Books
Year in Review - 2023
The List
(new to me in 2023)
Did I buy more books than I read in 2023? Shhhhh that’s none of your business.
In all seriousness, though, it feels like the book backlog is never ending. As the relatively sparse list of books above concedes, I didn’t make quite as much time for reading books as I had hoped to in 2023. I’ll give myself a break in the first half of the year while in grad school; though inundated with reading, there were few full books on the curriculum. The summer provided a needed respite from the hordes of non-fiction I consumed, which is probably why I leaned more heavily into fiction than I normally do. Yes, two fiction novels is “leaning in” for me - hey, we all have to start somewhere. Come fall, however, I was easily distracted by sports and video games. It’s a balance I haven’t quite perfected - though I love all my hobbies, I’ve felt an overriding sense that all I want to do is spend an entire Saturday curled up with a good book and some cocoa. Here’s to spending a little less time watching sports in 2024, and reading a few more books!
Highlights
One of my goals for 2023 was to read more graphic novels. I only ended up reading one, but it more than justified my desire to read more books in this medium. Ducks was a powerful, if rather melancholy, exploration of identity, economic insecurity, and sexual violence. It elicited a sense of hopelessness at times, though the author’s own story is definitely inspiring in triumphing against adversity. I guess for me it was an important reflection on how to reckon with your sense of identity and purpose in the face of variables you don’t control. Not all of us are so lucky as to control our economic destinies.
In a year where I attained my Masters in International Relations, I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out a book of particular importance in the current moment. Anne Applebaum’s Twilight of Democracy was a captivating read that I literally couldn’t put down - despite only being assigned a chapter I read the entire thing. It’s an important read in this frightening, anti-democratic moment. 2024 brings with it so many anxieties with yet another election involving Donald Trump. Applebaum’s book at least offered a way to make sense of the moment we’re in, and is an important line in the sand against those who would trade freedom for security.
I loved The Mixer so much I wrote a book report on it; I haven’t done a book report since elementary school! This book was filled with so many gems on the history of the Premier League, it was an absolute delight for a Premier League-obsessed fan such as myself. I really appreciated Cox’s incisive analysis, but what I enjoyed most was revisiting some of the most legendary moments of the league’s short 30-year existence. Though I wasn’t necessarily present or as big of a fan for many of the events he recounts in the book, they are so pervasive in the shared knowledgeable of the English Premier League that it was great to get more context.
“To some, the precariousness of the current moment seems frightening, and yet this uncertainty has always been there. The liberalism of John Stuart Mill, Thomas Jefferson, or Václav Havel never promised anything permanent. The checks and balances of Western constitutional democracies never guaranteed stability. Liberal democracies always demanded things from citizens: participation, argument, effort, struggle. They always required some tolerance for cacophony and chaos, as well as some willingness to push back at the people who create cacophony and chaos.”
And my 2023 Book of the Year is…
My first foray back into fiction this year was a wild success.
Zevin’s book, which tells the story of a complicated friendship between two video game developers, was something I was immediately drawn to given the heavy influence of late 90s video games. I’m adamant that you don’t need to care in the slightest about video games to enjoy this story, but for me it added a wonderful layer that drew me even further into the main characters’ relationship.
Ultimately, video games simply serve as the background for an exploration into loss, insecurity, ego, and collaboration. It’s that last piece - collaboration - that resonated with me the most. Both the main characters are stubborn and independent-minded. As someone with these tendencies myself, what does happy and successful collaboration look like in a professional setting? Where is the line between respect, love, and admiration? How do you relinquish control over your own vision to allow someone else’s to flourish?
Zevin writes in my favorite style - shedding unnecessary exposition for brief glimpses into a character’s thoughts and actions. The story is fast-paced, slowing down just enough in the heavier moments without ever getting stalled. I’ll be reading far more of her works, that’s for sure.
What I’m Most Excited For in 2024…
In honor of my rather problematic book backlog, here are five reads currently on my shelves that I’m excited to tackle in 2024
The Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson has been recommended to me by everyone - close friends, random strangers, booktok… I grew up on fantasy as a genre, in particular the Redwall books, but it’s been a long time since I’ve revisited it. I’ve had this one on my shelf for far too long, and am all too ready to dive into an epic arc of books.
Eleanor
David Michaelis
Of all the memoirs and biographies that I need to read, Eleanor feels most urgent to me. Eleanor’s story, which is so enormously and unfairly overshadowed by her husbands, connects to some of the themes I admire most from the 20th century into today - it is a critical read to properly understand the history I claim to cherish.
Slouching Towards Utopia
J. Bradford DeLong
I am a sucker for an economic history. These types of books tend to be favorites, in part because I love history, and in part because I love systems. It’s also fair to say that many of the economic histories I’ve read lean conservative. I’m due to balance the scales with a more progressive reading.
Berlin
Jason Lutes
I’m not afraid to admit that I want to read this simply because of how critically acclaimed it is. I’ve seen nothing but praise for this work, and I’ve found that graphic novels as a medium are an incredibly unique way to provide an original take on a common theme.
The Three-Body Problem
Cixin Liu
Confession - I’ve already read this book before. But it was so long ago, and it’s honestly a shame I never finished the trilogy. Given my paucity of reading in 2023, I’m too sheepish to say I’ll read the whole trilogy next year, but if this hooks me just as much as it did the first time, I just might.