The State of the Art: Books 2023

As I read The Night Circus for the dozenth time (I only allow myself to read it in winter), I'm painfully reminded that for some reason, books seem to have a higher bar than other media to clear in order for me to give them a good grade. 2023, especially, had a few bright spots, but the reading year in general was kind of a shrug. I always like to look over the books I read over the course of a year to see if I can assign a "theme":

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"
2022: "Look Behind the Curtain"

For 2023, I'd have to say the theme was "Stay In Your Lane". From unnecessary sequels to disappointing reimaginings of classic characters, this year was rife with books that failed to freshen up old ideas. For the first time in a long time, reading was kind of a chore, leading to a smaller list than in other years. You'll note that I put Louise Fitzhugh in quotes below, because Sport was published by her estate after her death, which goes a long way towards explaining why it's so awful. It wasn't all bad news, though. A few books managed to grip my attention, and happily, they came from different genres, from horror to non-fiction to a cheerful dystopian novel about the strength of community across multiple nations. Hopefully, next year will bring with it a better batch (I'm always open to recommendations). In the meantime, let's get to the list!

The Hacienda (2022) (Isabel Cañas) (A)

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (2003) (Stephen Puleo) (A-)

Scattered All Over the Earth (2018) (Yoko Tawada) (A-)

The Candy House (2022) (Jennifer Egan) (B+)

The Devil and the Dark Water (2020) (Stuart Turton) (B+)

Food Fights & Culture Wars (Tom Nealon) (2017) (B)
What is Not Yours is Not Yours (2016) (Helen Oyeyemi) (B)

Emily of New Moon (1923) (L.M. Montgomery) (B)

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries (2022) (Various) (B)

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons (Kate Khavari) (2022) (B)

Exile From Eden (Andrew Smith) (2019) (B)

You Think It, I'll Say It (Curtis Sittenfeld) (2018) (B)

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century (2022) (Kim Fu) (B-)

The Chinese Groove (Kathryn Ma) (2023) (B-)

The Other Black Girl (2021) (Zakiya Dalila Harris) (B-)

After the People Lights Have Gone Off (2014) (Stephen Graham Jones) (C+)

The Gone World (Tom Sweterlitsch) (2018) (C)

Mycroft Holmes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse) (2015) (C)

Sport ("Louise Fitzhugh") (1979) (C-)

Kismet (2018) (Luke Tredget) (D)