2023 Favorite Books!

 Haven't been on Dreamwidth much lately, but I'd like to change that, at least a little. So here's a list of the 10 books I liked most in 2023, except I cheated and combined some book together into one list entry. I read pretty broadly, but you'll notice some trends in what interests me just from this short list.

If you've read any of these, let me know! I'm also happy to take recs, although I notoriously take forever to get to the things people rec me, hahaha. Listed roughly in the order that I read them this year.

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 1 - 3 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

 

Summary: A villain starts life over as his younger self and comes to understand the teacher he hated better.

My interest in this series began due to how heavily people content-warned for it, so I felt almost let down by how 90% of it is actually pretty silly. However, this series got better with each volume I’ve read so far. It lured me in with the extremely fanfic-y tropes it pulled out in volume two, and volume three REALLY sold me on the emotional front. (The wonton scene? If you know, you know.) Overall, this series has a lot of issues, but it’s been a fun ride, and I am absolutely still on board.

 

Song of the Bull Rider by Alex Singer

 

Summary: A non-binary youth in a highly binary world becomes a war prize/political hostage and must navigate court politics and a civil war.

A cartoonist I really admire recommended this queer historical fiction indie novel, and it didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two leads a lot, the prose was understated but well done, and my biggest quibble at the end was that I wished it was longer. Probably the number one book I am recommending on this list because so few people have heard of it, and that’s a shame.

 

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

 

Summary: A biologist explores the mysterious Area X as part of a research expedition.

This was a reread, but the book was just as well-crafted and chilling as I remembered. The atmosphere that the author creates is just incredible. I’ve never read the sequels, but I am aiming to get through them in 2024.

 

Severance by Ling Ma

Summary: As/after a virus brings the world to a zombified halt, our heroine muddles through a dead-end job, a deserted NYC, and a road trip with perhaps the last people left alive.

 

One of the most “by a millennial, for millennials” books I’ve ever read, especially millennials who were working crappy office jobs during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The fact that this book was published before the pandemic gives it an extra eerie and relatable feel.) The narrative structure of this book is absolute goals for me and was actually a big inspiration behind the structure of my fic Speaking Cats.

 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Summary: Aliens are real, the Jesuits send missionaries and scientists to make first contact with them, and it comes terribly.
 

If you just read the summary for this book, it looks like a paper-thin Christian Fiction premise, and I wouldn’t have picked it up if not for all the enthusiastic reviews I read for it. I’m glad I did because this was some of the best sci-fi I’ve read in a while. Interesting themes, a well-thought out alien world, and an endearing cast of characters that you can’t help but like even though you know they will meet tragic endings from page one. Overall, I get the hype! However, having read a spoiler-y summary of the sequel, I don’t think I will ever read the next part.

 

Game Changers series by Rachel Reid

Summary: In book one, a NHL players makes the bold move of coming out as gay; in five more books, various other hockey players and their boyfriends explore the new possibilities this creates.



 

This gay hockey romance series truly got me in a frenzy. I blew through all six books in a week! While I liked some books better than others (Tough Guy was my top pick), the series overall was just extremely my taste when it comes to romance novels. This author and I seem to both appreciate a lot of the same tropes, character dynamics, and issues to explore. While I read romance novels fairly often, I rarely feel the need to re-read them. This is the rare case of a series that I will absolutely come back to.

 

Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea's Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women' s Rights Worldwide by Hawon Jung

Summary: The title says it all.

 

A well-done and very timely primer on modern feminist movements and issues in South Korea. If you are like me, you will probably think to yourself, “Wait, tell me more about ___!” as it hustles from topic to topic. But it understandably has a lot of ground to cover and is only meant to be an introduction. Hopefully, more works about South Korean feminism will be published in English in the future. But in the meantime, I think this is a real must-read for anyone interested in Korean culture.

 

The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley Parker-Chan

Summary: A Han Chinese peasant in Mongol-ruled China escapes death, becomes a monk, and aspires to take over the empire...and it's all very (gender)queer.
 

She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World both take the crown for number one most frustrating books I read this year, if only because I wanted to love them 100%, but!!! The potential was huge! Parts of this duology absolutely slayed me! However, I got the impression that the writer was very Baby Trans while working on this series, too early in their journey to be tackling some of the topics in a way that would satisfy me. I’ve been there, I went through my Baby Trans stage too, and I think if the author wrote this series even just five years later, it would’ve been a lot more nuanced and thoughtful in regards to gender and queer identity (and class). That said, I will definitely be re-reading these books, I highly recommend them, and I’m excited for what the writer might write next.

 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Summary: A Chinese-American family in 1970s Ohio grapples with the death of their eldest daughter and the secrets they've been keeping from each other. 



 

Possibly my favorite novel this year? I had a hard time putting this down, and at the same time I also wanted to go slowly and savor it. The narrative structure, prose, and themes were all very much my taste in terms of what I like to read and what I aim to write.

This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something--Anything--Like Your Life Depends On It by Tabitha Carvan

Summary: The title says it all.

 

A quick, humorous, and occasionally heart-wrenching nonfiction read that I highly recommend to everyone who spends a lot of time and energy on fandom. Even if you don’t fan in the same way as the author or like the same things, you will find a lot to relate to. Especially recommended to those who entered fandom as adult women.