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Here’s the discussion thread for when you want to reflect upon your year in reading, I know we’ve still got a few weeks to go so probably worth waiting til mid/late December, but up to you��


It's (nearly) that time of year when many of us take a backwards glance at the year that was, so with that in mind here's a little questionnaire designed to share what we have each enjoyed about 2023 here at RTTC and what we are looking forward to in 2024....


What was the best book you read in 2023?

What was the worst book you read in 2023?

Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023?

What are your reading plans for 2024?

Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2024?

What else do you want to say about what you read in 2023?

Anything else?

Best The Weather in the Streets
Worst Jill
Rediscover LP Hartley, studied The Shrimp and the Anemone at school and thought it was a nothing book, but loved The Go-Between. So maybe time for a second chance and read the full Hilda and Eustace quartet
Reading plans for 24 -
Continuing reading Virago Modern Classics, although it will now be 24 in 24. What they will be will depend on secondhand bookshop finds.
A mini project for books set in the 70s.
More translated fiction, recent and backlisted.
Join in more group/buddy reads here. The ones I have joined in have really enhanced my enjoyment of the book, thank you everyone.

Thanks for prompting this. I will post later in December.

I also like to include my statistical review of my reading, divided by language, author’s residence and gender, when written and fiction or non-fiction.

Thanks Sonia


Curious to discover what you make of the full Hilda and Eustace quartet. I have high hopes but no plans to read them just yet

Also interested to discover more about your mini project for books set in the 70s. Sounds like a splendid idea and one that really appeals to me

Looking forward to your participation in more group/buddy reads here 🫶🏻

*

Thanks Ben, like you I am delaying for a few more weeks. I keep reading books I love and long may that continue so want to make sure I don't leave anything out

Bravo on your next level analysis when you get to it. Alas I am far too lazy for such an indepth breakdown of my own (currently) 96 books read in 2023

I'll do mine later too but in terms of 2024, I'll be looking forward to reading some male authors - not something you hear often from me! - after my Year of Reading Women. Still, my gender stats will be a doddle to calculate 😉

Oh, and my fall in love author was Barbara Pym.

I think the worst book was The Last Passenger which takes the prize for the stupidest ever ending of a book in my opinion.

I discovered Lisa Jewell, Erin Kelly and William Hussey. I am not sure I really fell in love with an author, old or new, this year, but certainly discovered some new ones I really, really like.

My favourite debut was Death of a Bookseller

Susan wrote: "I think the worst book was The Last Passenger which takes the prize for the stupidest ever ending of a book in my opinion."

I've just enjoyed reading the 1-star reviews which reveal the end!

Great prompts, Nigeyb.

The author I unexpectedly discovered this year is the Waanyi writer Alexis Wright. I read Carpentaria this fall and her new book Praiseworthy is in progress. Praiseworthy may well be my favorite book of 2023.

This is a year where I was drawn to more maximalist fiction, interested more in experimentation and ambition than tidy, quiet works. I'm not sure what's prompted that turn in my reading, but I greatly enjoyed The Fifth Wound, which is maximalist in the extreme, as well as Tremor, which is an uneven book but is quiet good in places. Blackouts, Never Was, This Is Not Miami, and The Long Form were other highlights.

I'm not sure what 2024 will bring. This year (2023) was not what I expected, and I anticipate more reading surprises ahead.

Great stuff


I had to look up Maximalist Fiction...

/list/show/1...

Jerusalem by Alan Moore must surely qualify

It's one of my all time favourite books....

/review/show...

This Is Not Miami was one of my standout books too - but I know I'll struggle to come up with a single best.

I think my worst might be Julia - a misguided attempt to re-write Orwell's 1984 with added sex, hope, and a YA ending - bah!

Roman Clodia wrote: "Susan wrote: "I think the worst book was The Last Passenger which takes the prize for the stupidest ever ending of a book in my opinion."

I've just enjoyed reading the 1-star revie..."

Yes, well. I can't believe someone didn't have the guts to read that and say, you know what, the ending is just crap.

What was the best book you read in 2023?
A reread of The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Best because of the way it engages head and heart, makes me think and makes me feel.

What was the worst book you read in 2023?
Julia by Sandra Newman - a childish, silly and insulting attempt to re-open 1984. Hope the Orwell estate feels ashamed of themselves.

Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023?
Barbara Pym! I read eight of her books this year and can't get enough of her.

What are your reading plans for 2024?
I'll continue to keep ARCs low and focus on my TBR. Will add back some male authors (Javier Marias, Nabokov, le Carre) and continue to explore women in translation.

Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2024?
More Toni Morrison, more Woolf, more Latin American women. Clarice Lispector, Natalia Ginzburg.

