Best books I read in 2023 (plus the controversial worst)

From a book about the progression of one of the richest men alive to the second most banned book in prisons, I read multiple titles worth sharing last year.

Here are the best books I read in 2023 (not necessarily released in 2023) that I would recommend anyone add to their TBR (minus, of course, the worst book).

Table of Contents

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Science Fiction
With elements of: thriller, suspense
Words that describe: mind-bending, surreal, existential
Summary: Our man of the hour is Jason, a college physics professor. He lives a simple albeit happy life wrought without major success or failure. In other words, he’s relatively average. One day, he wakes up in a subtly wrong world. That subtly dissipates when he discovers his wife is no longer his wife and his son was never born. In this alternate Chicago, Jason is a capital G genius—the kind that changes the world. Reality has shifted and become mutable. How can Jason get home to his real life, and what is real? Who is the enemy?

Best Quote

“It’s terrifying when you consider that every thought we have, every choice we could possibly make, branches off into a new world.”

It’s a masterful look at alternate realities and Crouch does a spectacular job of traversing across the byzantine elements of intersecting worlds. The concept of alternate realities can certainly drag a reader into the weeds if not handled well, but Crouch manages it. This is the sort of book that compels you to read it rapidly.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow book cover by Gabrielle Zevin

Literary Fiction
With elements of: romance, bildungsroman, decade’s fiction
Words that describe: well-written, thought-provoking
Summary: Two childhood friends that reconnect later in life, Sam and Sadie, become overnight successes in the world of video games. The book follows the pair, the ins and outs of their relationship and their highs and lows, over the course of 30 years. Will their creative ambitions destroy them?

Best Quote

“There is a time for any fledgling artist where one’s taste exceeds one’s abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.”

The opening scene was great. I didn’t stroll; I jumped into this book. It draws you deep into the world of 1990s game design.

I love books in which the author picks a field, area, or activity most people know very little about and educates the reader on the topic along with telling a wonderful story. Tomorrow (x3) does this with video game design–an exceptionally niche education. Another example of this would be Where the Crawdads Sing, a romance and a mystery, by Delia Owens. Owens takes her knowledge of nature and zoology and infuses it into storyline. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is another popular example. The parent genre is romance, but Garmus infuses the story with references to chemistry.

If you have ever gotten dragged deep into the story world of a video game, and even if you haven’t, you will enjoy this book. The only thing that bothered me on occasion was Sadie’s character.

Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

Biography
With elements of: business, technology
Words that describe: inspirational, provocative, intimate
Summary: The author of Steve Jobs’ biography, Walter Isaacson, takes on another visionary: Elon Musk. Elon Musk started life in South Africa where he underwent many hardships in the forms of school bullies and his own father. The emotional ramifications of his challenging childhood in combination with a predestiny for genius created the volatile man that we know today for Tesla and his desire to make humanity a multi-planetary species.

Best Quote

“Physics could teach everything about the universe except why. That led to what he calls his adolescent existential crisis. ‘I began trying to figure out what the meaning of life and the universe was,’ he says. ‘And I got real depressed about it, like maybe life may have no meaning.’”

A fascinating look into the creation of one of the world’s richest men (he fluctuates between first and second place as of late). As I was reading this book, I was shocked by the detail and intimacy of Isaacson in Musk’s personal life. In fact, I started to view the author as an omnipresent ghost and wouldn’t have been surprised if Isaacson didn’t leave Musk’s side even to use the restroom. I thought Isaacson did a fantastic job of keeping things interesting and also presenting a very objective and transparent character sketch of Musk. It felt very real and very raw and very true. Isaacson painted Musk in a light that not only noted his flaws but also highlighted and underlined them. Chaos and drama percolate into every aspect of Musk’s life: love, work, family and friends.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto Is Back book cover by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Literary Fiction
With elements of: historical fiction, romance, sports
Words that describe: emotional, inspiring
Summary: Carrie Soto is a former professional athlete past her prime. Or at least that’s what everyone thinks. She’s coming back into the world of tennis to prove them wrong.

