I know 2023 is not quite over yet, but with only a few days remaining I think it’s safe to post my books of the year list now. I’ve enjoyed putting this post together, looking back over the last twelve months and picking out some favourites. This hasn’t been a particularly great year of reading for me; it got off to a good start, but for various reasons my reading slowed down in the middle of the year and I struggled to get back on track. However, I’ve still read some great books in 2023 and here they are, in no particular order:
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The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (2023)
From my review: “It’s not really possible for me to say much more about the story without spoiling it, but if I tell you it includes family secrets, disputed inheritances, stolen documents, and lots of surprising twists and turns you’ll get the idea! It’s very entertaining, with the feel of a Charles Dickens novel at times, and I was often reminded of Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx (another great Dickensian novel with an inheritance at the heart of the plot).”
Random Harvest by James Hilton (1941)
From my review: “This book wasn’t quite what I’d expected; I thought it was going to be more of a romance, but although it does have a very moving love story at its heart, there’s much more to Random Harvest than that. It can be considered an anti-war novel, with it’s theme of loss that runs through the story from beginning to end – not just the obvious loss of memory, but also lost opportunities, lost or broken relationships, lost innocence and, on a wider scale, a way of life that has been lost forever as the world moves on from one war and heads straight for another.”
The Empty World by D.E. Stevenson (1936)
From my review: “It’s sad that The Empty World seems to have been almost forgotten and has never received the attention or acclaim of other dystopian novels. Maybe it was just too different from Stevenson’s other work to appeal to her existing readers while her reputation as an author of gentle, domestic fiction may have led to the book being overlooked by science fiction fans. I loved it anyway and found it a fascinating, thought provoking read.”
Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin (1959)
From my review: “I know they say never to judge a book by its cover, but I have to confess, the cover is what made me want to read this book before I even knew what it was about! Luckily, the story lived up to the cover and you can expect to see Uncle Paul on my books of the year list in December, without a doubt.”
The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr (1939)
From my review: “By the time Fell is brought into the story, most of the clues are in place, but Elliot and the local Sodbury Cross police have failed to interpret them correctly. I’m not surprised they were struggling, because this is a very clever mystery with lots of twists and turns and an ingenious solution. I certainly couldn’t solve it and had to wait for Fell to explain it all, which he does bit by bit as each piece of the puzzle falls into place.”
The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (1940)
From my review: “Goudge’s descriptive writing is always beautiful and in this novel she brings the fictional Hampshire village of Fairhaven to life with details of local customs, history and legends, basing it on the real village of Buckler’s Hard on the banks of the Beaulieu River. She makes the setting feel almost dreamlike, especially as there are a few elements of the story that are nearly, but not quite, supernatural.”
The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell (2023)
From my review: “It certainly sounded good – a Gothic novel set in the theatres of Victorian London – and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I was gripped from start to finish…I loved the insights we are given into what goes on behind the scenes and the descriptions of Lilith’s powerful stage performances are so vivid I could almost imagine I was watching them from a seat in the front row.”
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier (1957)
This was a re-read for me and the second time it has appeared on my books of the year list!
From my review: “And as always with a du Maurier novel, you can expect beautiful descriptions, a strong sense of place and interesting, if not necessarily very likeable, characters…It really is a fascinating novel and still one of my favourites by du Maurier. Now I just need to find time to revisit some of her others!”
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken (1962)
From my review: “Now that I’ve read this book I can see why it is considered a children’s classic and has been so popular with generations of younger readers over the years. It has an exciting plot, child protagonists to relate to, kindly adult characters to love and villainous ones to hate, and an atmospheric setting with snowy, icy landscapes and packs of wolves roaming the countryside…I thoroughly enjoyed this book and just wish I hadn’t come to it so late!”
The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker (2023)
From my review: “The Other Side of Mrs Wood is Lucy Barker’s debut novel and a very enjoyable one! It took me a few chapters to get into the story as the beginning was quite slow, but by the middle of the book I had been completely drawn in… this is not really a book that tackles a lot of deep issues and I enjoyed it primarily for its entertainment value. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a silly, frothy book in any way – it’s well written, evocative of the Victorian era, and I learned a huge amount about the 19th century fascination with spiritualism.”
The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins (1873)
From my review: “Wilkie Collins was known for his sensation novels, a genre that takes elements of Gothic melodrama and places them in an ordinary, often domestic setting…The New Magdalen is less sensational than some of his others, but still falls firmly into the genre so you can expect a very entertaining novel. I’ve always found Collins’ writing to be the most readable of all the Victorians and that, in addition to this being a relatively short book for a 19th century classic, makes it a gripping and surprisingly quick read.”
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And that’s my list for this year! What did you enjoy reading in 2023?
She Reads Novels 
The Whispering Muse sounds right up my street!
It’s great! I love books with theatrical settings.
JD Carr is *definitely* on my interest list for the future. Plus I’m *finally* getting into some more BLCC novels. I have one (very good!) in my review pile already and another three in my first themed stack of ’24 (Trains!). I’ll be posting my ’23 Review with Best Books on Saturday.
