{"id":5690,"date":"2024-01-07T14:04:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T14:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/my-top-5-books-of-2023\/"},"modified":"2024-01-07T14:04:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-07T14:04:55","slug":"my-top-5-books-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/my-top-5-books-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"My Top 5 Books of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second of my end-of-year round-up posts, I’m highlighting my five favourite books from among all of those I read in 2023. It was \u2014 for me \u2014 a relatively slow year for reading. I read 77 books in total, including a couple of re-reads, and I wasn’t feeling very inspired for much of the year. This meant I defaulted to my usual reading favourites: crime and psychological thrillers and books set in New York City (where the photo below<\/a> was taken). Sometimes both!<\/p>\n

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<\/a>And yes, Jilly Cooper’s latest book Tackle!<\/i> is on the list, although it wasn’t anywhere close to my top five. I devoured her books as a teenager and when I heard that her latest book would be set in the world of football and WAGs, I had to give it a read. She definitely enjoyed the team kits, walk-on music and history (and the, er, relationships) more than the actual football \u2014 kudos, though, for the in-depth explanations of financial fair play, offsides and Champions League qualification for the horsey set. The end result was Welcome to Wrexham<\/a><\/i>, meets Footballers’ Wives<\/a><\/i> meets United<\/a><\/i>. Make of that what you will, although I was pleased that Wolves was one of the few real Premier League clubs to get a mention (“Didn’t you used to play for Wolves?” \/ “No, but I have been compared to a Wolf?”).<\/p>\n

Read on to find out which were my five favourite books of 2023 and my full reading list. As usual, I’ve included links to Bookshop.org<\/a>, a UK-based online bookshop, although you should also be able to find them all in your local indie bookshop.<\/p>\n

My top 5 books of 2023<\/b><\/h4>\n

1. Pineapple Street<\/a><\/i> by Jenny Jackson. Set among the wealthy brownstones of Brooklyn Heights (not far from Books Are Magic<\/a>), Jenny Jackson’s keenly observed family drama pulls back the (expensive antique) curtain on the lives of  New York one-percenters. Smart, funny and poignant, Pineapple Street <\/i>is an enjoyable read that didn’t quite<\/i> diminish my desire to move to the “fruit streets” neighbourhood, even if the Stockton family and the privileged world they inhibit are far from perfect.<\/p>\n

2. Yellowface<\/a><\/i> by R.F. Kuang. When June Hayward’s almost-friend and literary superstar Athena Liu dies in a freak accident, June freaks out big time. But then she sees it as an opportunity to finally kickstart her own career as a writer by stealing June’s unpublished and unseen manuscript so that she can edit it and have it published as her own. What follows is an addictive, razor-sharp and darkly comic tale that satirises the cutthroat world of book publishing. If you need to have likeable characters in novels you read, this one may not be for you. But if you can get past that, sit back and enjoy the wickedly funny ride.<\/p>\n

3. This Time Tomorrow<\/a><\/i> by Emma Straub. In Emma Straub’s novel, protagonist Alice wakes up on her 40th birthday to find that she is 16 again \u2014 and has the chance to relive or revisit some of the moments in her life that may be keeping her from finding true happiness and love. As someone who also turned 40 last year I was, of course, intrigued by the blurb. And Young Adult<\/a> <\/i>it ain’t. Present-day Alice’s father is seriously ill and Alice is desperate to do right by him and their relationship. But will she find solutions in the past? Poignant and thought-provoking, This Time Tomorrow <\/i>was also a great nostalgia trip for me, perfectly capturing the essence of coming of age in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

