Best Books of the Year (So Far)
Midyear Reading Check-in
Last Time: How We Spend Our Days
“Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories.”-Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
When long summer days full of family visits, travel, and swim meets break all sense of schedule and routine, there is always one constant: books. I am always reading. Always, always.
I surpassed my 40-book reading goal for the year already and have managed to read 47 books as of today. It’s been a good reading year!
Though the year isn’t over yet, I wanted to recommend the five books that have made the biggest impression on me this year so far (not all of them published in 2023). These are all books that you should add to your TBR if you haven’t already.
*Note: I’m a Bookshop.org affiliate and may earn a small commission if you purchase through my links. Check out Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores.*
Best Food Book
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Genre: Memoir, culinary
Publisher/imprint: Gallery Books
Description via Bookshop.org: “Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about Tucci’s growing up in Westchester, New York; preparing for and shooting the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia; falling in love over dinner; and teaming up with his wife to create meals for a multitude of children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burned dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.”
Purchase Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci via Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores.
Best Nonfiction
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay
Genre: Essays, inspiration
Publisher/imprint: Algonquin Books
Description via Bookshop.org: “In The Book of Delights, one of today's most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying volume of lyric essays written over one tumultuous year. The first nonfiction book from award-winning poet Ross Gay is a record of the small joys we often overlook in our busy lives. he Book of Delights is about our shared bonds, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. These remarkable pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight.”
Purchase The Book of Delights by Ross Gay via Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores.
Most Haunting Novel
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Genre: Literary, sci-fi
Publisher/imprint: Flatiron
Description via Bookshop.org: “Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, Our Wives Under the Sea is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us, and the love that compels us nevertheless toward one another.”
Purchase Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield via Bookshop.org and support independent bookstores.
Funniest Book
Genre: Literary, humor
Publisher/imprint: Scribner
Description via Bookshop.org: “Greta lives with her friend Sabine in an ancient Dutch farmhouse in Hudson, New York. The house is unrenovated, uninsulated, and full of bees. Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she affectionately refers to as Big Swiss. One day, Greta recognizes Big Swiss's voice in town and they quickly become enmeshed.”
Purchase Big Swiss by Jen Beagin at Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores.
Best Short Stories
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Genre: Short fiction, literary
Publisher/imprint: West Virginia University Press
Description via Bookshop.org: “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions.”
Purchase The Secret Lives of Church Ladies at Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores.
Some quick book stats (for those of you mildly obsessed with tracking your reading life like me):
My main reading moods, according to The StoryGraph:
Emotional, reflective, and dark. Sounds about right.
And my main genres so far this year are, as usual, literary, thriller, and contemporary. I surprised myself by reading more historical fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi lately. Memoir is always high on the list.
Other notable books I loved this year (so far):
Talk to me about your reading habits this year. Do you track your reading or have reading goals? What have you read in 2023 that blew your mind or changed the way you think?
The next time you hear from me I’ll be a changed woman because I will have seen the Barbie Movie.
As always, thanks for being here. I’m able to keep writing here on Substack alongside the day job and parenting and my other writing because of subscriptions. You can become a paying subscriber to get more posts and more content in the coming months.