What else do you want to say about what you read in 2023?
I've loved our discussions even more this year! We've all had a lot to say about Brideshead, Little Stranger, Annie John etc. Special thanks to Susan for joining our little journey through Elizabeth Bowen, to Ben for provocative comments, to Brian for keeping us on track with Celia Fremlin, as well as making me laugh inordinately, and to Nigeyb for spearheading our Pym discovery, and for doing so much invisible work to keep this group running seamlessly.

Anything else?
Just what a haven of delight this group continues to be so thanks to everyone here!

My daughter brought Julia by Sandra Newman yesterday, RC. I didn't say anything, but I must admit that I didn't feel inspired to read it. I will let you know what she thinks when she gets to it.

Yes, I'd be interested in what she thinks - I am in a minority in my view of Julia.

So far I think my best books were Cuddy and Stories of the True. Quite different books, but both have stuck with me more than the others and I’ve read some good books this year.

Well this is an inspiring thread! I'm particularly anxious to get to The Blind Assassin, one of the Atwood books I've missed.

I have a two best books so far:
A Fugue in Time by Rumer Godden was just perfect for me, and I enjoyed every page. The same with The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. Enough in both of those to keep me thinking about them all year.

My biggest disappointment was Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. So boring.

I kind of solidified a little group of authors that seem to go together for me, and I plan to read all of their books eventually:
Elizabeth Taylor
Barbara Pym
Penelope Lively
and I'm adding Rumer Godden, because of how much I loved "Fugue," even though I didn't love the one other of hers I've read.

For 2024, I'm looking forward to reading more from these four, but what I'm most excited about is The Mirror & the Light. :-)

I should say I have books by two favorite authors still to read this year, Toni Morrison and Carson McCullers, and they may possibly blow all of this out of the water!

2023 in review....




What was the best book you read in 2023?

Non-fiction: Ten Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure by Adelle Stripe and Lias Saoudi

Fiction: Cuddy by Benjamin Myers



What was the worst book you read in 2023?

Permanent Damage: Memoirs of an Outrageous Girl by Mercy Fontenot



Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023?

Bret Easton Ellis, Benjamin Myers, Anthony Trollope



What are your reading plans for 2024?

Try some Richard Osman

Continuing rereading the Bret Easton Ellis back catalogue

Read more/all Benjamin Myers books

Read more Anthony Trollope including the final Palliser books

Anthony Powell’s Dance To The Music Of Time reread here at RTTC

Get back to working my way through every book by��

John Le Carre
Patricia Highsmith

And, as always, trying to strike a balance between my enormous library of unread books I already own and my enthusiasm for new discoveries



Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2024?

The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and if that goes well other books by Donna Tartt

The new Jackson Brodie book

Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll

The Dance To The Music of Time series by Anthony Powell (a reread that I am extremely excited about)

Rereading the Ten Thousand Streets Under The Sky trilogy by Patrick Hamilton

More Anthony Trollope

More Jim Thompson

More Kate Atkinson

More PG Wodehouse

Call it Sleep (1934) by Henry Roth

Masquerade: the Lives of Noel Coward by Oliver Soden

And all the delights that you will doubtless tempt me with throughout 2024



What else do you want to say about what you read in 2023?

A joy to be sharing and discovering some wonderful books with the lovely people who contribute to this group. We’ve had some great discussions. Long may that continue



Anything else?

Have a super seasonal period and a happy and prosperous 2024

here we go ...

What was the best book you read in 2023?

Wise Blood

What was the worst book you read in 2023?

The Island of Missing Trees

Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023?

Shirley Hazzard
Toni Morrison
Graham Swift
John McGahern
Tim Winton
David Malouf
Olivia Manning
Audrey Magee
John Cheever
Mavis Gallant
Grace Paley

Tbh its been a good reading year. And so many new discoveries . I could have put Austerlitz for the best book of the year but Flannery O'Connor just pipped it . And Lightning Rods could have been my best and The Last Samurai my worst which would be unusual - DeWitt is such an enigma . I've had great time with short stories too , and love the New Yorker Fiction podcasts along with Backlisted . Always have a Trollope on the go and and nearly finishing my third consecutive annual read through of The Bible , which holds me in its literary , poetic , law bound , polemic , persuasive and sheer weird grip and is endlessly fascinating to this non believer .

I'm glad I've discovered this group , which is full of isightful and supportive folk , and will be attempting Anthony Powell and revisiting Patrick Hamilton , as well as the works of Simone De Beauvoir and Isabel Colgate . No doubt I will stray ...isn't that the point , after all ...

What was the best book you read in 2023?

Very tough choice, so I will adopt the 2019 Booker Prize solution and pick two books.

As for me it was a year of reading J Carr novels (5), A Month in the Country deserves its place as my best book, combining poetic prose, a strong sense of time and place with openness to interpretation and understanding and the dislocation and healing of a thinking, artistic man after his trench warfare trauma.

