TTT: Favorite Book Club Selections of 2023

Favorite Books Club Selections of 2023

I am in two book clubs. This year I read 20 unique books, one duplicate (both clubs read it) and two rereads. These are my favorite book club selections based on themes and discussions. As in years past, I asked for input from other club members

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Though the themes were generally dark, the book was so well written and provocative, we had an excellent discussion. It was also the #1 pick of my RHS Gals group. Kingsolver was inspired to write this book by Charles Dicken's David Copperfield.

2. The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

We read this beautiful epic story of a Vietnamese family and the history of country in both my book clubs. The SOTH Ladies ranked this as their favorite of the year and the RHS Gals ranked it #2. This is a perfect book club selection where the reader learns new information which enhanced the discussion.

3. A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Another historical fiction novel, this one set first in Spain during their civil war and eventually in Chile where many of the "losers" of the war ended up. This one tells the story of one family over 50 years. I learned so much and we all had so much to discuss about the history of Latin America. This is also our first Isabel Allende book. She is a wonderful writer. This was SOTH Ladies #3 pick of the year.

4. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

This book has so much to admire: good plot, likeable characters, unique setting and time period, and even a little mystery thrown in for fun. It was a club favorite and was ranked #3 by the RHS Gals.

5. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Oh my. Such a sad story about Syrian refugees. It opened all our eyes after it broke our hearts.

6. Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

The only nonfiction book to make the list this year. I'm sure this was no ones favorite book of the year but we all were so moved by what we learned about poverty in rural America and we had a fabulous discussion about it.

7-9. These three titles are interchangeable in ranking. 

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Inspired by Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, this is the story of four sisters and a boy who is friend to all. It is a story of friendship and of pain. I missed the club when this book was discussed but I understand it was a book beloved by all.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

If you've not read a book by Brooks you are missing one of the best historical fiction writers out there. She stays with her same style telling a story from the past but including current day researchers to add to the knowledge. Yes, this story is about a horse and his black groom who was nameless until Brooks gave him one.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

I did a little extra research AFTER our club meeting and that research increased my appreciation of this story. Patchett was inspired to write it based on the famous play by Thornton Wilder: "Our Town". She also threw in a little Chekhov for good measure to add to the literary nod. 

10. Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

We could all relate to this novel because it was about living during COVID lockdowns and post-COVID life. Strout is an excellent writer and my book club has selected her various books several times and we've never been disappointed by her.

Honorable mention: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

This book was not one of my top ten favorites of the year but it was the #3 pick of the SOTH Ladies. They liked it because it felt like a real story about real people. I didn't like it because I felt the characters were stuck in bad communication patterns and didn't show any growth until the end of the book. I was in the minority. Most gals liked it a lot. Check out my review if you want to learn more about what I thought.

2023 was an odd year for book club selections. Three of the books were inspired by other literary greats: Dickens, Wilder, and Alcott. Four of the 23 books were really pretty awful. That is rare when we pick a book that no one likes, but four? I read the two rereads for the other book club in a previous year. Both of these selections had better discussions the first time around (There There by Orange and The News of the World by Jiles.) I guess timing is everything. And lastly, all five of the books not listed as a favorite, a reread, or non-favorite, could be on my favorites list this year. I liked them that much. 

Looking for even more suggestions?

Click the links to check my past book club favorites by year:

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

-Anne

Sunday Salon -- A look back at 2023 through my Sunday Salon posts

A favorite photo of 2023. The Everglades National Park. Photo credit: D. Bennett

As I look back on my Sunday Salon posts, 2023 comes back into focus before fading from my memory.

We began 2023 in Eugene, Oregon at a party (with our daughter and my sister and their husbands) and ended the year with family back in Eugene...but with no party.

