Top 5 Reads of 2023 ... So Far
My favorite books from the first half of 2023
It is mid-July, which means that we are somehow halfway through 2023. Now is as good a time as any to reflect on some of the amazing books that I have read this year. These books weren’t necessarily released in 2023, but are instead the best books that I have read from January 1 through June 30, each of which earned a 10/10 rating. They are organized below alphabetically by the author’s last name because I couldn’t pick a winner.
For the purposes of this post, I won’t include the full reviews of my favorite Pulitzer winners (we’ll save that for another day), but if you’re curious my favorite Pulitzers this year are: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.
I’d love to hear about your favorite reads of the year. Feel free to let me know by commenting below or sending me an email!
Birnam Wood - Eleanor Catton
After hearing about a devastating landslide on New Zealand’s South Island, Mira decides to assess the now cut-off and abandoned land as a potential location for a new outpost of Birnam Wood, the guerrilla gardening group that she leads. Birnam Wood’s mission is to plant crops, sometimes by permission and other times through trespass, on abandoned or underused stretches of land throughout New Zealand to send a message about our capitalist society’s waste and inefficiency. As the book opens, the group is struggling to make ends meet financially and retain its membership. The landslide has created a massive opportunity for growth and publicity, which Mira is determined to take advantage of. When she arrives, she is surprised to find the quirky American billionaire Robert Lemoine already there, who offers the land and a sizable quantity of startup money to Birnam Wood. Lemoine is the CEO of a large company that specializes in surveillance drones, and it is almost immediately obvious to the reader that Lemoine has darker motivations attached to his gift, which are largely unknown to Mira and the group.
This book is gripping from start to finish and is probably best described as a slow burn with a fantastic structure. The book is told in alternating perspectives and as a result, readers know about the idiosyncrasies and motivations of each of the main characters (add in Birnam Wood’s second-in-command, a disgruntled former member, and the true owner of the land to the mix), as the book unfolds. The catch is that the internal plotting is not known to the other characters, leading to intrigue and peril. Things are not as they seem in this unique, psychological story written by a Booker Prize winning author with immense, glorious talent.
The Last Karankawas - Kimberly Garza
For the residents of Galveston, Texas - those “born on the island” (BOI) and those who were not - storms and hurricanes are as much a part of legend as they are of life. In addition to the BOIs, Galveston is home to a large immigrant community, mostly from the Philippines and Mexico, who reside predominately in Fishtown, the central focus of The Last Karankawas. Although residents are trained to remember the 1900 Great Galveston Hurricane with shock and awe, they also like to think of themselves as hearty, which poses a central dilemma when news of Hurricane Ike in 2008 forces the community to make a choice over staying or fleeing.
Garza gives life to this conflict through the voices of a number of Galveston residents from across its disparate communities, but gives a special focus to Carly, the daughter of a Filipino immigrant and Mexican American father who left her to be raised by her grandmother, a BOI, and never came back. As a child who knew nothing but those who leave, Carly chooses to put down roots, taking a job as a nurse in the hospital nearby and eventually marrying her childhood sweetheart, Jess. A series of equally developed and complicated characters orbit their lives, jumping backward and forward in time, to give life to a close knit community.
I was blown away by this book and can not believe that it is Kimberly Garza’s debut. Garza writes in beautiful detail, shining a spotlight on corners of this country that show the resilience of everyday struggle and survival. With nearly each chapter spotlighting a different character, I loved watching the connections be revealed while appreciating the complicated puzzle Garza was crafting. This is a book to enjoy and savor. It is not just an impressive debut, but an impressive feat of literature.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination - Elizabeth McCracken
I tend to think that a book earns a 10/10 distinction if it has staying power - will I be thinking about it long after I finish it? - and if it makes me feel something while reading. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, a memoir by author Elizabeth McCracken, has both of these qualities in full force. McCracken’s first pregnancy was spent in Bordeaux with her husband and was, by her account, easy and idyllic. The decision to forgo a fancy doctor in Paris and instead choose a midwife for the birth seemed neither hard nor exceptional, but later, McCracken will wonder if it was fateful. 40 weeks into the pregnancy, McCracken goes to the midwife because she can’t feel the baby kick. A heartbeat is detected, but the baby fails a non-stress test. Instead of being sent to the hospital immediately, McCracken is told to rest. A few hours later, after choosing to go to the hospital, she learns that her baby, affectionately named “Pudding” by her and her husband while they decided on the permanent name, was pronounced dead.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination is a reflection on love, loss, mourning, pregnancy and motherhood. Shortly after the loss of her child, McCracken and her husband attempt to move back to the United States - a decision that was pre-planned, but one that they anticipated would be done with a healthy baby. A few months later, the couple learns that McCracken is pregnant again, making the memoir just as much a contemplation on the second pregnancy as the first. McCracken explores the indelible conundrum of experiencing pregnancy, creation, and life in the wake of unexpected disaster. Not only was this book moving - indeed certain details near the end nearly brought me to tears - but the writing was exquisite. McCracken has an eye for beautiful detail, and her ability to write about personal tragedy is a gorgeous attempt to heal and remember.
The Slowworm’s Song - Andrew Miller
If you’re a long-time reader of this blog, I think you’d agree with me when I say that I have read a fair amount of books about the Irish Troubles. Never before, however, have I read a book set during the Troubles but written from the perspective of a British soldier. In The Slowworm’s Song, Andrew Miller tells the story of Stephen Rose, a middle-aged man reflecting on his life in the form of a very long letter to his daughter. As the novel begins, Stephen receives a letter from a truth and reconciliation commission in Belfast, inviting him to come and testify about an unnamed atrocity that he was involved in when he was a twenty-year-old soldier in the British Armed Forces. While Stephen initially attempts to ignore the invitation and its implications, he is subconsciously aware that sooner or later he will have to atone for his sins, of which he has spent the remainder of his life attempting to reconcile. Before responding to the commission, Stephen decides to write down his story to give to his somewhat estranged daughter, whose life he was absent from when she was growing up, but desperately wants to be a part of now. His letter to her is quiet, meandering, and delicate, starting with his Quaker upbringing in the small town of Somerset, England, what led him to the military, and the unexpected trajectory of his life afterward.
This is such a beautiful book about difficult subjects. It is written with poise and lends a perspective of humanity to a time period marked by oppression. Although Stephen committed a terrible act of violence - and there is no attempt to deny or paper over this fact - the method by which he chooses to tell his story reminds the reader that the majority of people in times of conflict, regardless of the side that they are on, are ordinary people who love other ordinary people living in an otherwise ordinary world.
Dinosaurs - Lydia Millet
Dinosaurs is an incredible book about protagonist Gil, who walks from New York to Phoenix after a failed romantic relationship. There could probably be enough material for an entire tome about this journey, but as a sign of Lydia Millet’s genius, the walk is only written about in passing. Instead, the book’s heft comes from a dissection of Gil’s relationships with those around him, most prominently the family of four that live next door in a large glass house. Without shades or blinds, Gil has a front row seat to watch the lives of Ardis, Ted, and their two kids Tom and Clem. Slowly at first and then quickly later on, Gil becomes a type of uncle to Tom and a wonderful friend to Ardis and Ted. He volunteers at a local battered women’s shelter and discovers a fascination for bird watching. This is a beautiful and perfectly crafted story of found family, love, and connection. Out of the solitary journey west, Millet expertly sets the stage to ask larger questions about the role of the individual amidst larger societal issues and constraints.
Spoiler!
I just finished reading The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and absolutely loved it, giving it a 10/10 rating. The review will be in my July Reading Round-Up, but if you want a sneak preview you can see my thoughts here.