The second was my long-awaited and treasured reading of Shirley Hazzard's The Transit of Venus. Again, I loved the prose and how she captured postwar England, the marginality of the female Australian emigres and more broadly that of a woman (initially) without connections in 1950's England and how that contrasted with the well-connected men she encountered in life, work and love. The exquisitely crafted sentences, the strength of characterisation of even the minor players, the blend of humor and tragedy made this a masterpiece and worthy of multiple readings.

Honourable Mentions to Anna Funder's Stasiland, Lolly Willowes, The Makioka Sisters, The Things They Carried, Swamp Songs and The Bridge of Beyond

What was the worst book you read in 2023?

This is always a tough one for me, because most of my worst books are unfinished. (I fail to finish books for two reasons. The first is the writing feelings like fingernails running across the blackboard. The second is that although competently written it just doesn't speak to me.). But I will mention two books, one finished, Rebecca Wait's The Followers, which I found competently written but lacking depth and The Anthropocene Reviewed, a compendium of essays written for a podcast that just seemed so banal when read.

Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023?

J.L. Carr, Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Bowen

What are your reading plans for 2024?

January will be Spain Month, with Nada and Thus Bad Begins
I will complete my Journey back to Joyce with a reread of Dubliners.
Smiley's People
Maybe finally Mrs. Bridge
I will try Joyce Carol Oates, starting with an early work and Blonde if I like it.
More Elizabeth Bowen
Dombey & Sons
And whatever is on the Booker and International Booker lists that appeals to me.


I just never tire of reading. It is so much fun to explore other minds and ways of thinking through the written word. It's amazing that there are so many great writers, whether of novels, drama, poetry, and there have been for over 2000 years. What an amazing thing that so much is available to us

Anything else?

Repeating what others have said, I really appreciate this group and the intelligence, insight, enthusiasm, openness and friendliness I encounter in our discussions. I look forward to more discussions in 2024(!) and wish you all the very best for the holidays and a safe New Year's.

Statistics of books read to follow when the year's roster of books is complete.

Hester wrote: " ...Mavis Gallant."

I love Mavis Gallant, especially the Linnet Muir stories. Which stories or collection did you read?

As a newcomer to this group I haven’t read many of the authors for 2023. I will just respond per my pre group reading:
- My favorite book is actually 3 books and a new to me author, Wide World Trilogy, Robert Goddard.
- My least liked read was Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Gamus.
I kept seeing promos and many posting to FB, etc.,about this one so I joined the hype. I read about 1/3 of the book and it just wasn’t for me. It was slow and preachy and I didn’t look forward to continuing. Another read I found to be a chore but is for a discussion on a FB group is Nancy Spain, Death Goes On Skis. The writing style seems awkward to me and the telling of the story became chaotic mid book. I have about 15 pages to go but nothing could happen or be written/concluded that will save this book for me.
- I enjoy anything Mick Herron writes and recently discovered Kate Atkinson is among my TBR. The most surprising author I enjoyed new to me is Anthony Trollope
- With a TBR of way too many books I could write a book on my reading plans but simply I plan to read as many of the Reading the 20th Century group reads as possible and I’d like to read more Peter May, Mick Herron, Louise Candlish, Anthony Horowitz��. So so many.
- My additional comment is to compliment the members of this group enthusiastically for introducing so many wonderful new authors and titles. It’s a grand reading adventure here.

Susan_MG wrote: "As a newcomer to this group I haven’t read many of the authors for 2023. I will just respond per my pre group reading"

Many of us are huge (huge!) Mick Herron fans here, Susan_MG so feel free to chat away about the slow horses whenever you feel the urge!

Oh, goodness, yes. I think he has a semi-cult in this group!

Ben wrote: "What was the best book you read in 2023?"

Lovely to see so many of my personal favorites here, Ben - and hurrah, another Bowen fan to join me and Susan!

I'd just say on Joyce Carol Oates, another fave of mine, her books are so different in story, theme, writing style and tone that liking or not liking one is no indicator of how you'll respond to another. Blonde is one of my favorites.

Roman Clodia - I have read the 6 books and of course the series is streaming here but it’s lagging to what you have viewed in UK. I am frustrated by how it’s delivered here. I do love the actors playing the characters. Gary Oldman is simply amazing. It had been a while since I read the books and I think I will reread them all.

I haven't watched any of the series but we did a reread of the books in order up to the recent one, so you are always welcome to revive any of the threads.

I also loved his Nobody Walks which intersects with Slough House but is completely bleak with no comedy to lighten it. Brilliant though.

As it's unlikely I'll finish anything else in 2023, it's time for my annual book statistics. I know you've all been waiting anxiously.

