Best Books of 2023 and a reading challenge for 2024

Happy New Year! Although only three of my four short stories that were picked up for publication are out so far, I’m looking forward to sharing more of my work with the world in 2024. But enough about me. The main point of this post is that, in 2023, I read some wonderful books I’d like to share.

In 2023, I read a total of 113 novels. As in most years, I read the most in July (19) thanks to being off work. (Taking an e-reader on a solo trip also helped.) But I read at least a few books every month and here are some of my top titles, as well as a reading challenge to keep you motivated!

January

Challenge: Read a fun update of a classic

My pick: A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, by Sophie Irwin

This was the book I recommended to the most people this year. Using Jane Austen’s Persuasion as a springboard, Irwin’s book was a joy from start to finish. Hilarious and heartfelt, this story featured a lovable heroine figuring out how to follow her dreams and the swoon-worthy male lead who encourages her at every turn. Historically accurate? Maybe not, but I had a ball.

Bonus rec: A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, by Sophie Irwin

Although I read this one second, it was written before A Lady’s Guide to Scandal. I’ve read and seen numerous takes on Pride & Prejudice; this one felt completely fresh and fun. Starring a young woman desperate to land a wealthy husband in order to save her family and the Lord she blackmails to help her, I adored this one.

February

Challenge: Read an award-winning book

My pick: A Psalm for the Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

A Hugo Award Winner in 2022, this novella (and its sequel, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy) are small and gorgeous. The setting is a utopian take of the future, a world where the robots gained sentience only to wander into the wild and the more sustainable society that developed in their wake. I tried this one after a librarian recommended it to me and, although I found the first 50 pages pretty slow, I understood why it won the award as soon as the monk met the wild-built robot. It was a beautiful meditation on culture, religion, purpose, our relationship to the world, and what it means to be alive. Especially if you don’t have much time, this short book is one that will stay with you long after you’ve read the final page.

March

Challenge: Give a nonfiction book a try

My Pick: The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester

Although every nonfiction story I’ve read has seen me sharing strange facts with everyone I know for weeks afterward (looking at you Gulp by Mary Roach and Gory Details by Erika Englehaupt), this one takes the cake for being the most off-the-wall insane. Which is…unexpected given that it’s about the creation of a dictionary. But it turns out one of the most prolific contributors to the fledgling dictionary was a man institutionalized after he murdered someone during a schizophrenic episode. The story only got stranger from there.

April

Challenge: Read a book that combines two genres

My Pick: Station Eternity, by Mar Lafferty

One of the more inventive science fiction books I’ve read recently and a murder mystery to boot, this book was intriguing. Mallory leaves Earth behind in a desperate attempt to get away from the murders that seem to happen everywhere she goes and winds up on a space station full of aliens with symbiotic relationships. Then more humans show up and it’s only a matter of time before people start to die….

May

Challenge: Read a short-story collection

My pick: The Tangleroot Palace, by Marjorie Liu

Considering I’ve been writing mostly short fiction in the last few years, I don’t read much of it. So, I decided to change that by picking up this collection. Although the short story I found the most thought-provoking this year was actually the take on Rumplestiltskin in Jane Yolen’s How to Fracture a Fairytale collection, I found this collection the most consistently strong throughout. “Sympathy for the Bones” was a particular standout.

June

Challenge: Read a classic with a fantasy twist

My pick: Claws and Contrivances, by Stephanie Burgis

I really enjoyed this one. Like Jane Austen with dragons, it had shades of Sense & Sensibility and Northanger Abbey in particular. Featuring a lead who tries to manage everyone around her, her lovable cast of eccentric relatives, and a bemused dragon scholar roped into an engagement against his will, this one was heaps of fun.

July

Challenge: Read a historical fiction novel

My pick: Sinners of Starlight City, by Anika Scott

Set during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, this story about the mafia and magic follows several characters with family on both sides of the color line. Our main heroine (Rosa) is a young performer hell-bent on revenge against the man who murdered her family back in Italy. We also get to know her cousin who is desperately trying to get her baby back and begs for Rosa’s help as well as the mafia enforcer tasked with returning the cousin to her family. The setting was beautifully rendered and Scott did a great job maintaining tension while illuminating various historical events in the U.S. and Italy I didn’t know very well.

