Usually Notes in the Margin overflows with stories during December that deal with everything book-related. But we were traveling from mid-September to mid-December.
In an effort to catch up with everything I missed during that time, here’s a compendium of literary topics.
The Ultimate Best Books of 2023 List
“Reading All the Lists So You Don’t Have To Since 2017”
Emily Temple did all this work so you don’t have to: “This year, I sorted through 62 lists from 48 publications, which yielded a total of 1,132 books. (I can only say: yikes.) 94 of those books made it onto 5 or more lists, and I have collated these for you here, in descending order of frequency.”
At the end of the article is a list—with links!—of all the best books of the year articles she waded through.
Notable Deaths 2023: Books
From the New York Times.
‘It’s totally unhinged’: is the book world turning against Goodreads?
“The influential user review site has suffered a year of controversies, from cancelled book deals to review-bombing, and exposed a dark side to the industry”
10 underrated books in 2023
“Some worthy Australian books published this year that may have escaped your attention.”
I get so wrapped up in “best books of the year” lists that it’s refreshing to see a list like this that focuses on “some less well-known titles that deserve recognition.”
Staff Picks: What Book World writers and editors treasured in 2023
From the staff of the Washington Post. The focus is on “reading experiences” rather than books published in 2023.
The 10 best books of 2023
From the Washington Post.
The Best Traditional Mysteries of 2023
“Meddling senior citizens, unsolvable puzzles, and amateur sleuths”
From Crime Reads.
The Best Speculative Crime Fiction of 2023
“Alternate histories, scifi thrillers, and magical murder mysteries”
Also from Crime Reads.
The Best Psychological Thrillers of 2023
“These novels explore the innermost workings of the human mind while demonstrating the power of the genre to consistently surprise.”
Yes, another list from Crime Reads, because that’s what I read.
The 10 Biggest Literary Stories of the Year
From the folks at Liberary Hub.
© 2023 by Mary Daniels Brown
It wouldn’t break my heart if Goodreads went away. There are too many abuses of it, particularly since Amazon bought it.
I definitely agree, Liz, although I do like seeing those end-of-year stats about things like number of pages read, longest and shortest books. I know I could add those details to my own spreadsheet, but I hate to make the task of recording what I’ve read as long as the book itself. Happy New Year!
LibraryThing seems to be a thriving reader community. Happy New Year, Mary!