Best Fiction Books I Read in 2023
Eleven books that I can't stop thinking about and recommending.
This would be the year, I told myself. I would have my Best Books of 2023 lists compiled and ready for you by the first week of January. Well, since I’m posting this (appropriately) on Groundhog Day, obviously that didn’t happen. Again.
(Back in our book blogging days, my friend Florinda —she of the nascent Substack
— told me that if award shows could honor the prior year’s movies in January and February, then it was perfectly fine for us to do the same with our books. I’ve adhered to her wise words ever since.)So, in that same spirit, I’ll recap my favorite fiction titles now and will plan to do the same for nonfiction this weekend. On Sunday I’ll share my January reads and then all will have righted itself here on my corner of Substack.
A public service announcement, first. Substack tells me this post is too long and may be truncated in your email. Should that occur and you want to read the full post, just click on the link that allows you to do that. Alrighty then, let’s start with some stats:
I read 80 books in 2023. Or, if we’re counting by pages, 22,077 of those.
55% were fiction and 45% were nonfiction.
According to Storygraph, my top five genres were literary, memoir, contemporary, essays, and LGBTQIA+.
My most read author was Abigail Thomas. Before 2023, I’d never read anything of hers and remedied that by reading six of her books. (Spoiler alert for the nonfiction post to come: three of them made it onto my favorites.)
I gravitated towards short books (66% of my reading were books under 300 pages); only 3% were over 500 pages.
My average rating was 3.8. I’d like that to be higher this year.
I DNFed 52 books. Yes, an average of one per week. #SorryNotSorry
Only 16 of my books read (and 13 of the DNFs) were from my own shelves.
Without further ado, here are my 11 favorites (in alphabetical order, by author). All were 5 stars.
Rattlebone by Maxine Clair (McNally Editions, 2022, 224 pages)
This collection of interlinked stories launched my obsession with McNally Editions, the publishing arm of McNally Jackson Booksellers in New York that is “devoted to elevating unduly neglected books.” Their reissued editions are stunningly gorgeous, beautifully written (another one will make an appearance on this very list) and I’m now on a quest to read all of them.
Originally published in 1994, Rattlebone gets its title and inspiration from a segregated 1950s town outside of Kansas City.1 It’s a community where families look out for and protect each other and where there aren’t any secrets. We meet Irene (“Reenie”) Wilson as an eight-year-old and, through the eleven stories contained within, get to know her family and neighbors as we follow her through high school. A compelling coming-of-age portrait during a pivotal time in American life.
Blue Hour by
(Soft Skull Press, 2023, 160 pages)
I listened to this on audio (it’s just under four hours) and was riveted to every word. The unnamed narrator is a biracial woman married to Asher, a white, Jewish man who fervently wants a child despite his wife’s ambivalence. She struggles with the emotional and moral cost of being a parent in a world filled with systemic racism and violence against Black bodies, especially after Noah, a teenage student of hers, becomes the victim of police brutality. Written in the second person, the stream-of-consciousness writing is poetic and propulsive. Don’t take my word for how awesome this book is: Barack Obama included this debut novel on his 2023 summer reading list.
Open Throat by Henry Hoke (MCD, 2023, 176 pages)
Another short read (or slightly less than two hours on audio, which I highly recommend) with a wildly inventive premise and compassionate narrator. A lonely, queer mountain lion living underneath the Hollywood sign is displaced to the city of “ellay” after arson destroys the homeless encampment they protect. Timely and thought-provoking, Open Throat deftly delivers an emotional commentary on climate change, nature-versus-nurture, class, and trauma in a handful of pages. I’ve been recommending this to everyone because of its incredible and immersive writing and overall brilliance.
Demon Copperhead by
(Harper, 2022, 560 pages)
This one has been everywhere, on every best of list, gotten all the awards, and Barbara Kingsolver deserves all the acclaim. Back in March, I predicted this would be my favorite book of 2023, and I was right. 2 Go to my Substack post footnoted below to read why.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (William Morrow, 2023, 336 pages)
Another one that has gotten many accolades. Athena Liu and June Hayward are writers and former classmates who become reacquainted in Washington D.C. Athena’s literary success is in the stratosphere while June’s career hasn’t kept pace. When Athena dies suddenly, June uses that as an opportunity to steal her friend’s manuscript-in-progress and publish it as her own. An unputdownable thriller (I stayed up reading until 2 a.m. to find out what happened), Yellowface uncovers the publishing world’s dark side while offering a timely commentary (and questions) on the presence of racism, cultural appropriation, and social media.
