Patrick Ten Brink
Toni Morrison's Beloved
(the painful reality of chronic racism and the unique voice and the freedom she gave herself and her being a witness of tragic history: powerful and unforgettable)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
(the freedom and imagination of the setting, the credibility of voice and insanity, and the philosophy of reality and potential)
The Humans by Matt Haig
(the temptation of being human)
Leo Tolstoy War and Peace
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
A very lighthearted fun murder mystery holiday read!
Jeannette Cook
My top reads of 2023
1. Le Otto Montagne by Paolo Cognetti - I saw the film, I had to read the book. The book is even better. I read it in translation (EN) Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Serge.
2. Picking up The Inseparables by Simone de Beauvoir this year (also in translation EN) led to the discovery of her novels, which I had never read. Outstanding among these is The Mandarins. Translated by Leonard M. Friedman.
3. The American poet Louise Glück died in October. The sequences in “Winter Recipes from the Collective”, one of her last books, are exquisite.
Jon Filipek
War and Peace, Tolstoy - warrants the hype. Smooth sailing after you get past the first 300 pages ….
The Passenger/Stella Maris, Cormac McMcarthy - his last work, as usual very dark, bleakly funny sometimes, full of haunting sentences
Liberation Day, George Saunders - Short stories, including some great ones, wildly imaginative with the author’s patented humanism
Alex S David
The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf. A comic book, yes, but the subject matter and characters are so well presented and described. It is both innovative and touching.
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, Kawakami tackles one of the evils of childhood and adolescence: bullying. A shrilling yet beautifully written book
Bel Canto Ann Patchett. Art and terror, an opera singer is taken hostage with diplomats. Based on true events and sadly very timely.