My Best Books for 2023

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, book list, Daniel James Brown, Gabrielle Zevin, Georgi Gospodinov, Isobel Beech, Katherine Heiny, Lionel Shriver, Maggie MacKellar, Maggie O'Farrell, Monica Heisey, Phoebe Walker, R. F. Kuang, Robbie Arnott, Sarah Holland-Batt, Sloane Crosley December 31, 2023

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). Continue reading →

2023: What I Read

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, book list, Claire Keegan, Dodie Smith, Hanya Yanagihara December 30, 2023

Here’s my year in books (tomorrow I’ll post my favourites for 2023) – Continue reading →

The Top 55 from the Best Books of 2023 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, Abraham Verghese, Alice McDermott, Ann Patchett, Anna Funder, Anna Napolitano, Anne Enright, Barbra Streisand, Benjamín Labatut, book list, C Pam Zhang, Caroline O'Donoghue, Catherine Lacey, Christina Sharpe, Claire Dederer, Colson Whitehead, Curtis Sittenfeld, Daniel Mason, David Grann, Deborah Levy, Deepti Kapoor, Dennis Lehane, Ed Park, Eleanor Catton, Emma Cline, Ilyon Woo, James McBride, Jen Beagin, Jenny Jackson, Jesmyn Ward, Jessica Knoll, John Vaillant, Jonathan Eig, Jonathan Rosen, Justin Torres, Lauren Groff, Lorrie Moore, Mariana Enriquez, Marie Ndiaye, Matthew Desmond, Michael Cunningham, Michael Finkel, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Naomi Klein, Ned Blackhawk, Paul Harding, Paul Lynch, Paul Murray, R. F. Kuang, Rebecca Makkai, Rebecca Yarros, S.A. Cosby, Safiya Sinclair, Sebastian Barry, Teju Cole, Victor LaValle, Zadie Smith December 20, 2023

Presenting the 2023 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2023-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 55 books.

(This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on the 49 lists that I listed on Best Books of 2023 – A List of Lists – enjoy!). Continue reading →

Best Books of 2023 – A List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, book list December 18, 2023

It’s that time of the year when newspapers and magazines publish their ‘Best of 2023’ lists. Lists usually begin appearing early November and keep going until the end of the year – I will keep adding as they are published.

The Best of 2023 According to #ALLTHELISTS will be coming very, very soon – stay tuned! (See previous lists here). Continue reading →

A Year of Sample Saturdays – 2023 Edition

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, Amy Bloom, Andrew Lipstein, Billy Baker, book list, Caroline O'Donoghue, Catherine Chidgey, Emily Perkins, fiction, Hadley Freeman, Juliet Starrett, Katherine May, Kelly Starrett, Lionel Shriver, memoir, nonfiction, Patrick deWitt, Rachel Aviv, Rick Emerson, Sample Saturday, Séamas O'Reilly, Terry Tempest Williams December 16, 2023

I’ve read 109 Kindle samples this year – I reckon that downloading sample chapters is more prudent than impulse buying books that don’t quite pan out after the first few chapters. Continue reading →

Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2023, book list, Melbourne, music, nineties, television November 26, 2023

01. As always, Robbie Williams delivered. All the hits, lots of banter. And he sung a little bit of ‘De Koning’s in the Air‘… Continue reading →

Six Degrees of Separation – from Friendaholic to Loneliness

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with book list, Bulgaria, Charlotte Ree, Dacher Keltner, Elizabeth Day, Ella Berthoud, Georgi Gospodinov, Julia Baird, Richard Yates, short story, Six Degrees of Separation, Susan Elderkin, translated June 3, 2023

It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up.

This month we begin with Elizabeth Day’s exploration of friendship, Friendaholic. Continue reading →

My Best Books for 2022

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2022, Beth Ann Fennelly, book list, Chloe Hooper, Claire Keegan, Claire Thomas, Douglas Stuart, Gabrielle Chan, Hannah Kent, John Boyne, Julia Armfield, Julia May Jonas, Katherine May, Louis Theroux, memoir, Natasha Sholl, novella, Patricia Lockwood, Patrick Radden Keefe, Sinéad O'Connor December 31, 2022

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). Continue reading →

2022: What I Read

Posted by Kate W in Fiction, Non-fiction, Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2022, audiobook, book list, Claire Keegan, fiction, historical, Jonathan Franzen, memoir, nonfiction, Virginia Woolf December 30, 2022

Here’s my year in books (tomorrow I’ll post my favourites for 2022) – Continue reading →

The Top 54 from the Best Books of 2022 List of Lists

Posted by Kate W in Stuff and Nonsense and tagged with 2022, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Akwaeke Emezi, Amy Bloom, Barbara Kingsolver, Bonnie Garmus, book list, Celeste Ng, Charmaine Wilkerson, Cormac McCarthy, Douglas Stuart, Ed Yong, Elif Batuman, Elizabeth McCracken, Elizabeth Strout, Emily Henry, Emily St. John Mandel, Gabrielle Zevin, George Saunders, Hanya Yanagihara, Hernan Diaz, Hua Hsu, Ian McEwan, Ingrid Contreras, Jennette McCurdy, jennifer egan, Jessamine Chan, Joanna Quinn, Jonathan Escoffery, Julia May Jonas, Julie Otsuka, Kate Atkinson, Kate Beaton, Kathryn Schulz, Kevin Wilson, Leila Mottley, Lydia Millet, Maggie O'Farrell, Margo Jefferson, Meghan O’Rourke, Morgan Talty, Moshin Hamid, Namwali Serpell, NoViolet Bulawayo, Ocean Vuong, Olga Tokarczuk, R. F. Kuang, Rachel Aviv, Rob Delaney, Sarah Thankam Mathews, Shehan Karunatilaka, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Stacy Schiff, Tess Gunty, Xochitl Gonzalez, Yiyun Li December 22, 2022

Presenting the 2022 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2022-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 54 books.

(This is my annual community service to book-bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on the 52 lists that I listed on Best Books of 2022 – A List of Lists – enjoy!). Continue reading →