my favorite 40 books of all time, meaning one third of my favorite books were read in 2023. First book doesn't count as I'd read it before in other versions.
0) New American Standard Bible (copyright 1995)
1) “The Insulted and Humiliated” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
2) “Vilette” by Charlotte Brontë
3) “Chesapeake” by James A. Michener
4) “Poland” by James A. Michener
5) “Even If This Love Disappears Tonight” by Misaki Ichijo
6) "Childhood, Boyhood" by Leo Tolstoy
7) “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” by Anne Brontë
8) “Teacher Man” by Frank McCourt
9) “Demons” by Fyodor Dostoevsky
10) “The Complete Poems of Anne Bronte” by Anne Brontë
11) “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair
12) "Caribbean" by James A. Michener
13) “Hawaii” by James A. Michener
14) "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
I just finished “Centennial” by Michener. Loved it! Which was your favorite? I’ve read “Hawaii”
@@lauraluzi9920, I put them in order of favorites, but here is where they fell in the top 200 books of all time for me. I only began reading him in 2023.
12) "Chesapeake" by James A. Michener
13) "Poland" by James A. Michener
36) "Caribbean" by James A. Michener
37) "Hawaii" by James A. Michener
197) “Mexico” by James A. Michener
I skimmed many of his books that I didn't read, those would be: "The Souce," "Centennial," "Kent State: what happened and why," "The Covenant," "Recessional," "Alaska," "Iberia," "The Eagle and the Raven," and "Journey: a novel."
Thanks for this! I loved Blackouts and Western Lane too, even though they didn’t make my best books list (I had to narrow down from 156 5-star reads). It’s lovely to hear you talk about them and remind me how amazing they are. I have added Forbidden Notebook to my TBR based on your comments.
Ah what a treat of a video! Thank you. Some FANTASTIC books. I adored In Ascension, The Bee Sting, Western Lane and In Memoriam and agree so much with your feelings for them.I heard a person say that they felt squash was a strange or odd choice for the Western Lane narrative. I can see what that person meant but for me I found it to be a really suitable representation of how a person may experience grief and how it doesn't make "sense" and there is no right way to process or deal with it. When a person loses all sense of their reality and their life is altered through this grief then would it matter what the focus was, as long as it was something. I found this to be really striking and I thought it worked so perfectly in this novel. I'm itching to get to Mrs S and The Birthday Party as I have them all ready and waiting, I just need to find some more time! 🙈 Thank you for ALL of the reading joy and delight in 2023. Looking forward to doing it all again in '24 ☺️✨❤️
It's been fantastic discussing books with you, Selina. Thank you! And yeah, absolutely - everyone has their own way of dealing with grief like the girl in Western Lane. The squash court becomes this meditative space for her which is like a cage but also a place of freedom. I'll be eager to hear what you think of Mrs S and The Birthday Party when you get time to read them. Happy New Year to you!
Another great wrap-up. In Memoriam is on my fav books on the year as well. Others: My Husband by Maud Ventura; Big Swiss by Jean Beagin; Everyone and Everything by Nadine J. Cohen; Wellness by Nathan Hill; No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister; The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff; Queen Bee by Ciara Geraghty; Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. Best wishes for 2024.
Yes, The Bandit Queens was so good! And I’ve been meaning to read Big Swiss.
I read "Blackouts" last week, and like you, I'm still thinking about it. The novel is told in fragments, and it does not offer a complete narrative. This is in keeping with something the narrator says twice: "Not all ambiguities need to be resolved." I plan to reread this novel after I've sat with it a while. Thank you for this thoughtful, engaging list.
Thank you for your work - appreciate your reviews 🥳 I resonate with your list : Birthday Party jaw dropping , all nighter read, Bee Sting .. compulsive - gobbled it up read , and now I’m half way through Solenoid - chose it as my holiday read due to density and commitment it requires : it is depressing , delightful, utterly stimulating, creative beyond any descriptive words that I have , an utter joy and privilege to read
Adding Bolder to my list. Happy New Year!
Hope you enjoy it!
I who have never known man was without a doubt my favorite of 2023, insane that i read the book two weeks before the end of the year!!
I had saved Boulder for my New Year’s Day First Book Novella to start the year off on a magnificent note. My library hold from 2 months ago didn’t seem to be moving forward at all and was stuck at 6 weeks forever. Then today it showed up and I’ve snatched it up! I’m so happy to know it’s ranked so high in your choices, I’m assured it was the perfect choice! Maybe a year from now it will be in my top ten for the year too!
That'll be a great New Year's Day read. Glad you got a copy! I still need to read her previous novel.
A science fiction lit TH-camr I follow was also raving about In Ascension. As someone who likes a lot of SF (from the pulpy to the literary) alongside lots of literary fiction, I'm eager to read it! Thanks for the lovely account of the book - and of Solenoid, which was one my favorite reads this year too!
I was waiting for this video for my first book haul of 2024
i am so pleased to hear about these books! In fact I purchased three of them and am very eager to read them. Your specific choices of material very much aligns with mine and I appreciate your thoughtful summaries of each book without giving too much away. Thank you very much!
That's great and I hope you enjoy them. Thank you and Happy New Year!
My favourites were the Fraud by Zadie Smith, the marriage portrait by Maggie O'Farrell and lessons by Ian McEwan.
Fantastic! Thanks 📚
I read so many good books this year but stand outs would be, in no particular order: The Iliad (trans Emily Wilson), By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, Giovanni’s Room, In Memoriam, Vaster Wilds, Lady Susan, War and Peace, House of Doors,
I also enjoyed Boulder. My library finally got The Bee Sting so I'll be reading it soon, and I just bought a copy of Western Lane. Adding The Birthday Party and Forbidden Notebook to my list. Great wrap up!
