My Favourite Books of 2023

Previously: 2020 | 2021 | 2022

Every year, I feel compelled to write a list of my favourite reads from the past 12 months. Ordinarily, I arrange my selection in chronological order. Generally speaking, I don't find rankings helpful most of the time. When I've attempted to apply metrics to my reviews in the past I've found them lacking and rather arbitrary. So, a chronological list seemed like the most sensible choice.

However, I do understand why a list of "Top X Things" is compelling. I've also realised a lengthy listicle is made much easier to read through if you have an indication of how much further there is to go. So, I'm switching it up this year.

Below are my top 10 personal favourite reads of the year – emphasis on the "personal". This is not a list assorted by a critic and these rankings are not assessments of quality. Instead, their positions in the list are purely individual judgements based on how impactful the book was for me – whether it's because it resonated with something deeply personal to me, taught me something valuable or was just thoroughly entertaining.

Also worth clarifying: none of these books came out in 2023. I've never found the motivation to try and keep up with modern releases, and this year was no exception.

10 · Put a Wet Paper Towel On It, Lee Parkinson & Adam Parkinson, Tim Sadler (ill.)

Providing primary school children with academic and emotional support as a Teaching Assistant is perhaps the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. One such reward is all the stories I go home with each day. Working with children is challenging, to say the least, but it is never dull. A similar sentiment can be said of this funny non-fiction book, which is the ideal read if you have ever wanted to get an insight into what working in a primary school is really like. And if you’re already familiar with classroom life, then this book might just be the cathartic read you need.

9 · There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job, Kikuko Tsumura

As I alluded to above, I’ve had a fair number of jobs. Employment and I have had a turbulent relationship, which is why I really connected with this novel. The book is structured into sections, each dedicated to a bizarre new job taken on by the disillusioned protagonist of Kikuko Tsumura’s story. Each role she takes on is mundane in its initial description, but they soon take weird turns that are downright creepy in some instances. This was an oddly paced book, and I dipped in and out during its slow moments. But some of these jobs reach a turning point that things get so interesting, putting the book down would have been a chore.

8 · Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata

Far from the shocking and horrifying tale of Earthlings, one of my favourite books of 2021, her 2016 novel is still a compelling read. This is a story about one woman who has worked in the same convenience store all her life, and she is quite content with her little world contained within said store. This really takes the idea of our work being our “livelihood” to its extreme conclusion, for the minutiae of convenience store work occupies her every thought. However, contentment is not enough, as is routinely remarked upon by her peers who judge her for the absence of a man in her life. 

I would rather not say too much more, I’m rubbish at dodging spoilers. All I’ll say is that I really enjoy how Murata portrays alienation and examines the absurdities of societal expectations. And whilst I only have two novels to base this on at the moment, asexuality appears to be a recurring theme in her work that I find interesting.

7 · Assassin’s Apprentice, Robin Hobb

The story of FitzChivalry, royal bastard and assassin-in-training, is a little different from the fantasy I’ve read throughout most of my life. There’s not so great an emphasis on some world-ending threat or a dark lord of any kind. The scale is rather small in contrast to the fantasy epics we're used to hearing about. But this is to the novel’s credit, allowing us to follow a more personal and introspective narrative. I found the beginning a little slow, but once the tension started to mount the pages practically turned themselves.

6 · The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan

My foray into The Wheel of Time series began with the first season of the TV show. The adaptation was certainly lacking in something, but I found it serviceable enough as someone who hadn't read the books. The second season was much more enjoyable. However, all the talk online from book readers was that the show was a major letdown. Having now read the first book in the series, the why is evident. 

The Eye of the World is so much grander in scope and truly feels like an epic adventure. The plight of the Two Rivers folk, our central protagonists, feels so much more dangerous and desperate, too. Whilst the first act does drag in places, I soon found myself excited to open the book and learn more about the rich worldbuilding and lore that Robert Jordan had crafted. I had been reluctant to dive into this series, feeling intimidated by its astounding length (14 massive books, if you didn't know!), but now I’m in it for the long haul — even if it takes me many years to reach the end.

5 · Never Say You Can’t Survive, Charlie Jane Anders

Maybe I’ve read too few books on writing to truly judge, but in my limited experience I have found that many authors who write them take a tough love attitude to writing. Even some of the most inspirational texts I have enjoyed have warned the budding new writer of the hard path ahead, stressing the challenges we will all inevitably face. And whilst a reality check is certainly necessary in this field, I've always felt uncomfortable by how many authors seem to think they need to be the one to deliver the hard truths. Very few have opted to use their word counts to explore the many joys of writing.

