Books - 2023 review

I used to set myself much loftier goals for books read during the year. But I also used to buy many more physical books. These days I’ve prioritised reading on a Kobo due to ease and space. I’ve moved 7 times in the last 12 years, books make up for a lot of weight. I’ve even started to take my books to one of those free micro libraries. Boxes on the side of the street where you can take or leave books. At least the ones I don’t see myself ever re-reading. It’s helped free up space for… newer books.

The challenge

GoodReads always wants you to give yourself a challenge to read, to state how many books you’ll read in the following year. Knowing my reading habit was on the decline I haven’t been setting this very high. I just had 12 this year (and I’m still one short but suspect I’ll read 1 or 2 over winter break).

This year I really wanted to read the recent faves. Books that were making the lists of most anticipated or best of the year. After years of playing catchup I wanted to see if I could keep up with recent releases.

The answer is no, I couldn’t keep up. But also, since Twitter is dying and that’s where I get a lot of my book news and commentary, reading the hits of 2023 didn’t get me much extra engagement. I would have loved to hear other people’s thoughts on these books as they came out but when you spend less time on social media you end up less social. Go figure.

I don’t want to review all the books I read, I put small reviews up on StoryGraph (the non-Amazon version of GoodRead) and also GoodReads. Here I’m just going to go over my top 3 for the year.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

This book has been hitting many of the top sci-fi charts for the year. SDG starts out with your pretty typical sci-fi setup. A group of rebel humans fight and prepare for war against an alien race that destroyed their planet. Their sworn revenge keeps them going with small numbers and ageing technology.

It has strong Battlestar Galactica vibes. Military space opera. Not every kid in training gets to join the combat ranks, they are competing for placements. Some are confined to being breeding stock so that the resistance can keep their population alive.

The main character has extremely traditional views (very strong gender rules are enforced, most people on the station are white, and everyone who isn’t human is bad). Her world is turned upside down after an alien is captured and held prisoner, followed by her brother going AWOL. Setting off the chain of events of Kyr (our protagonist) having her eyes opened to the galaxy and what exists beyond her limited space station.

About a third of the way in, the book does a pretty big twist. So if the opening feels a little too basic (it kind of did for me), hold out till then.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

It’s hard to beat the opening description line of Iron Widow on StoryGraph.

“Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.”

Iron Widow goes hard. A leading character who wants more for herself. A better life, a better system of life. Giant robots powered by sucking the life out of a pair of drivers, tasked with defending civilization from a mysterious powerful threat.

We got death, violence, forced addiction, abuse of all sorts. Quickly followed by a love triangle, political manoeuvring and big plays for power. Everything plays out between gruesome fights and beautiful facades of the lives of pilots. Nowhere feels safe during the story. Even the ending doesn’t let you relax. So it’s a good thing that book 2 is on the way.

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler

This book caught my attention with this blurb before it was released.

“Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them.”

If attending squid classes this year, my underwater themed D&D campaign, and my collection of aquatic art hasn’t given it away, I’m in my cephalopod era. Which is how this and a few other ocean themed books ended up on my reading list. In my initial review I included this list of similar media:

You will like this if you enjoyed things like:

• The Arrival
• Work by Becky Chambers
• The world building of Malka Older

The major themes of Mountain are language (Arrival) and ‘what is consciousness’ (I feel like Becky Chambers touched on this a bit though there are many others who do as well.). But the reason I included Becky Chambers here is that Ray has a strong human element in their sci-fi like Chambers does. A lot of time is spent thinking about how people exist with new technology and how it shapes life.

In Ray’s story, we are seeing 3 different types of life intersect. The humans, the very first near human passing android, and a group of octopuses. I’ve always had a love for androids living with or as humans in stories, this novel places androids right at the start of that journey. No one else is really writing about the development of octopus societies but that could change in the next few decades as we continue to learn more about them (fingers crossed).

Next year

I don’t have a strong focus for what to read next year yet. I have a few things I didn’t get to this year which I definitely want to get to. With my second goal being to read some of the physical books I’ve started to collect. But also maybe revisit some favourite writers from a few years ago who’ve I’ve ignored while trying to branch out and read the new folks rising up. Got a lot of Ann Leckie to catch up on…