Best Reads of 2023 (So Far)

My recommendations based on the best books I've read so far this year.

Here are the covers

We’re half way through 2023, and so far I’ve read 60 books. So I thought I’d recommend the best books I’ve read this year. All of these books for me are stories that since reading, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. I’ve made pretty minimal effort to condense this list as I think they’re all worth mentioning.

‘All the Light We Cannot See’ by Anthony Doerr. This is a classic, popular and well-loved book for a reason. I was apprehensive as it is about WW2 and that topic can be so overdone in fiction. Yet, it was tragically beautiful in all the right places and very well written and engaging alternating perspective prose. The climax of this story was incredibly well done. One of those books I could confidently recommend to any age group.

‘Yolk’ by Mary H. K. Choi. ‘Yolk’ is a funny and emotional coming of age story in New York City about two estranged sisters coming back together over one of them being diagnosed with cancer. This book is raw, authentic, beautiful, painful and honest. It is one of the best portrayals of a sister relationship I have ever read. It’s incredibly readable and easy to engage with. It touches on a lot of harrowing topics (cancer, eating disorders and racism to name a few) but in such a humane way. For me this is an automatic recommendation to anyone who has a sister or anyone who wishes to know how complicated the relationship between sisters can be. 

‘Panenka’ by Ronan Hession is a quietly brilliant story about an exiled retired local football legend. Panenka grapples with isolation due to the mistakes of his past as he tries to learn how to rebuild his relationships and learn how to let love into his broken life. Hession’s writing makes the ordinary and mundane so beautiful and a joy to read. Panenka is introspective, moving and full of warmth. This is such a sweet book, and any book that finds such beauty in ordinary life is an automatic winner for me.

‘The Heart’s Invisible Furies’ by John Boyne. Another cult classic, this story is widely known. Fans of Douglas Stuart's stories will enjoy this. THIF is a magnificent epic, a tale full of love, misery, heartache and hope that spans the entire life of our protagonist Cyril Avery. We follow Cyril from conception to old age; a gay man born in extremely conservative Ireland. His life story is set to the backdrop of the modern history of Ireland; the IRA and terrorist bombings, along with the long and difficult history of LGBT rights. It is completely unputdownable.  Boyne’s storytelling is masterful, to follow someone’s life at such depth creates such immense emotional pull for the reader. A bittersweet tale but one I would recommend to everyone. 

‘Homegoing’ by Yaa Gyasi. ‘Homegoing’ follows two sisters with two very different destinies; one sold into slavery and one to become a slave trader’ wife. The consequences of their fates reverberate through generations to come. This is one of my favourite books of all time. A highly impressive feat of storytelling from Gyasi. The book  is so moving, engaging and rich. It is the most ambitious family saga I have ever read, following seven generations and fourteen perspectives in total (but I could’ve about 100 more). The amount of history and rich characterisation in just 300 pages is absolutely unparalleled. Gyasi is a breathtaking story teller, taking important subjects like slavery and colonialism and exploring them with conversational insight into human nature. A really excellent tale about the long-standing effects of colonisation of Africa and the slave trade. An unparalleled beautiful and evocative story.

Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood) by Octavia E Butler (titles; Dawn, Adulthood Rites and Imago). This entire trilogy blew me away. The storytelling is enthralling and deeply engaging, getting better with every book. This sci-fi trilogy explores themes of sexuality, gender, race and species are explored through the vehicle of life of Earth being destroyed by the human race. The Onakali, an alien race who have intervened to save those they could, suspend the surviving humans in a long, deep sleep. Over centuries they study and learn everything they can about humans. They appoint Lilith to lead humanity back home, but at the expense of changing humanity as we know it forever. This entire trilogy is unnerving, extremely uncomfortable in places and very strange. Yet, it is also immersive, captivating, thought provoking and fascinating. The narrative perspective changes within each book; allowing the reader a really extensive understanding and insight into varying aspects of the developing relationships between the Onakali and the humans. It's really hard to convey how good this trilogy is without spoiling it - you’ll just have to trust me on how amazing it is. You also absolutely don’t need to be really into the sic-fi genre to enjoy this - it is so incredibly fun. Everyone I’ve recommended this book to has loved it.

‘Wandering Souls’ by Cecile Pin. Long-listed for the women’s prize, ‘Wandering Souls’ is Pin’s debut novel and it is deeply moving and beautiful. It is about 3 siblings who become orphaned as they flee from Vietnam during the war. The children end up in Thatcher’s Britain and we follow them as they try to grow up within the violent racism and class wars of the 80s. It was a deeply emotional read, with not a single dry eye on my face when I finished this book. Pin’s novel structure was incredibly unique and not one I had encountered before, but it was extensively enjoyable to traverse a different format. The story is a searing statement about migration, prejudice and the human spirit. Full of poignant reflections about the cost of large-scale tragedy and how humans carve out significance, meaning and hope in the lives that haven’t turned out the way we dreamed. The ethereal writing is incredibly emotionally charged about the bonds that connect people, even when separated by seas or death itself. 

‘Exit West’ by Mohsin Hamid. ‘Exit West’ is a magical realism take on immigration, which is gorgeously done. We meet Nadia and Saeed as they fall in love in a city of mounting danger and violence. As the violence escalates, we follow them through their desire to leave, become displaced and labelled as refugees and immigrants. It explores what it means to leave your home behind, and can you forge identity and belong to many places at once. The story of immigration is always changing but always prevalent. Exit West tells it in such a timeless fashion, done imaginatively as a way for the reader to truly submerge into their experiences.

