December 2023 Reading Round-Up
The best and worst of my reading month
Welcome to the December 2023 Reading Round-Up. Each month I write about the books I’ve read and rank them from worst to best.
While December is known for its many amazing best-of the year lists, regular reading doesn’t stop. Below you’ll find the books I read in December, snuck in after finishing finals and while celebrating the holiday season. There were many books that I unexpectedly enjoyed as my 2023 reading year came to a close, making me all the more excited for the books that 2024 has to bring. Happy new year and happy reading!
December 2023 Reading Stats
Number of Books Read: 8
Genre Breakdown: 25% non-fiction (2 books), 75% fiction (6 books)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
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8. Temple Folk - Aaliyah Bilal
Fiction/Short Stories, 239 pages
Temple Folk is a collection of short stories centered around the experiences of Black Muslims in America. The stories take place in different time periods, with some in the present and others in the 1970s and 1980s as the Nation of Islam went through a change in leadership and vision. Each story tackles issues of community, faith, and connection to mainstream culture. I enjoyed this collection for its ability to expose readers to a diversity of perspectives even within this one community and I certainly felt like I learned a lot. Unfortunately, however, nothing takes me out of a story more than when I’m distracted by stilted or artificial language. I frequently felt this way for much of the writing in Temple Folk, and although I really enjoyed the first few stories in the collection, I felt like the writing deteriorated as the stories went on. I’m sure, however, that many people who have read this collection disagree with me. It was, after all, a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award.
Rating: 7/10
7. All Our Hidden Gifts - Caroline O’Donoghue
Young Adult Fiction/Fantasy, 384 pages
After Maeve throws a shoe at her Italian teacher for insulting her conjugation abilities, she is given the detention task of cleaning out the basement closet at her Irish all-girls Catholic school. While there, Maeve discovers an old pack of tarot cards, for which she quickly develops a knack. At sixteen, Maeve is struggling at school, especially after she shut out her childhood friend Lily, and these tarot cards give her a much-desired attention boost. But a public fight between Lily and Maeve, which ends in Maeve shouting that she wishes Lily would disappear, destroys her newfound popularity, especially after Lily is reported missing. Together with her new friend Fiona and Lily’s brother Roe, the trio sets out to find Lily and unlock Maeve’s hidden magical powers along the way.
All Our Hidden Gifts is the first in a young adult quasi-fantasy trio, and I found it delightful. This is not typically a book that I would pick up on my own, but a glowing recommendation by the
newsletter, convinced me to take a chance. I tore through this book, which contains a great balance between magic and reality. I loved how O’Donoghue (also the author of The Rachel Incident, one of my favorite books of the year) weaved together a larger story of cultural and religious tensions within a secularizing Ireland as well as one of family and belonging.Rating: 8/10
6. Congratulations, The Best is Over! - R. Eric Thomas
Non-Fiction/Memoir in Essays, 216 pages
Congratulations, The Best is Over! is a memoir in essays written by the humorist and essayist, R. Eric Thomas. Although the memoir jumps around in time, it largely takes place in and around Thomas’ hometown of Baltimore, where Thomas and his husband move back to for work about a year before the pandemic. Baltimore is a city of contradictions for Thomas, who grew up on a block where The Wire was frequently filmed, but who in adulthood discovers a community of acceptance, belonging, and under-appreciated culture. Although the essays vary in subject, including a blood-soaked urgent care visit, an awkward high school reunion, and a very seasick fishing trip with his soon to be husband and father-in-law, each story considers what it means to grow and adapt to an adulthood that doesn’t look like the one previously imagined. The title, which suggests the best is in the past for Thomas, is definitely misleading, given that Thomas proves time and again the power of adjustment and the joy that can be found in new experiences. Also, he and Ann Patchett are now friends. Need I say more?