August

Challenge: Pick a book based on its cover

My pick: Charming, by Jane Linwood

What if the “Prince Charming” in all the fairytales was actually the same guy? That’s the fun premise behind this story. Whenever Charming waltzes in to save the fair maiden, he ends up stealing half their treasury and splitting before the wedding. But the women he’s conned have joined forces and they’re more formidable than he ever imagined. This one was funny and I loved Linwood’s take on the various princesses.

September

Challenge: Read a book about getting the band back together

My pick: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Chakraborty’s latest, about a formidable pirate who has to reassemble her old crew in order to find a kidnapped young woman and a legendary magical item, was a fun romp. I loved Amina and her crew–especially the wily poisoner–and enjoyed the blending of myth and adventure. While I didn’t totally enjoy the framing device of an interview, the characters and action more than made up for it.

October

Challenge: Read the first of a series

My pick: Book of Night by Holly Black

In a version of our world with magical shadows, Book of Night featured a self-destructive lead getting entangled in a deadly hunt for a missing book. I didn’t realize this one was the first in a series, so the cliffhanger came as a bit of a surprise. I’m looking forward to the next one.

November

Challenge: Read a book about friendship

My pick: Silenced, Ann Claycomb

I read this in one sitting. A story about women left living with fairytale curses after being abused by the same powerful man, this was as disturbing as it was absorbing. As the women come together to figure out how to break their curses and keep him from hurting anyone else, this story felt both timely and timeless. The fairytale pieces were worked into this in an interesting way. Violence against women is a key feature of this one, though, so be forewarned.

December

Challenge: Read a holiday-themed story

My Pick: The Wake-Up Call, Beth O’Leary

The central premise is two front desk managers working at a struggling hotel compete to try to find the owners of missing rings. Ever since last year’s Christmas party, they’ve been doing their level best to make one another miserable, but as “the ring thing” heats up, they have several surprises in store. This one was absolutely adorable and had several lines I read out loud to my family because I thought they were so funny I had to share them.

Well, there you have it! Those are some of my favorite books that I read this year. I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful stories 2024 has in store.

I wish you a year filled with wonderful books 🙂

Looking for magic in your life? Fantasy stories to try

Fantasy is one genre I turn to time and time again. It’s comforting to escape to worlds full of magic and adventure. Although prolific authors in the genre I’ve talked about before like Terry Pratchett, J.R.R. Tolkien, Diana Wynne Jones, and Piers Anthony have a special place in my heart, I wanted to share some less well known and inventive fantasy novels I’ve read recently.

Before I get to those books, I wanted to share a bit of personal news related to fantasy stories: I’m excited and grateful to announce that a short story I wrote, “The Shapeshifter’s Apprentice,” was just published yesterday in the winter issue of The Fantastic Other!

After all the rejection and hard work, it’s amazing to see my name listed as an author in a table of contents. Okay, now I’m finished bragging. Promise.

For anyone who dreams of finding a door to another world

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Speaking of short stories, Alix E. Harrow first came to my attention from her stunningly beautiful piece, “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies” published by Apex Magazine in 2018. So, when I found her novel in the library, I was interested to see what she would do with a longer work.

What it’s about: A historical novel set around the turn of the 20th century, our heroine is January Scaller, a young woman who discovers magical doors that lead to other worlds. She has to uncover the truth of the magical doors, their link to a powerful secret society run by her guardian, and what the doors have to do with her own past. Like the short piece Harrow is known for, this beautifully written book celebrates the power of stories.

For fans of creative magic systems

The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg

I recently stumbled across the fantasy section in the local library near my apartment. As I browsed the shelves, I was intrigued by the title and description of a world where magicians have a specific affinity for a material like metal, plastic, glass, or paper.

