Top Books of 2023
At Prospero’s Books in Kansas City
I make lists every day of things to accomplish, but probably my favorite list to make is the list I keep in the back of my journals all year long of the books I’ve read. Going back over them is a walk through my year–where I was when I read them, what I was feeling, how they affected me. Because I read so many books (144 this year), I sometimes don’t remember reading a particular one until I skim through the list, and then I’m delighted all over again.
I don’t always enjoy making the list of my top ten books of the year. There are always more than ten books that I really loved, and I used to just go ahead and list fifteen or twenty because I wanted to share them so badly. In recent years, I’ve tried really hard to abbreviate the list to ten, in part because that’s the number Joe wants to talk about on Paperback Readers Pod, and in part because I do a halfway decent job of posting about books I’ve loved all year long on my bookstagram, @juliealwaysreads. This year, there are eleven, and it’s just going to have to be okay.
A note before I get into this year’s books: I don’t have a qualitative scale for determining my favorites. I go with the books that stood out to me, books that may have required a reread which turned out to be just as good as the first, or books that would not let me go and lingered in my mind for the whole year. My choices are particular to what I feel at this moment. Next week, I might have chosen a few differently. Either way, this list is full of books that were beautiful and brightened my life, and I think other people will find them the same.
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn–Georgie has spent her life feeling like a misfit in her hometown, and when she limps back after losing a job she loved, she expects more of the same. What she did not expect was to find herself, the acceptance she’s looked for, and love in the one place she always wanted to escape. Kate Clayborn writes love stories that aren’t fluffy and that grapple with the struggles of growing older. She’s one of my favorites forever.
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel–It’s a New York story (my own sweet spot of novels), and contains the brightest, zaniest, and most lovable cast of characters. It’s a story of forgiveness and grace both for the self and others. All of Amy Poeppel’s books are great, but this one is her absolute best.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano–This book is an homage to Little Women but really is a portrait of the power of love. Half the time, several of the characters made me crazy, but they were always interesting and powerful. This book was a challenge to me in how I think of love and how I define family, and even when it broke my heart, I couldn’t put it down.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld–This is the book that made me a Sittenfeld fan. It is exactly what it claims to be, and it was hilarious and meaningful and worthy of its own movie. While the epistolary section in the middle didn’t work for some people, it did for me, and I also really appreciated the Covid setting for most of the important parts. Despite the fact that one of the main characters was a celebrity, this book still felt grounded, while many romantic comedies just feel aspirational.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir by Maggie Smith–This memoir reads like the poetry Maggie Smith normally writes. With unconventional structure and chapters, the book brings the reader into the heartbreak, confusion, and claustrophobia of a dissolving marriage, and then into the carving out of a new life in a new shape. I admire her ability to write so well about something so devastating.
Jane & Edward: A Modern Reimagining of Jane Eyre by Melodie Edwards–I’m a huge fan of Bronte’s Jane, which I first chose to read as a freshman in high school for my high school English class, so I was nervous but curious for this one. But Melodie Edwards obviously loves Jane too. Edwards didn’t lose any of Jane’s self-actualization, and she equalized Jane and Edwards in a way that the original could not do. I can’t wait for her next book, reimagining Persuaded by Jane Austen.
How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key–The title fits the story. This is Key’s memoir of how his marriage crashed, healed, then died and was resurrected. It is meaningful and gorgeous and so full of love. It’s also hilarious, because it’s Harrison Scott Key. I am definitely reading it again.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett–I think this is probably my favorite of her novels. It’s a series of memories held together by the play Our Town, and you probably do need to have a basic understanding of the play to fully appreciate the novel. It shows the beauty of an ordinary life through a mother telling her grown daughters her own story, and choosing which pieces to keep for herself. Gorgeous writing; classic Patchett.
Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo–This was my favorite of the “Fool” trilogy. The characters and situations are so funny and so real, and I loved watching them change and grow in this finale to the series.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune–Why did I wait to long to read this book? A social worker is sent to a remote island to inspect a small orphanage that houses children with unusual or dangerous powers, and led by a man who has secrets of his own. It was funny and sweet, and every new word and scene reminds us that every person is more than you see on the surface, and every single one deserves empathy and love. It’s a re-read for me for sure.
Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things that Last by Wright Thompson–I was completely surprised by how much I loved this one. It parallels the story of Julian VanWinkle’s struggle to save the bourbon associated with his family name with Thompson’s struggles to start his own family, all set in Kentucky. I loved how he talked about my favorite state, but mostly how the book looked at the ways we try to hang on to those we love, and make a better future for our children.
Late entries: I want to mention The Last Love Note by Emma Grey and The Upstairs Delicatessen: On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, and Eating While Reading by Dwight Garner, because I finished both of these right after Christmas and adored both of them. It’s not their fault I read them too late in the year to get them on this list, and they are both absolutely wonderful. I hope you read them!