Happy New Year! 2023 was a fantastic year- for new books, anyway! There were some outstanding releases by beloved veteran authors and some truly impressive debuts as well. Having meticulously added all the titles to my “To-Be-Read” list, I was disappointed that I only managed to get through a fraction of those that had piqued my interest. As a compulsive person, I find I cannot start a fresh batch until I read enough of my backlog to allay my FOMO.

If you are like me, however, overwhelmed by too many suggestions with too little time, it is hard to know what books to prioritize. With this in mind, I am humbly listing some of my favorites from the past year. If you haven’t gotten to any of these titles yet, don’t despair—they will be at the library waiting for you, along with all the shiny new ones being released in 2024!

Highly Recommended from 2023:
WellnessWellness - Nathan Hill

"A poignant and witty novel about marriage, the often baffling pursuit of health and happiness, and the stories that bind us together."

The Bee StingThe Bee Sting - Paul Murray

"An irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart."

Tom LakeTom Lake - Ann Patchett

"Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born."

ExilesExiles - Jane Harper

"An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read."

Crook ManifestoCrook Manifesto - Colson Whitehead

"A furniture store owner and ex-grifter leaves the straight and narrow path when he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter in 1971 Manhattan."

Chain-Gang All-StarsChain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

"A kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means."

Bliss MontageBliss Montage - Ling Ma

"Eight wildly different tales of people making their way through the madness and reality of our collective delusions: love and loneliness, connection and possession, friendship, motherhood, the idea of home."

The Heaven & Earth Grocery StoreThe Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

"Shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community--heaven and earth--that sustain us."

On My List for 2024:
The Book of LoveBook of Love - Kelly Link (Feb. release)

"Channeling potent magic and attuned to all varieties of love—from friendship to romance to abiding family ties—with her trademark compassion, wit, and literary derring-do."

The HunterThe Hunter - Tana French (Mar. release)

"A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide."

Close to DeathClose to Death - Anthony Horowitz (Apr. release)

"A brilliantly entertaining new mystery in the Hawthorne and Horowitz series."

The Last Murder at the End of the WorldThe Last Murder at the End of the World - Stuart Turton (May release)

"The outstanding new high concept murder mystery... An ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, an audacious solution."

ParadeParade - Rachel Cusk (June release)

"Parade is a story that confronts and demolishes the conventions of storytelling. It surges past the limits of identity, character, and plot to tell a true story—about art, family, morality, gender, and how we compose ourselves."

Summaries sourced from publishers' marketing materials

January's Featured Review

The ReformatoryThe Reformatory - Tananarive Due

"A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead."

Hop on the Holds List

1. End of Story - A.J. Finn

2. The Women - Kristin Hannah

3. The Summer Book Club - Susan Mallery

4. The Ghost Orchid - Jonathan Kellerman

5. The Guest - B.A. Paris

Quote of the Month:

"Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable."
— Louisa May Alcott

Bookish News and Links:

More Lists? Try these:

LitHub provides an aggregated "Best Books" list, so you don't have to wade through them all!

NPR also does annually curated "Books We Love" feature that digs a little deeper, including international and indie releases.

Adaptation News:

Netflix has made a miniseries from a few Harlan Coban books, Fool Me Once is now available starting January 1.

Colleen Hoover fans might want to check out this It Ends with Us, releasing in theaters in early February.

I am excited to see the second movie based on Jane Harper's novels at the theater in early February. I hope Force of Nature: The Dry 2 lives up to its source material!

Recent Reads

I have recently finished reading Other People's Houses by Abbi Waxman and Sure, I'll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford. I also just finished listening to Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes on Hoopla.

I am currently reading A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand (for GPL's own horror book club!) and Swanna in Love by Jennifer Belle. I am listening to the audiobook of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?

What were your favorite reads from 2023? Anything you are eagerly awaiting in the new year? Fill me in!: jnmegan@gpl.

Until next time: Be safe, be well, and be well-read!

Joelle

So, who am I, anyway? I am a resident of West Groton, with a husband, 3 children in college (and one at GDRHS) and a Samoyed that keeps my vacuum well-employed. I am currently working part time at the Groton Public Library and in a former life I was a Director or PR/Marketing at a high-tech consulting firm. My BA is in Psychology, but most of my time was spent in college earning a Concentration on the Novel. That is all to say that I make no claims at being an expert of any kind and my thoughts, opinions and mistakes are solely my own. I am just a person whose passion for books has continued to grow from the moment I was first able to grip and gnaw on them. I have been devouring them ever since.

Jan 01, 2024 / Joelle M Egan

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