What it’s about: Scholarship-girl Ceony Twill has been apprenticed to an eccentric paper magician, even though she really wanted to work with metal. Now bonded to a material she never wanted, Ceony tries to make the best of it, but it turns out her new teacher has powerful enemies. When a dreaded Excisioner (a magician who bonded the forbidden material of flesh) nearly kills him, Ceony makes the dangerous journey inside his heart to save him. This quick read features a likable heroine and an unexpected magic system with plenty to explore. There are two more in this series featuring Ceony and even more set in the world.

For people who wish they could visit the past

The Little Shop of Found Things, by Paula Brackston

At the library near my parents’ place, fantasy books are mixed in with general fiction. Although they sometimes have a fun unicorn sticker on their spines, it can be a surprise to find them. This one caught my eye. While the writing style is not my usual pick–I’m not crazy about paragraphs that take up an entire page–I still found this one compelling.

What it’s about: A woman named Xanthe has always been drawn to particular antiques and can tell their story with just a touch. After she moves with her mother to a new village to open an antique store, Xanthe is powerfully pulled to a silver chatelaine (a version of which is pictured above, but it’s basically a purse/pocket alternative). This time, instead of just seeing the story of the piece, she is pulled back to the 17th century and tasked with saving a young girl from a terrible fate. This also features a determined ghost and a star-crossed love story. It’s the first in a series. I’ve already read the second and was interested to see how the world and her powers develop.

Well, there you have it, three fantasy stories to try from authors you might not know. Happy reading!

I’m also always open to book recommendations, so feel free to send some of your recent favorites my way 🙂

Refresh Your Bookshelf: 7 Books by Black Authors to Try

There are many ways to fight for racial equality. Protest, write to representatives, support organizations fighting the good fight, challenge racist comments/ideas…the list goes on and on. Reading books is low on the list for behaviors that make an impact.

With that said, if you’re going to read anyway, why not pick up a book by a Black author?Reading builds empathy. It’s a good way to see the world from a different perspective and tear down prejudice and unconscious bias. No culture is a monolith; books by Black authors are as diverse as the lived experiences of the people who created them.

There are, quite obviously, many great authors/books that I’ve left off of this list. This post simply includes seven interesting books by Black authors I’ve read recently. There are genres and books in here for everyone.

If you are looking for something set outside the United States: 

I was inspired to read this book after watching a TED talk by the author. Purple Hibiscus is set in Nigeria and told entirely through the eyes of Kambili, a teen girl who has grown up in the physically (and mentally) abusive household of her incredibly religious and powerful father. While a coup helps frame the narrative, there’s no question that this is Kambili’s story.

My take: I had a hard time putting this one down and a harder time getting it out of my head. I kept wanting to give Kambili a hug–she loves her father and wants to make him proud, but his standards are impossible to hit and dangerous to miss. All of the characters are complex and fully realized, the setting is evoked beautifully, and it makes for an emotional reading experience.

If you’re in the mood for Romance:

The Wedding Date starts with the rom-com setup of two people getting trapped in an elevator. Driven (Bay Area based) Alexa agrees to be (LA based) Dr. Drew’s date to his ex’s wedding. Shenanigans ensue. Frequent Flyer Miles are used. Love triumphs.

My take: I was a bit lukewarm on the B plots here, wasn’t wild about Drew, and felt there was more sex than story. The secondary characters were more likable than the leads in some ways. Since the next two books focus on the friends of the leads here, I’m game to give those a try. A lot of people love this novel, so maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for it.

If you want to read non-fiction/ autobiography: 

I read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself  in high school and re-read it once I had the idea for this post. Published in 1845 when he was in his mid-twenties, Frederick Douglass tells us about his own experience of slavery in unflinching detail. (His father was rumored to be his first master. Frederick Douglass, in the words of this beautifully written Op-Ed from the New York Times, had “rape-colored skin.”) His story starts with some of his earliest memories in Maryland. One heart-breaking detail was about how his mother was hired out to a farm 12 miles away; he only saw her a handful of times when she walked back after a day in the fields to stay with him at night before having to leave again to get to the fields at dawn. Douglass takes us through his various moves as he was traded from place to place, how he learned to read, and up to his eventual escape.