I had a good laugh remembering the week-long meal we ate in January. We started with one meal of gyros which ended up being the never-ending menu. (January 15th)

In February the clouds parted and I captured this photo of Mt. Rainier from the parking lot of my doctor's office. Every once in a while even we are surprised by the spectacular views we have of the mountain. (February 5th)

We took a trip to Maui in February (months before all hell broke loose there) and had a very magical trip, including a visit to the first of seven National Parks in the year: Haleakala NP. (Hawaii, Feb. 26th)

Mom turned 94 in March so my siblings and I gathered to help her celebrate her birthday. Earlier in the week we visited Olympic National Park with friends from New Jersey. (Mom is 94, Mar. 26th)

The Sunday Salon -- Hope Edition  was one of the most popular of the year. With so much bad news, all of us needed some calming words of hope. I tried to include cartoons to help lighten the mood in most of my Sunday Salon posts. (Hope, April 8th)

Don and I got up at 3 AM in Las Vegas to drive to Death Valley National Park to see sunrise over Dante's Point. We had the viewpoint to ourselves on a cold and windy morning.

We took a big road trip in April and May. This Sunday Salon post is a photo diary highlighting all our stops, which included three more National Parks and a fabulous Nevada State Park, Valley of Fire. We enjoyed a very natureful trip! (Nature, May 13th)

After playing Buildz by the rules we just started playing around with our cameras with the blocks.

I featured our grandkids often in my Sunday posts. In June we spent a lot of time with them playing games, like Buildz, going to the zoo. and just being with them. Don took possession of his F-150 Lightning electric truck. He'd been waiting for it for two years! (Grandkids, June 4th)

Our whole family gathered for a fun vacation in Whistler, BC in July. If you ever have the chance to go there during the summer, go! It is gorgeous and colorful, as you can see from the photo collage of our grandkids! (Whistler, July 9th)

I often used my Sunday Salon posts to share social media snippets that amused me during the week. In July I found a link to the Finnish Hobby Horse Competition. I still think it is hilarious. I also detailed my day with berries. (July 16th)

Merlin Bird ID app: Was it an owl or was it Jamie?

All year I worried about news of some Americans embracing Christian Nationalism and anti-democratic tendencies. Occasionally I used my blog as a platform to inform my readers about what was going on with politics. I'm sure I have pushed some readers away but others have expressed gratitude for my efforts. This summer I also discovered the Merlin Bird ID app and had so much fun identifying birds in my own backyard. (Christian Nationalism, July 29th)

My Barbies (and others)

My most popular Sunday Salon post was the Barbie Edition. My daughters and I went to the Barbie movie and I twirled into a few weeks of Barbie mania. Out came my old Barbie (and others) dolls. Fun. (Barbie, August 26th)

September is the beginning of football season. We have season tickets for all Oregon Ducks home games. We spent many hours driving up and down the freeway for the weekend games...seven trips in all, but one was also for Thanksgiving. One good aspect of the time spent in a vehicle was Don and I listened to many audiobooks together. (Football, Sept. 24)

The travelers with Cotopaxi Volcano in the background. 

In October we took the trip of a lifetime to walk in the steps of my paternal grandfather in Ecuador and Panama with two of my siblings and my sister's husband. The trip was fodder for two different Sunday Salon posts. At the end of our trip abroad, Don and I stopped in Florida and visited two more National Parks, Everglades and Biscayne Bay (Oct. 14th and Dec. 10th)

November was a good time to put together a thankfulness edition. I am thankful for so much in my life, including books! (Thankfulness edition, Nov. 18th)

Sasha, my daughter's cat, waiting for Christmas.

I always find topics to blog about, often not related to books at all. In December I appreciate you, my blogging friends, for sticking with me all through 2023. Happy New Year! (December 23rd)

My last Sunday Salon of the year is also my End-of-the-Year Book Survey! Check it out to find out which books I loved and which ones I didn't love so much!

See you in 2024!

-Anne

Six Degrees of Separation --- From: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow to...

 Six Degrees of Separation

We begin with --

↓ 

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The title, we learn, is from the Shakespeare play Macbeth (spoken by Macbeth.)

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."

↓ 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
This title is also from a famous Shakespeare play: Julius Caesar

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
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Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
The title of this book is also Shakespearean, though not from dialogue but from the stage directions in A Winter's Tale.