Rating: 8/10
5. The Portable Veblen - Elizabeth McKenzie
Fiction, 448 pages
If the supporting character in a novel is a non-verbal squirrel, you know that you’re either in for something bizarre or delightfully weird. Luckily, The Portable Veblen provides the latter, in this novel that was long-listed for the 2016 National Book Award. Veblen spends her days working as an administrative assistant and her nights conducting amateur Norwegian translations in an attempt to connect with the heritage of her institutionalized and moderately estranged father. She has only recently moved out of her childhood home, but still fields daily calls from her narcissistic and hypochondriac mother who cares deeply for her daughter but can’t help but make everything about her. Her childhood coping mechanism, speaking with squirrels, has followed through into adulthood, which is a trait not quite accepted by her new fiancé, Paul.
At first glance, Paul seems a bit too normal to be with Veblen. He’s a Stanford neurologist who developed a device to minimize battlefield brain trauma, which has recently been picked up by a large pharmaceutical company in conjunction with the Department of Defense. He does, however, have childhood oddities of his own, including the fact that he was raised in a California nudist colony and has spent his life in the shadow of his disabled brother, who requires the majority of his parents’ attention. As the wedding approaches, the two meet each other’s families (they were not together long before getting engaged) and discover all the baggage that comes with both.
Throughout this weird and oftentimes funny satire, Elizabeth McKenzie explores the boundaries between past and present and how relatively new additions to a person’s life fit into this puzzle. This book was bizarre and enjoyable (if a tad long), and I especially loved the hyper-specific Department of Defense subplot that felt very out of left-field but somehow easily fit into this quirky novel.
Rating: 8/10
4. The Whalebone Theatre - Joanna Quinn
Historical Fiction, 576 pages
As The Whalebone Theatre begins, four-year-old Cristabel Seagrave waits at the entrance of Chilcombe Manor to see who her new mother will be. Her father, Jasper, devastated by the loss of his first wife, has finally decided to remarry with the hopes of giving the estate an heir. In recognition that most eligible men have been killed in the First World War, Rosalind, the new wife, approaches her loveless marriage with a sense of duty and an appreciation for the finer things. Although her first child, Florence, is also a girl, her second marriage to Jasper’s brother after Jasper dies in a riding incident produces a male heir, Digby, who fits right in with his older sisters and their antics. When a dead whale washes up on the shores of Weymouth by the manor, a now twelve-year-old Cristabel is determined to make it her own. Over the course of the next decade the siblings and the surrounding adults build a theater from the whale’s ribcage and put on productions that attract audience members from as far as London. With the onset of the Second World War, however, each sibling must adapt to changed circumstances. Florence, the shyest of the three, manages the estate while joining the Women’s Land Army. Digby becomes a secret agent sent to Nazi-occupied France. And Cristabel, who was never provided formal schooling because of her gender, proves an aptitude for languages and is deployed as an undercover messenger, all the while considering what waits for her on the other side of the fighting.
In a book as large as this, it can be sometimes difficult to carry themes throughout, and by the second half I decided to read the book as a family story rather than one connected by something larger (like the theater). Although I felt that the first half dragged a bit, as the book rounded the bend towards its end I started to gain an appreciation for how its massive scope allowed readers to view the larger social trends taking place in England during this time period, particularly the decline of the aristocratic order.
Rating: 8.5/10
3. The Big Break - Ben Terris
Non-Fiction/Politics, 319 pages
Most books on politics and Washington focus on big and famous characters like the president, his chief of staff, or some other high ranking official. The Big Break examines the people who aren’t necessarily working in government, but are instead working on its periphery. This includes Robert Styrk, a man who created a consulting business during the Trump presidency specializing in “private diplomacy,” meaning lobbying for foreign governments such as Bahrain, Belarus, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It includes Sean McElwee, the founder of Data for Progress, which specializes in producing high-quality polls that can be used by Democratic candidates and causes, but who was also placing bets on the outcome of races he was looking to shape. It includes Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, and CPAC Ian, a spin-doctor for the famous Republican convention.
