It’s time for what’s become an annual tradition for me–recapping my year in reading! For 2023, I read 50 books. That’s in addition to the 8 manuscripts and 1 journal article I edited. (I also picked up a freelance writing gig this year.) That’s two years in a row that I’ve read at least 50 books!
It always amuses me to look back on what captured my interest in any given year since I’m given to binge-reading about a wide range of topics. This year, I revisited topics of perennial fascination to me (historical fiction about entertainingly dastardly historical mayhem; nonfiction about true crime, Arctic adventure and misadventure, Native American history, and Titanic) and some newer topics for me (Elizabethan England). I also reread a couple of book I’ve particularly enjoyed (A Night to Remember and Killers of the Flower Moon), read new books from long-time favorite authors (Jeff Guinn and David Grann), and discovered a new favorite series (The Accursed Kings, also the aforementioned entertainingly dastardly historical mayhem).
Here are some of the books and series I found especially interesting, enjoyable, excellent, and/or thought-provoking. I also included some of the books I wanted to read and didn’t get around to–there’s never enough time for all the books I want to read!–and a few I’m already looking forward to next year.
