What I Read (2023)

 62 books this year.  Not my best.  In my defense, those Gormenghast books were long and dense!

5 January 2023: Phobos by Ty Drago.  “Classic-style SF mystery on a Martian moon. Solid story!”

13 January 2023: A Military History of Australia by Jeffrey Grey.  « Ok. »

19 January 2023: The Charming Man by CK McDonnell. « Second Stranger Times book.  Not bad. »

22 January 2023: Angel: Redemption by Mel Odom.  “Pretty good Angel book, with villain decently hidden.”

12 February 2023: Herodotus: The Histories ed. Walter Blanco and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts.  « Norton edition of ‘Father of History’ account of Greek-Persian war. »

26 February 2023: The Hemsworth Effect by James Weir.  « Not nearly as funny or cutting as I expected. »

4 March 2023:  The Shadow Within by Jeanne Cavelos.  « B5 novel, focussed on Anne Sheridan’s fate.  Excellent. »

11 March 2023: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  « Memorable tale of Afghanistan. »

13 March 2023: Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks.  « Hard work but interesting. »

26 March 2023: The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow.  « Horus Heresy book. Good. »

8 April 2023: Four Past Midnight by Stephen King.  « I still really like the Langoliers, but the others seem kinda cheesy now. »

13 April 2023: We Run Tomorrow by Nat Amoore.  « Fantastic!  A fun story of friendship that made me tear up. »

22 April 2023: Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee.  « Beautiful book—made me tear up. »

24 April 2023: Australian Peacekeeping edited by David Horner, Peter Londey, and Jean Bou. « Edited collection. »

30 April 2023: Liar’s Island by Tim Pratt.  « Roderick and Hrym tale set in Jalmeray.  Funny. »

1 May 2023: The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel by Nicki Greenberg. « Well-researched kid’s mystery on 1920s ocean liner.  Sweet ending. »

7 May 2023: Beautiful World Where are You? by Sally Rooney.  “All of it was great except the banal ‘have a baby and live happily ever after’ ending.”

15 May 2023: The Bravest Word by Kate Foster. « YA novel about childhood depression.  A bit cheesy maybe, but well-intentioned. »

18 May 2023: Religion and Change in Australia by Adam Possamai and David Tittensor.  “Sociological account, introductory and quite readable.”

18 May 2023: Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Todd Stewart.  “Excellent overview of daemons in Pathfinder.”

30 May 2023: Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout.  “Well-drawn protagonist, but story doesn’t really go anywhere.”

10 June 2023: Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad. “Story of a young boy adopted by a Russian army unit during WWII.  Very sweet, and doesn’t whitewash the horrors of war.”

10 June 2023: Pathfinder Unchained by Various. “Interesting options, well-done book.”

20 June 2023: The Gifts That Bind Us by Caroline O’Donoghue. « Second in trilogy.  Really great writing.  I never know where it’s going. »

1 July 2023: Crows Nest by Nikki Mottram.  « Murder mystery set around Toowoomba.  Pretty good, and the first in a series. »

3 July 2023: Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon.  “Really good, hard to describe novel.”

15 July 2023: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams.  “Excellent historical novel about women and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary.”

20 July 2023: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.  “Boring.”

21 July 2023: Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger.  “Very much a Harry Potter bandwagon; second half is better.”

21 July 2023: Wolf Girl 9 by Anh Do.  “Okay.”

21 July 2023: Detective’s Guide to New York City by Nicki Greenberg.  “Main characters and setting are really fun!”

3 August 2023: City of Buried Ghosts by Chris Lloyd. “Better than the first one.”

8 August 2023: Born Survivor by Bear Grylls.  “Lots of info!”

17 August 2023: Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson.  “Excellent second book about podcasting mystery solver.”

26 August 2023: Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller.  “Fun and original!”

26 August 2023: The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake.  “Unforgettable setting.”

10 September 2023: Happy Head by Josh Silver.  “YA dystopian—really good.”

12 September 2023: A Principled Framework for the Autonomy of Religious Communities by Alex Deagon. “Initially appealing, but ultimately disappointing.”

16 September 2023: De Luxe by Lenny Bartulin.  « Super fun pulp style mystery with crackling dialogue. »

25 September 2023: The Détectives’s Guide to Paris by Nicki Greenberg.  “Third book.  Great!”

28 September 2023: Mud, Sweat, and Tears by Bear Grylls.  “Determined guy!”

29 September 2023: The Praise of Folly and Other Writings by Erasmus.  “Norton Critical Edition.  I learned a lot.”

2 October 2023: Harriet Hound by Kate Foster. “Kids book. Inane.”

11 October 2023: Natural Law: An Introduction and Re-examination by Howard P Kainz.  “Useful if gets a bit ridiculous in the last chapter.”

11 October 2023: Midnighters Book 2 by Scott Westerfield.  “New layers add to depth—great!”

16 October 2023: Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonald.  « Third Stranger Times book.  Nice arc for characters. »

18 October 2023: A Killing Fire by Faye Snowden.  « Murder mystery featuring cop who is daughter of a serial killer.  Pretty good. »

24 October 2023: Natural Law and Natural Rights by John Finnis.  « Tries to establish natural law without a theistic base. »

30 October 2023: The Bodyline Fix: How Women Saved Cricket by Marion Stell. « Well—written. »

4 November 2023: She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran. « A haunted house story set in Vietnam with a bi protagonist.  Amazing; should win awards for the first-time author. »

9 November 2023: Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes.  « First half is hilarious.  Second half is too earnest. »

9 November 2023: The Problem of Natural Law by Douglas Kries.  “Very clear and useful account.”

17 November 2023: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.  « Pretty fun take on Hamlet and Macbeth. »

2 December 2023: Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan. « Very sweet, if a little too repetitive. »

4 December 2023: The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs.  « Temperance Brennan novel.  Not bad, actually. »

4 December 2023: Natural Law and the Nature of Law by Jonathan Crowe. « Tries to establish a socially evolving form of natural law. »

6 December 2023: As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson.  « Fantastic conclusion to trilogy!  An author to watch. »

10 December 2023: Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer by Amy Doak.  “Pretty good YA mystery novel.”

24 December 2023: Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow.  « Novel about a cutter.  Good. »

26 December 2023: Unbound by Jim C. Hines.  « Third in book magic series.  Very imaginative. »

26 December 2023: The Peppermint Cookie Murder by Trixie Silvertale.  « Santa’s daughter leaves the North Pole and solves a mystery.  I was very sceptical at first, but it ended up being really fun! »

31 December 2023: Watermelon by Marian Keyes. « Great first half but overlong/overwrought second half. »