My Favourite Books of 2023 – Learning and Pleasure

This was a strange reading year for me. I was alarmed in August to discover there was no way I wasn’t going to hit my goal of 50 books. Day to day life has returned to its former “go-go-go” post pandemic speed for me and I had to decrease my goal to 35 books. Regardless of reading less books, I still think there are some really impactful titles in my favourite books of 2023 list.

The last time I read 35 books in a year was in 2015. At first, I was quite blue about this but my partner reminded me that I’m probably reading more challenging books and more pages. He has a point. But I also feel like I lost some valuable personal learning in 2023. When I look back at 2022, what a fabulous reading year that was. But all was not lost in 2023. I still have a list of FABULOUS reads to recommend and an update to diversity challenge.

Favourite Books I read in 2023

• Good for a Girl by Lauren Fleshman

I learned so much about women’s sports from this book. We read it for Book Club (with a lot of former competitive runners) as well as my workplace that focuses on increasing access to sports for youth. I wish I had known about the physical plateau as well as the reasons that young women find themselves leaving sports in their teenage years. There are many ways that we can fix sport and make it more inclusive for all and Fleshman offers some ideas and context to how we got here in her book.

Podcast Episode – Revisionist History – The Crisis in Girls’ Sports with Lauren Fleshman and Linda Flanagan

• The Creative Way by Rick Rubin

A really inspiring book for anyone wishing to get in touch and awaken their creative side. Everyone is creative and this book by Rick Rubin might actually convince you to believe it about yourself.

Podcast Episode – On Being – Rick Rubin Magic, Everyday Mystery, and Getting Creative

• The Long View by Richard Fisher

I’ve been wanting to explore how to think about time differently and how to more accurately plan for the the future. This books is a lovely read on how to redefine our relationship and definitions of time. In my reading of Buddhism, the importance of the present and being in the moment is encouraged. But I also feel thinking and planning for the future need not be full of anxiety and what ifs. Thinking long-term will be the way we create a future we want to live in.

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Worth the hype for sure – engaging characters, great plot, CLEVER commentary about women’s rights in the workplace, home, and society.

• Wasteland by Oliver Franklin-Wallis

I could not stop talking about this book for WEEKS. The waste economy is fascinating and I feel much more aware of the world system of waste and the impacts of my own waste on a global scale. My biggest takeaway was the realization of the sheer amount of waste for everything – pre-production, product creation, and the afterlife of a a product. Read it, please! I should note that I didn’t find it a depressing read, although the sheer impact of waste is heavy, it’s fascinating and the knowledge gained will stay with you for a long time.

• The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

I love this series. I know people have issues with JK Rowling’s opinions on gender. But I’ve decided that I can separate those from her artistic work. This series is fabulous and keeps getting better. This book is absolutely massive in size and yet it flew by. I could barely put it down.

• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

So, I did not expect to like this and I think Roxanne Gay’s review said it best:

Spears’ memoir had me reflecting a lot on the experience of womanhood from teenage to midlife. First, the sexualization of young women in the early 00’s was insanity and I was too young and naïve as a teenager at the time to see it for what it was. When she described what is freedom to her, including posing and dancing on Instagram, I was moved and dropped my judgement – if she feels in control of how she shares her image and body after living through intense sexualization at a young age in front of a global audience – then go for it. That’s freedom for her and she deserves it.

I have also been reflecting a lot on the gift of aging. Britney was robbed of her 30s while she was in her conservatorship. It’s a decade that I feel brings much confidence, wisdom, and big decisions. I hadn’t really reflected on how I’ve changed in my 30s and hearing how she is recovering from her isolation in conservatorship… my heart just breaks for her. There are a lot of hard-won lessons in this book.

Diversity Report

PEN America published a report in 2022 and diversity has not improved in the publishing industry.

“Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing, exposes a broad range of systemic shortcomings in fostering a diverse and inclusive approach to publishing. Ingrained biases, preconceptions, and ossified thinking affect every stage of the publishing process and together work against expanding the ranks of racially and ethnically diverse authors.”

Link to Pen America – October 21, 2022 – DEEP AND PERSISTENT OBSTACLES IN PUBLISHING HOUSES IMPEDE GREATER DIVERSITY IN TERMS OF AUTHORS AND STORIES TOLD

So, fellow readers, keep buying diverse authors. Read out of your comfort zone. Be loud about it and share the joy of reading from all different perspectives.

I’m changing up how I’m monitoring my diversity reading to prioritize my own intercultural competency and acknowledging the different life experiences that come with geopolitical zones. All so I can be more globally minded and not get stuck in the North American way of thinking.

Here is my tally which I wasn’t monitoring for this new shift to geopolitical zones. Looks like I have some diversifying to do!

• Europe – 6
• Russian/Central Asia – 1
• North America – 17
• South & Central America – 0
• Middle East/ North Africa – 0
• Sub-Saharan Africa – 0
• East Asia – 7
• South Asia – 2
• South East Asia & Australia – 0
• Indigenous Peoples – 1
• LGTBQ2S+ – 1
• Equity-denied population topics – 4
• Environmental issues – 3

When Reading for Pleasure Won over Reading to Learn

I really took on some heavy-hitters this year – looking to stretch my mind and learn things I really had little knowledge of. IT WAS HARD. So these books are still on my to-read pile but it is going to take another year.

• Value(s) by Mark Carney
• The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
• Design for a Better World by Don Norman
• The Company by Stephen R. Bown

When I needed a distraction, I went to a mystery. Some of my favourites mystery novels are the Ava Lee series by Ian Hamilton and there is a new one coming! I also found my favourite romance writer: Curtis Sittenfeld.

Happy reading to you in 2024! I would love to hear any recommended reads you have from 2023 in the comments below.