Thoughts on 2023

Best Books —

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

Chenneville by Paulette Jiles

The Wager by David Grann

Ann Patchett is an incredible writer, and owns a bookstore. What more do you need to know? This is her best book in years.  

Lehane is the author of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. In Small Mercies he gives us a strong female protagonist. When the movie is made, someone is going to win an Oscar. 

You may have never heard of Paulette Jiles. She lives in Texas, writes about Texas and writes about Texas just after the Civil War.  In other words, Paulette writes westerns, which means the East Coast literary snobs regard her as a regional writer, not really worthy of your attention. Fortunately, Paulette chooses to ignore this. Her last three books, Map of the World, Simon the Fiddler and Chenneville are well worth your time.

The Wager is the outlier on this list. It’s non-fiction that reads like a novel. The sub-title says it all, “A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder”. Grann is also the author of Killers of the Flower Moon.

Lots of mysteries, thrillers and science fiction on this list — old and new.

In the mystery-thriller genre the Slow Horses series by Mick Herron is terrific. It is also a fine series on Apple TV starring Gary Oldman.  It’s John LeCarre with a sense of humor.

I also recommend Michael Connelly, Don Winslow, S.A. Cosby and Ruth Ware. Among classics, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca exceeded expectations. And don’t sleep on Ross Macdonald and Raymond Chandler.

As for sci-fi, the sentient spiders in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time are incredibly creepy. Children of Time is the first in a trilogy. Another sci-fi trilogy worthy of attention is Hugh Howey’s Silo series. Yes, this is also a series on Apple TV.  The first book is Wool.

Also recommended:

Historical fiction — Bernard Cornwell is simply the best. I absolutely love his Sharpe series as well as his Saxon series.

Classics — My Antonia by Willa Cather is a book I read annually. Anything by Dickens. East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Our Town by Thornton Wilder.

Non-Fiction — MCU, The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards.  The Rediscovery of America, Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk. Larry McMurtry, A Life by Tracy Daugherty.

Stories — Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty.

Finale — 108 books in 2023.  

           3,742 since I started this list in 1996.

2023 Reading List

 

“Speech codes and book bans may start in opposing camps, but both warm their hands over freedom’s ashes.”

