Stellar Reads in 2023

 There’s still some time left in the year, but I am going to go ahead and call my top reads of 2023. These are the top books that I read this year, not top books published this year.

Surprise standout. Of the 132 books I read in 2023, I finished at least five books on cleaning and organizing and consulted a handful more. None of them are earth-shaking other than The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (a reread) and its practical companion volume Spark Joy. However, one random standout was Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore by the “Laundry Evangelist” Patric Richardson and writer Karin Miller. It is a handbook on how to care for your textiles but also part memoir and part celebration of the women in Richardson’s life, from grannies to neighbors. It’s very warm.

Metaphysical/Occult. I read a handful of great new metaphysical titles that came out in 2023 as well as a couple oldies but goodies. Witchcraft Discovered by Josephine Winter is my new witchcraft 101 recommendation for anyone who is curious about the occult.

Fantasy. I don’t read a ton of fantasy; the books tend to be so long and part of a series of ever expanding, fatter volumes, and I don’t have much patience for worldbuilding. While I did read and begrudgingly enjoy the first three books of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series (see book boyfriends), I would say that my standout fantasy title was The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz. It’s a sweeping high fantasy set in a fictional post-colonial Venezuela. Imagine that George RR Martin and Isabel Allende had a baby, and that baby is gay. Tolkein is the godfather.

Self Help. I tend to read a lot of self help and I DNF more than I finish. My favorite this year was Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. This is more philosophical than lifehacky, and fans of Stoics will love it. 

Short Stories. The O. Henry winners are a mixed bag as always, but I loved “Man Mountain” by Catherine Lacey and “The Haunting of Hajji Hotak” by Jamil Jan Kochai. My favorite short story collection was Agustina Bazterrica’s Nineteen Claws and a Blackbird. Both Bazterrica and Kochai managed to make me love stories in second person narration, which is quite a feat.

Social Justice. Despite supporting the local anarchist library project and buying a handful of Haymarket titles, I didn’t read a ton of books this year, mostly some online articles and some DIY herbal abortion zines. I was moved by Saving Our Own Lives: A Liberatory Practice of Harm Reduction by Shira Hassan.

Writing. I read quite a bit about writing this year, particularly genre fiction guides, but my favorites were Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing and Julia Cameron’s The Right to Write.

Mysteries. I cranked through maybe eleven mysteries and DNFed a ton. My favorite series was Juliet Blackwell’s Witchcraft Mysteries. I also liked Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss, and I can see why the novel won her the Agatha Award for best first novel.

Debut Standout. I read a few ARCs this year, mostly nonfiction, but Winter Harvest, a harsh but beautiful Demeter retelling, by Ionna Papadopoulou was my favorite debut. I hope she keeps writing because I want to read more!

New to Me Author. I am following Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s career with great interest. This year I read Gods of Jade and Shadow, “The Lover,” and Prime Meridian, respectively a Jazz Age Mexican fantasy, a dark fairy tale, and a wistful dystopian story about colonizing Mars, all fabulous. 

Book I Hated to Love. Agustina Bazterrica’s Tender is the Flesh is both the best and worst novel that I read this year. Set in a post-pandemic Argentina in which all animals have been killed due to a virus and factory farming of human beings is legal, the novel follows Marcos, a supervisor in a human slaughterhouse. This was a bleak and brutal dystopia that was compelling and nightmarish in both its violence and, perhaps most disturbingly, its believability. 

Book That I Loved to Hate. I joined a “Spicy Grapes” book club in Cleveland in which a handful of women get together to drink wine and talk about the smut we read. I am a romance girlie, but I dipped my toe into trying to find the creepiest and/or funniest erotica out there for a couple of months. Although it was the horrible Stuffed by the Were-Turkey that finally broke my spirit and my quest for the best of the worst, I think Vera Valentine’s Unhinged: An Erotic Door Romance is my go-to most ridiculed premise. The narrator is a sentient front door who is in love with the woman who lives in the apartment he guards. For what it is, it’s a cute love story, in a pornographic Pinocchio kind of a way.

Book Boyfriends. I read so much romance that I am breaking up my favorite reads into a few categories. Although I have plenty to complain about when it comes to the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, I will say that Rhysand, the haunted, sardonic, violet eyed High Lord of the Night Court is top tier book boyfriend material, right behind Rochester and the Darcys, both Fitzwiliam and Mark. Honorable mention to Jamie, the gruff Irish librarian of Sangu Mandanna’s heartwarming The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. The narrator of the audio was putting in work, too. Wowsa.

Actually Funny Romcom. I do love the romantic comedy, but they don't always work. Erin Sterling’s The Ex Hex was my favorite. The magic was fun, the romance was sweet, and the shenanigans had me giggling out loud. Good for fans of the movie version of Practical Magic. Bonus points for casual queer representation in side characters, especially in the sequel The Kiss Curse.

 

Holiday Romance. For a creative project I’m working on, I decided to do my research and read a handful of Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year’s Eve romances, and over the course of the last month I have read some 26 or so novels and novellas, and they were honestly all pretty formulaic and forgettable. I will say that Hannah Bonham-Young’s sapphic friends-to-lovers, fake dating Christmas novella Set the Record Straight was sweet and spicy, like a queer little gingerbread. It has some of my hated devices: two women in a couple in which one has a traditionally masculine name, first person point of view that switches between the main characters each chapter,  too long of a happily ever after once the couple gets together, and present tense narration, but I forgive it all and liked it anyway.

What did you read and love this year?

A full list of books read with scattered reviews is available on my Goodreads account, https://www.goodreads.com/cassmo and highlights are on my Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/stellaspeaksup/