This is a fascinating and well-researched book on a potentially under-considered subject. Terris, a writer for the Washington Post, writes compellingly, using his subjects’ stories to fuel a larger narrative about a new era of grifters and political shapeshifters; people willing to sell influence for a bit of power. On top of the larger political message, Terris also has a great sense of humor (see his recent article in the Washington Post: Awkward Americans See Themselves in Ron Desantis) and an eye for little details, making this a surprisingly fast-paced and entertaining read on a serious subject.
Rating: 9/10
2. The Road to Dalton - Shannon Bowring
Fiction, 250 pages
The citizens of the small town of Dalton, Maine might think that it is impossible for their neighbors to not know their secrets. Not only does everyone know everyone, but the town is full of lifelong residents who grew up together and now work side by side. Scratch beneath the surface, however, and it won’t take long to see that everyone has something to hide, including issues of domestic violence, affairs, and severe postpartum depression. The Road to Dalton takes place over the course of 1990 and alternates between the perspectives of a handful of the town’s characters in each chapter. It is a novel where not much happens, but the events that do occur propel the interiority of the residents, highlighting that things are not always how they seem on the outside. This is a beautiful debut about secrets and struggles as well as community and support.
Rating: 9/10
1. The Vaster Wilds - Lauren Groff
Historical Fiction, 256 pages
Faced with a famine decimating the Jamestown colony where she has lived for nearly a year, an unnamed servant girl escapes from the settlement hoping to find French colonists farther north who might provide her shelter. Carrying only a few tools, a blanket for the winter cold, her smarts, and a will to survive, the girl sets off north, scavenging for food where she can find it. The girl has no map and is driven only by rumors that these other colonists exist, but knows that she must move and move quickly for fear of being captured by a violent bounty-hunter sent from the colony or by the Powhatan people who live in the area. Her travails become increasingly desperate, but she nearly always finds food or a hollowed log to sleep at her worst moments. She comforts herself with her faith in god and with memories of her life in England before she was forced into the perilous journey across the sea with her masters. As the book progresses, it becomes clear that the girl has veered off course and is in worsening condition. Readers are left to see if she will find what she is looking for in this beautiful one-woman survival story written by Lauren Groff, arguably a once-in-a-generation talent.
I know that people love this book. Readers whose recommendations I trust have placed this book in their best of the year lists, and yes, it was probably snubbed for a National Book Award long-list nomination. The problem that I had, however, is that I couldn’t help but feel that the writing was just too … show-offish. Maybe this critique is tainted by the fact that I was not particularly impressed by Groff and her general aloofness when I saw her speak back in September, but I couldn’t really see what Groff was attempting to achieve by writing the story in a variation of iambic pentameter other than to prove that she could. I also couldn’t help but think that this style of writing was an attempt to mask some of the more “on-the-nose” revelations from the girl as the book winds to a close, particularly her sudden appreciation of nature and righteous indignation about how her countrymen treated the indigenous people. None of these takes are wrong - indeed, many of them are beautiful and gorgeously written - but they don’t seem particularly believable coming from the consciousness of this particular character.
At the end of the day, like with any review, you can take or leave the critiques. I thought the story was propulsive and unique and there are scenes and one-liners that have stuck with me weeks after finishing the story. Personally, however, I didn’t think that it lived up to the hype given to it by the book world. On the other hand, you might think this book is fabulous and the best book you read all year. Might as well give it a try.
Rating: 9/10
All of the books written about above are available on my December 2023 Reading Round-Up Bookshop page, or you can click on the title of the book itself to be routed to the shop. Every book I’ve ever recommended, sorted by post, are also available on the general shop page.
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And, if you haven’t already, check out my favorite books from the year:
I’m so glad you enjoyed All Our Hidden Gifts, it’s a series I wish more people were talking about!
I really appreciate your honesty about hyped books! I often feel like I “ought” to appreciate something that really doesn’t feel like it’s for me, so I love how you set your reaction against that of different reviewers for context. It’s informative without being judgmental.