I’ve had mixed feelings about some of the Carr books I’ve read, but that one was excellent! I hope you enjoy the BLCC novels in your trains stack.
Aside from the Persephone, these all have quite distinctive and attractive covers, but Uncle Paul is certainly a standout! I’m curious to read it too.
Uncle Paul is great – it really lives up to the promise of the cover. I have another Celia Fremlin book I’m hoping to start soon.
I read The Scapegoat this year as well and loved it! De Mauier has become a favorite of mine.
I’ve read all of du Maurier’s books and The Scapegoat is in my top three or four. She’s such a great author.
Nice list of your favourite books, I haven’t read any of them. I still need to try a Laura Purcell and Shepherd Robinson book.
I hope you’re able to try those authors next year. I particularly love Laura Shepherd-Robinson and have enjoyed everything I’ve read by her.
I loved a lot of these books too. The Bird in the Tree trilogy is one of my favourite sets although I think my favourite was the second book, The Pilgrim Inn.
I haven’t had time to read the rest of that trilogy yet, but I’m hoping to read The Pilgrim Inn soon.
I hope you enjoy it
Some nice choices – I really must read Uncle Paul!
I think you might enjoy Uncle Paul. I have another Celia Fremlin on the TBR which I’m hoping to read soon.
Ooh, might have a look at The New Magdalen for my 2024 B-Sides reading project!
The New Magdalen would be perfect for the B-Sides project!
It must be really hard for you to choose a limited number of favorite books a year given the cheer amount you read. 🙂 Anyways, I’d love to read Laura Purcell’s and try du Maurier for the first time.
It was actually slightly easier this year than it usually is. I’ve read a lot of good books, but only a few that have really stood out from the others. I hope you’re able to try du Maurier soon – she’s one of my favourite authors.
Gosh, of these I’ve only read The Black Spectacles, although I’ve read several of the authors’ other books. I liked The Black Spectacles, though.
I haven’t read many John Dickson Carr books yet but I loved that one.
Oh, I loved The Scapegoat, I must re-read it!
The Scapegoat was the perfect choice for a re-read – I found myself noticing all sorts of little things I missed the first time.
Love the mix of books on your list! Very fun. And you’ve got me very curious about both The Square of Sevens and Uncle Paul. 😀
The Square of Sevens and Uncle Paul are both great books – probably my top two of all the books on my list!
As I may have commented before I’m glad you finally got to the Willoughby Chase book and have seen what the fuss was about! And because you’ve raved about the Laura Purcell I think I’ve got her The Silent Companions on my shelves somewhere, must have a proper look…
A stand-out book for me this year? Possibly a toss-up between Rebecca Kuang’s Babel, Tove Jansson’s The True Deceiver and the last Le Guin I’ve just read and reviewed, but there are other, just as strong, contenders!
I’m just sorry it took me so long to get round to reading Willoughby Chase! I hope to move on to the second book in 2024.
I’m glad you had some great reading even if it wasn’t the best year overall. I agree about The Black Spectacles even though I picked a different Carr for my Best of list, and Uncle Paul would also have appeared on mine if I’d got around to reviewing it in time!
I loved Uncle Paul and have another of Celia Fremlin’s books, The Long Shadow, which I’m hoping to read in January. As for Carr, I think most people preferred He Who Whispers this year and I did enjoy that one as well, but The Black Spectacles was more to my taste.
My favourite book read in 2023 has to be Atlas, The story of Pa Salt. I think Harry did a great job for his Mum and it was a satisfying if not perfect ending to the series. My favourite new author…to me…was Georgette Heyer and her Regency romances. They are fun to read and her characters are so well developed that they jump off the page! I didn’t ‘love’ Uncle Paul but it was certainly well written. I reread the Thorn Birds this year and found I had a totally different perspective on it than I had back in the eighties. I look forward to reading Scapegoat next year among others.
Yes, I enjoyed Atlas, although it hasn’t made it onto my list of favourites. I agree that Harry did an excellent job – it can’t have been an easy task. Georgette Heyer has been a favourite author of mine for years, but I’m still only about halfway through her books. I’m glad you’ve discovered her now too!
As you know, I also loved the Goudge this year. And the idea of a Stevenson dystopian novel is fascinating! Hope 2024 is a great reading year for you.
I had no idea what to expect from a Stevenson dystopian novel, but it was surprisingly good! I hope 2024 is a great year of reading for you too.
Helen, I am so thrilled to see you ended up enjoying The Wolves of Willoughby Chase so much, as I know my re-read of it was a factor in you going for it! I also lovely to see a re-read on your list – a lot of my favourites in 2023 were re-reads!
Blessings, Jessica 💌
Yes, thank you for inspiring me to try The Wolves of Willoughby Chase! I somehow missed reading it as a child, but I’m glad I could still enjoy it as an adult.
Nice list. Good to see the Wolves on there, and I also loved The Scapegoat though have only read it once.
Thanks. I’m hoping to read the second book in the Wolves series soon.