January 12, 2024 · 6:34 pm
One of many stand-out novels I learn in 2023 was Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld which is a enjoyable and refreshingly authentic tackle the style. I additionally actually loved The Operating Grave by Robert Galbraith which is the seventh outing for Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott’s detective company as they infiltrate a sinister cult in Norfolk.
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy was a memorable account of latest motherhood. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is about in sixteenth century Florence and fictionalises the wedding of 15-year-old Lucrezia di Cosima de’Medici to Alfonso, Duke of Ferrera.
I reviewed a minimum of one non-fiction e book written by a girl each month in 2023. Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn stood out for its clear and perceptive prose about deserted landscapes and the pure atmosphere and was deservedly shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2021. I feel Assault Warning Purple! by Julie McDowall ought to have gotten extra consideration this yr for its alarming and sometimes darkly humorous take a look at how Britain ready for nuclear conflict.
The Invention of Essex by Tim Burrows is a thoughtfully written tour of a a lot misunderstood a part of the UK. Non-fiction books about politics and present affairs can go outdated in a short time, however Damaged Heartlands by Sebastian Payne revealed in 2021 stays very topical studying forward of a basic election in 2024 as Labour seeks to get well the “purple wall” seats it misplaced in 2019 to the Conservative Social gathering.
Lastly, I learn two books in 2023 that made me really feel actually indignant however are very a lot value your time. Present Me The Our bodies by Peter Apps is a harrowing account of the failures main as much as the fireplace at Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017. Wasteland by Oliver Franklin-Wallis is a behind-the-scenes take a look at the waste business and explores the environmental and human value of what we throw away.
Which books did you take pleasure in studying in 2023?
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