The Best Books of 2023 

“If The Idiot and Pure Colour had a baby..” - literally best way to describe it. Love the love for Beautyland! Such a heart wrenching read

your “for fans of” descriptions are one of my favorite things on booktube

looked forward to & loved this as always :-)

land of milk and honey was my favorite book of last year!! so good

Lost in Summerland sounds great! Glad to see you also liked Brutes.

I've been recommending Open Throat to the entire world. The audio is incredible. Definitely one of my favorites of 2023.

so happy to see love for BRUTES! i absolutely LOATHED this book until i listened to it on audiobook and now im completely obsessed and even bought a hard copy of it. it definitely feels like a "vibes only", but there *is* a plot there. i appreciated it more on second read.

had no idea there was a new Bertino book!! so excited

If you liked Birnam Wood , you’ll love Deluge by Stephen Markley It was my top book of 2023.

I read Beautyland this month and loved it just as much! It'll definitely be a top book for this year.

I hope you get some great reads in 2024.

housekeeping also got adapted into a movie in 1987 btw, i think you'd like it :)

I'm so glad you enjoyed Strangers to Ourselves; I picked it out just for you! And, we have to talk about Easy Beauty (the other book I sent you)! 🥰

oh how much I enjoyed Open Throat ❤

I love The Florida Project, so I need to pick up Brutes!

Hi CJ! I haven't heard much about Housekeeping specifically, but I love Marilynne Robinson. Everything about it sound like I'd love it - it's going on the list. That's so funny that you included Open Throat! I did not like that book hahahah (though it has stuck with me, you're right)

The Minimalist’s Kitchen by Denton J. Macintyre.

Maybe this will get me to read Brutes haha

I LOVED Brutes!!! Strongly disliked the ending. FWIW I live in Florida and work in a school. The imagery and vibes are immaculate. I could read it over and over for that reason. You can feel the humidity and apartments with tile floors. The absentee parenting, the push to grow up too fast, the obsession with the possibility of becoming famous and striking it rich as a way out (as opposed to an emphasis on getting a scholarship, for example). ****Vague spoiler alert**** I think the climax was when one of the girls' vignettes in adulthood that is confrontational and the novel should have been constructed around that instead of what the ending was.