Everything I Read in 2023

Comedic and grim, Jam is a strangely enthralling tale about a sea of man-eating jam covering Australia.

It takes the cake as the first book I finished in 2023. Granted, I did start reading it during the final days of December 2022.

A beautiful and deep novel that plays it slow. I have nothing but positive things to say about this understated and marvellous piece of literature, even if it did take a chapter or two to make me appreciate its extremely humanised narrator.

The Remains of the Day prevails as my all-time favourite Ishiguro novel, or maybe just in general. Easily my best read of the year, a must-read.

Clearly I was a tad infested with the ‘Ishiguro Fever’ around this time, as this was the fourth book of his I read within the span of two months.

Klara and the Sun is an interesting read, shining with Ishiguro’s unique vision of the near-future, funnelled through the eyes of a cute android narrator. If you liked Never Let Me Go, you have to give his (current) latest novel a try.

Perhaps the most bizarre and confusing piece of literature I’ve ever read, People From My Neighbourhood was a solid few hours of fun.

Whimsical, insane, and stupefying are all appropriate ways to describe this work — yet, none seem to do its bizarre nature enough justice.

I initially found Norwegian Wood to be quite boring, but it grew on me with time. It was lengthy and well-written, but just didn’t fully encapsulate me across the entire story.

Nonetheless, it was still a solid read and managed to put Murakami’s other works on my radar. I liked the fairly grim outlook and dry humour it possessed. I’ll be reading more Murakami soon.

Good Children Don’t Kill was a book I spontaneously read. I was effectively unaware that it existed until I had it in my hands and was working my way through its chapters.

Whilst not ground-breaking, it is an entertaining tale of how three kids become entangled in a murder after a ‘practical joke’ goes wrong. I like to think of it as a partly light-hearted thriller.

Quite a cosy and thoughtful story. Hoover’s descriptions of the natural world are sincere and intimate, showing her love for the life away from the big city.

A Place in the Woods is a non-fictional story based upon the author’s life after leaving Chicago in pursuit of natural living. Let me just admit that I would imitate her escape if I could.

A charming story about a semi-reclusive woman falling in love with her elderly teacher, Sensei, despite initially feeling indifferent towards him and the concept of relationships as a whole.

Although odd and slightly taboo, I found Strange Weather in Tokyo to be a pretty good read. It had no profound impact upon me — and, dare I say, it was a tad boring here and there — but remained a solid novel that explored a strange romance.