I read 64 books this year, so you don’t have to!  Not really – you should read them too, at least a few of them. 

My Favorite Fiction of the Year:

Though I always end up wishing that this list stayed current and focused on books released in 2023, that’s never how it goes for me (exception: The Fraud).  These were the five best works of fiction I read this year, even if they were published many years ago (ahem, Blood Meridian.)

Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead.  I can’t say enough about how affecting this book is.  It comes with a trigger warning, though.  I did not grow up in Appalachia or poverty or have close family and friends with a fatal opioid addiction – but reading this book made me feel viscerally like I did.

Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.  This book was terrifying and morbidly grotesque.  It was also some of the greatest pure and evocative writing I have ever encountered.  There is no doubt this book is in the upper echelon of American literary fiction.

Rebecca Makkai’s The Great Believers.  Like Demon Copperhead in its transformative literary magic, this book transported me to the AIDS epidemic of Chicago in the 80s, and I came out the other side of reading it a different person.  It is also witty and charming with unforgettable characters.

Colm Toibin’s The Magician.  This is a far more subtle read than the other books but its greatness comes from the measured and calm depth of the first-person fictionalization of the complex real-life of Thomas Mann as he overcame his own demons and survived the worst of 20^th century Germany.

Zadie Smith’s The Fraud.  I uncharacteristically read this book in one ten-hour marathon on a sleepless flight from Toronto to Cairo.  Zadie Smith does so much with this story, plunging into 19^th century literary salons (Dickens himself!) while also exploring class and racism and colonization with a measured heart and completely realized characters.

My Favorite Fantasy Books of the Year:

My beloved genre fiction of choice is sc-fi/fantasy, so it deserves a separate list.

Tamsyn Muir’s Nona the Ninth.  This series (preceded by Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth) is such a treat – but it is not for the faint of heart or inexperienced sci-fi reader.  A whimsically compelling mind-f#ck of a book.

Charlie Jane Anders’ All the Birds in the Sky. Started the year with this book, a gift from Cory, and I was enthralled by the writing, characters, and depth of this poignant modern era book. Druid X-Men vs. A.I. (kinda), set up by two kids in love.

Steven Erikson’s The God is Not Willing. Erikson returns to the Malazan Book of the Fallen world with a sequel series (this is book one) that is stunningly written with some of the most insightful, real characters/themes yet. Might be his best writing yet, which is saying something.

Daniel Abraham’s Blade of Dream. While I didn’t love book one in Abraham’s new Kithamar Trilogy (Ages of Ash), he outdoes himself in book two. And as he usually does, he subtly flips the genre on its head. He also produces one of the truest love stories I’ve encountered in fantasy.

Anthony Ryan’s The Traitor.  Ryan can be a wildly inconsistent fantasy writer (looking at you, Vaelin al Sorna) but his completed Covenant of Steel trilogy, of which this is the final book, is his best work. Some of the best first-person fantasy around — exploring religious and cult themes with intimacy.

My Favorite Nonfiction Reads of the Year:

Fintan O’Toole’s We Don’t Know Oursevles: A Personal History of Modern Ireland. O’Toole takes the reader on a political journey the latter 20th century through his family lens, carefully sprinkled with history and reporting and analysis. If you want to understand the Ireland of today, start here.

Clint Smith’s How The Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery. The strength of this book is the travelogue and personal touch Smith brings to its chapters, each of which focuses on a certain place and time to bring the legacy of racism another look, rendering it and its consequences anew for the reader.

Elliot Page’s Pageboy. The best memoir I read this year (with some heavy competition in a year with Greenlights and Sink!). Page the public figure holds nothing back in his recollections of movies, love, family, and his transition.

Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change our Minds, & Shape Our Futures. You’d think a book on fungi by a professor in the field would be a tough, scientific read? Not so with Sheldrake’s short, seemingly comprehensive, and utterly enjoyable book. 

Peter Attia’s Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. Jumping on a popular bandwagon here (and a great recommendation from Cheryl), but Attia’s book is readable, inspiring, and full of nuggets of science and wisdom to help change one’s life.