4. The Last Remains<\/a><\/i> by Elly Griffiths. Regular readers will know that I’ve long been a fan of Elly Griffith’s Dr Ruth Galloway series<\/a> of books. Ruth is a Norfolk-based forensic archaeologist whose professional and personal life is constantly being dragged into the work of the local police force thanks to her assistance in solving murders with a historical bent and her relationship with DCI Harry Nelson. They are one of the best examples of the ‘cosy crime’ genre and I have greatly enjoyed the brief interludes I have spent in the world Griffiths has created. Unfortunately, as the name suggests, The Last Remains <\/i>is likely to be the last in this particular series. And as you might expect, there are lots of throwbacks to characters and plot points from earlier in the series. The central case involves the discovery of the remains of an archaeology student who disappeared 20 years earlier. The plot is intriguing and cleverly constructed, although it was slightly overshadowed by the need for wrapping up at least some series loose ends. <\/p>\n

I’d recommend reading the series in order, if possible. And if you’re craving more Elly Griffiths, I also enjoyed Bleeding Heart Yard<\/a><\/i>, an excellent crime thriller featuring Detective Harbinder Kaur.<\/p>\n

5. You, Again<\/a><\/i> by Kate Goldbeck. Goldbeck’s will-they-won’t-they NYC millennial romance was the perfect holiday read for me. You, Again<\/i> tells the story of Ari and Josh, who ‘meet cute’. Almost. But they end up loathing each other before the night is over. Several times in fact. Is the timing just never right? Or are they just not right for each other? It’s a tale as old as time but Goldbeck tells it with wit, warmth and a whole lot of relatability. I’d be very surprised if an adaptation didn’t make it onto your favourite streaming platform before long. Oh, and if you’re missing New York, You, Again <\/i>will definitely help to fill in some of that void.<\/p>\n

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My full 2023 reading list*<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n

