Hey all, behind on this one, but that’s sleepy procrastinator life for ya. Wanted to give my top 10 reads of 2023 and get suggestions from there! As a reference point I read about 50 this year so these are all “good” for me. Normally I’m a bit more experimental but I spent the year catching up on some classics I’d never read (still have quite a few to go in that regard).
10. *The Memory Police* by Yoko Ogawa: A very slow and melancholic read. Enjoyed the meditative feel of it
9. * Labyrinths* by Jorge Luis Borges: Fun well paced stories. At times I felt too dumb to fully get it.
8. *Salt* by Mark Kurlansky: Did not expect to be riveted spending 12+ hours reading about salt, but here we are.
7. *The Shining* by Stephen King: Sometimes I struggle with King’s writing/prose while loving his stories. This hit on both fronts, launching it into my top 10.
6. *A Swim in a Pond in the Rain* by George Saunders: Good stories. Good instruction. Good book.
5. *The Only Good Indians* by Stephen Graham Jones: Full disclosure this one isn’t for everyone, but damn did it work for me. Fast paced and gritty, not for the faint of heart.
4. *New Seeds of Contemplation* by Thomas Merton: Merton lights up my spirituality in a way few others do. I constantly find myself fascinated by people who hold firm to a faith framework without being fully defined or caged in by that framework.
3. *Go Tell it on the Mountain* by James Baldwin: Sad and moving, this book had some of the prettiest sentences I’ve ever read.
2. *The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida* by Shehan Karunatilaka: This one felt so fresh and original and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Also had phenomenal prose. I’m a sucker for pretty writing.
1. *East of Eden* by John Steinbeck: Best book I’ve read in a decade and in contention for my best of all time. Worth every ounce of the hype it gets.
by poetryinemotion
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House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk
I read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett a few years ago and it was an amazing book. It had some very poetic prose. Maybe check out Toni Morrison too.
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck is great. I still haven’t got to East of Eden, but loved this one.
I’d say the obvious recommendations are other Steinbeck novels, if you haven’t already read them. Cannery Row is a good one, nowhere near as long as EoE.
I’m a big Steinbeck fan and the author who most reminds me of him is the Australian writer Tim Winton. I’m not sure what it is about them that I find similar but I think it’s the way they write about a place as much as the characters. His collection of short stories, The Turning, might be a good place to start, give you a feel for his writing.
More recently I really enjoyed The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff. It uses some dark humour to look at some serious topics, but it’s a quick read and very funny.
Completely agree on East of Eden; that book changed my life. *timshel.*