2023 Top Eighteen Favorite Books

Happy New Year everyone! We’ve successfully completed a 365-day revolution around the sun. But with every end comes a new beginning. We are provided with 366 blank pages – 2024 is a leap year – upon which to paint new memories. I hope that we will all paint these blank canvases with good and lasting memories, may it be with the people we love or all by ourselves. Thankfully, things are finally looking up after spending nearly three years under a shroud of uncertainty due to the pandemic. I sure hope that the good times keep on rolling.

As has been the tradition in the past few years, I will be kicking off the new year by looking back to the previous year, its hits, and of course, its mishits. It is also an opportunity to take a glimpse of how the coming year is going to shape up. This book wrap-up is a part of a mini-series that will feature the following:

2023 Top Eighteen Favorite Books
2023 Book Wrap Up
2023 Reading Journey by the Numbers
2023 20 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part I)
2023 20 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part II)
2023 New Favorite Authors
2024 Books I Look Forward To List
2024 Top 24 Reading List

Since I started reading, 2023 has been my most productive reading year yet; I ended the year with 130 completed books, the details of which you can check in my 2023 Reading Journey by the Numbers wrap-up. I never imagined that I would be able to surpass my 2022 achievement. I thought that 2022 was an anomaly. You see, for the longest time, I have been trying to read at least 100 books in a year, which I was able to finally achieve in 2022, over a decade since I started to take reading works of fiction more seriously.

Of these 130 books, some failed to impress me. Nevertheless, there were several that impressed me. The sheer volume of books I read last year made it a challenge to pick out which ones to feature in this 2023 reading wrap-up. Normally, I would feature ten books but because 2023 is again a deviation, I will also deviate from my tradition. Instead of ten, I am sharing the fifteen – I shared twelve for 2022 – books that left the deepest impression on me in 2023. Without ado, here are my fifteen favorite reads of 2023.

But before sharing my ten best reads of the year, here are the runners-up who nearly made the cut; there were just too many amazing reads in 2023.

Title: Ulysses
Author: James Joyce

I must say, I was intimidated by James Joyce’s Ulysses. When I first started reading it – it was part of my 2017 Top 20 Reading List – I thought it would just be a walk in the park. I was wrong. I ended up closing the book midway through it. With this came the promise to read it once I am more mature as a reader. This came six years later when I made it occupy a very important number in my reading journey. I made it the 1000th novel I read. I am glad I did although when I read it the second time around, I was still feeling daunted. However, once I let loose, so did the story. It is simply one of those books you love to hate and hate to love. It is a book that is out of this world. Its structure and its storytelling process refuse to conform to literary conventions. It is also this that made me appreciate it. From a book that intimidated me, Ulysses soared to become one of my all-time favorite reads. I am thankful to the book because it made me see a different kind of literature, one that pushed the boundaries of my own imagination.

Title: The Magic Mountain
Author: Thomas Mann

Ah. Another book that I have long been looking forward to. I can’t remember exactly when I first encountered Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. However, one thing is for sure, when I first encountered it, the book immediately grabbed my attention. I knew I wanted to read the book. This was even though I barely had any iota about who Mann was – I, later on, learned that he is a Nobel Laureate in Literature – nor have I read any of his novels. Almost a decade since I first encountered the book, I was finally able to read it and it was sure worth the wait. Like Ulysses, the book occupies an important position in my reading journey. It is the 1,100th novel I read overall. Through the story of Hans Castorp, a dashing young man orphaned at a young age who found himself stuck in the titular Magic Mountain tucked in the Swiss Alps, Mann was able to take the reader across a spectrum of subjects, such as death and the inevitable flow of time. Reading The Maig Mountain, however, was not without its challenges but it was, nevertheless, worth the long wait.

Title: Our Share of Night
Author: Mariana Enriquez

My 2023 reading journey once again took me to Latin America. This allowed me to explore writers whose oeuvre I have not explored before, such as Argentinian writer Mariana Enríquez who I first came across in 2021 when her book, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. I was looking forward to the book but I then learned it was a short story collection. The universe conspired for me and Our Share of Night became her first novel to be translated into English. In the lush tapestry that Enríquez adeptly wove together, wealth, power, and evil figured prominently. While these elements have been prominently featured in other books and films, Enríquez gave an astounding account that brings the spotlight to her country of birth’s contemporary history. She touches on seminal historical phases rarely captured in fiction, at least, from the Anglophone reader’s perspective. It is the conjunction of literal and metaphorical horrors set in a nation still reeling from the atrocities it witnessed. While its horrific elements were local, its overall messages resonate on a universal scale.

