Fields Of Heather: 2023 In Review

My Favorite Reads in 2023

My total number of books read is ridiculously high this year - but look at the page count. I read a lot of very short books, including things like the Mydworth Mysteries I also used more audiobooks than ever this year - which helped with the number of books.

I also have a few very large old books that I have not finished this year - things like Daily Stories of Pennsylvania History (1,00 pages) and the chronological bible. On my finished list is Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay, written in 1841, and Thomas Lloyd's History of Lycoming County... so it wasn't all light reading. :-) The Mackay book I read after reading Louise Penny's Madness of Crowds.

Speaking of Penny's Gamache series - I still LOVE those books. I loved Madness of Crowds. But I did not care for A World Of Curiosities. I think it's the only Gamache book I have not liked. I typically rave over this series, but again I'll tell you that it is best read in order. Get to know the characters and their many flaws in the order they are meant to be revealed. Madness of Crowds was just bizarre - characters we'd never met that were supposed to be integral parts of the main characters lives. It didn't work.

Overall, I read more one star reads this year than in any other year of my life. Was I just a grumpy old woman this year? Or was I not selective enough in what I chose to read? I'm really not sure. Probably a bit of both.

Here are my Favorites from 2023:

The Front Porch by A. Frank Krause

My absolute favorite book is one that most have never heard of - it's very niche, and my love of it does come largely from it's subject. But I also loved the format. Each chapter began with facts about the year, globally, and locally. Then the author described that year in his life, growing up in Milton Pa [My hometown] in the 1930s and 1940s. I don't think you have to be from Milton to love this book - but it certainly makes is much more fascinating to know the area.

Twelve Years a Slave a Memoir by Solomon Northup
Another memoir on my list - another 5 star read.

Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

Nathaniel Philbrick, author of The Mayflower, took a roadtrip with his wife and his dog, retracing George Washington's trip through the 13 former colonies. Its both entertaining, and enlightening.

The Theory of Everything Else by Dan Schreiber

My favorite Non-Fiction this year

This is a bunch of short stories, from one of the No Such Thing As Fish podcasters. My daughter LOVES that podcast, and we frequently listen to it while in the car. Even I, one who does not generally like podcasts, really likes this one. The book is similar to the podcast.

"Why are we here? Do ghosts exist? Will we ever travel back in time? Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? Will we ever talk to animals? Are we being told the truth? Are mysterious creatures roaming the Earth? And why, when you’re in the shower, does the shower-curtain always billow in towards you?

We don’t know the answers to any of these questions (that includes the shower-curtain one, which is a mystery that has eluded scientists for decades, and which they are still trying to solve). But don’t worry, no matter what questions you have, you can bet on the fact that there is someone (or something) out there, investigating it on your behalf – and this book collects their latest findings."

The Trackers by Charles Frazier

Historical fiction - regarding one of my favorite subjects, the New Deal Post Office Mural project.

The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

Historical Fiction about the 1811 theater fire in Richmond Virginia. I look forward to reading more by this author!

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

In the "thrillers" I read this year, this was the best. I gave it 4 stars - mostly I think, because it was so different. I didn't think I'd like the format, it goes back in time one day each chapter, so you are essentially reading the story backwards. Because of that format, I was kept just off balance enough to be surprised several times.

Miss Fortune Mystery #25

Fortune Teller by Jana Deleon

My favorite cozy mysteries this year. I read a lot of this series, finally, in order. In the past I read one or two out of order and they were ok... but this year I started at the beginning, and I think they were so much better that way. Light, funny, super quick and easy reads. Nothing too graphic at all.

Veronica Speedwell #1

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

Another series I read this year - light, but with a lot more "romance" [sex ] in this one. The mysteries were good, and the characters are very interesting.

Shady Hollow #1

Shady Hollow by Juneau Black

I should hate these books.

Anthropomorphism is a literary device that assigns human characteristics to nonhuman entities like animals or inanimate objects. I do not like it. After reading Lessons in Chemistry [which I did not like at all] I commented that the dog was the only part of that book that I liked, even though I don't like animals being given human characteristics.

My daughter, at the same book club, said challenge accepted, and sent me this series to try.

And I love this series. It's predictable. It's ridiculous. It's all anthropomorphism. And despite all of that, I've enjoyed every book I've read in the series so far.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons

"Infused with the emotional power of Me Before You and the irresistible charm of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Be Frank with Me, a moving and joyous novel about an elderly woman ready to embrace death and the little girl who reminds her what it means to live." - I loved this one.

I also loved Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. [I'm not a huge fan of the Molly the Maid series that is being compared to these though... ] Funny story, I read Be Frank With Me this year thinking it was about Frank Sinatra... LOL! It was not. The book was good enough. Not my favorite, but it was a decent read. A little lacking in actual plot I thought.. but interesting characters.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

"Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different."

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

This was an enjoyable book themed read, with a touch of mystery. Very enjoyable.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Stephen King writes so many different styles. This is not horror - but it's gripping. He is a master story teller! This one reminded me a lot of 11/22/63 - one of my absolute favorites by him, and one of my all time favorite books as well.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is my first Ishiguro novel, so I didn't realize, until I read other reviews, that this is not "normal". And I'll admit, a lot of it was probably over my head. And yet - I loved this book. Would I have preferred a more clear ending? Yes. But the writing was beautiful, and I am at an age where thoughts of how our memories shape us, and how inaccurate our memories can be, are very interesting.

The Housekeepers By Alex Hay

I don't really know what I expected from this book - but this was definitely not it.
I've changed my review from 3 stars to 4, and back again, a few times. I just can't decide.
I think I expected more of "good vs evil" upstairs/downstairs story.

That was definitely not what this was. It was much more twisty, the characters all much more flawed, with so many secrets... Its much more complex than I expected, of that I'm certain. And I love that. 4 stars. But it was also a bit confusing I think, and some of the plot lines are a bit muddied in my brain, I feel like I needed a chart to start keeping it all straight. Which is what brings it back to the 3 stars.

And yet, any book that I think about this much after I've finished it.. back to 4 stars.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R.A. Dick

I probably shouldn't have loved this as much as I did. I read so much I really did NOT like, around this time, that this was a complete breath of fresh air. And it was very different from anything I'd normally read.

The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

Another Halloween read that I really liked.

It's not at all what I thought it was. I'm not going to ruin it by telling you what it is. :-) Here's some of the official description:

"A genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, which brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us."

New Hercule Poirot Mysteries #5

Hercule Poirot's Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

My favorite Christmas read this year. I've read all of the Poirot series by Christie, but somehow missed that Sophie Hannah was writing new books for the series. I was skeptical when I saw this.. but I loved it, and I look forward to reading the others in the new series.

Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger

This was one of my favorite Christmas reads. A quick, light, thriller.

Andy Carpenter #26

Santa's Little Yelpers by David Rosenfelt

Another Christmas read, this one was from back in January... we didn't get to the newest ones in the series yet. This is hands down our favorite day trip series. Family friendly, these are technically cozy mysteries, but with more substance than most cozies. And they are funny. We love the series.