I did away with ‘top tens’ a few years ago, and instead I finish the reading year with a recap of the books that are still speaking to me (less about four and five-star ratings, more about what has stuck).
Some stories are completely absorbing – who doesn’t love the feeling of not being able to put a book down? I was engrossed in Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart, The Performance by Claire Thomas, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, and Vladimir by Julia May Jonas.
For the superb writing alone, standouts were Devotion by Hannah Kent (she writes about landscape beautifully); and two memoirs – Bedtime Story by Chloe Hooper (she balances her meticulous research and the emotional narrative so brilliantly) and the deliciously succinct Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly.
Bridging both categories (‘completely absorbing’ and ‘superb writing’) were the two novellas I read by Claire Keegan – Small Things Like These and Foster.
Books that make me laugh out loud are few and far between, but this year the winners were Louis Theroux’s COVID memoir, Theroux the Keyhole and John Boyne’s satirical novel about fame, The Echo Chamber.
Despite how it may seem, not of all my nonfiction reading is memoir. Books that I’m still thinking about (or had me thinking hard as I was reading) were Wintering by Katherine May (this was a bit memoir-ish); Why You Should Give a Fuck About Farming by Gabrielle Chan, and Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe.
And to the books that, if forced to choose absolute favourites, would top my list – all three were memoirs this year – Rememberings by Sinéad O’Connor for her clear and distinct voice; Found, Wanting by Natasha Sholl for her extraordinary ability to put grief into words; and Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood because it made me laugh and cry (and they are the best kinds of books).
Thanks for your readership and I look forward to sharing more books in 2023.
Interesting! Small things like these, and to a lesser extent Wintering would make my list, but I wasn’t a bit keen on Devotion, and failed to finish the Armfield. So taste is clearly a very varied creature. Happy New Year, and in particular, thanks for hosting 6 Degrees.
Your reading and mine don’t often intersect, which doesn’t matter I don’t think, because I always enjoy what you have to say about the books you have read and every week I learn a little more about therapy. Have a great 2023.
I’m very tempted by the memoirs you mention. I’m also looking forward to reading Wintering.
One of my book groups just read Small Things Like These. I enjoyed it, but especially appreciated that I got it from the at 3. Left work early at 3:45 and finished it in time for the discussion at 5 on Zoom! Everyone liked it except our Judge who keep saying the protagonist had no joy. He was no extrovert but much of his happiness came from being a good provider, which made it all the more powerful that he risked losing that.
That’s a VERY impressive effort,
Seems like you had a good reading year. Claire Keegan pops up here and there so I will put her on my list for 2023. I also have Empire of Pain to read.
Balance out the longish Keefe with some shortish Keegan and you’ll have some very satisfying reading,
It’s lovely to see titles that are not foudn on every list!
And you’ll probably find that mine are also unusual lol:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2023/01/04/year-of-reading-2022-part-1-my-top-22-books/
Having spent the past couple of days catching up on NY posts and best of 2022, I think I can safely say that there was ONE book that featured on pretty much every single ‘best of’ list – Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These.
Isn’t it wonderful how a novella can hit the right spot with so many readers all around the world.