BOOK REVIEWS
Best Reads of 2023
**SPOILER ALERT — THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Last year I read less than I usually do — not even close to 100. I also chose books rather haphazardly by simply browsing the library shelves. If the description and cover appealed to me, I checked the book out. This method led to me discover books I will never finish and books I never thought I’d enjoy (but did). In the end, my reading experience balanced out. Here are a few books that made my year—
Best Overall
Landscapes by Christine Lai
This was not an easy read. I’ve thought about writing a review, but it would turn into a 100-page paper. The themes, including climate change, art history, violence against women, societal decline, historical preservation, and the male gaze, are expertly woven together through diary entries.
Best Short Fiction
Foster by Claire Keegan
When I first started reading this book, I thought it was an excellent slice-of-life story. By the end, I was shocked by the emotional depth the author managed to convey mainly through setting. The author paints a vivid picture of rural Ireland in the 1980s and the families that lived there.