Title: Orlando
Author: Virginia Woolf

As one navigates the vast world of literature, one will brush up with the works of Virginia Woolf. Woolf has a reputation that precedes her name. After all, Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf? Interestingly, it was through this movie title that I first came across the English writer. However, it has been five years since I read one of her works, prompting me to include Orlando in my 2023 reading journey. The time is ripe to reconnect with one of the world’s most renowned writers and literary critics; interestingly, she wasn’t a fan of James Joyce’s Ulysses. I was surprised when I opened the book because the introduction alone tickled my imagination as it provided me information about Woolf that I didn’t know before. I learned, for instance, that Orlando was inspired by the family history of Vita Sackville-West, a fellow novelist and established poet who was also Woolf’s close friend and lover. Love affair aside, Orlando is a timeless classic because it explores the fluidity of time and gender. It challenges the boundaries of storytelling and what it can achieve.

Title: Whale
Author: Cheon Meyong-Kwan

I first came across Cheon Myeong-Kwan and his novel Whale when it was announced as part of the 2023 International Booker Prize longlist. There has been a spate of Korean novels taking the world by storm; I am not complaining though. Whale, originally published in 2003, was Cheon’s debut novel and is considered a contemporary classic of Korean literature. It is a novel of modern South Korea. Whale is a complex and multilayered novel that reels the readers with its different elements woven together by Cheon’s storytelling. It is an atmospheric story that fuses social and political commentary with magical realist elements. Whale also subtly underscored the very nature of storytelling. It is also the story of a strong woman who rose above adversity and the patriarchy. At one point, Geumbok said “I only have one principle I live by. Small, humble things are embarrassing.” This holds true for the novel: an ambitious undertaking that didn’t shy away from examining complex subjects and realities that some might find off-putting.

Title: The Robber Bride
Author: Margaret Atwood

2023 has shaped up to be a year of catching up with familiar writers. It has been nearly four years since I last read a novel by Margaret Atwood, a titan of literature; my last read was The Testaments back in 2019. This prompted me to include The Robber Bride in my 2023 Top 23 Reading List. While The Testaments failed to impress me, I was looking forward to navigating the Canadian writer’s literary labyrinth. The novel tells the complicated friendship of four women who first met during their college years: Tony, Charis, Roz, and Zenia. While the first three women were secured, Zenia was the devil incarnate. Zenia gave each of the three friends different versions of her life; Atwood kept her readers guessing as to which version was the truth. Things came to a head when Zenia stole her friends’ boyfriends. The novel highlights the dynamics of male and female relationships, emphasizing the complexities of female companionship and, by extension, feminism. Margaret Atwood, as always, does not fail to deliver.

Title: The Bee Sting
Author: Paul Murray

My last and 130th book for the year was Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting. I have never heard of Murray before 2023. It was midway through the year when I first encountered the Irish writer whose latest novel kept getting positive reviews. The Bee Sting even earned the Irish writer a couple of awards. My interest piqued, I resolved to read the book, especially after it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Murray’s fourth novel, The Bee Sting introduced the Barnes family, a well-to-do Irish family living in the countryside. They seemed like the perfect family portrait. Dickie, the patriarch, was managing a lucrative car dealership. Imelda, the matriarch, was a local beauty and the envy of the other local women. Cass, their oldest child, was on the way to university while PJ, the youngest, was brimming with empathy. However, the decline of their business exposed the tensions that have been belied by their perfect facade. Each member had a secret. Murray also has a knack for making readers inhabit his characters, each individually riveting. It was the right decision to conclude my 2023 with The Bee Sting, easily one of my best reads during the year.

Title: 2666
Author: Roberto Bolaño

My return to Latin America came with a return to a familiar territory. Like Atwood, Roberto Bolaño is a titan of literature. He is one of the most remarkable writers produced by Chile and Latin America. I loved The Savage Detectives and 2666 proved to be a continuation of this love affair. Interestingly, 2666 was Roberto Bolaño’s swan song. But what a way to leave a legacy. His last novel consolidated his stranglehold as one of the best Latin American writers of his generation while, at the same time, introducing him to the rest of the world. 2666 was no ordinary novel as it vehemently and unapologetically challenged the conventions of writing. The multilayered novel straddled the thin lines separating fiction and nonfiction. An ordinary writer would have balked at the ambition but Bolaño was no ordinary writer. 2666 was the convergence of crime fiction, detective fiction, literary satire, and even picaresque. It is an ambitious literary masterpiece that pushed the boundaries of both storytelling and the readers’ imagination. No superlative can capture how Bolaño and his works have swept me.

