My favourite books of 2023
2023 was my best year for books, both in terms of number read (114) and in the pleasure given.
Below are the 14 fiction and 15 non-fiction that I gave the highly recommended award.
The 14 fiction delights
- The Wall – John Lanchester [Life on a wall, built to keep people out. A wonderful tale]
- The Amateur Marriage – Anne Tyler [A mismatched marriage and its consequences]
- Redhead By the Side of the Road – Anne Tyler [Self-employed computer repair man has a mid-life crisis. Delightful – I loved it]
- Earthly Possessions – Anne Tyler [Wife leaves husband and gets kidnapped by a bank robber. A wise, funny and wonderful tale]
- The Spider-Orchard – Celia Fremlin [CF can do no wrong in my eyes. Another lovely, glorious tale]
- Payment Deferred – C S Forester [Financially troubled bank manager finds a way out, but not for long. Superb 1926 British thriller]
- Our Fathers – Rebecca Wait [A man returns to the remote Scottish island where he witnessed a family tragedy. A great read]
- Hotel Silence – Auður Ava Ólafsdóttire [Man goes off to war-torn country to commit suicide. A slow starter but I warmed to it. Must re-read sometime]
- A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles [Count Rostov is sentenced to house arrest for life in a hotel. A delightful gem of a book]
- Ghosted – Jenn Ashworth [A husband walks out and doesn’t come back. A most enjoyable read]
- The Hunters – Claire Messud [Two exceptionally well-written novellas. I liked the 2nd, The Hunters, a lot. Well worth re-reading in years to come]
- Passing On – Penelope Lively [A mother dies, her middle-aged children struggle to move on. A wonderful story]
- The Blunderer – Patricia Highsmith [Two wives, two deaths, two husbands under suspicion. A tense and magnificent thriller]
- When All is Said – Anne Griffin [An 84-year old Irishman sits in a bar and reflects on five key people in his life. Wonderful. One to be re-read]
and the 15 non-fiction delights
- Nasty, Brutish, and Short – Scott Hershovitz [“Adventures in Philosophy with Kids”. Superb – one to re-read]
- I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That – Ben Goldacre [Superb collection of articles attacking writers of bad science]
- How Music Got Free – Stephen Witt [A superb history of online music piracy. One to be re-read some time]
- We Are Bellingcat – Eliot Higgins [All about Bellingcat, a group of investigative journalists. Terrifically interesting]
- Packing For Mars – Mary Roach [Informative and hilarious look at space travel and what it entails]
- About a Son – David Whitehouse [A moving account of a father’s grief following the murder of his son]
- Notes To Self – Emilie Pine [Raw, honest essays on womanhood, family and the author’s life. Superb]
- Ethel Rosenberg – Anne Sebba [Wonderful biography of the 1950s, executed wife of a spy]
- The Last Queen – Clive Irving [Our Queen’s reign. A terrific read]
- The Gift of a Radio – Justin Webb [ The BBC journalist describes his odd childhood. An enjoyable read]
- Sad Little Men – Richard Beard[“How P ublic Schools Failed Britain”. An ex-pupil expresses his anger]
- Defending the Guilty – Alex McBride [“Truth & lies in the criminal courtroom”. A criminal barrister tells all]
- The Ravine – Wendy Lower [Research of a killing. A horrifying book about the Holocaust. How little I know. Shocking]
- The Ticket Collector From Belarus – Anderson & Hanson [The UK’s only war crimes trial. The events and the trial. Superb]
- The Front Runner – Matt Bai [The fall of presidential hopeful, Gary Hart. Terrific look at American politics]
things change 
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