Enter Charlie Jane Anders with the book on writing that every new writer needs. Her approach is much kinder than the tone I am used to, and I really connected with the sheer enthusiasm and excitement in her prose style. It’s packed with unique and intriguing creative activities that have practical applications to your own writing. Moreover, Anders spoke directly to many of my own perceived writing flaws and helped me to forgive myself in a way no other writer has ever managed. 

4 · Berserk (Deluxe Editions #1 & #2), Kentaro Miura

This was a hard title to place amongst my personal rankings, and it's even a slight cheat because it's two books instead of one. Although, if we're being really honest, these two deluxe volumes only cover around 15% of a larger (and incomplete) saga. But this series means so much to me, even without having read most of it yet, so I had to put it fairly high on my list.

Berserk is a difficult series to summarise in a few short paragraphs, especially harder to encapsulate what about the story makes it so impactful. But in short, Berserk is a grimdark fantasy manga following protagonist Guts' quest for vengeance. The landscape is brutal and unforgiving, populated by monstrous human beings and far more monstrous apostles – nihilistic humans who have transformed into powerful demons by sacrificing those they love. The world and story are horrifying enough on their own, but the sheer terror and malevolence of this setting is truly elevated by Kentaro Miura's visceral artwork.

I watched the 1997 anime series in 2021, and I have watched it several times more since then. Few stories have continued to live rent-free in my mind for as long as Berserk has, and one day I hope to write a whole lot more about why. For now, all I can say is that finally dipping into the manga that started it all was long overdue and I am at a loss for words to describe the excitement I feel about continuing that journey in 2024.

3 · No Longer Human, Junji Ito, Osamu Dazai

“You did it on purpose.” I would never have imagined that this phrase could be so haunting, and there’s no way I could adequately describe to you here why those words are so chilling. What I will say is that if you are familiar with the work of Junji Ito, this is a masterpiece you must read. If you’re not familiar, I guess I should try to explain why this would be as good a place as any to start…

No Longer Human is a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s novel of the same name, first published in 1948 and often described as a semi-autobiographical work. The book’s core themes of alienation, depression and suicide mirror the author’s personal life, the book even opening with Dazai’s tragic suicide. The rest of the book, however, follows the tragic and twisted tale of Yozo, a man so alienated from other people that he adopts a clownish persona to deflect any suspicion of his darker nature. But the first time the façade cracks, Yozo makes a cruel decision that follows him for the rest of his life. We witness him grow up, watch him struggle as a manga artist and grapple with drug addiction. And along the way he destroys the lives of everyone he touches. Yozo is a protagonist I pitied and despised in equal measure, and thanks to Ito’s trademark surrealist imagery I turned every page with dread.

2 · I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jenette McCurdy

I didn’t move on from Nickelodeon entirely at the same time as the rest of my peers. Maybe it was because I had a desire to cling onto my fleeting childhood a little longer, or perhaps I was just unwilling to fight my brother for control of the remote. Whatever the case, I watched at least the first two seasons of iCarly before catching up with more “grown up” shows like my teenage peers. I liked the cast a lot, but Sam Puckett was always the standout for me. I was devastated to learn what was really going on behind the scenes of the last show I truly ever loved from Nickelodeon.

To describe Jennette McCurdy’s life as traumatic doesn’t even begin to cover it. Acting was never McCurdy’s dream; it was her mother’s. You’ve seen the title; you can take a guess about how McCurdy felt about being forced into the spotlight. Split into ninety-ish short chapters, I’m Glad My Mom Died is a chronicle of McCurdy’s fight to pull the reins of her life out of the hands of others so that she can become the person she always wanted to be, all the while battling an eating disorder and several abusive relationships. McCurdy pulls no punches, so have no doubt that this is a hard read at times. But in reclaiming her story, McCurdy does a superb job of also highlighting moments of humour and tenderness.

1 · Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin

If any book could define my year, it was this one. Beautiful and devastating in equal measure, it's a novel that (for me at least) exceeded the hype around it – and the hype was huge. The novel follows the story of Sadie and Sam, two childhood friends who grow up to make games together. Only, this story is about a whole lot more than making video games. And whilst I'm enough of a gamer to appreciate its references and the technical side of it, the book is light enough on gamer-speak that it's an accessible story for anyone.

To truly explain why I adored this story above all the others would spoil what I feel is so special about it. Plus, I knew very little of the book's plot going into it, which I think was for the best, and I wouldn't want to rob you of that experience.

What I can say is that it’s a love story of sorts, but not one of romance. Instead, the book explores perhaps the most romantic friendship I have ever read. Sam and Sadie are not "in love" but their love for each other is no less passionate or heartening than an intimate one.

Thank you so much for reading my list! If you're interested in knowing more about the books I read, I've compiled a list of every book I read in 2023.