Please consider sharing with me some of your reading highlights from 2023. You can do so by using my headings below - developed in 2018 at the inception of this series and used every year since - or make up your own headings.
Novel most likely to be recommended to casual readers: Silver Alert: Lee Smith. Please don't be put off by my use of the word "casual" as it pertains to this 2023 gem. Like all the authors of the books I've recommended to casual readers for five years now, I'd be thrilled to have half of Smith's skill.
Reflections From The Bell Curve: Library Drive-By
Novel most likely to be recommended to discerning readers: Bone Clocks: David Mitchell. For those who are interested in the distinction I make between "casual" and "discerning", the post directly below might be helpful. I believe Mitchell is the modern-day author who best points us toward the novel's future. Use this 2014 Mitchell treasure to get you started, if you're willing to work at it a little.
Reflections From The Bell Curve: Flavors of Worthwhile Literature
Novel and non-fiction that most deepened my experience of living: Middle Passage (1990) - Charles Johnson and The Brain That Changes Itself (2007) - Norman Doidge.
Most worthwhile re-read: Amsterdam (1998) - Ian McEwan.
Most intriguing: Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China (2022) - Hal Brands & Michael Beckley I'm looking forward to my club's January discussion of this book, a fascinating read end-to-end.
Most personally useful: The Living Legacy of Trauma (2022) - Janina Fischer. Though life-altering trauma has never visited me, I found the insights in this - especially when combined with what I learned in The Brain that Changes Itself - valuable and skillfully communicated. If you've experienced trauma, or you treat others who have, I highly recommend this as a tool.
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