Best Quote

“Grief is like a deep, dark hole. It calls like a siren: Come to me, lose yourself here. And you fight it and you fight it and you fight it, but when you finally do succumb and jump down into it, you can’t quite believe how deep it is. It feels as if this is how you will live for the rest of your life, falling. Terrified and devastated, until you yourself die.
But that is the mirage.
That is grief’s dizzying spell.
The fall isn’t never-ending. It does have a ground floor.
Today, I cry for so long that I finally feel the floor under my feet. I find the bottom. And while I know the hole will be there forever, at least for now, I feel as if I can live inside it. I have learned its boundaries and its edges.”

I truly felt all of the emotions in this book. The quote above in the context of the story ripped into me. Reid did a great job cultivating the father/daughter relationship. Additionally, I don’t even like watching sports, and yet I was so into each tennis match’s description.

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power book cover by Robert Greene

Self-Help
With elements of: history, fables/parables
Words that describe: Machiavellian, strategic, machination
Summary: Greene constructs a manual for anyone interested in the concept of power, what makes it and how to defend against it. Parables and historical observations support each law or concept, encompassing both adherence to and violations of the law.

Law 4: Always Say Less Than Necessary

“When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.”

Law 25: Re-Create Yourself

“Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.”

Law 46: Never Appear Too Perfect

“Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.”

If you were to compare this book to anything, compare it to a history book. It is filled to the brim with knowledge derived from historical examples of the most powerful men and women of history, the greatest (and weakest) dynasties, and the decisions that make or break absolute domination. The parables were an interesting touch. You shouldn’t go into this book hoping to enact every one of these laws because then you would be a master manipulator (a promise of the premise). This is what makes it the second most banned book in prisons. 48 Laws took me the longest to get through, and I believe it is meant to be read many times. Each law requires a lot of time to internalize.

Worst Book: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life book cover by Hanya Yanagihara

Literary Fiction
With elements of: mental-health, romance
Words that describe: distressing, depressing
Summary: Four graduates, with emphasis on the one named Jude, move to New York to find success. They attempt to tackle this hard thing called life in varying degrees of togetherness, but demons of the past are hard to escape, maybe impossible.

Best Worst Quote

“Reminiscing about law school (and its attendant activity, bragging about one’s accomplishments in law school) was a favorite pastime in the office, and because so many of his colleagues had gone to his school, quite a few of them knew Harold (and the others knew of him), and he’d sometimes listen to them talk about classes they’d taken with him, or how prepared they’d had to be for them, and would feel proud of Harold, and—though he knew it was silly—proud of himself for knowing him.”
This quote is just to give you a taste of the prose. I just flipped to a random page in the book and found this sentence. The book contains many sentences like this, so if that’s your cup of tea, fantastic!

*Note: No plot points spoiled ahead, but general concepts are touched on.

People loved this book—or at least pretended to love it. I saw it everywhere on social media which is why I bit the bullet and attempted to embark upon this 720 page endeavor. Filled with indulgent writing, I tried to tell myself it reminded me of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. When I couldn’t convince myself of that, I tried to tell myself that something must change because people loved this book. When It became too much to endure (3/4 in), I read some reviews, read the spoilers, and put the thing to rest (and I was glad I did after reading the spoilers!!).

Some readers labeled the book as “gay torture porn” where, as one review puts it, “gay characters are desexed, miserable, and eventually punished for finding happiness.”

Additionally, the torture felt purposeless. It stopped playing into who Jude was as a character (we get it, this guy’s life is horrible!!!), and the author continued to torture him. Very depressing. It reminded me a lot of the film Saltburn where bad things happen without a point or reason or theme to justify them. So I guess if you enjoyed Saltburn, maybe you’ll like this book. For me, in order to justify consuming something so overwhelmingly negative, there needs to be a passible message or theme to justify it (e.g. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro).

Nietzsche phrases this concept well: “To live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” This brings to light a cultural phenomenon in modern, more “artistic” works where torture and pain are romanticized and sold as entertainment, but that is a topic for another article.

The story behind the cover image is also something I wish I could unlearn.

What I liked: I have to respect any author who can write this many pages.

2 Comments

Gayla Meyer says:

March 14, 2024 at 4:47 pm

Thea, these were fabulous informative interesting commentaries on the books you chose! So looking forward to more from you!!

Chad Carpenter says:

March 24, 2024 at 10:51 am

Great summaries. I feel a little guilty each time I read 48 Laws of Power. To me, it’s an injunction as to why a primary aim toward power is a flawed one.