Great, hope you enjoy The Bee Sting and that you get a chance to read those other ones..
bee sting is one of my favourites as well, and a few of yours are on my TBR, great list and happy new year! :-)
I find if I can put myself in the main character’s shoes and somehow identify with what they’re feeling, it’s a great read. I felt that with The Vaster Wilds and A Portrait of a Marriage. Both had some historical elements which I find interesting and educational. Also great writing is an element I appreciate. There are some books on your list I need to revisit. Thanks for your reviews and look forward to more in the new year.
I liked vaster wilds, too. I read it not too long after reading the matrix, another book I loved. I put Lauren Graff on my "read book right off the press" list.
Thanks for the book list! I loved The Hidden Habits of Genius by Craig Wright Ph.D
The only one on your list that I’ve read is ,The Bee Sting.
My number one remains the same since I finished reading it ( via audio) in February 2023
Deluge by Stephen Markley
Happy New Year Eric 🍀👋☘️📖☕️📕🇮🇪📚
Greetings. I would like to share the two books I’m reading: The Night Circus and Gilead. Enjoy!
We share a number of favourites this year - Im hoping to get to The Birthday Party soon. Really looking forward to Blackouts as it has been on a few favourites list - unfortunately its not out in New Zealand until next month.
I'm just starting a list of 40 reads before 40 and first up is The Waves. Very excited as I have loved Virginia Woolf before and your recs have never led me astray yet 😂
That makes me so happy to hear, Harriet! Be patient and just get into the flow of Woolf’s narrative rather than trying to focus on the story or any particular meaning. I hope you grow to love it as much as I do! 🌊 ❤️
I loved The Birthday Party, both the story and the very very detailed story. I love writings about a short period of time. I wonder if there's a similar book out there like that.
Grapes of Wrath
Book of the Dun Cow
The Good Old Boys
Lonesome Dove
my favorite this year was Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler. Just added a few of yours to my TBR :)
Tho we continued to love each other until the day he died - when I was 19 - my father and I mutually gave up on each other around the time I developed a coterie of friends evincing social values that were the antithesis of those my father's friends, many of whom I struggled to respect in the degree he demanded.
The best minds. Please treat yourself to this fabulous non fiction tead
Currently reading In Memoriam 👌🏽
my top 10 - yellowface, any man, the mountain is you, the power of now (re-read) , Trust by Hernan Diaz, The Kind Worth Killing, Babel, Biography of X, The Millionaire Fastlane and Why has nobody told me this before?
Also I just finished reading the bee sting. Sorry. Don't recommend it. Broke my heart a few times but too sad, too glum.
All these talk is convincing me to read solenoid despite not really liking what I have read from him before
I’m reading “In Ascension” now and I’m in love with the writing of this book. I was hoping this would make your list, and was thrilled it was included in your carefully considered favourites of 2023. I’m happy you loved it so much. Thank you, Eric 😊
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it!
Hello there, I just found your page and subscribed and loving it! How do you organize your home library?
Hello and welcome! I discuss how I organise my books in this bookshelf tour: th-cam.com/video/I641F9K3Cbg/w-d-xo.html
I loved A Little Life by Hannah Yanagihara.
In Memoriam took my breath away.
I am completely in love with you! Thanks for all you do. ❤ John-Paul from Atlanta USA =^,,^=
😊
I want to know more about your bookshelf! Is it built in? Where did you buy it if not?
Wish you a Happy New Year Eric 🎉!
Would it be fine to read The bee sting as an audiobook?
Yes, I partly read The Bee Sting on audio and it's great. Happy New Year!
In Memoriam ❤❤❤
❤️💔
I’m just about to finish part one of Solenoid. Yes this book demands time! But so worth it. I also started Blackouts yesterday. This has such a quiet tone, enjoying so far q
Glad you agree! 📚
1. The World and All That It Holds
2. Prophet Song
3. Chain Gang Allstars
4. On the Ravine
5. The Late Americans
6. SOLENOID
7. In Ascention
8. The Librarianist
9. House of Doors
10. The Passenger/ Stella Maris ( Yes, released late 2022, but I read this in January of this year, just before the author, the brilliant Cormac McCarthy, who passed shortly after I finished his final two works, officially..). RIP To the legend :(
No specific order***
Runner up: While We Were Dreaming
Ya, the translation of Solenoid was incredible, the prose through translation was meticulously perfect. Some of the sentences, maybe just ten words deep, I had to stop, re-read the sentence over and over, as his prose is so poetic, this book delighted my vocabulary and tickled my intellect. Hard to do for a Solipsistic Reader. Challenge my beliefs. In Ascention made me think of God, Solenoid made me obsessed with Romanian fiction. Was a good year..Just ordered Blackouts & Bee Sting
Sorry for not listing the author's, I know Eric will already know, anyone else, Google???
My top video is on my channel but my favorite was Reservoir by Livi Michael 🎉
Hello, I work in the field of translating English or American books into Arabic. If you can help me?!
Can you tell me what brand/model those shelves are? Thanks!
I discuss the bookshelves in this video: th-cam.com/video/xNkxUQ8MUOY/w-d-xo.html
@@EricKarlAnderson thanks!
Here’s my top 10:
In Ascension
Solenoid
The Birthday Party
Elena Knows
In Memoriam
The New Life
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Demon Copperhead
God’s Old Time
The Bee Sting
Honorable Mention:
Boulder
Solar Bones
Biography of X
Western Lane
Our Wives Under the Sea
This Other Eden
Prophet Song
Solenoid was the best, without a doubt.
Yes!