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Some books I read in 2023

do ya like books I like books

2024-01-30

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Best Fiction
  3. Best Fantasy
  4. Best Mystery
  5. Best Gamebook
  6. Best Graphic Novel
  7. Best Memoir
  8. Best Non-Fiction
  9. Conclusion

Introduction

Whatā€™s up book nerds, this is my fifth annual year-in-books review post.

Previously: 2022 2021 2020 2019

According to goodreads, I read 32 books this year.

Yes, Iā€™m still on goodreads, despite attempts to try something new like The Story Graph which allegedly has better superior recommendations, or Bookwyrm which is part of the decentralized ā€œfediverseā€ network.

Maybe 2k24 will be the year one of these alternatives stick. Or better yet, maybe Iā€™ll just start keeping my own local logs and reviews, and then periodically sync to these services.

Anyway, here are some highlights from a year in reading!

Best Fiction

Each of these were hauntingly beautiful, quietly disturbing

Best Fantasy

Best Mystery

Best Gamebook

Tabletop roleplaying is one of my primary hobbies. And there are a lot of ways to engage with the hobby besides actually playing games. For example, creating characters and then never playing them. (I have about 30 unplayed characters in my D&D folder, e.g.) Or reading gamebooks for games you never end up playing! I read a ton of gamebooks, most of them free hobbiest publications from itch.io which arenā€™t on goodreads. So they arenā€™t captured well in my end-of-year totals. I reckon I should start keeping a log of them separate from goodreads.

Best Graphic Novel

Best Memoir

Best Non-Fiction

Conclusion

Thatā€™s it! If you end up reading any of these, or if you already did, please let me know what you thought!

What were your favorite books of 2023?