My Year in Books 2023

For a bit of fun at the end of the year . .

you know how much I love reading, so I thought I’d review my year in books!

I’d like to thank you all for the recommendations for books this year, I love hearing about what other people have enjoyed!

Here are my top ten from 2023!

WHy We Swim - Bonnie Tsui

I am a lifelong lover of swimming but things, a.k.a. life, often gets in the way. This book brought me back to my own love of swimming and the mindfulness I find within it. Through the extraordinary and inspiring tales of others, it urged me back into the pool, and then later in the year, to the lake, once the weather warmed up a little! It rekindled my passion for submersion.

The Last Thing to Burn - Will Dean

This novel stayed with me for some time after reading.

With modern salvery becoming more and more prevalent in the news, it felt very ‘of the time’. This ‘reality’ of the subject, brought horror and great sorrow to mind, not just the very real fear and terror as if we are very much in the novel when we read it.

The story of a trafficked girl forced to marry her captor and live a secluded half-life of fear and servitude, under threat of great violence will no doubt have a profound impact on any who read it.

Becoming - Michelle Obama

I actually listened to this rather than read it, and having Michelle Obama ‘in my ears’ for an extended period of time felt like a real treat!

I know I’m late to the party with this book but I’m so glad I took my time to come around to it, as it seemed to speak to me at just the right time, at this point in my life. So much about how I want to be intentional and show up in my business seemed to be represented and referenced in the stories Michelle tells in this autobiography. There are so many vital points and quotes I have taken away and try to keep in mind throughout my day-to-day work. I loved it!

IN their shoes - Jamie windust

I found this to be honest, heart-breaking, awe-inspiring and most of all essential reading for everyone, every where right now.

We can never understand anothers lived experience, and Jamie’s is only a single perspective on the Non-Binary journey, but it is one that provides insight and support to those struggling with who they are, and for the families who seek to support them and love them through to discovering and embracing their true self.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton

So much more than a mystery novel, this book will have you wondering which way is up but the time you finish it. Such an intelligent masterpiece, it’s something I’d enjoy reading a second time I am sure.

With more twists and turns than a country road, overlaps in time and the same day being lived time and time again, Turton achieves an absolutely fantastic feat of storytelling which kept me wrapt from start to finish.

How to Kill Your Family - Bella Mackie

Brilliantly funny and confident for something which has been written about so many times before, this new take on a plot twister really kept me thinking and rooting for the bad guy (gal) throughout!

It’s a quick read that won’t tax too much of your brain to let it get under your skin, it’s perfect for a holiday read!

AMerican Dirt - Jeanine Cummins

Another novel that seems to have been written ‘in the moment’. We hear a lot about the immigrants from South America looking to cross the border and how the U.S. Government will do all it can to keep them out. But I don’t think I have ever before truly considered why they want to do this, or what they go through in their bid for the '(north) American Dream.

This is a harrowing story which is not for the faint-hearted, following a mother and her young son seeking freedom north of the border and prepared to do all they can to secure that dream.

We read this as part of the book club I’m a member of, and a couple of the group found they were unable to finish it as it was too ‘real’ and too harrowing for them to continue, so please, bear this in mind before you begin.

School for Good MOthers - Jessamine Chan

The tagline is right, ‘every mother has a bad day’. I can certainly attest to that, motherhood is by far one of the hardest things I have ever attempted, and it is continually a work in progress. I have infinite support for which I am endlessly grateful for, and even then there are dark days and low points that certainly don’t make it into the Instagram posts.

I found this novel heartbreaking, it’s just a degree away from reality, making the possibility of this actually happening quite easy to imagine. I wholeheartedly agree that having children is a privilege, and I would put my life down to protect my own. And it’s clear that the protagonist in this novel feels the same, in another world she could have been any one of us.

Perhaps that’s why the book affected me so much. Not a book you’re likely to forget any time soon.

Again Rachel - Marian Keyes

I have long been a Marian Keyes fan but may have overdone it some years back as I have kind of steered clear for a while. However, when I gave up drinking this novel came highly recommended, not least of all from my therapist! So who am I to disagree? And I can tell you I wasn’t disappointed.

As far as we come in life we always have something new to learn, and just because we feel like we may have broken a habit and formed new, better ones, doesn’t mean we are totally free of the core belief that accompanied our actions in the first place.

Keyes’ writing is always such a joy, her characters are real from the first page to the last and the family is always one I almost wish I could know, although perhaps actually being part of it might be a little too much!!

Another absolute cracker of a novel, with the underlying message to go easy on ourselves, to reflect, take our time and to never consider ourselves perfect when perfection is nothing but a pipe dream.

The Men - Sandra Newman

The last book I read in 2023, I was drawn to it in the feminist section of the bookshop and was intrigued by the premise that if all men were simply removed from the earth, and we as women could experience an existence without them, would we want them back?

This novel was not at all what I expected, although in fairness for the concept to be rounded out, then something almost spiritual or other-worldly needed to be at play within the narrative.

But it did make me think, of course for me right now the answer is easy, without a doubt I would want my husband and my son back, and not for a second would I consider otherwise.

But watching how the characters change and consider their past lives and how would they move forward with the new option was really interesting and something I am sure will create discussion groups the world over.

An interesting, thought-provoking and even a little mind-bending novel that’s well worth a read!

If you have any burning recommendations I would love to hear them, I am ALWAYS buying books and looking for something really interesting to take me away from reality, so pop your recommendations in the comments below!

Wishing you a brilliant New Year and see you in 2024!