My take: Despite the time it was written, the language is as readable as the subject matter is horrible. He wrote about several murders of black men and women that resulted in no criminal charges filed; it’s disheartening to see how little progress we’ve made towards equitable justice in the ~175 years since he wrote. He didn’t give details about his flight to freedom via the Underground Railroad, explaining he didn’t want to make it so slaveowners and slave-catchers could stop anyone else using the same route. This personal account is an affecting look at a time in history that still impacts the present.

If you enjoy Fantasy/ Dystopian fiction: 

The Fifth Season is set in a world with frequent “seasons”–cataclysmic events that can make regions uninhabitable for years. In this place, people called orogenes who can control parts of the earth are both feared and exploited for their talents. Taking place in three separate times, the story weaves the past and present together, introducing us to this world and the start of a new season.

My take: This is more hard-core fantasy/sci-fi than I usually read. (I tend to get a little frustrated when everything has to have a different name than what we’d call it and I don’t usually like reading dystopian fiction.) Still, this was absorbing and disturbing in equal measure. It felt a bit like The Witcher without the comedy relief. This is the first of a trilogy.

If you like Sci-Fi: 

Octavia E. Butler helped shake up the overly male-dominated Sci-Fi genre. Her book Kindred is reportedly amazing–I’ve requested it from the library–and she has a large body of work. I picked up this book since it was available at the time and it wasn’t extremely long. (The Fifth Season by Jemisin was huge and I got them at the same time.)

Dawn is about a woman named Lilith who wakes up on an alien ship orbiting Earth to find out that a) humans are virtually extinct and b) the aliens who saved her plan to create a race of human-Oankali hybrids with the humans who are left.

My take: This is fairly hard-core Science Fiction. After reading up on Butler more, it sounds like this novel wasn’t the best introduction to her work. The Oankali pseudo-sex made me uncomfortable. The setting definitely felt alien and Lilith was interesting, although she wasn’t an easy heroine to feel like you knew by the end.

If you want to read a mystery/thriller:

In The Cutting Season, a woman who manages the plantation where she spent a lot of her childhood (her mother worked as the cook) investigates a murder and uncovers long-buried secrets.

My take: This was well-written and interesting. It has elements of cozy mysteries, has suspenseful moments, and the setting was unfamiliar to me. (My sole experience in The South has been switching planes in Atlanta, Nashville, and Raleigh.)

If you are interested in something you could read and then watch:

I’ve written about Queen Sugar before. It’s about a woman who inherits a sugar cane farm in Louisiana and all of the trials and tribulations she faces while trying to build on her father’s legacy, connect with her family there, and find her own way.

My take: This is beautifully written, tragic, and ultimately hopeful. It’s also a show with an amazing cast!

 

 

Diversity in fiction matters: here’s why

Disclaimer: this is not comprehensive by any means.

This wasn’t what I planned to write this week. With what’s been happening today–and most days–it seemed like a good time. (There’s a lot that can be said on this subject, but I’ll keep it brief today. I am appalled and angry. I am also starting a new job tomorrow and desperately need to make sure I’m prepared to teach.)

The stories we read and watch matter 

Fiction acts as a mirror. It gives us a way to examine new thoughts, to live new lives, to look critically at the world around us. It teaches us empathy.

If fiction is a mirror, what happens when that mirror is distorted? When the society it purports to reflect is missing huge swathes of the actual population?

Everyone loses.

Children miss out when they don’t get the chance to have heroes who look like them in books and movies. People also miss out if they don’t see heroes different from themselves. If you only hear about an event or time from one perspective, you miss out. Our world is so much more interesting and varied than one color or one community.

There have been lots of stories about how social media acts as an echo chamber, simply echoing your own beliefs back to you. Fiction shouldn’t be that way.

If you’re tempted to say the following: “But historically….”

If you’re telling a historical story, it’s easy for your readers to believe the people missing from your story weren’t there at all.