Total books completed 61, four fewer than last year.

29 written by males, 32 by females. Slightly more of a female bias this year, no doubt influenced by someone's Year of Women, which almost was counteracted by a flood of JL Carr.

47 fiction, 14 non-fiction. A heavier weighting toward fiction this year.

10 written in the 2020's, 10 written in the rest of the 21st century, 37 in the 20th century and 4 earlier. Slightly heavier weighting of more recent books than previously.

29 written by British writers, 15 by others writing in English, 17 in translation. A welcome increase in translated works.

I'm very happy with what I've been able to read and the distribution among the categories. My goal for 2024 -- writing better reviews! We'll see.

Happy New Year!

Thanks Ben - I've done my stats and have had some surprises:

Female: 151
Male: 24
No surprise there!

Fiction: 157
Non fiction: 22
NF higher than I expected but I read some great books.

Translated or read in French: 34
Disappointed - need to read more other language fiction

2020s: 98
C21st: 21
C20th: 67
Earlier: 2
Surprised at how many contemporary books I read, many in the 2020s category were from 2022/3 though quite a few were likely ARCs.
C20th: no surprise as many were with this group.

New Year resolution: to read more translated fiction (think I say this every year!), and note that in my lovely new book journal :)

For anyone interested in reading diversely, I picked this up secondhand from Oxfam recently: This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books. It includes a range from firm favourites and books we've read or discussed here to writers I hadn't heard of. Each entry gives info on the author, a key recommended work, and - my favourite - a 'if you liked this, read this next' section.

At a quick count, I have read around 50% male, 50% female, authors. Not that I have ever thought about it, to be honest. However, of the seven books I am currently perusing, five of the authors are male.

I have definitely read more fiction than non-fiction as well this year, but the non-fiction has been excellent that I have read. I am currently really enjoying Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens read by David Mitchell which is a nice, light, fun read for the holidays.

247 books read. But I read lots of short things like poetry, short stories(some even standalone ones), novellas, plays, chapbooks, graphic novels, children’s books. There are even a couple of cookbooks in my tally - yes I actually read them through!

By far more women than men and a few non binary.

Non-fiction:about 100
It’s a bit hard to black and white put everything I read in to one of these two categories eg poetry which I read a lot of.

Translated: 11
The rest are from English speaking countries/ writing in English. Loads of them from POC backgrounds though.

Can’t be bothered to break it down any further. I wish there was something you could plug the raw data in and just get the stats out. Haven’t looked for anything mind.

What was the best book you read in 2023? The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender - a revisit but head and shoulders the best still. Of a different order, but sorely needed and rigorous �� And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know

What was the worst book you read in 2023? Cunt: A Declaration of Independence,My Journey to the World Cup, Looking Out for #1(also good comedy),Everyone Feels Sad Sometimes.

Which author(s) did you fall in love with, or rediscover, in 2023? Nancy Chodorow - continued love of her, Judy Grahn, Paul Selig(but is he the author?��). Jamaica Kincaid too.

What are your reading plans for 2024? To read more better quality books. I like checking out some “B grades�� but I want to read some other stuff too. I went down the rabbit hole of reading kindle unlimited books - the stuff you can find on there 😂. Also listening to the books you get free access to with Audible membership. I got stuck reading loads of B grade stuff. Tip re Audible: if you don’t renew your membership for the next year, you still keep access to all the books that came free with your previous Audible membership dues that you added to your library(I still have mine three months after not renewing, not sure if they will cut them off at some time) and it still lets you add more too. So seems like no point paying upfront for all the credits/ membership. You can just buy some when you actually want to buy a book. You still get the same benefits.

Which author(s) or book(s) are you most looking forward to reading in 2024? Patrick Hamilton. Non fiction. Still loads of orphaned stuff on open library. Still in a big mood for poetry.

What else do you want to say about what you read in 2023? I'm glad this group is active and thriving. It's great to discuss books you're reading and hear other's views on them. And also to get put on to other books. And all the good things others have said above. Great to exchange thoughts on here.

Anything else? To 2024 being a good reading year and good year generally for all.

David wrote: "Great prompts, Nigeyb.

The author I unexpectedly discovered this year is the Waanyi writer Alexis Wright. I read Carpentaria this fall and her new book [book:Praisewo..."

Alexis Wright is on my to read list too. Perhaps in 2024, yes.

Thanks Kit - and yes, �� And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know should be required reading whether one is a monarchist or not.

Don't know what happened to me this year but I only finished 38 books.

Male v. female - fairly even 21 v 17
Fiction v non-fiction 24 v. 14 - fiction appears to be mostly mysteries. NF included WWI, biographies.

three 5 * reads, 19 4* reads.

Hope to finish more books next year.