[ad_1]
Building a “Best Books of the year” list is an impossible task.
For every one book we honor, there are hundreds of beautiful and well-deserving titles that go unrecognized. As a writer or reader, it’s easy to look at these 2023 lists with a mix of intrigue and dread, as they look to see which outlet liked what and where their favorite book landed in the vast ocean that is reading.
So as our team sat down to discuss what books we’d like to highlight, we approached our work as a small piece in a larger puzzle. This list features the 2023 releases that we had the chance to read and haven’t been able to stop thinking about since, but we hope that you view it not as an end, but as a jumping off point for your reading. We hope you look at every list you can find and explore their similarities and differences and discover something new that you may have missed.
Because you never know whether your next book may be one of your favorite things you’ve read that year.
I Have Some Questions For You
By Rebecca Makkai
Viking
I’m in constant awe of Rebecca Makkai’s ability to redefine the genre she’s working in. I Have Some Questions For You is the perfect crime novel for our time, probing at the questions of agency and abuse while also turning a critical eye to our own desire for stories of brutal violence. Makkai is one of those writers where you really want to savor every word even when the story stirs you to read on faster and faster to learn more. Read our interview with Rebecca Makkai.
— Michael Welch, Editor-In-Chief
My Men
By Victoria Kielland
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Astra House
A brisk read, both in the sense that it’s fairly short and also entirely chilling as Kielland traps us in the swiftly deteriorating mind of America’s first known female serial killer. Ultimately, though, her project feels empathetic, in the sense that it’s attempting to understand what drove Belle to do what she did, even if Kielland doesn’t seem able to come up with an answer anymore than her subject could. Read our interview with translator Damion Searls.
— Sara Batkie, Editor-At-Large
Was It For This
By Hannah Sullivan
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Hannah Sullivan’s Was It for This is a thoughtful poetry-hybrid work exploring time and aging, lockdowns and random tragedy. She asks why it’s so hard to acknowledge and appreciate the present moment, writing:
“why should time only
in taking things, in
handing down, make
what they were all along
flare to brilliance.”
Read our review.
— Meredith Boe, Contributor
The In-Betweens
By Davon Loeb
West Virginia University Press
Looking back at all the 2023 titles I read, Davon Loeb’s lyrical memoir stands out for its intimacy and brilliance. It’s a deeply felt book, notable not only for its thoughtful examination of race and identity, but its masterful execution of narrative.
— Rachel León, Daily Editor
I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times
By Taylor Byas
Soft Skull
Taylor Byas’s I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times reminded me of my experience reading Eve L. Ewing’s Electric Arches for the first time. Filled with unforgettable lyricism, nostalgia, and clear-eyed reflection on the beauty and pain of growing up, this poetry collection is my newest addition to the Chicago shelf in my bookcase—the section I frequently return to whenever I need to remember the endless possibilities of writing about this city and the lives it fosters. Read our interview with Taylor Byas.
— Michael Welch, Editor-In-Chief
The Saint of Bright Doors
By Vajra Chandrasekera
Tordotcom
Sumptuously written, blending myth and modernity in startling fashion, The Saint of Bright Doors engages with questions of political violence, the refashioning of history, and the dangers of messianic narratives. By turns absurd, satirical, and magical, it’s anchored in extremely well-drawn characters, and has some narrative turns that almost knocked me out of my chair.
— Casella Brookins, Contributor
The Best Possible Experience
By Nishanth Injam
Pantheon Books
Desire is central to the gorgeous, subtle, and sharp story collection The Best Possible Experience by Nishanth Injam. Injam beautifully portrays various types of longing that bubble underneath the surface of his characters, all of who are either immigrants from India, members of the Indian diaspora living in the United States, or living in India in the stories themselves. Despite the different circumstances, settings, and situations the characters find themselves in, one thing that unites them is their yearning for something deeper than what their circumstances have to offer them. Read our review and our interview with Nishanth Injam.
— Farooq Chaudhry, Daily Editor
The New Naturals
By Gabriel Bump
Algonquin Books
The New Naturals follows an ambitious and perhaps doomed attempt to create a new underground utopia for people who no longer feel welcome in the world they find themselves in, but it’s the people who are drawn to this project that the book truly focuses on. Gabriel Bump writes complete characters like few others can, and in his latest book he’s using this talent to explore the difficult question of where do we go when we’ve reached the crisis point in our personal and collective lives. I truly haven’t been able to shake these characters and themes ever since I put down the book. Read our interview with Gabriel Bump.
— Michael Welch, Editor-In-Chief
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
By Timothy Egan
Viking
A must-read exploration of the dark underside of the Roaring Twenties, when corrupt politicians weaponized hatred and democracy was under attack, filled with warnings and lessons for today’s fractured America.
— Dean Jobb, Contributor
Company
By Shannon Sanders
Graywolf Press
I love interconnected short story collections and this debut by PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize-winner Shannon Sanders now ranks among my all-time favorites. It follows the Collins family, and some of their acquaintances, as they prepare for guests, host, or visit someone’s home. Centering themes of performance, social appearance, and duty to family and self, these thirteen stories are skillfully written with warmth and grace.
— Rachel León, Daily Editor
Toy Fights
By Don Paterson
Liveright Publishing Corporation
Paterson does an outstanding job of expressing affection for his family and hometown (Dundee, Scotland) without sacrificing understanding or critical distance. The book has a poet’s attention to language throughout, so that every word and sentence seems carefully crafted. And it’s entirely unpretentious. Read our review.
— Dan Kubis, Contributor
Loot
By Tania James
Knopf Publishing Group
My favorite release of 2023 was Loot by Tania James. Utterly immersive and magical, able to portray huge swathes of colonial history in a relatively slim volume. Fleshed out characters and nuanced motivations, centering themes of creativity and artistic legacy, it was so deserving of its National Book Award longlist status.
— Malavika McGrail, Contributor
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind
By Molly McGhee
Astra House
Expertly balanced between wit and heartbreak, Molly McGhee’s Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind lived up to the hype and then some. McGhee has written the 21st century’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” compressing the effects of American hypercapitalism’s oppressive systems into an original, brilliant romp. What happens, McGhee asks, when you can’t afford to prefer not to?
— Elizabeth McNeill, Daily Editor
A Country You Can Leave
By Asale Angel-Ajani
MCD
I adore everything about this debut novel centering Black biracial Lara and her fiery Russian mother Yevgenia (who is probably the most unforgettable character I’ve ever met). Examining race, class, gender, and privilege with thoughtfulness and emotional resonance, it made me laugh and broke my heart.
— Rachel León, Daily Editor
Open Throat
By Henry Hoke
MCD
I was entirely unprepared for how much of an emotional journey this book would be. Henry Hoke’s debut, which is narrated by a lonely mountain lion living under the Hollywood sign, is a heart wrenching, beautiful, and deeply existential novel about what it means to be human and our desire for true connection. A gorgeous book from start to finish.
— Michael Welch, Editor-In-Chief
[ad_2]
Source link