--Ron Charles, Washington Post

January

1. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

2. Joe Country, Mick Herron

3. The Woman In Cabin 10, Ruth Ware

4. The Philosophy of Modern Song, Bob Dylan

5. The Kings of Cool, Don Winslow

6. Slough House, Mick Herron

7. Everybody Knows, Jordan Harper

8. The Turn of the Key, Ruth Ware

February

9. Auntie Mame, Patrick Dennis

10. Maus Now, Selected Writings, ed. Hillary Chute

11. Bad Actors, Mick Herron

12. The Damned Lovely, Adam Frost

13. The Trail to Buddha’s Mirror, Don Winslow

14. Night of the Living Rez, Morgan Talty

15. My Captain America, A Granddaughter’s Memoir of a

        Legendary Comic Book Artist, Megan Margulies

16. Around the World with Auntie Mame, Patrick Dennis

17. Still Pictures, On Photography and Memory, Janet Malcom

18. A Cool Breeze on the Underground, Don Winslow

19. Oath of Loyalty, Kyle Mills

20. Every Man A King, Walter Mosley

March

21. Total Power, Kyle Mills

22. The Way They Were, Robert Hofler

23. East of Eden, John Steinbeck

24. Stan Lee, The Man Behind Marvel. Bob Batchelor

25. Separation of Power, Vince Flynn

26. The Lying Game, Ruth Ware

27. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Maggie O’Farrell

28. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

29. The Chill, Ross Macdonald

April

30. The Big Sleep, Raymond  Chandler

31. My Lover’s Love, Maggie O’Farrell

32. My Antonia, Willa Cather

33. Storm Watch, C.J. Box

34. Order to Kill, Kyle Mills

35. Hang the Moon, Jeannette Walls

36. So Shall You Reap, Donna Leon

37. Ozark Dogs, Eli Cranor

38. Comic Books and America 1945-1954, William W. Savage Jr.

39. Beastly Things, Donna Leon

May

40. The Trackers, Charles Frazier

41. Superman Is Jewish?, Harry Brod

42. Enemy at the Gates, Kyle Mills

43. Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan, Rick Bowers

44. The Rescue, T. Jefferson Parker

45. Standing in the Shadows, Peter Robinson

46. City of Dreams, Don  Winslow

47. Small Mercies, Dennis Lehane. Novel

48. The Wager, A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, 

        David Grann

49. Season of Skulls, Charles Stross

June

50. Independence Square, Martin Cruz Smth

51. Fixit, Joe Ide

52. Lethal Agent, Vince Flynn

53. A Brutal Reckoning, Peter Cozzens

54. The Hag, The Life, Times, and Music of 

        Merle Haggard, Marc Eliot

55. The Haunted Lady, Mary Roberts Rinehart

56. The Siberian Dilemma, Martin Cruz Smith

57. Beware the Woman, Megan Abbott

July

58. All The Sinners Bleed, S.A. Cosby

59. Zero Days, Ruth Ware

60. King A Life, Jonathan Eig

61. Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky

62. Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead

63. Transfer of Power, Vince Flynn

August

64. Children of Ruin, Adrian Tchaikovsky

65. Be Mine, Richard Ford

66. American Assassin, Vince Flynn

67. Children of Memory, Adrian Tchaikovsky

68. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett

69. Pursuit of Honor, Vince Flynn

70. Wool, Hugh Howey

71. Our Town, Thornton Wilder

72. The Last Man, Vince Flynn

73. The Second Murderer, Denise Mina

74. The Invincible Gene Colan, ed. Clifford Meth

September

75. Invisible Sun, Charles Stross

76. Somebody’s Fool, Richard Russo

77. The Rediscovery of America, Native Peoples 

        and the Unmaking of U.S. History, Ned Blackhawk

78. Prom Mom, Laura Lippman

79. Holly, Stephen King

80. Chenneville, Paulette Jiles

81. The Secret Hours, Mick Herron

82. The Longmire Defense, Craig Johnson

83. Executive Power, Vince Flynn

October

84. Peter & Max, Bill Willingham

85. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, David Browne

86. Memorial Day, Vince Flynn

87. O Pioneers, Willa Cather

88. Shift, Hugh Howey

89. The Funeral and Other Stories, Tessa Hadley

90. Monica, Daniel Clowes

91. Menewood, Nicola Griffith

November

92. Larry McMurtry, A Life, Tracy Daugherty

93. The History of Tom Jones, A  Foundling, Henry Fielding

94. The Secret, Lee & Andrew Child

95. Sharpe’s Havoc, Bernard Cornwell

96. Dust, Hugh Howey

97. Resurrection Walk, Michael Connelly

98. Normal Rules Don’t Apply, Kate Atkinson

99. Sharpe’s Trafalgar, Bernard Cornwell

100. Sharpe’s Triumph, Bernard Cornwell

101. MCU, The Reign of Marvel Studios, Joanna Robinson, 

        Dave Gonzales & Gavin Edwards

102. Analysis of Bone, Stephen Weiner

103. Uhtred’s Feast, Bernard Cornwell

December

104. Dombey and Son, Charles Dickens

105. Dark Ride, Lou Berney

106. Thomas Nast, The Father of Modern Political Cartoons,  

        Fiona Deans Halloran

107. Code Red, Kylle Mills

108. Sharpe’s Assassin, Bernard Cornwell

 Here's how I'm starting 2023.

On Demon Copperhead and other books in 2022

 117 books read in 2022.

If you’re only going to read two books in 2023:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Demon Copperhead is Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield retold as an American tragedy. Rural poverty, the failure of the foster care system, opiod abuse and addiction, the brutality and casual indifference the coal industry imposes on both its workers and the environment are themes that echo through this book.  

By turns, harrowing and humorous, Demon Copperhead, lays bare America’s shame. It is one of the finest and most powerful novels to emerge in years and establishes Kingsolver among the top rank of Amercan novelists.