Title: Within A Budding Grove
Author: Marcel Proust

For the longest time, I have been putting aside reading Marcel Proust’s seven-volume novel, In Search of Lost Time/Remembrance of Things Past simply because I don’t have the complete set but in 2022, I started the long journey by reading Swann’s Way which was one of my best reads of the year. For the second year running, his book is again part of my best reads of the year. Within A Budding Grove provides a more mature version of Marcel. Gone was his innocent gaze. In its stead is a growing awareness of the realities of the world. His coming-of-age is slowly taking shape as he experiences the pleasures of romantic love and its extremes, obsession. Along with it is his sexual awakening; woven into the story were subtle homosexual overtures. Not only was his emotions taking a firmer shape, but also his appreciation of the arts. Negative emotions, such as rejection and disillusionment, were also woven into the lush tapestry of the book. Proust’s vivid portrait of French society further underlined his impressionistic talent. Within A Budding Grove was a resplendent sequel to the first book.

Title: Demon Copperhead
Author: Barbara Kingsolver

While The Bee Sting concluded my 2023 reading journey, it was Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Demon Copperhead, that opened it. Honestly, I wasn’t really keen on reading the book when I learned about its release. My mind changed when, later in 2022, the book was included in many a Best 2022 Books list. Besides, it has been three years since I read one of Kingsolver’s works. Kingsolver’s latest creation has also been earning praise from literary pundits and readers alike, and for good reasons. While Demon Copperhead was inspired by Charles Dickens David Copperfield, it was uniquely its own. Its fierce examination of social concerns, such as the shortcomings of the child welfare, healthcare, and education systems, the growing concern about opioid addiction, capitalism, and systemic destitution gives it a more contemporary feel. The novel, however, does not reduce itself to a mere indictment of modern American society. Demon Coppearhead was, at its heart, a tender and heartwarming coming-of-age story of a resilient young man who managed to rise above the odds dealt to him by the Fates.

Title: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeid
Author: Shehan Karunatilaka

At the start of the year, there were many books I was looking forward to. Chief among them was Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Before 2022, I have never heard of the Sri Lankan writer. Had it not been for the Booker Prize, this would have not changed. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was among the first books that piqued my interest when the Booker Prize longlist was released. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a pivotal work of contemporary fiction that casts a vast net over history and the art of storytelling. It was a reminder of many things that are slowly losing meaning in the contemporary such as the importance of memory and history, the atrocities of war, and the corruption of governments and even humanity. Karunatilaka was scathing in his commentaries on the current state of his nation as Sri Lanka is still undermined by political unrest. The humor and wit that the book was riddled with belie the devastation caused by the Sri Lankan Civil War, a seminal part of the country’s modern history. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was a compelling and immersive mix of history and fantasy.

Title: No Longer Human
Author: Osamu Dazai

One of the prominent names of Japanese literature that dominated the twentieth century was Osamu Dazai who has recently been gaining global recognition as his works were reprinted, among them No Longer Human. By the way, Dazai is the father Yūko Tsushima, another novelist. I also learned that Osamu Dazai is a pseudonym used by Shūji Tsushima. Dazai is considered one of the masters of the I-novel, a form of confessional literature built on actual experiences by the writer. His novel No Longer Human (人間失格, Ningen Shikkaku, 1948) was an excellent example of the I-novel. The main character of the novel was Ōba Yōzō whose journal was the structural backbone of the novel. His journal focused on pivotal events in his life from his childhood until his university days. His stay at the university was pivotal in his life as it was a period of enlightenment. As the story moves forward, one begins to understand the plight of Ōba, hence, the book’s title. This was what reeled me in. The dissection of Ōba’s psychological profile was very compelling and Dazai did an impressive job of making the readers part of his journey.

Title: The Preying Birds
Author: Amado V. Hernandez

One of the ironies of my reading list is the glaring lack of works of Philippine literature. My exploration of my own part of the literary world is dishearteningly limited. Nevertheless, I have been trying to make up for lost time, leading me to Amado V. Hernandez’s The Preying Birds which also happens to be the first novel originally written in Tagalog that I read. Set in the Philippines during the twilight years of and the years immediately following the end of the Second World War, The Preying Birds is a scathing socio-political novel that strongly echoed the sentiments captured in the works of the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. In a way, the book’s hero, Mando Plaridel was a conduit of Rizal’s Crisostomo Ibarra/Simoun. When the opportunity for Mando to seek social justice presented itself, he did not hesitate. Social justice, however, is a rarity in a society corrupted by greed and personal ambitions. The maladies captured by Hernandez are concerns that remain prevalent in the present. Despite the passage of time, The Preying Birds is, a timely and incisive look at contemporary Philippine society.

