Books I've Read: Q1 2023
A quick snapshot during a visit to a bookstore in Saint Gallen, Switzerland. March 4, 2023.
New year, new quarter, new set of books read! In rough chronological order, below I’ve listed the books I read in the first three months of 2023:
The Ballad of Perilous Graves, by Alex Hennings
Ma Vie, Mon Ex et Autres Calamités, by Marie Vareille (French language edition)
Pacific, by Tom Drury
Tinkers, by Paul Harding
Six Fourmis Blanches, by Sandrine Collette (French language edition)
The Antarctica of Love, by Sara Stridsberg
Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason
Ghost Season, by Fatin Abbas
Le Choix du Bonheur, by Sandrine Meilland-Rey (French language edition)
Everybody Knows, by Jordan Harper
Scarborough, by Catherine Hernandez
La Deuxième Femme, by Louise Mey (French language edition)
The Sense of Wonder, by Matthew Salesses
Light Years, by James Salter
Calling for a Blanket Dance, by Oscar Hokeah
On a Tous une Bonne Raison de Tuer, by Pétronille Rostagnat (French language edition)
Small World, by Laura Zigman
Le Bonheur est un Papillon, by Marilyse Trécourt (French language edition)
The Guest Lecture, by Martin Riker
The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind, by Richard Restak
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, by Benjamin Stevenson
The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
La Conjuration Primitive, by Maxime Chattam (French language edition)
Je Pensais T'Épargner, by Pétronille Rostagnat (French language edition)
Collected Works, by Lydia Sandgren
Daughter in Exile, by Bisi Adjapon
Il Reste la Poussière, by Sandrine Collette (French language edition)
Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, by Florence Williams
The Spite House, by Johnny Compton
In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility, by Costica Bradatan
Forbidden Notebook, by Alba de Céspedes
Les Larmes Noires sur la Terre, by Sandrine Collette
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, by Marisa Crane
The Twyford Code, by Janice Hallett
J’Attends de Vos Nouvelles, by Sonia Dagotor (French language edition)
Exiles, by Jane Harper
How to Sell a Haunted House, by Grady Hendrix
Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions, by Batja Mesquita
Qu'est-ce Qui Fait Pleurer les Crocodiles?, by Lucie Castel (French language edition)
The Old Drift, by Namwali Serpell
Enon, by Paul Harding
As in the past, I’ve bolded the books that really wowed me and that I would recommend highly.
Since this Q1 2023 list posted, I’ve continued to read! You can now see my list of books read in Q2 2023, find my list for Q3 2023, and even traipse over to my list for Q4 2024—all of which include my bolded favorites for those periods. At the start of 2024, I also posted live my list of the best books I read in the entirety of 2023.
Click here for my top favorites from 2022 (along with links to the books read in each quarter of that year). As in all years, I have more favorites per quarter than make it to the best-of-the-best annual list, so a quarter-by-quarter click-through is worth the time if you’re seeking recommendations for what to read.
And to learn which books I read in 2021 that I considered the best of the best (along with links to all the other books I read and recommended that year, along with links to what came in year before), click here. You can also use the 2022 and 2021 lists to check back on top reads from previous years.
If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have recommendations for what I should read? Let’s hear them!