As with all my annual lists, this only pertains to books new to me in 2023, with no re-reads from previous years (and there are always a handful of re-reads…looking at you, Alan Furst). Without further ado, here are my favorites from this past year, in order.
10. The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
Even if I wasn’t so familiar with the Austin/San Antonio environs where so much of this book roams, I still would have enjoyed this sweaty, gritty, bloody, and tense barrio noir. Iglesias does a good job of giving the human monsters we follow a sense of depth and humanity without insisting we sympathize with them. These are bad, bad dudes. And they will do anything to survive. Anything. There was a moment after finishing the book when I absolutely hated it, furious at its final gut-punch, but then I remembered the book had been whispering nothing but it’s truth to me from page one: this world as crueler, darker, and dirtier than you think it is, and you’re not going to like what you find down the rabbit hole. Realizing that, I had to give the man credit. The finale was right in front of our faces all along.
9. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
Like many, I got caught up in the wave of folks trying to read this before the Scorsese film came out. The book’s pace is steady, the history fascinating, and the world of this forgotten chapter of America is more expansive than the movie version. I liked both versions, but the book gets credit for the depth and wealth of information. (The movie would have won me over more if it had more of Lily Gladstone.) The hype for this one is legit, and I can see why Scorsese spent so long working on his adaptation. He had great material and a special, if heartbreaking, story.
8. A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain
What more do I need to say but the title. It’s Tony Bourdain. He’s great, has a superb voice, and travels to far corners of the world that I will never (and might not want to) discover for myself. The interactions with the people he meets along the way and the wild experiences in icy realms, desert landscapes, and remote jungles almost puts the food he eats on the back burner. A book of danger, joy, and delicious cuisines. Can’t ask for more.
7. The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren
This one has the benefit of not just being about the most famous hotel in NYC for women, but also delves into the lives of some of its most famous residents, giving the author much more room to explore. It was interesting throughout, especially as it got into the gritter days in the hotel’s life after its prime. Learning about the time Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, and Joan Didion spent in the hotel working as guest editors while in college was one thing, but learning about the final residents who had lived there from the 30s and 40s through the 90s and 2000s was incredible. It’s a wild journey full of incredible research and detail.
6. The Carrying: Poems by Ada Limón
A short review for this one because she’s simply the best poet working today. The poetry in this collection is a perfect balance between the accessible and the complex, as clear as an untouched stream but full of wordplay and dreamlike imagery. Beautiful work and it might be her best so far.
5. Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck by William Souder
They say don’t meet your heroes, and Steinbeck has been one of mine since my teens. His books have done more to shape my own personal politics than any other author, but his life was more chaotic than I expected. The same thing happened when I read bios about Kerouac, Hunter Thompson, Bukowski, Hemingway, etc., basically learning that whatever genius one may have, whatever classics one may have written, it seems 20th century men had a real talent for treating the people in their lives like real trash (i.e., women, their kids, etc.). Even Souder is baffled by some of the things Steinbeck said and did in relation to the women in his life, straight up admitting his actions were confounding and inexcusable, yet the fact remains I am mesmerized by Steinbeck’s stories, his novels and essays, and the travels he took. Despite it all, for good or ill, Steinbeck remains a favorite, and this book shows all his highs and lows in one captivating narrative.
4. The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock
Now we’re getting to the real killers on my list, and not just because these last few books are almost flawless but there are literal killers haunting these pages. This one is brutal, with death, mayhem, sorrow, and desperation bleeding out from every page. The lives that weave in and out of one another’s path in this book form one hell of an adventure, one that spans generations and kept me riveted. This is the book that scumbag JD Vance wishes he could write. Hell of a novel, hell of a writer.
3. Lean On Pete by Willy Vlautin
Vlautin is such a comfort to read. Simple, straightforward, honest, and his stories are covered in the dust of Americana backroads and the small towns of the northwest. This one follows a teenager who loses everyone in his life except for the horse he cares for at a local racetrack. Homeless and scared, he steals the horse and goes on an epic journey to find the one person left who might give a damn about him. It reads like Sam Shepherd or a simplified Cormac McCarthy (I mean that in a good way) and I can’t recommend it enough.
2. Outside the Gates by Molly Gloss
This one blew my socks off. Part dystopian novel, part high fantasy, but subdued and simple, almost calming in its pace. Yet in some parts it becomes as tense as anything else I read this year. A boy is banished from a mysterious civilization and left outside its towering gates to find his way into a foreboding new world alone. He enters a vast wood filled with magic, dangers, strangers, and unexpected companionship. As soon as he thinks he’s found a place for himself, a dark presence appears, bringing ruination with it. It was a beautiful tale of acceptance, kindness, and loyalty. Read this.
1. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
I knew ahead of time that this one would hit me like a truck, and it did. The tale of boys who end up in a “school” for runaway in Florida, a place for those abandoned, for those arrested, or for those who are unwanted by their families, a place where they come face to face with good ol’ American racism, hatred, hypocrisy, and violence. But also love, friendship, and hope. So perfectly written, so heartbreaking, so beautiful. Best book I read all year by a mile.