‘Sea of Tranquility’ by Emily St John Mandel. This is a fantastic, thought provoking, intelligent and profound exploration of sci-fi, parallel universes and simulation. I adore the way Mandel writes, that every page reads like a treasure hunt for clues that all piece together at the end in such a spectacular way. It adds such a fun dynamic as a reader. Sea of Tranquility is an intellectually playful and tender science fiction novel about time travel and metaphysics. The book proposes such existential questions, such as how we measure our own moral ethics? and is it incredibly narcissistic to believe we are living at the climax of the end of the world? What does it mean to be present in your life? I know Mandel’s writing isn’t for everyone - but I believe she tackles such momentous topics in such an accessible and readable way. A special mention to her subtly including how even in a universe where humans have developed colonies on planets and extensive galaxy and interstellar travel, women are still prisoners to the shackles of patriarchy and misogyny, implying no technology will ever help us escape that. Depressingly, it felt very plausible.  

‘Black Butterflies’ by Priscilla Morris. Another sensational debut novel and a women’s prize shortlist, ‘Black Butterflies’ is set in the first year of the Siege in 1992 Sarajevo. It is told from the perspective of Zora, an art teacher who is essentially trapped in Sarajevo as the country descends into violence, chaos and extreme isolation. It is an unbelievably enlightening and traumatising fictional account of war. The descriptive imagery is absolutely incredible and the prose so delicately beautiful, I felt so submerged into Zora’s perspective. Morris’ characterisation of Zora is off the charts sublime, opening my eyes to a perspective of a situation I couldn’t even fathom. It unveils the hidden cost of war on the citizens forced into it. The Bosnian War is so historically significant because it is estimated 100,000 people were killed during the war, and 2.2 million people were displaced making it the most devastating conflict in Europe since the end of WW2. This is such a terrific book that moved me to tears.

‘The Lathe of Heaven’ by Ursula K Le Guin. This was the first work of Ursula K Le Guin I have ever read, and it was a fantastic introduction to her writing. I was so impressed and in awe of this story telling and world building. ‘The Lathe of Heaven’ is an ambitious, tightly packed and thought provoking story. It follows George, a man whose dreams can alter reality. After seeking help from a psychiatrist in an attempt to control his dreams, Dr Haber agrees to help, but at a cost. Dr Haber has the ambition to use George’s talent to alter ethics and dream of a ‘better world’. This backfires into devastating consequences. As a  reader you are forced to be reckoned with the question of - is it ever okay to play god? And if you could design the perfect world, how would it even look? It is a short sci-fi story that includes monumental philosophical discussion. 

‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ by Olga Tokarczuk is a suspenseful, alternative and lyrical murder mystery set in rural Poland. It tells an entertaining story which reimagines our perceptions of madness, marginalised people and animal rights with poignant,  insightful and funny commentary. Our protagonist Janina’s dogs go missing around the same time that members of a local hunting club are found murdered. As we read, we start to learn how the disappearance of her dogs and these men are connected. An unpredictably bizarre crime novel told through such a quirky, humorous and sarcastic character. I’m hesitant to describe anything more about the book as I think it’s best to go in blind. On a closing note, Janina is a feminist icon and I love her.

‘Demon Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver. Winner of the Women’s prize 2023 and one of the best books I’ve read this year. There is a reason this book has been named book of the year by 8 publications and counting. I had high expectations going into this,  and they were all exceeded. ‘Demon Copperhead’ is the story of a boy who is born with almost everything stacked against him. Born in a trailer to an addict mother and no father in sight within the depths of poverty in the mountains of southern Appalachia in America, we follow his life into early adulthood. With themes of alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse, grief, foster care, child labour and homelessness, Kingsolver spins such beauty into these modern perils. Her characterisation is magnificent and the emotional investment you feel for Demon is surreal. I haven't loved a character this deeply in literature for a long time. It evokes a young boy's journey to maturity and along the way he is put through absolute hell. I cried a lot when this finished. If anyone reads one book of this list, let it be this. 

‘Still Born’ by Guadalupe Nettel. Shortlisted for the International Booker prize this year, ‘Still Born’ perfectly articulates the dichotomy of being a woman in the modern world. The novel explores one of the most consequential decisions of early adulthood; whether to have children or not. We follow two friends who take widely different paths and try to sustain their relationship along the way. The novel articulates every conversation I feel I have had with my friends as we grow up. How it feels to edge closer to ‘child bearing age’ whilst being educated and aware of all the aspects of being a slave to motherhood and understand how much the patriarchy wants you to bear children - as opposed to you genuinely desiring it and what is best for you. This story was beautiful and sincere, exploring the whole spectrum of motherhood that is often not talked about. I really bonded with the narrator Laura and felt at times I was reading the thoughts and discussions of my friends and I. A highly accomplished and nuanced story on a subject that is often struggled to be talked about in such a fantastic way. 

‘Young Mungo’ By Douglas Stewart. I’ve already spoken about Young Mungo in my last newsletter and I’m not sure much more needs to be said other than you’ve got to read this. One of the best books I’ve read this year I could talk about it forever. It will rip your heart out though. 

‘The Half Life of Valery K’ by Natasha Pulley. This story crept up on me and I had no idea it would be such a winner. The perfect marriage of historical fiction and thriller, Half Life is a book that is so easy to engage with and so enthralling to follow. I feel like I could confidently recommend this book to near enough anyone. 

‘This is Not Miami’ by Fernanda Melchor. To present myself as a rounded reader, This is Not Miami is one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in a while. I have already reviewed it, but if you’re looking for an alternative take on discussing the issues that face cities in Mexico, look no further than this.

Happy Reading! Love Martha