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    \n
  1. The Waiter \u2014 Ajay Chowdhury<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Bleeding Heart Yard – Elly Griffiths<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Signal Fires \u2014 Dani Shapiro<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. The Bullet That Missed \u2014 Richard Osman<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Night by Night \u2014 Jack Jordan<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The Twist of a Knife \u2014 Anthony Horowitz<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. All the Dark Places \u2014 Terri Parlato<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. The Romantic \u2014 William Boyd<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. The Villa \u2014 Rachel Hawkins<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. The Soulmate \u2014 Sally Hepworth<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Just the Nicest Couple \u2014 Mary Kubica<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. This Time Tomorrow \u2014 Emma Straub<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n
  13. The Word Is Murder \u2014 Anthony Horowitz<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n
  14. The Sentence Is Death \u2014 Anthony Horowitz<\/span><\/li>\n
  15. All the Dangerous Things \u2014 Stacy Willingham<\/span><\/li>\n
  16. Before Her Eyes \u2014 Jack Jordan<\/span><\/li>\n
  17. The Only Suspect \u2014 Louise Candlish<\/span><\/li>\n
  18. Moonflower Murders \u2014 Anthony Horowitz<\/span><\/li>\n
  19. Regrets Only \u2014 Kieran Scott<\/span><\/li>\n
  20. You Should Have Told Me \u2014 Leah Konen<\/span><\/li>\n
  21. The Personal Assistant \u2014 Kimberly Belle<\/span><\/li>\n
  22. The Cook \u2014 Ajay Chowdhury<\/span><\/li>\n
  23. The Writing Retreat \u2014 Julia Bartz<\/span><\/li>\n
  24. Bright and Deadly Things \u2014 Lexie Elliott<\/span><\/li>\n
  25. It\u2019s One of Us \u2014 J.T. Ellison<\/span><\/li>\n
  26. I Have Some Questions for You \u2014 Rebecca Makkai<\/span><\/li>\n
  27. The Wilderness Retreat \u2014 Jennifer Moore<\/span><\/li>\n
  28. French Braid \u2014 Anne Tyler<\/span><\/li>\n
  29. The Close \u2014 Jane Casey<\/span><\/li>\n
  30. Close to Home \u2014 Cara Hunter<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n
  31. Pineapple Street \u2014 Jenny Jackson<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n
  32. The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything \u2014 Kara Gnodde<\/span><\/li>\n
  33. Everybody Writes \u2014 Ann Handley<\/span><\/li>\n
  34. The Last Remains \u2014 Elly Griffiths<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n
  35. Romantic Comedy \u2014 Curtis Sittenfeld<\/span><\/li>\n
  36. The Kind Worth Saving \u2014 Peter Swanson<\/span><\/li>\n
  37. A Death at the Party \u2014 Amy Stuart<\/span><\/li>\n
  38. Anywhere You Run \u2014 Wanda M. Morris<\/span><\/li>\n
  39. A Perfect Vintage \u2014 Chelsea Fagan<\/span><\/li>\n
  40. The Simple Truth \u2014 James Buckler<\/span><\/li>\n
  41. Zero Days \u2014 Ruth Ware<\/span><\/li>\n
  42. The Chateau \u2014 Jaclyn Goldis<\/span><\/li>\n
  43. Bad Summer People \u2014 Emma Rosenblum<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n
  44. The Senator\u2019s Wife \u2014 Liv Constantine<\/span><\/li>\n
  45. Black Cake \u2014 Charmaine Wilkerson<\/span><\/li>\n
  46. The Spare Room \u2014 Andrea Bartz<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n
  47. Her, Too \u2014 Bonnie Kistler<\/span><\/li>\n
  48. The Five-Star Weekend \u2014 Elin Hilderbrand<\/span><\/li>\n
  49. The Only Survivors \u2014 Megan Miranda<\/span><\/li>\n
  50. The Rachel Incident \u2014 Caroline O\u2019Donoghue<\/span><\/li>\n
  51. Banyan Moon \u2014 Thao Thai<\/span><\/li>\n
  52. Murder in the Family \u2014 Cara Hunter<\/span><\/li>\n
  53. Have You Seen Her? \u2014 Catherine McKenzie<\/span><\/li>\n
  54. Dark Game \u2014 Rachel Lynch<\/span><\/li>\n
  55. Black Thorn \u2014 Sarah Hilary<\/span><\/li>\n
  56. None of This Is True \u2014 Lisa Jewell<\/span><\/li>\n
  57. Gone Tonight \u2014 Sarah Pekkanen<\/span><\/li>\n
  58. Good Bad Girl \u2014 Alice Feeney<\/span><\/li>\n
  59. Just Another Missing Person \u2014 Gillian McAllister<\/span><\/li>\n
  60. Excavations \u2014 Kate Myers<\/span><\/li>\n
  61. Dark Corners \u2014 Megan Goldin<\/span><\/li>\n
  62. The Favour \u2014 Nicci French<\/span><\/li>\n
  63. My Murder \u2014 Katie Williams<\/span><\/li>\n
  64. Yellowface <\/b>\u2014 <\/span>R.F.<\/b> <\/span> Kuang<\/b><\/li>\n
  65. The Coworker \u2014 Freida McFadden<\/span><\/li>\n
  66. The House Hunt \u2014 C.M. Ewan<\/span><\/li>\n
  67. The Other Side of the Door \u2014 Nicci French<\/span><\/li>\n
  68. The Running Grave \u2014 Robert Galbraith<\/span><\/li>\n
  69. Girls and Their Horses \u2014 Eliza Jane Brazier<\/span><\/li>\n
  70. The Intern \u2014 Michele Campbell<\/span><\/li>\n
  71. The Herd \u2014 Andrea Hartz<\/span><\/li>\n
  72. Tackle! \u2014 Jilly Cooper<\/span><\/li>\n
  73. Traitors\u2019 Gate \u2014 Jeffrey Archer<\/span><\/li>\n
  74. The Island of Lost Girls \u2014 Alex Marwood<\/span><\/li>\n
  75. The Beach \u2014 Alex Garland<\/i> <\/span><\/li>\n
  76. The Manor House \u2014 Gilly Macmillan<\/span><\/li>\n
  77. You, Again \u2014 Kate Goldbeck<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    * <\/b>Italics = re-reads<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the second of my end-of-year round-up posts, I’m highlighting my five favourite books from among all of those I read in 2023. It was \u2014 for me \u2014 a relatively slow year for reading. I read 77 books in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pizza"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aussiepizzas.com\/PIZZADELIVERY\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}