Generally, Shakespeare limited his stage directions to the most basic instructions -- [Exit Hamlet], [Enter Ophelia], [Dies] - simple enough. But in this particular direction, a lot of things happen at once without any warning or supporting dialogue. Antigonus has been tasked with abandoning the baby Perdita in a desolate place, but he's having second thoughts. Suddenly a storm wrecks his ship, and then… he exits, pursued by a bear (O.S.).
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A Heart in a Body in the World by Deb Caletti
[This will seem like an abrupt change, but read on...] Like the girl in the above book, Exit, Pursued by a Bear, the protagonist in this book is sexually assaulted and uses athletics and friendship to find her way to a healthier mindset. 

“A human heart is the size of two hands clasped together. Imagine your own hands joined, or your hand in someone else’s, because that is what hands are for, and what hearts are for: holding each other. This can be very, very hard to remember when hearts have been so broken.”

↓ 

Plan A by Deb Caletti
By the same author of A Heart in a Body in the World, this one grapples with the issue of abortion. It is her body and her choice, but politicians don't see it that way.

"My body is still my body. It's not my enemy. I'm kind of proud of it, how hard it works and the stuff it has to endure in order to carry myself around."
↓ 

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh
The protagonist in this novel is a health care counselor, assisting women who need reproductive care. Though not specific to this book, the topic of mercy is brought up by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice.

“The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes

The thronèd monarch better than his crown.

His scepter shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings,

But mercy is above this sceptered sway.

It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings.

It is an attribute to God himself."

↓ 

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My book group read Mercy Street and The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. Both books led to great discussions. And this book brings us back to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow as Zevin wrote both of them.

“Sometimes books don't find us until the right time.”

How'd I do? Did you follow me and my decisions leading from Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow to The Storied Life of AJ Fikry?

Thanks to Books are My Favourite and Best for hosting this fun activity.

-Anne

Review: BABEL

Title: Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R. F. Kuang

Opening quote: 

By the time Professor Lovell found his way through Canton's narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one alive in the house.

Friday56 quote:

This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.

Summary: Babel is an historical fantasy that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as a dominating tool of the British Empire. The story starts in Canton, China when a young boy is whisked away from his home and his dead mother in the care of a professor who will train him up to become an Oxford translator, working to secure more treasures for the empire by going against his own country of birth.

Review: Babel is brilliant. Babel is complicated. Babel is like no other book I've ever read before.

My husband and I listened to the audiobook over a month-long period of time, often not listening at all for a week or two in between listening sessions. This is NOT a good way to digest this story because it is a complicated plot and has a lot of moving pieces to keep track of and it has a very long, drawn-out climax. Even though we consumed the book this way, we both still really appreciated it tremendously. And we had a lot to talk about and digest when we finally finished it.

The Plot: The British Empire has conquered the world because they have mastered the art of translation combined with silver, which allowed magical spells to be released. Everything in the empire runs on silver, and the silver has to be kept in top form by the Babel translators, the translation center of the empire on the Oxford University campus. Robin and his cohort group of four were are all brought into Babel from their homes around the world because of their language skills. Robin is fluent in Mandarin and understands the nuances of the language. This makes him especially valuable since Britain wants the China's silver. The Empire is even willing to start a war to get it. When Robin learns about this plot, he decides he must do something, and that something leads to a student revolution.

Themes: There are many themes. One theme I found fascinating related to all the Biblical allusions. Babel, the building where all the translators work and the silver is imbued with magic, is also the name of a  tower in the Bible. In Genesis 11:1-9 the fable of the Tower of Babel is explained. Once mankind all spoke one language and God saw this as a problem so he confused the languages so all people could not understand each other. Therefore mankind could not be ruled by one person or group. This idea of having one language was what the empire was attempting to do through the translators of Babel -- create a super language and suddenly the whole world is yours.

