ŷ������

As we approach the end of 2023, what were your favourite reads from the last year?

A few questions you could use as a starting point if you want:

Which books that you read with the group did you like best?

What were your favourite crime fiction reads of the year?

What were the best non-crime fiction books you read in 2023?

Which authors did you discover in the past year?

Do you have any reading resolutions for 2024, and what are you looking forward to reading?

Lastly, did you have any reading disappointments in 2023?

What a help ŷ������’s Year in Books feature is!

In mysteries, my favorites were all rereads, thanks to this lovely group’s buddy reads series. I enjoyed getting into “Michael Innes”’s hitting-his-stride writing phase, especially A Night Of Errors (and, I have to admit, the crazy heart of Appleby's End). Similarly, I loved the mature writing in “Edmund Crispin”’s The Long Divorce. Lorac’s novels are reliably enjoyable, but I still prefer the intellectual flights of the donnish mysteries.

A fair number of my non-mystery favorites come from the same era as the Golden Age mysteries. In the Madam, Want to Talk�� group, we’ve been reading through Mary Stewart’s novels in order. So I’ve been able to revisit old favorites like Airs Above the Ground and The Moon-Spinners and the wildly originalThe Crystal Cave], but I also discovered her delightful children’s book The Little Broomstick, a possible inspiration for the Harry Potter series.

Other highlights from the same era include Precious Bane by Mary Webb, a truly original voice; Angel by Elizabeth Taylor, hypnotically hateful; and many of the reprints from the Furrowed Middlebrow imprint, my favorite of the year being Charlotte Fairlie by D. E. Stevenson. I’ll be reading a lot more Furrowed Middlebrow books in 2024 in the Retro Reads group.

One last Golden Age-era book that really impressed me: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies.

A classic that I’d never before read was Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley, one of the most debatable, discussable books I’ve ever encountered. If I were a teacher, it would be at the top of my curriculum.

Most of my reading of contemporary fiction was frustrating and disappointing this year, with one exception: We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. It’s a huge challenge to co-write a novel, but in this case—the same story told from two points of view—it was an asset. A thoughtful look at the racial divide, seen through the eyes of two characters who love each other enough to stick it out despite the challenges.

thank you for telling us about the "year in books" feature, Abigail.

My favorite book was the non-fiction Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life which I read with my in-person book club. I found it unexpected, fascinating, horrific and I learned a lot. Yet another book I never would have read on my own so I'm glad I was nudged into it.

My favorite from fiction was Angela Thirkell's The Brandons which was full of characters I just adored and found humorous. I had both the print and audio versions checked out of the library at the same time and having read each chapter so I knew what was going on, I could then listen and appreciate the dialog even more. This was really enjoyable and I'd like to do it this way again.

I just finished Anne Perry's A Christmas Vanishing and it reminded me of why I stopped reading the series about Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. I have come to be very irritated with dialog where the characters are talking about what is socially acceptable and what isn't, I feel like Perry is lecturing us on all she knows to the detriment of the story. Of course someone in 1900 is going to have a better understanding of what is expected of others socially than we do, but they wouldn't be talking about it! Those are things that literally go without saying!

and thank you for this thread, Judy, since it got me thinking. I don't plan to read more books in 2024, I plan to read more slowly, thoughtfully, and review more often.

I loved Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life as well (but read it in 2022). And Thirkell is always a joy!

A Happy New Year to everyone!
Looking back at the past year I don't seem to have had as much time as I hoped for reading in 2023, and must admit the books I've read over the year haven't always been as varied or as challenging as I'd planned! I have read a lot of detective stories though, and enjoyed most of them.

My favourites out of those I've read with the group were probably the buddy reads of the Martin Beck books, which I find really compelling police procedurals with great characters, and the Shardlake series. I also loved rereading The Nine Tailors by Sayers - one of her best. And must agree with you, Abigail, that I also really liked Edmund Crispin's mature writing in The Long Divorce.

I've also read a lot of good crime fiction books on my own - I  liked both Inspector French: Fear Comes to Chalfont and The Hog's Back Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts, but realise I have now got the two books mixed up in my mind. I know some readers find Crofts a bit slow and painstaking, but I've really got into his writing now. I've also enjoyed reading more books by ECR Lorac this year, both with the group and on my own.  

I enjoyed various fiction books which weren't crime, mostly older titles, including a Persephone reissue, Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton, which is wonderfully quirky, a bit like I Capture the Castle and a bit like Barbara Comyns, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, which we read over in Reading the Twentieth Century (actually that one does have a crime element) and Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks (I heard about this book via ŷ������), which is a short novel by a poet, about an African-American girl growing up in the 1930s and 40s, where each chapter is a bit like a prose poem. I haven't read nearly enough non-fiction this year, but recently read and enjoyed a biography of Dickens's illustrator Phiz (Hablot K Browne), Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens by Valerie Browne Lester.

I'm hoping to read more widely in 2024 and read some more new books and classics, alongside more classic crime fiction of course. :)

I've been buying the E. C. R. Lorac books but I think this year was the first year I actually read one. I did enjoy it.

Also enjoyed the Anthony Wynne book we read.

For some reason, even before I broke my glasses, I was having trouble getting books read, I think I only read 38 this year. I definitely included a couple J.J. Connington and Elizabeth Daly, both of whom I really enjoy.

Jackie wrote: "thank you for telling us about the "year in books" feature, Abigail.

My favorite book was the non-fiction Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life..."

Great goal, Jackie, thank you, I hope you don’t mind me stealing it! I review most books I read, mainly to remind myself what I did/didn’t like, pass on worthwhile titles (or warnings of stinkers!) to my GR friends-I’ve gotten delightful titles and authors from you all, want to pass along the favor. I do want to be more selective in what I read, if it doesn’t grab me, chuck it and move on - too many books out there I want to read��

My favorites with this group have been rereading Shardlake and Cadfael, and reading the Brunetti, Falco and Calleshire series. I also have enjoyed reading more by ECR Lorac - but rereading Dorothy Sayers The Nine Tailors was probably my favorite book this past year.

I’ve been introduced to some lovely fiction in two other groups, and have particularly enjoyed Angela Thirkell, EF Benson’s Lucia novels, and Barbara Pym.

I’ve been pondering my reading goals; I want to carry on my personal nonfiction reading project, trying to read at least one nonfiction book a month. Also, continue enjoying the mystery/detective books I read and discover with this group - my favorite genre. I also want to read more classics.