The Big Book Review of 2023

• Best book you read in 2023:

Ella Minnow Pea by  Mark Dunn still remains the cleverest book I've read, even though it is a reread!

• Children's fiction:

  I've ummed and ahed about which book I chose for this category.  I really loved  Onyeka and the rise of the rebels which is the second Onyeka book by Tola Okogwu.  It was so exciting and imaginative with some interesting ideas in terms of technology, a great importance of family and I wasn't sure how it would end.   Interestingly the other book I liked best was also by a Nigerian author. I adored Jummy and the River School by Sabine Adeyinka because I loved that I got a real feel for aspects of life in Nigeria- morals and principles, food and it was like a Malory towers book but set in Nigeria.  My last read of the year was the sequel to this book which amazingly, despite being only out since May 2023, I found in the charity shoo for 50p!

• Crime fiction:

Bev sent me The Floating Admiral which was written by The Detection club.  Several famous authors, including Agatha Christie, GK Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers, got together to write a whodunnit between them- each wrote a chapter, not knowing who the author had selected as their prospective criminal- it worked a bit like that game Consequences we used to play as children.  They then had to continue the mystery and advance the case further until the final author wrapped up the mystery.  It certainly read for a challenging whodunnit but this made it really intriguing!

• Classics:

Not that many to choose from this genre. I would definitely say The House on the strand by Daphne Du Maurier is the stand out winner.  Such an interesting book about how taking of certain herbs/drugs result in a travelling back to the past whilst the body remains in the present.  It had such evocative Cornish setting writing and I genuinely had no idea how the book was going to end.

• Non-fiction: 

I read 7 non-fiction books this year.  Not bad for me, a known-detester of real life books!    I would say that Night Trains- the Rise and fall of the sleeper train -  Andrew Martin was probably the most interesting.  Although it only covered a few European night train routes, it was comprehensive and I learnt a lot about the history and what has changed and how recently some routes have gone out of the night train option.  It did serve to make me want to travel on a night train again, asap.

• YA:
  

I only read two of this genre but again, my winner is the author Neil Shustermann with his new book  Gleanings  in the Arc of a Scythe dystopian series.  This was a series of short stories from the Scythe world and gave some excellent backstories to events in the main trilogy as well as some ideas about how the world continues post trilogy.

• Dystopian fiction:  

I discovered the Piers Torday, Last Wild series which definitely counts as Dystopian and it was excellent. I read the 3 books in the series, the Last Wild, the Dark Wild and the Wild Beyond.  I read them because I found the 2nd two books in a charity shop in mint condition for the school library (I vet books before they go in!) and discovered one of the class book corners had book 1.   They were really compelling but not as dark and depressing as most of the dystopian books I read which I usually find really harrowing.  Perhaps because of the age group they are aimed at. Usually, I read YA or adult dystopian fiction whereas these are aimed at the 9-12 category.

• Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2023

• Book you read in 2023 that you recommended most to others: 

I reread Ella Minnow Pea: the story of letters this year and this has been my most recommended book over the past few years so it still counts, however, if I am thinking of a NEW to me in 2023 book, it has to be Sabotage on the Solar Express by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman , part of the Adventures on Trains series- I have recommended this to several children who have all enjoyed them.

• Best series you discovered in 2023:

Strictly speaking, I didn't discover it this year but I only READ the first book that year and that was the Laurie L King Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. I only read the Beekeeper's apprentice (but I have had this and 6 other books on my shelf for several years) but really enjoyed it and can't wait to see how it continues!

• Favourite new author you discovered in 2023:

Natalie Haynes, the author of A thousand ships.  This book is the untold stories of the women of the Trojan war.   You can tell that the author has done excellent historical research, really knows her subject and imagined what life might have been like for a multitude of different characters in the Greek epics and history. In the Greek stories like the Iliad, we don't often get to hear about the women and their feelings and motivations and what it is like to be left behind, what it is like to be one of the casulties, the widows, the victims of soldierly machinations and whims. It wasn't an easy read, it was very brutal in places but it was nonetheless, a really different read for me. 

• Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn't.

I LOVE Agatha Christie and I think I have read practically all her novels but I read (not sure if reread or just read though I was pretty sure I had read it before though couldn't remember any of the stories) The hound of death - Agatha Christie on holiday in Switzerland and I found the fact that most of the stories were based on psychological crimes or lots about seances very tiresome and unlike her usual writing.

• Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you.

Honestly, I'm not sure I read a book that was out of my comfort zone that I consider the 'best book'.

• Book you read in 2023 that you're most likely to read again in 2023.

I'm more likely to reread The beekeeper's apprentice - Laurie. R. King as I want to read the next books in the series and I may want a reminder!

• Favourite book you read in 2023 from an author you read previously.

I loved all the MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman Adventures on trains books that I read this year but I thought Sabotage on the Solar Express had a really interesting idea about trains run on a circular Hydrogen system- I wish it were possible!

• Best book you read in 2023 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else

I adored the 44 tiny secrets by Sylvia Bishop which was recommended to me by the lovely proprieter of the Otie and the Bea bookshop in Framlingham (who gave me 8 free books for my school upon discovering I was a teacher and passionate advocate of contemporary fiction for children!) . It was SUCH a sweet story and I adored the beautiful illustrations inside and the fact that the book had a music theme!

• Favourite cover of a book in 2023:

There are two. I loved the front cover of The Ukranian Christmas book and also October October by Katya Balen as it had a really attractive lino-cut-style look cover.

• Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2023:

I'm not really sure any book had a great impact on me.  Not sure I reaad anything that deep!

• Book you can't BELIEVE you waited until 2023 to read:

Books, not book. I have had the Frances Brodie series about detective Kate Shackleton on my bookshelves for at least 8 years. Why had I only read ONE of them till this year? They were excellent!!!! I then passed them on to San!

• Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, a epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc). Be careful of spoilers

Well, I'm not sure there was anything that I was really longing to chat bout but I would have liked to chat to someone about Absent in the Spring by Mary Westamacott (Agatha Christie)- it was so unlike any regular Christie book I read, I just wanted to ask someone else's opinion about it!Ania

• Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2023 (be it it romantic, friendship etc)

I loved the relationship in Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer between Annis Wychwood and Oliver Carleton- it's very much a sort of Darcy and Elizabeth style relationship that starts with contempt.  knew they would end up together but it was fun seeing them get towads this point!

• Most memorable character in a book you read in 2023

I loved the character of Ania in Girl 38- finding a friend by Eva Josefowitz!

• Genre you read the most from 2023:

Children's fiction is definitely my most read genre this year. I definitely need to buy NO new books in 2024 and get through the ones I have.  On this note, I should mention that the entire staff at my school have borrowed children's books from my Music Room library recently as I have such a range of contemporary writers and I suggested it to our Reading Lead as part of the our inset to try and get them trying some new authors. Many were excited about it! No one has returned one yet so I am not sure how they are getting on.  I've had a steady stream of children using my music room  library scheme and they are really delighted by the selection. I read 58 books from the Childrens' fiction.  

• Best 2023 debut

City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Pathak Ahmed was only published in June this year and I thought it was an excellent premise.  It is about forbidden magic in  India 1855 under British rule and how a young girl with powerful magic learns to control her magic and searches for her mother.  It was an really enjoyable book with a really unexpected development that I didn't see coming!

• Book that was the most fun to read.

I'm sorry I haven't got a clue- The best of 40 years  by Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jack Dee and others was hilarious!

• Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2023:

I try not to write about the same book twice in here but the only one I cried over or felt like crying over was A thousand ships by Natalie Haynes. I cried for those who suffer in war but whose story never gets told- those who suffer brutality and misery.

• Book you read in 2023 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?

I don't really read about books and prizes that much (except for on blogs) so I'm not totally sure about this.

• Total number of books read: 91.  This is an improvement on the 82 I read last year (but not as good as the year of 106) and I credit it with the removal of Scrabble Go from my phone AND having a generally rubbish phone battery plus reading a very large number of children's books which I get through very quickly.  July was a good month with 11 books and May with 10.  The worst month was November with reading a big non-fiction tome and a fiction book that took me a while to get into. Can I get back to the elusive 100 next year like I did back in around 2016? Vix almost managed it with her impressive 99!

December:

84. Gifts - Laura Barnett

85.  Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer- Jeffrey Boakye

86.  The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch- Tom Fletcher

87.  The Mistletoe Murders -  PD James

88.  Murder on Christmas eve- Val McDermid and others

89.  The Christmas Railway Detective - Edward Marston

90.  Time to shine at the River School- Sabine Adeyinka

91.  A Ukranian Christmas - Nadiyka Gerbish & Yaroslav Hrytsak