My year in books

My top three fiction, non-fiction and homeschooling reads of 2023

For the past few years I've kept a list in a treasured notebook to track the books I read.

Adult books, that is. I quickly lose count of how many childrens books we devour in a year. I recently took a look at our library borrowing history and wasn't surprised that as a family we have loaned 1087 books since April 2021. Yep, we are family of bookworms.

Personally, books are a great comfort and a constant feature in my daily rhythm. Ideally I like to start the day with a cup of coffee in one hand and my latest non-fiction in the other, listen to snippets of audiobooks whilst I clean the kitchen after dinner and eagerly curl up in bed at the end of the day to get lost in a good story.

My tastes are certainly eclectic. I tend to seek out texts that align with topics I am keen to learn more about or an author whom I have read and loved before. I love growing as a reader and books have been a catalyst for many shifts in my life and thinking. I haven't eaten meat since I read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer in my early twenties, as an example.

That feeling of an authors words lighting up my insides and communing directly with my soul is a magical experience. Feeling seen and understood in the pages of a book is also deeply gratifying. The connection between author and reader can be so intimate and beguiling, one big, beautiful sprawling conversation or simply pure escapism. I am here for all of it. As both windows and mirrors, my love for this artform only grows the more I read. How can one possibly tire of well written words and deeply thought upon ideas?

This year, a handful of books stood out as being worthy of my highest praise, a little handdrawn love heart annotated beside the authors name and title in my notebook. Here are the books that moved me in 2023:

FICTION:

Birnam Wood - Eleanor Catton

This had me from woah to go. Unputdownable for the very best reason - Catton's writing is just so, bloody, good. Her debut novel The Luminaries won the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and it took me about 6 months to read, no joke. I enjoyed it, but it was epic. I picked up Birnam Wood expecting a similar slog but had closed the final page within a matter of days. Wow. Storytelling at its most brillant - deep, interesting characters with equally deep beliefs that clash and collide in the most transformative of ways. I loved the underlying politics of this book (I can't believe I'm even writing those words, but it's true). Catton has tapped into the polarities of current culture, of left vs right, haves vs have nots, analog vs digital. It is a pacy, passionate parable that proves our differences are meaningless in the face of what truly matters.

The Bookbinder of Jericho - Pip Williams

The semi-sequel to the much loved The Dictionary of Lost Words, this book lived up to its predecessor and in my eyes is its equal. Williams has skillfully fleshed out more wonderful characters from this momentous historical period (first world war/suffragette movement) and together these two novels, give a fuller and richer understanding of the lives of women awed by words but held at arms length from them. Whilst stand alone books in their own right they are best read in order to savour the nods of character crosspaths. If you are a fan of historical fiction, this is top notch storytelling.

Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr

This was a book club pick that took me completely by surprise. When I skimmed the blurb and garnered that it was a blend of futuristic fantasy and ancient history, I doubted I'd get more than 100 pages in but I couldn't have been more enamoured with this saga. Doerr is a skillful writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for All The Light We Cannot See, and despite the accolades I couldn't finish that book. As a reader I can tolerate war as a subplot, but I lose interest when it dominates a story - it's just not my cup of tea. While war was still a presence in Cloud Cuckoo Land it didn't overtake the narrative, which to me was a love letter to books and libraries throughout time. This book honours the magic, power and endurance of stories and how we as humans steward them, interpret them and keep them alive.

NON-FICTION:

Wild Power - Alexandra Pope & Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer

I happend upon a podcast episode titled 'Menstruality' and I was intrigued to hear these two wise women speak to the innate power of a womans cycle and how it naturally echoes that of the seasons. I was fascinated. How had I never connected these dots before? How could I have been menstruating for 26 years and only now just learned this? A simple concept that seemed so obvious and earth shattering at the same time. I had to know more. I downloaded this book as an audiobook so I could keep listening to the authors voices in my ears and I was deeply enlightened, enraged, inspired and soothed by this book. I understood myself on a whole new level having read Wild Power and it has gifted me a compass to navigate living cyclically in a linear world. Since reading this book I have leapt into tracking and understanding my own cycle. I would say I've gone from clueless to master in a matter of months. I now honour my body and where I am at in my cycle with as much care and reverance as I do mother nature. I understand its power and I embrace it to the best of my ability every day. This should be non-negotiable reading for any woman who bleeds (and anyone who is in relationship with one too!) and although I can't get back the 26 years I menstruated without the knowledge this book has given me, I am grateful I am now equipped to share this wisdom with my daughter when the time comes. A must read.