But people have traveled and traded and emigrated for thousands of years. (Australia has been continuously inhabited by Aboriginal groups for over 65,000 years. Polynesians and Vikings were master navigators. Travel is hardly new.) Reprehensible things like slavery and imperialism have also shaped our world. After all, slavery forcibly relocated millions of people from Africa across the globe. On a more positive note, gold rushes in Australia and America also brought people from all over.

Historical dramas can, and should, contain POC.

This was another beautiful movie I watched with my grandmother.

I want to hear, and read, and see history from everyone’s viewpoint. When I saw the movie Dunkirk with my friend a few weeks ago, I kept thinking back to  this BBC article .

Two Indian soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk–photo from the BBC article above.

People are good at spending time with people who look just like them. There are many stories that could easily be all white, all black, all Chinese, all Indian, etc. But why should they have to be? There are decades of stories out there like that. Why not tell something else? (As the success of Hamilton shows, it’s not as if there isn’t a market for it.)

History is not merely black & white. History is every shade, every story. It absolutely matters whose stories we hear and whose faces we see.

It’s dangerous not to tell stories with diversity 

It is so much easier to dehumanize people you don’t know.

And how can you know someone when you’ve never heard their stories?

It’s shockingly easy to lean on stereotypes when you don’t see people as individuals. No single person can accurately represent their whole ethnic group or their entire community.

Unfortunately, when there is only one character in a story that’s different from the rest of the cast–especially one who is there as a “token minority“–that’s often exactly what they’re forced to do.

This really came home to me when I started watching Bollywood movies and K-Dramas (Korean dramas.) After all, when the entire cast is Indian or Korean and the stories are written by people from those countries, nobody is relegated to playing the part of the “noble savage” or “model minority.”

One my friend wanted us all to watch in college. I was hooked.

I also made two friends because we were all watching this.

So pick out a movie whose leads look different from you. Pick out a story with main characters who are different from each other. Try one that is written by somebody from another country or cultural background. You may be surprised at how it makes you look at the media from your own country.

Fantasy without diversity is lazy 

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. You’ve created a whole new world. It only exists because you’ve brought it into being. What do you mean it’s all white? Why???

Tolkien was born in 1892 and published The Hobbit in 1937. What’s your excuse?

If you are writing now, what reason could you possibly give to not include POC? Your fantasy world can be whatever you want it to be. Characters with different skin color don’t have to be analogous to Earth cultural groups. I can’t fathom why so many white writers are content with creating an entire world in their own image.

(Even setting aside the issue of race for a second, I can’t count the number of books I’ve read where male authors literally forget half the species exists. Dude, it’s not that hard to write women. Start with the idea that we’re people and go from there. But that’s a post for another time.)

Now, it can be daunting to write a character that’s different from you. It’s drilled into us from the start. “Write what you know.” So know more.

Start by reading and watching diverse stories. Pick up a book by an author who is Latina/ Latino, Black, Chinese, Japanese, Indian….you get the idea. Watch movies from different cultures. Watch movies and TV shows that were absolutely not created with you in mind. Listen to the people in your life who don’t look like you.

Writers can also be scared of doing or saying the wrong thing. There are lots of dos and don’ts. (I read an amazing article years ago and can’t seem to find it again. One idea in it that I found thought provoking was “if you don’t have a reason for the main character in your story to be white, then don’t make them white.” <–although it’s easier not to screw this up if you are writing fantasy and working hard to stay away from stereotypes. I wish I could find it again.)

For more reading 

There are many people who’ve written more eloquently than I have on this subject and with lived experience of what it’s like not to see representation that doesn’t reek of appropriation. These are a few I’ve seen today:

Offensive mistakes white writers make with good intentions

White authors writing characters of color 

More things to stop doing if you’re a white writer 

Why you should stay away from writing POC protagonists if you’re white 

Writing people of color as a person of another color

In conclusion, we are part of a diverse world. The stories we consume and the ones we create should reflect that diversity. We have the ability to learn and do better.

If you have stories with excellent representation in mind, or stories/ articles you love, please share! I’m always trying to expand my reading list and learn more about writing.