The LRG Best Books of 2023

 

Well, this is the time of year when best of the year lists start popping up (especially in the book world) and with the online voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards set to begin this week, it only feels right to share my selections for the LRG Best Books of 2023 right now.

This year, my picks are all fiction and new releases as of this past January. Also, several of them were my Book of the Month Club blue box buys and I have to say that thanks to BOMC, some of these titles might have never been on my literary radar (I am only a customer not a sponsored reader).

 While I am listing a Top Five, it’s in no particular order, except for the Number One read for me and that happens to be The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty.

This tale of the title retired pirate queen ,called back to her former sea faring ways by an insistent wealthy widow who wants her missing granddaughter found, is an old fashioned romp with modern flair and freshly made creative touches that make you wish that this story would never end.

As Amina rounds up her old crew, faces renewed dangers and deals with challenges more startling than even she expects, you can’t help but cheer her on yet she’s not some cut and paste heroine; her humanity in the midst of it all is what endears the character to the reader and keeps those pages turning.

This is said to be the first in a new series by Chakraborty (who is well known for her other fantasy novels such as the Daevabad trilogy) and hopefully, we won’t have long to wait before that story telling ship sails in:

Next up is Victor Lavelle’s  Lone Women, a book that more than lived up to the hype from amazed readers.

The basic plot points are that in the year 1915, Adelaide Henry leaves the burning remains of her family home to resettle in Montana, where land is easily accessible to single women and widows.

Her only major possession is a heavy trunk that is always locked, with Adelaide carrying the only key. Beyond that, I will not say more because the wonders to be found in this darkly engaging novel are best to be discovered on your own.

It does sound like a Western horror story but rest assured, there is truly more than meets the eye with this richly layered look at the choices that people make in the most unexpected situations and ways of life:

One of the most talked about novels this year was Yellowface , a bookish social satire with thriller vibes that made folks either love it or hate it and as you can see, I’m of the former camp.

This sinister snarky narrative by glowing green with jealousy June Hayward, a young writer whose love-hate relationship with popular author and former college colleague Athena Lu takes many dark turns indeed. The story begins when Athena dies by accident, with June the only one on hand to snatch up the work in progress novel that Athena hadn’t shown to anyone other than her that fateful night.

Convincing herself that the “editing” she’s doing is the right thing to do, June gets the book published, using the racially dubious name of Juniper Song. While the novel becomes a critical and financial success, the work is still tainted by June’s pretzel twists of justified logic with public exposure an ever present threat to her career.

To me, this contemporary novel has the media adjacent energy of Robert Altman’s The Player with the emotional echoes of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley cleverly funneled into our current book media realm both online and off.  Smart and savvy with a bittersweet edge, definitely one not to be overlooked indeed:

For something completely different, Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen is a good natured take on the undead with heartfelt emotions and a rebel rocker edge.

Louise Chao has found  out over the years that the vampire lifestyle is not as advertised with most of her existence being about obtaining leftovers from the hospital blood bank that she works at as a janitor.

Keeping company with only an adorable corgi named Lola, Louise is stunned one evening when some long lost relatives show up on her doorstep, looking for some assistance for the dying mother of Ian, whose father recently passed away as well.

Reluctantly bonding over a shared love of music, Louise does what she can to help Ian, doing her best to conceal the bloody truth about herself. That secret doesn’t stay buried for long and that discovery leads both of them down a most unexpected path that could bring either renewed hope or fresh heartbreak for their future.

The book is a grand wild ride with numerous salutes to the punk rock genres and even if you’re not into vampire lore, this is one pulse pounding beat that is perfectly suitable for a mental musical journey worth taking:

To wrap things up, this tribute to the glories of a Nora Ephron movie is more than ready to become a solid romcom In it’s own right.

In the meanwhile until that happens, You, Again by Kate Goldbeck is a When Harry Met Sally for our modern times.

When struggling comedian Arianna”Ari”Sloane first meets uptight chef Josh Kestenberg, the two of them most definitely get off on the wrong foot, especially since they’re both dating the same girl.

They keep running into each other over the years, with their mutual dislike intact until one such encounter occurs at emotional low points in their lives. 

That shared sense of misery begins to turn them into unlikely friends (particularly among their regular set of family and friends!) and possibly something more along the way. Can they really make this work or are Ari and Josh simply meant to be frienemies at best?

While I’m more of a You’ve Got Mail than a When Harry Met Sally fan, this book not only had me rewatching that movie(after a decade or more!) but appreciating the wry dialogue and clever emotional nuances of the characters for their own sake. Goldbeck does her movie maven muse proud and here’s hoping for a sequel:

There were so many other great books that I read and throughly enjoyed this year but due to wanting to keep this post at a reasonable length, didn’t make my main list yet deserve a shout out as well as a whole hearted reading recommendation:

Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen: A matchmaker modern vs. traditional romance by a debut author that you ought to keep an eye out in the near future (her next book, Red String Theory , is due out in 2024).

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas: A mix of historical romance and gothic terror that makes this writer’s next book a definitive must read for me.

Everything Fine by Cecilia Rabess: The ultimate story of a mismatched couple who can’t seem to stay away from each other (and they really should!) with searing social commentary. Very overlooked and well worth checking out.

I’ll be taking a blog mini-break for Thanksgiving but just wanted to say thank you to those who keep tuning into my little corner of the online world and hope you all had good books to read  this and every year wherever you found them.

Also, I am sadly aware of just how chaotic our world has become right now and the rising levels of social discourse both on and off line , particularly with both home grown tensions and certain international events in the headlines.

The best that I can say about all of this sound and fury is instead of overindulging in anger and frustrated sorrow is to try and  stay connected with one another by finding the collective good(or good enough) to help each other through these difficult moments. 

Things don’t have to be picture perfect but even those family fights at Thanksgiving can be overcome with some sincere effort and a well timed joke or two. Maybe it’s a foolish notion but hey, you never know until you try, right? Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving is all and to all, a good read: