It’s always fun to look back through my ‘Book Notebook’ which brings back memories of all the books I have enjoyed, but it’s also always a challenge to try and select my Top Ten reads for the year. 2023 was a year of fiction, murder mysteries, biographies, literary criticism and history – these are the ones that really stood out (in alphabetical order, according to author’s surname):
- Dan Boothby, Island of Dreams A fabulous book about living on the tiny island where Gavin Maxwell once lived and cared for his otters.
- Suzie Grogan, John Keats: Poetry, Life and Landscapes Exactly my sort of book, following in the footsteps of a great poet – I adored it.
- Claire Harman, All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the art of risking everything A slightly different look at NZ’s great writer, through the lens of certain short stories.
- Clare Hunter, Embroidering her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power An intriguing and very different sort of biography, examining Mary through her needlework.
- Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These A tiny book and almost perfect – she writes like a dream!
- John Mullan, The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist This fine scholar does not disappoint and made me want to go and read all of Dickens again.
- Sarah Ogilvie, The Dictionary People A brilliant look at some of the people who contributed to the superb Oxford English Dictionary.
- Sara Sheridan, The Fair Botanists A lovely novel, set in one of my favourite cities and favourite eras.
- Shelby van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures What a quirky and delightful novel this was to listen to. Her first book and I hope she writes more.
- Elizabeth von Arnim, Father Listening to this book was a joy.
When it comes to crime fiction, I have continued to make my way through series by Julia Chapman, C.S. Harris, M.L. Longworth, Angela Marsons, Martin Walker, and Peter Robinson (I was very sad to have to say goodbye to Inspector Banks) and I’m reading for the second time Elly Griffiths’ fabulous Dr Ruth Galloway novels, this time in audio version, with great pleasure. I’ve loved the four novels in D.E. Stevenson’s Miss Buncle series, and of course am always delighted to turn to Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer for stimulation and comfort and gorgeous reading experiences.
Did you have a favourite book last year? I’d love to hear what you most enjoyed. Tell me your thoughts by leaving a comment.
Susannah Fullerton: My 2022 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2021 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2020 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2019 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2018 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2017 Favourites
Susannah Fullerton: My 2016 Favourites
Island of Dreams by Dan Boothby
John Keats: Poetry, Life and Landscapes by Suzie Grogan
All Sorts of Lives by Claire Harman
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
Embroidering her Truth by Clare Hunter
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Artful Dickens by John Mullan
The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie
The Fair Botanists by Sara Sheridan
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Father by Elizabeth von Arnim
Susannah Fullerton: An Island of Dreams
Susannah Fullerton: John Keats & Bright Star
Susannah Fullerton: Claire Harman’s Biographies
Susannah Fullerton: The Dictionary People
Susannah Fullerton: I do Love a Nice Garden
Karen
I had a really great reading year. The standout book for me was Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence and then to go to the museum of the same name in Istanbul was incredible.
Then there is always Dorothy Whipple. Fortunately, her books have been re-published by Persephone and they do not disappoint. High Wages by Dorothy was my favourite this year.
Susannah Fullerton
I have never read any Dorothy Whipple, so thanks for the recommendation.
Isn’t Istanbul fabulous. I loved Pamuk’s book about his home city.
Megan Pierson
Thank you for this list Susannah. I think I will add “a recommendation from SF” to my annual reading challenge this year. I read “The House by the Lake” by Thomas Harding and it was my top NF for 2022.
Last year my top fiction was A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and k favourite NF was The Salt Path by Raynor Winn-both of which I am sure you have heard of.
Susannah Fullerton
Wasn’t The House by the Lake fabulous. I have loved all of Thomas Harding’s books. So many people have recommended The Salt Path to me, so I will seek that out as soon as I am back in Sydney. I loved Gentleman in Moscow, until the ending – I felt it ended very flatly.
So many good books to read and never enough reading time! I hope 2024 is filled with good books for you.
Patrick Alley
For no particular reason I got into the Greeks. Stephen Fry’s “Mythos” and “ Heroes” were good but the star and my best book of 2023 was Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s “Odyssey” there is a wonderful preface giving a likely provenance of the work and is followed by her brilliant translation which is fresh, contemporary and highly readable. A must read I think. Other than that Ben MacIntyre produced some good work “Colditz” “Agent Sonya” both good but not outstanding. For a very first novel I rated Nathan Harris’s “The Sweetness of Water”. In preparation for our first European trip since COVID I’m presently reading James Belich’s “The World the Plague Made” it’s hard reading- more of a text book – but you can dip in and out. It sets the scene of how the plague revolutionised Europe’s economy and social fabric.
Maria
Happy New Year and thank you for the recommendations, Susannah. It’s not always easy to identify which new books might be good to read. You are a wonderful advance scout.
Yvonne
Thanks for your interesting list of 2023. I actually wrote down all the books I read and listened to for the first time last year and enjoyed the process.
Difficult to name a favourite but I will say All the Broken Places by John Boyne really struck a cord with me. I heard him speak about this book at the Brisbane library and that made reading the book extra special.