Title: Chain-Gang All-Stars
Author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

At the start of the year, I listed 2023 book releases I am looking forward to. One of the ten books in the said list was Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars. It was ubiquitous in similar most anticipated 2023 release lists, hence, it was a no-brainer for me to include the book in my own. Adjei-Brenyah’s abolitionist ideals were the product of the seed planted by his father’s time as a defense attorney. Over time, it developed into a mantle upon which he built his stories. This was vividly depicted in Chain-Gang All-Stars. It was a searing debut brimming with high-octane action, all the while probing into the failures of the American incarceration system through the story of Loretta Thurwar and her fellow Links. Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel subtly examined the meaning of what it means to be free. Chain-Gang All-Stars, easily one of the best releases of the year, is a complex but evocative literary piece that consolidates Adjei-Brenyah’s status as one of the contemporary’s brightest literary voices.

Title: Jacob’s Ladder
Author: Ludmila Ulitskaya

I can’t remember when I first encountered Ludmila Ulitskaya although it did not escape my attention that the Russian writer’s works have been ubiquitous lately. My interest in her oeuvre was further piqued when I kept encountering her name in discourses apropos possible honorees for the Nobel Prize in Literature. With these, I listed her novel, Jacob’s Ladder, in my 2023 Top 23 Reading List. Said to be Ulitsakaya’s final full-length prose, Jacob’s Ladder follows two narrative threads: the present charting the story of Nora Ossetsky, a set designer, theatrical director, and writer in late-Soviet and post-Soviet Moscow; and the past following the story of Nora’s grandparents Marusya Kerns and Jacob Ossetsky in the revolutionary and Stalinist periods. On the surface, Jacob’s Ladder is a family saga oscillating across periods. Through the story of this family, the novel chronicled Russia’s modern history, from the fall of the Romanovs to the rise of Joseph Stalin to the dismantling of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. With the vast territory it covered, Jacob’s Ladder is certainly one of my best reads this year.

Title: Time Shelter
Author: Georgi Gospodinov

Like in the case of Karunatilaka, it was through the (International) Booker Prize that I first encountered Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov. I wasn’t originally too keen on his third novel Time Shelter but when it was announced as the winner, I knew I had to read the book. I wanted to know what the fuzz was about. Gospodinov, I learned, is quite a literary star in his native Bulgaria. Time Shelter is literal as time and memory transformed into safe havens from the tumult of the present, not only in Europe but all over the world. We yearn to return, rather, escape to a past where our happy memories lie. However, nostalgia can be a double-edged sword, as iterated in Gospodinov’s third novel. Time Shelter is a multilayered novel that integrates satire, philosophy, and metafiction into a potent and inventive novel of ideas. The result was a lush tapestry that dealt with the question of whether our past, both collective and individual, can provide us a sanctuary from the tedium of our quotidian lives. It veers off from reality but Gospodinov makes it sound plausible.

Title: Chilean Poet
Author: Alejandro Zambra

One of the writers introduced by my first foray into Latin American literature back in 2021 was Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra. His novel Multiple Choice fascinated me for its unconventional structure. This made me want to read more of his works. The opportunity to explore his oeuvre came in 2023 with his latest novel Chilean Poet. I was not planning on reading the book but I can’t keep the tenterhook. At the heart of Chilean Poet was Gonzalo Rojas, a poetry-loving teacher living in Santiago. He had a torrid love affair with his high school sweetheart Carla during the 1990s. but they broke up. But as life would have it, they reconnected nine years later. Carla now had a son, Vicente, with one of her previous lovers, Leon. At first, Vicente seemed like a dealbreaker for Gonzalo but they eventually formed a bond. Zambra was resplendent in adroitly weaving all of the novel’s various elements together. In Chilean Poet, he crafted an insightful read on family dynamics and filial relationships while probing the maladies that plague modern Chile. Zambra has consolidated his status as one of the writers I look forward to.

Title: Yellowface
Author: R.F. Kuang

Rounding up this list is another writer who was part of my 2023 Top 20 Boosk I Look Forward To List. R.F. Kuang has established a reputation as a writer of fantasy fiction. Her latest novel, Yellowface, however, was a deviation from the genre she established her reputation in. Kuang’s first foray outside of the realms of fantasy, Yellowface is a riveting story about the publishing industry, literature, and even the intricacies of friendship. At its heart, it is the story of the lengths we go to achieve our dreams. In Juniper’s story, we read the story of a young woman who can barely move forward in her career because she has been pigeonholed because of her race. The novel covers a plethora of subjects that is attuned to the concerns of the publishing industry while also underlining the toxic environment that social media has created. Yellowface was not without its faults – it wasn’t able to fully address some of the concerns it raised – but it was nevertheless a compelling read. Maybe I should also try her works of fantasy?