The Year in Review: 2023

These are the best books that I read in the past year. As always I like to mix "classics" and recently published books. When it comes to making a best of list the classics usually come out on top. You can find every book I read in 2023 here by filling in the year in the search field.

Best Books: Fiction

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas. Yes, I know, you're probably thinking, "what, are you only reading this now?" Years ago, for reasons that I no longer remember I stopped after the second chapter. When I wanted to pick it up again I decided to wait some more and to start again right from the beginning. It is indeed a wonderful novel. Definitely one of the best of the 21st century.

Amos Oz: A Tale of Love and Darkness. With Israel and Palestine making news headlines again I decided to read this classic novel about a boy who grows up in war-torn Jerusalem in the 1940s and 50s. It saddens me that so little has changed.

Annie Ernaux: La place & L'événement. I loved Les Années (The Years) and now that she has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature I was keen to read some of her other novels. I love her writing style.