Another theme relates to the hubris of colonialism. The British Empire in this book wanted more silver, to get it they were willing to addict a whole nation on opium and start a war on false pretenses. We know that actual events from history were very similar, though the details were different. See information about The Opium Wars (1839-42, 1856-60) if you are interested.

Friendship and loyalty were also prominent themes in the book making the reader really care about the characters and the outcomes of their lives and the effects their choices had on others.

The story was absolutely unique and riveting but the best part of the writing had to do with language. Author R, F. Kuang must be a genius for the way she used the word origins of several languages to create the magic. We both found this word play fascinating and impressive.

At 544 pages, this book is definitely not for the person hoping for a weekend read, but it certainly worthy of your attention.

-Anne

TTT: Favorite books of 2023

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2023

(Listed in the order I read them!)

(I just want to say, if I chose a list of favorites next week, it would be different. I love so many books, it is always hard to pick favorites. I noticed that my list today was made up of literary standouts and/or books which spoke to my better nature,)

These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Queer Ducks (And Other Animals: The Natural World of Animal Sexuality) by Eliot Schrefer

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater

from unincorporated territory [åmot] by Craig Santos Perez. 

-Anne

Review: THIS OTHER EDEN

The clock is ticking. There are just a few more hours of 2023. Just enough time to scrunch in one more review of the books I read in 2023.

Back in the fall the National Book Award Committee announced its list of finalists in five categories. Among the finalists for the fiction award was this book, THIS OTHER EDEN by Paul Harding. I try to read at least one of the winners/finalists in two of the categories each year. I selected This Other Eden for the most mundane of reasons -- It was the shortest book of the five, at 221 pages in length.

Harding sets out to tell the story of Malaga, an island off the coast of Maine, and the multi-race families inauspiciously evicted from the island in 1912. Harding reimagines history by renaming it Apple Island and giving names to the inhabitants in 1911 -- some with biblical-sounding names like Patience, Theophilus, Esther and Zachary-Hand-to-God-Proverbs. The story begins with the first inhabitants who nearly lose their lives in a huge flood caused by a hurricane, bringing to mind Noah's flood, and the tree they climb for safety as Noah's ark. Patience envisions the parting of the storm like Moses did when he was leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. To add to the Biblical allusions there are apple trees all over Apple Island. Later in the story the idea of being expelled from Apple Island like Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden becomes a climax of the story.

I've only read one other Paul Harding story, The Tinkers, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. I wasn't a big fan of that book at the time I read it, but on delayed contemplation I keep thinking about how the author played around with time in a very tangled story of three generations, making it genius. Just like in Tinkers the prose in Eden is mesmerizing. Through the inhabitants of the island and in shifting perspective, we learn the history of Apple Island and learn how come the residents of Maine decided to evict them --eugenics and racism.

In the 1800s, the Honeys face a flood; in the 1900s, they face Matthew Diamond, a white missionary and schoolteacher. Matthew comes to the island every summer to teach the children, but admits to feeling “a visceral, involuntary repulsion” when he’s around Black people. He’s disgusted by the island’s adults but enamored with the children who prove themselves smart and talented. When Matthew escorts a government committee around the island to study its inhabitants, he passively assists in the destruction of the colony. It’s his immediate regret and feeble attempts to delay what the committee plans for Apple Island that make Matthew so complex and fascinating a character — he is at once an embodiment of white supremacy and white guilt, a conduit for white power that would like to excuse himself from his responsibility in the episode of violence his well-meaning intentions made possible (NYT).

Oddly, prior to their expulsion from the island, the residents of Apple Island all seem to be completely oblivious to the racial politics of the times. They acted as if things just happened to them so this expulsion, as odious as it was, was taken in stride. The book is full of love for family, for nature, for home, for life. "Harding has written a novel out of poetry and sunlight, violent history and tender remembering. The humans he has created are not flattened into props and gimmicks, instead they pulse with aliveness, dreamlike but tangible, so real it could make you weep" (NYT).

I'm ending my year of reviews on a good one. I hope you can find your way to it someday soon.

Happy New Year.

-Anne