I know more than most about the (computer) game industry.  I’ve seen how the sausage is made.  It is either a grandly creative effort by a team of individuals with a common vision or a cynical undertaking when old code is dressed up in new clothes — deja vu all over again.

Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow sees the industry with clarity and affection. It’s a delightful book. 

If you’re looking for new authors in 2023, here’s two:

Ruth Ware is a mystery writer.  She says she learned to plot from Agatha Christie and that Daphne du Maurier’s books “are my go-to for how to writer character.” That’s an impressive pedigree which emerges in every page of these tautly written mysteries.

Brit Mick Herron has a bit of fun at John le Carre’s expense in his Slough House novels.  His central character, Jackson Lamb, is a down-at-the-heels George Smiley. He is rude and crude, an unbathed alcoholic who retains all the skills of a master spy. In a delicious twist, Gary Oldman, who played Smiley in the movies, plays Jackson Lamb in the ApplePlus tv series, Slow Horses, which is based on Herron’s novels. The humor doesn’t interefere, in the least, with the fact that when all is read and done this is an engaging espionage series. 

Authors I’m really high on, and think you should be too:

Becky Chambers: I finished her Wayfarer series in 2022. It is science ficiton at its best. Her Monk and Robot novellas (there are two) are harder to characterize.  Sci fi because, well, there’s a robot, but there’s a deft touch of fantasy too.  Chamber’s books are filled with empathy and joy that’s all too rare in books today. She makes me laugh. She makes me cry. And she gives hope for the future. 

S.A.Cosby: Is first book, My Darkest Prayer, was re-issued in 2022.  The novel is clunky at times. Cosby is clearly trying to find his voice.  He channels Walter Mosley in a couple of scenes. There’s nothing wrong with that, Mosley is a superb writer.  Cosby does find his voice in his two most recent novels, Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears. I eagerly await his fourth book. Cosby has given to new life to southern noir.

Jordan Harper:  Harper’s The Last King of California was issued in Great Britain, but not America. I’m not sure why, but the diligent reader can track down a copy. It’s well worth the effort. The Last KIng of California reminds me a little of The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell, and that’s high praise. Harper has new book coming out early this year.  

Two graphic publications that I really liked: 

Monstress by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda collects the first 18 comic books from this epic fantasy published by Image Comics. The artwork is lush. The storytelling tight.  

Ducks, Two Years in the Oil Sands, Kate Beaton. Ducks is NOT a graphic novel. It is a graphic memoir that demonstrates how the use of text and art can rise above text alone. Beaton experienced a gap year of sorts.  In an effort to pay for college, she spent two years working at the oil sands of Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. To say she did not have a good time is an understatement. Sexual harrassment and environmental despoilation are the overriding themes in this coming-of-age memoir.

A few thoughts on non-fiction:

I recommend Jon Meacham’s Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, Covered With Night by Nicole Eustace and Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne.  Three impressive works of history that provide insight into the nation and people we are today.

Path Lit by Lightning, The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss is both a splendid biography of an American sports great and a heartbreaking history of the ill treatment of indigenous people.

My favorite non-fiction book from 2022 was Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to  Fillmore East by Bob Beatty. My takeaways: the band was always meant to be heard live, the band’s sound could never be fully captured in the studio, the album recorded live at the Fillmore East was the cornerstone of the band’s success and despite Duane Allman’s untimely death — only days after Fillmore East went gold — his vision for the band endured for decades.

Books I liked:

Termination Shock, Neal Stephenson

Winter Work, Dan Fesperman

French Braid, Anne Tyler

City on Fire, Don Winslow

Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng

Shrines of Gaiety, Kate Atkinson

Spear, Nicola Griffith 

Fairy Tale, Stephen King

Heat 2, Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner

Books that didn’t quite work for me by authors I’ve liked in the past:

You Have a Friend in 10A, Maggie Shipstead

Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout

The Passenger, Cormac McCarthy

Anthem, Noah Hawley

The Marriage Portrait, Maggie O’Farrell

The Candy House, Jennifer Egan

Now, on to the list: