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Original poster

What was your favourite book of 2023?

93 replies

BrandyandGinger · 10/12/2023 21:41

It doesn't have to have been published in 2023, just read by you in the last year.
I think mine was Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan. I also loved The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and Amy and Lan by Sadie Jones.
Disclaimer: I bought myself Demon Copperhead for Christmas so it's not impossible that I might change my top choice later.

OP posts:
TooningOut · 12/12/2023 23:52

@JaninaDuszejko @viktoria

I can't believe there are so many books with such a similar premise!

Here's another one I read years ago that I really enjoyed at the time:

www.amazon.co.uk/About-Author-John-Colapinto/dp/184115640X

Synopsis: A wickedly funny psychological thriller about literary ambition, envy and the lengths an author will go to get on the bestsellers list.
Cal Cunningham dreams of writing an autobiographical novel that will help him escape from his life as a penniless bookstore stockboy in upper Manhattan. Yet, after two years of living together, it is Stewart, Cal’s studious flatmate who has finished writing a page-turning novel – based on Cal’s life.
When a timely, fatal bicycle accident removes Stewart from the scene, Cal appropriates the manuscript as his own and places it in the hands of the legendarily ferocious literary agent Blackie Yeager.
Soon Cal realises his most outlandish fantasies of literary success. That is, until he discovers that someone knows his secret. For Cal, this means plotting not just his second novel, but also his first murder.

Gnomegarden32 · 12/12/2023 23:44

@SmugglersHaunt I also hated Sorrow and Bliss!

Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 12/12/2023 23:35

Has to be Demon Copperhead for me too. The writing is superb.

wideawakeinthemiddleofthenightagain · 12/12/2023 23:28

One of mine is a Barbara Kingsolver's but it's not Demon Copperhead which I found a bit tedious. Instead, it's A Prodigal Summer which I came across when hunting down a copy of Demon Copperhead.
I've also loved Lessons in Chemistry and Shrines of Gaiety this year

purpleme12 · 12/12/2023 23:20

Marley & Me

Anoisagusaris · 12/12/2023 23:16

Strange Sally Diamond. I love Liz Nugent.

Magicmonster · 12/12/2023 23:14

Another vote for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. And the marriage portrait. Can’t separate the two

fixies · 12/12/2023 23:08

Seventeen

Leafysuburb · 12/12/2023 20:57

Running grave

Curlyshabtree · 12/12/2023 20:57

I loved Demon Copperhead too. I also loved both the Amor Towles novels I've read; A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway.

Gabiabbi · 12/12/2023 20:54

John Boyne - all the broken places

Sparehair · 12/12/2023 20:53

Young Mungo ( although took a while to get into it)
Tomorrow and tomorrow… seems like that’s a popular choice
Eileen

Enjoyed Yellowface but felt like the second half drifted a lot.

Bunnyhair · 12/12/2023 20:42

Anne Enright. The Wren, The Wren
Jonathan Coe, Bournville
Lorrie Moore, I am Homeless If This Is Not My Home

Lastexmouse · 12/12/2023 20:32

Hard to decide, between both of these:

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

Bournville by Jonathan Coe

Appalonia · 12/12/2023 20:25

Also loved Lessons in Chemistry

Appalonia · 12/12/2023 20:24

I discovered the Jane Casey detective novels recently and I've loved them! I don't normally like murder/ detective novels, but these are very well written, with a female lead and strong focus on issues facing women both in terms of violence from men as well as institutional sexism, and a more lighthearted will they won't they ongoing romance. An easy read but a rewarding one. And there's ten of them!

Original poster
BrandyandGinger · 12/12/2023 20:20

I have Strange Sally Diamond on my list for next year. I liked her other books. I finally read American Dirt this year and enjoyed it.

OP posts:
SmugglersHaunt · 12/12/2023 17:54

I’m nearing the end of All Among The Barley which I’ve loved. Likewise with A Month in the Country (not sure why I’ve come over all pastoral but there you are).

On the other side I had to hide Sorrow and Bliss down the back of the bookshelf I hated it so much.

U2HasTheEdge · 12/12/2023 17:45

I can't pick just one, but my standouts are:

Demon Copperhead
Running Grave
Tom Lake
Strange Sally Diamond
The Island of Sea Women

mambojambodothetango · 12/12/2023 16:34

The Romantic by William Boyd. Also enjoyed Killing Commandatore by Haruki Murukami and am currently reading Christmas Days by Jeanette Winterson.

StColumbofNavron · 12/12/2023 16:13

Oh my goodness... it is Chingis Aitmativ and I have left off the translators.

StColumbofNavron · 12/12/2023 15:14

I think I have a couple more books in me before end of year and I rarely read new releases until about 5 years after everyone else.

I think my standouts are:

My Cousin Rachel, Daphne du Maurier (she just reels me in)

Bonjour Tristesse, Francoise Sagan (genuis really for someone so young when she wrote it)

Jamilia, Isaac Aitmatov (loved this, loved it)

Some Tame Gazelle, Barbara Pym (really appreciated the twee Britishness of this one when I needed a nice gentle read)

GarlicMaybeNot · 12/12/2023 15:05

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence. I was deeply immersed, its 'universe' (the Library) stayed with me for months, and I've got the sequel on pre-order!

ToastandJamandTea · 12/12/2023 15:00

Demon copperhead and Limberlost have been my two favourites this year.

TheDonsDingleberries · 12/12/2023 14:48

Non Fiction:
The Only Plane In The Sky - The Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

Fiction:
Beartown by Frederik Backman