There’s nothing better than taking a chance on a book and falling in love with it! This year I’ve been lucky enough to read a handful of books that turned out to be five star reads for me. I am so thankful for my 2023 reading journey as a whole, and can’t wait to see what next year has in store for me. As this year is coming to an end, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite reads from 2023. In no particular order…
1. The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
This was one of the first really good horrors I read this year, and it is waaaay better than the movie (imo… although the movie wasn’t too bad.) I usually hate endings that leave you hanging, but in this case the ending really worked. I loved how ambiguous reality was in this novel. This is not your typical horror novel, not quite paranormal, not quite home invasion, but a completely terrifying situation whether it turns out to be reality or not. I really enjoyed the authors notes as well and although they don’t explain everything they definitely add a lot to the reading experience.
2. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Great Alone wins for book that made me cry the most this year. It was full of awe inspiring adventure, strong women, struggles, the sweetest love and the most devastating heartbreak. It made me want to pack up and start a homestead in Alaska, while at the same time showing me that I could never (I would immediately be eaten by a bear.) The imagery of wild Alaska is vivid and oh so beautiful in this novel. Kristin Hannah is so good at creating well rounded and complex characters, giving us strong female characters, while allowing an unfiltered view of their weaknesses and struggles. This will always be a go to recommendation for me.
3. The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
It truly is no surprise that this book was long listed for the 2021 Booker Prize. The writing was absolutely stunning and I felt like I was reading a well crafted American classic. I’m sure this book had its moment (it was a 2021 Oprah’s Book Club book after all), but I still think this novel deserves more hype. This is an absolute heartache of a book, yet it maintains such resilience and hope that it is impossible to put down. This is a must read for anyone who loves historical fiction or is interested in the reconstruction era. This is an important piece of U.S. history that is often overlooked and The Sweetness of Water is a great fictional gateway to this violent time in our history.
4. Cunning Folk by Adam Nevill
Adam Nevill is one of my favorite modern folk horror authors and Cunning Folk is dark, chilling and a perfect example of the genre. Definitely read this if you hate your neighbors, you may be thankful for them after this horror in which a young family uses their savings and are desperate to make a home in the country. Their deranged neighbors will stop at nothing to make them leave. This is one of those psychological horrors that will have you wondering what is real in the end.
5. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
A true example of literary fiction, Demon Copperhead is character driven from cover to cover. This is very loosely based on David Copperfield and is a coming of age story situated in southern Appalachia. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding depictions of this region, but I really appreciated the amount of cultural history and explanation behind certain stereotypes and misconceptions. I did not feel like this novel was romanticizing poverty, in fact Demon’s life is everything but romantic and we see him struggle repeatedly throughout his story, it is a heavy read but an important one. This novel morphed my initial (very limited) understanding of this region and sparked my interest in pursuing non-fiction books about Appalachia. Demon’s character felt very authentic to me and it’s hard to believe he is written by anyone other than a boy coming of age in southern Appalachia.
6. Nestlings by Nat Cassidy
A unique horror that the author has described as “vampire adjacent” is steeped in the horrors of grief, parenting and feeling like you just don’t belong. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel in audiobook form and am a proud owner of the paperback version as well. This novel draws from the author’s Jewish identity and uses Jewish culture and tradition to confront what we previously may have considered a well known horror trope. Not quite vampiric, and a little creepy crawly, this horror was utterly unsettling and had me covered in goosebumps the entire time.
7. The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
This very strange read blew my mind. The way I had absolutely no idea what was going on for 90% of this book followed by the way everything fell so neatly into place and absolutely everything made sense in the end was so deliciously satisfying. It is truly one of those books I would kill to be able to read again for the first time. This book is an entire experience. If you’ve started it and are wondering what the actual hell you’re reading, please keep going, it is so worth it in the end.
8. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Full disclaimer: I’m only about 85% through reading this book at the time of writing this blog post, but I already know it’s a 5/5. The funny thing is, I did not think I was going to like this book at all. I guess I technically was right, because I don’t like this book, I love it. As with most books that I love, it did have me sobbing in bed at 2 am. Bonnie Garmus takes some very heavy, depressing, and enraging topics and frames them with a witty and delightfully hopeful story. My favorite character in this novel is the dog. That’s not a dig at the other characters, he actually is just an exceptionally good boy and is written in such an insightful and humorous way, you just can’t help but fall in love with Six-Thirty.
A note on my 5 star ratings:
When it comes to my personal rating system, the only thing that elevates four stars to five are pure vibes. If I’m really feeling it when I close a book, it’s getting five stars from me. I understand that not everyone will get that wow feeling from the same books that I do. It’s what I love most about being part of the world wide bookish community and I completely respect that we don’t all feel the same about every single book, but isn’t great when sometimes we do? I do look for books that can deliver a great story and handle their topics with empathy and care and if they can move me on top of that, they become a five star read for me.
I do hope that you will decide to read some of these books based on my recommendations and I hope you love them just as much as I did! Happy Thanksgiving!