The Myth of Normal - Gabor Maté

Soothsayer, truthspeaker, god of our modern day ailments and qualms - Gabor Maté is a powerhouse in the arena of self actualisation. This book is juicy and tears at the seams of what our society defines as "normal" but is undermining and harming us all. It is a deep look into the failings of healthcare systems, child rearing, illness/wellbeing and overall societal dysfunction. Reading this book is akin to ripping off layers of bandaids to get at the heart of the wounds that we all carry and how we can truly heal ourselves and our communities. A brillant, bad-ass, say-it-louder-for-the-people-in-the-back kind of read.

Quit Like a Woman - Holly Whitaker

After waking up mortifyingly ill one morning at my best friends house after a raucuous hens party, I googled something along the lines of "books about how to stop drinking". Within minutes I had added Quit Like a Woman to my library holds list and I turned to my best friend and said "I'm done." I really was done. This book was great company for my first months of sobriety. I felt supported and liberated by Holly's bold words. I saw myself in many of her paragraphs, it all felt very familiar, very raw and very real. Writing from a feminist stance with bravery and conviction, she is a great cheerleader if you have ever thought of putting the booze away for good. 9 months on since that lowest of low days, I still haven't touched a drink. And I am all the better for it.

HOMESCHOOLING:

Modern Miss Mason - Leah Boden

I didn't really understand Charlotte Mason until I read Leah Boden's book. Whilst I am more likely to classify our family's brands of homeschooling as unschooling, the underlying tenets of a Charlotte Mason education align with our family values. Time spent in nature and in awe of the natural world, living books over a packaged curriculum, the appreciation of fine arts and music, the honouring of children as born people and a penchant for handicrafts - tick, tick, tick. Leah has a beautiful way with words and I loved reading about how Charlotte Mason has inspired her family and how she modernises what could be seen by some as an archaic philosophy. She makes the philosophy accessible to all and delightfully appealing as a leaf, branch, trunk or roots of a home educating lifestyle.

Hold onto your Kids - Dr Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté

More Maté, yes please. If you are only going to read one Gabor Maté book (and you are a parent) than let it be this one. Nothing in this tome of a book is particularly groundbreaking and yet it is all so painstakingly obvious. Even though I have lumped this book into my best homeschooling reads of the year, you would be hard pressed to find it mention the concept. Yet homeschooling is a perfect antidote to the attachment problems plauging children today. Countless times reading this book I saw my own childhood experiences reflected back to me. This book was at times a mirror but also a window into a whole new way of connecting with and raising kids through to independence in the healthiest, most resilient way possible. A humbling, important and potent read and as strong a case as any to foster and prioritise parental connection over peer orientation.

Last Child in the Woods - Richard Louv

This book has sat on my "to read" list for years as my library didn't own a copy and were unable to purchase one at the time I requested it. But the universe works in mystical ways and this book found its way into my hands via a chance visit to my local op-shop. I relished reading this book. I knew I would. So much so that I carried it around the house to all my different reading spots with a pencil fastened to it with an elastic band as there was so much gold to circle, underline and comment on (oh the little delights of second hand book ownership when you are normally a full-bore library fanatic). This book highlights in a pleathora of ways the importance of kids growing up with a nature rich childhood. A seminal text that I'm so glad I finally got around to enjoying and can regale for years to come as part of my permenant collection.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Exiles - Jane Harper

Jane Harper back to her best since The Dry

Big Magic - Elizabeth Gilbert

An uplifting celebration of creating from a place of pure joy

Dumbing Us Down - John Taylor Gatto

A no-holds barred assessment of the state of schooling from the perspective of a New York Teacher of the Year recipient. Direct paralells to the Australian schooling system even though it was published over twenty five years ago on the other side of the world. In a nutshell, a highly intellectual man let's rip on the state of modern schooling.

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And yet... the year is not quite over. Here's what I'm currently reading:

The House that Joy Built - Holly Ringland

The Highly Sensitive Child - Elaine Aron

A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf (audiobook)

And what's on my stack to get to next:

Good Life Growing - Hannah Moloney

Ancient Futures - Helena Norberg-Hodge

The Butterfly Collector - Tea Cooper

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What have been your stand out books of 2023?

What are you looking forward to reading in 2024?

Have you read and enjoyed any of the books I have too?

I'd love to hear your highlights in the comments below.

With love from one book lover to another, I hope your own year in books has been magical.

Steph x