I Have Some Questions for You by
(Viking, 2023, 438 pages)
Bodie Kane, an accomplished podcaster and film professor, has been invited to return to the boarding school she attended to teach a winter course. It’s a place with difficult memories and a tragedy she’s tried to forget: the 1995 murder of her roommate, Thalia. When a current student begins asking questions, Bodie retraces the details of the case to try and discover the truth about what happened. I love everything Rebecca Makkai writes, and this suspenseful read doesn’t disappoint.
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf, 2022, 355 pages)
This historical fiction novel is based on the tragic life of Lucrezia de’ Medici (1545-1561) who was forced at age 13 into an arranged marriage to her deceased sister’s intended husband, Alfonso. Leaving her family, palatial home, and childhood behind, she’s whisked into a bewildering new environment of secrets and distrust and gaslighting. I didn’t know anything about the de’ Medici family beforehand but I was riveted and moved by O’Farrell’s always impeccable writing.
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott (McNally Editions, 2023, 232 pages)
Another fantastic novel from McNally Editions. Set in 1924, Peter and Patricia are in an open marriage. When he shocks her by asking for a divorce, Patricia resists and throws herself into her advertising job and all the decadent Jazz Age indulgences that New York offers. Originally published anonymously in 1929 (and an instant bestseller that was made into a film called The Divorcee), I couldn’t get enough of this luxurious novel about love, friendship, reinventing oneself, ambition, fashion, and feminism.
I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel (Graywolf Press, 2023, 216 pages)
“I stalk a woman on the internet who is sleeping with the same man as I am.” Hello! How can one resist that first sentence? The entire premise of this debut novel longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 is contained within those few words. Our unnamed young narrator is in a dysfunctional, dead-end relationship with an older man (never mind the fact that she already has an oblivious boyfriend who seems like a caring nice guy). I found myself wanting to reach through the pages and scream some sense into her, but she wouldn’t have listened because she’s obsessed with her perceived romantic rival, a wealthy internet influencer. The lengths she goes to in order to penetrate the influencer’s inner circle are disturbing; reading about them feels deliciously voyeuristic.I’m a Fan is a propulsive, addictive read about obsession, deception, and emotional desperation. This is more than just another novel about the state of social media. I couldn’t put this down and loved every salacious minute.
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro (Knopf, 2022, 229 pages)
Nobody writes family secrets—be it fiction or memoir—better than Dani Shapiro. In this novel, two families are connected in ways known and unknown, and the way Shapiro weaves this thread through her narrative is sheer brilliance. I think this is the kind of book where it’s better knowing little about the plot beforehand—although I will say that a teenager dies in a car accident very early on and there’s also a cancer storyline. Shapiro gives her readers an incredibly emotional novel about the silences within families and communities, the connections between strangers, the healing power of the stars. This reminded me of Bewilderment by Richard Powers and if you liked the TV show "This Is Us," then this is the book for you. Every word is perfect and necessary. An exquisite read.
The Girl Who Outgrew the World by Zoje Stage (Lethe Press, 2022, 168 pages)
First of all, can we talk about how that cover is all kinds of amazing? I admit, I picked this novella up at the library based on that alone—and then discovered that Zoje Stage, a Pittsburgh author, would be coming to our library a few weeks later. Lilly, age 11, is experiencing a relentless growth spurt that has her father and doctors perplexed. As she gets larger and larger, Lilly is terrified of the risky treatment that they are proposing and takes action to regain control of her life. Aside from a description of sexual assault that’s extremely difficult to read, this compelling allegory is a clever commentary on how the patriarchy dictates what women do with their bodies and the strength that comes from discovering individual and collective power.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve read any of these, and I’ll have my nonfiction selections ready for you soon. Happy reading!
From Humanities Kansas: “The story of Rattlebone Hollow has been mostly forgotten by Kansans. A thriving African-American community for the first part of the 20th century, Rattlebone Hollow was a neighborhood of Black professionals, businesses, and homeowners. But decline set in, and in 1972, the US federal government was building a landfill in this Kansas City, Kansas, neighborhood.”
No worries - my wrap-ups are always late! These all sound great - and I've only read one of them. Demon Copperhead was also my #1 book of the year - absolutely stunning on audio! And I'd like to read a Dani Shapiro novel - I've only read her memoir.
Sounds like a great reading year - can't wait to see the nonfiction list!
Sue
<a href=http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/>Book By Book</a>
I read Yellowface last year and enjoyed it but it wasn't a top read for me that year. I am listening to Demon Copperhead now and having a love-hate relationship with it.