Since the year is almost over, I’m interested to know what kind of books everyone read. What was your favorite book/s you read throughout the year, and why? Any new interesting books you discovered and would suggest others to read?
I probably sound like a broken record by now but Hecatomb of the Vampire is easily my favorite read of 2023. The structure is so gripping, you watch the story piece itself together in such a unique way, the characters are all hits, and the world is so engrossing. I can’t wait for the sequel
Raff57 on
This is going to sound weird, but Dungeon Crawler Carl. Books 1-6. At it turns out, my first foray into the LitRPG genre was best of it’s kind. Cause everything else I’ve tried there was a DNF.
But this story just tweaked my love of the absurd in so many ways.
surveyor2004 on
The Jack Carr series. I finished book 6, Only the Dead, this year. I recommend the while series. Great books.
NouvelleFague on
***Eleanor is completely fine***, it sad and yet funny
i want to read it for the first time again
YakSlothLemon on
I thought this was an amazing year for great books! My favorites that I read were…
Ann Petrie’s The Street. This was actually published in the 1950s but I just heard about it, it was the first book by a Black author to sell over 1 million copies – and no wonder! Lutie is a smart, tough, beautiful woman trying to lift her and her son out of poverty— but the predatory men around her have their own plans.
Edith Holler was a new book I loved this year,set in a theater in Norwich England in 1901 and defies every genre boundary— the narrator is a 12 year old girl under a curse. So weird & beautifully written!
Mona Awad’s Rouge managed to be an incisive book about race, beauty, sexism, mother-daughter relationships and the cosmetics industry, while also being an incredibly disturbing and mysterious Gothic fairytale. I have no idea how she pulled it off. Couldn’t put it down.
Kingfisher’s Thornhedge was a great subversive take on sleeping beauty, and I will never think of that fairytale the same way. Do you really put up a wall of thorns to keep a prince out… or to keep something terrible IN???
Hurley’s Starve Acre was one of the most disturbing horror novels I have ever read. That is how you take English folklore and rural horror and make me wanna crawl out of my skin… Just the cover art. *shudder*
Pylvainen’s End of Drum-Time is a historical novel about the only revolt by the Sami peoples against oppression in the 19th century. I learned so much about Sami culture, and I loved that the author focused on female characters.
Malcolm Gaskill’s The Ruin of All Witches is a non-fiction book about the 1651 witchhunt in Springfield Massachusetts. I have never understood the claustrophobia and exploitation of colonial life under the Puritans so well. It’s insane what he accomplished.
Welcome 2024! Can’t wait to see what’s next…
BookMeander on
Just scanned the books I’ve read this year and realized I didn’t have a true favorite. However, I did read The Witch Elm by Tana French and that would be at the top of my list if I ranked the books I read this year. I loved her writing style, the detail, the uncle, and the setting. More importantly, books by her are now on my radar and I assure you I will read another Tana French book.
haubaby623 on
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
7 Comments
I probably sound like a broken record by now but Hecatomb of the Vampire is easily my favorite read of 2023. The structure is so gripping, you watch the story piece itself together in such a unique way, the characters are all hits, and the world is so engrossing. I can’t wait for the sequel
This is going to sound weird, but Dungeon Crawler Carl. Books 1-6. At it turns out, my first foray into the LitRPG genre was best of it’s kind. Cause everything else I’ve tried there was a DNF.
But this story just tweaked my love of the absurd in so many ways.
The Jack Carr series. I finished book 6, Only the Dead, this year. I recommend the while series. Great books.
***Eleanor is completely fine***, it sad and yet funny
i want to read it for the first time again
I thought this was an amazing year for great books! My favorites that I read were…
Ann Petrie’s The Street. This was actually published in the 1950s but I just heard about it, it was the first book by a Black author to sell over 1 million copies – and no wonder! Lutie is a smart, tough, beautiful woman trying to lift her and her son out of poverty— but the predatory men around her have their own plans.
Edith Holler was a new book I loved this year,set in a theater in Norwich England in 1901 and defies every genre boundary— the narrator is a 12 year old girl under a curse. So weird & beautifully written!
Mona Awad’s Rouge managed to be an incisive book about race, beauty, sexism, mother-daughter relationships and the cosmetics industry, while also being an incredibly disturbing and mysterious Gothic fairytale. I have no idea how she pulled it off. Couldn’t put it down.
Kingfisher’s Thornhedge was a great subversive take on sleeping beauty, and I will never think of that fairytale the same way. Do you really put up a wall of thorns to keep a prince out… or to keep something terrible IN???
Hurley’s Starve Acre was one of the most disturbing horror novels I have ever read. That is how you take English folklore and rural horror and make me wanna crawl out of my skin… Just the cover art. *shudder*
Pylvainen’s End of Drum-Time is a historical novel about the only revolt by the Sami peoples against oppression in the 19th century. I learned so much about Sami culture, and I loved that the author focused on female characters.
Malcolm Gaskill’s The Ruin of All Witches is a non-fiction book about the 1651 witchhunt in Springfield Massachusetts. I have never understood the claustrophobia and exploitation of colonial life under the Puritans so well. It’s insane what he accomplished.
Welcome 2024! Can’t wait to see what’s next…
Just scanned the books I’ve read this year and realized I didn’t have a true favorite. However, I did read The Witch Elm by Tana French and that would be at the top of my list if I ranked the books I read this year. I loved her writing style, the detail, the uncle, and the setting. More importantly, books by her are now on my radar and I assure you I will read another Tana French book.
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt