What I read in 2023 -- a review

Well, another year is done, and my reading list is longer than ever before. Of the 217 books I got through in 2023, here is the pick of the bunch for me (excluding rereads), followed by the whole list. 

Fiction

The Lonely Lands, Ramsey Campbell -- another strange masterwork that lingers in the mind long after reading. It involves some of the author's most sinuous writing, the world shifting back and forth from a dreamlike sphere to the prosaic with craft and style. 

The Hawthorne series, Anthony Horowitz -- an absolutely terrific series of detective novels, still only in its fourth incarnation of a projected ten. Hawthorne is a brilliant creation and the presence of the author himself as his Dr Watson is an inspired touch. Horowitz is as ingenious as Christie in his plotting. 

Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand -- a truly ghostly novella with some scenes that disturb even as you read them (as opposed to lingering under your skin for later haunting, though they do that too). 

The Poison Tree, Erin Kelly -- the closest thing I've ever read to achieving what Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine often did. A gripping narrative about young people and the entanglements that arise in permissive societies. Genuine suspense and sterling characterisation. 

One Last Secret, Adele Parks -- a truly punchy book about a sex worker who takes one last job. The suspense is palpable throughout and the author pulls no punches in the way the story develops, including a brilliant twist that upends everything you thought you'd just read. 

The Liar's Wife, Samantha Hayes -- another twisty turning narrative, with quite a shocking conclusion. The author keeps her story tight and intriguing throughout. 

The Olive Tree, Lucinda Riley -- after all those savage crime novels, it was nice to dip into this book about a family holiday on Cyprus and the secrets that emerge. Great sense of place, assured characters, and satisfying storytelling. 

Good Girls, Amanda Brookfield -- a really moving and convincing romance written with style, wit and insight. 

Lessons, Ian McEwan -- one of the author's longest books and yet as muscular and provocative as ever. 

Strange Sally Diamond, Liz Nugent -- back to crime, and how so! The author's central character is redolent of Eleanor Olyphant and yet occupying a seedy world of true horror and its repercussions. Powerful stuff.

Girl, 20, Kingsley Amis -- one of the master's funniest and wisest books, full of his typically intricate prose and jaded wit. 

The Professor of Desire, Philip Roth -- a book that's like a punch in the stomach, repeatedly. The author addresses desire and death in the context of 20th century history and the ivory tower of intellectualism. 

Rare Birds, Jeff Miller -- my favourite of the many children's books I read this year. It's genuinely moving and with a wonderful sense of place. If not for one rather convenient plot point late on, I'd consider it a possible classic.

N0n-fiction

Intellectuals, Paul Johnson -- a corroscating and provocative review of particular clever people who tell us all how to live while seemingly being unable to come anywhere close to what they preach. There's a certain unhealthy voyeurism involved in the reading and yet it's pretty irresistible. 

The Fate of Abraham, Peter Oborne -- a critique of anti-Islamic movements written by a top rank journalism who knows his material. It should insulate readers against cherry-picked clickbait style headlines. 

Colonialism, Nigel Bigger -- on the other side of the political divide perhaps, here's a defence of colonialism, a reckoning on a moral register. The author shows that the crude version we're fed by meme-oriented media is hideously distorted and requires careful recontextualisation. 

The Lives of the Wives, Carmela Ciuraru -- another glimpse backstage into the lives of celebrated intellects, in this case literary authors. And good lord, if you have any fond memories of Roald Dahl, don't read the final chapter. 

The whole list

Rottweiler, Ruth Rendell

Minotaur, Barbara Vine

Watermelon, Marian Keyes

39 Steps, John Buchan

After I Do, Taylor Jenkins Reid

Various Haunts of Men, Susan Hill

Midnight Library, Matt Haig

Life of the Mind, Christine Smallwood

Word is Murder, Anthony Horowitz

Sentence is Death, Anthony Horowitz

A Line to Kill, Anthony Horowitz

Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, Colin Dexter

Lives and Loves of a She-Devil, Fay Weldon

Twist of a Knife, Anthony Horowitz

Single and Single, John le Carre

House of Silk, Anthony Horowitz

Trigger Mortis, Anthony Horowitz

Plays, Patrick Hamilton

The Water’s Lovely, Ruth Rendell

Indemnity Only, Sara Paretsky

Secret Window, Secret Garden, Stephen King

Roadwork, Stephen King

To Doon with Death, Ruth Rendell

Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren

Running Man, Stephen King

Finishing School, Joanna Goodman

Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand

Paper Rock Scissors, Alice Feeney

Generation Loss, Elizabeth Hand

The Surgeon, Tess Gerritsen 

His and Hers, Alice Feeney

One Last Secret, Adele Parks

Insomnia, Sarah Pinborough

Horrorstor, Grady Hendrix

Taking of Annie Thorne, C J Tudor

Strange Diaries, Elly Griffiths

Chalk Man, C J Tudor

Taxidermist’s Daughter, Kate Mosse

The Cove, L J Ross

Poison Tree, Erin Kelly

Highland Falcon Thief, M G Leonard

Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte

Demian, Hermann Hesse

Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West

Just My Luck, Adele Parks

Little Lord Fauntleroy, Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Long Call, Ann Cleeves

Sight For Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell

Cliff House, Chris Brookmyre

Heartstones, Ruth Rendell

Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain

The Vessel, Adam Nevill

Blood Orange, Harriet Tyce

The Only Story, Julian Barnes

New Lease of Death, Ruth Rendell

Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz

The Sick Rose, Erin Kelly

Burning Air, Erin Kelly

House on Bellevue Gardens, Rachel Hore

Animals of Farthing Wood, Colin Dann

Liar’s Wife, Samantha Hayes

Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson

Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham

House by the Sea, Louise Douglas

Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope

Demon in my View, Ruth Rendell

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Gillian McAllister

Going Wrong, Ruth Rendell

Other Side of Night, Adam Hamby

Murders at Fleet House, Lucinda Riley

Woman I Was Before, Kerry Fisher

Tell No One, Harlan Coben

Olive Tree, Lucinda Riley

Good Girls, Amanda Brookfield

Heat Wave, Kate Riordan

Woman in Black, Susan Hill

Live Flesh, Ruth Rendell

Jake’s Progress, Kingsley Amis

Dark Corners, Ruth Rendell

Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi 

Ties That Bind, Erin Kelly

Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach, Ramsey Campbell

Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

Other People’s Marriages, Kerry Fisher

The Smoke, Simon Ings

Wolf to the Slaughter, Ruth Rendell

Daisy Darker, Alice Feeney

Lessons, Ian McEwan

Black Dogs, Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan 

Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus

Discrimination and Disparities, Thomas Sowell

Seven Sisters, Lucinda Riley

Skeleton Key, Erin Kelly

Intellectuals and Race, Thomas Sowell

Strange Sally Diamond, Liz Nugent

Loitering with Intent, Muriel Spark

Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty

Faulks on Fiction, Sebastian Faulks

Lake House, Kate Morton 

Distant Hours, Kate Morton

Bellman and Black, Diane Setterfield

Someone Else’s Shoes, Jojo Moyes

Good Left Undone, Adriana Trigiani

Clockmaker’s Daughter, Kate Morton

Swimming Pool Library, Alan Hollinghurst

Delusions of Gender, Cordelia Fine

Vera, Elizabeth von Arnim

Summer, Edith Wharton

Quest for Cosmic Justice, Thomas Sowell 

Europeans, Henry James

Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

Skin Deep, Liz Nugent

Guardian Angel, Melanie Phillips

Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

How to Write a Sentence, Stanley Fish

Father Goriot, Honore de Balzac

Captain and the Enemy, Graham Greene

New Puritans, Andrew Doyle

Scissors Paper Stone, Elizabeth Day 

Home Fires, Elizabeth Day

Strange Death of Europe, Douglas Murray

Black Code, Ronald Deibert

The Burning, Jane Casey

In the Woods, Tana French

Blindsighted, Karin Slaughter

Getting Rid of Matthew, Jane Fallon

Into the Water, Paula Hawkins

London Bridge is Falling Down, Christopher Fowler

Lionel Asbo, Martin Amis 

Rachel Papers, Martin Amis

London, Robert Bucholz

Pregnant Widow, Martin Amis

Fate of Abraham, Peter Oborne

Lonely Lands, Ramsey Campbell

Colonialism, Nigel Bigger

Anarchism, Peter Ward

Aesthetics, Charles Taliaferro

Think Yourself Lucky, Ramsey Campbell

Social and Cultural Anthropology, Peter Just   

Apparition Phase, Will Maclean

Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward

House Next Door, Anne Rivers Siddons

Mary and O’Neill, Justin Cronin

From a Buick 8, Stephen King

Some Kind of Fairytale, Graham Joyce

Wise Friend, Ramsey Campbell

Sleeping in Flame, Jonathan Carroll

Devoted, Dean Koontz

Alone with the Horrors, Ramsey Campbell 

Selected plays by Bernard Shaw

Holly, Stephen King

Christine, Stephen King

Carrie, Stephen King

Time’s Arrow, Martin Amis

The Hollows, Simon Bestwick

Magpie, Elizabeth Day

Fearful Implications, Ramsey Campbell

Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Norton

We Still Belong, Christine Day 

Cujo, Stephen King

A Haunting on the Hill, Elizabeth Hand

Breathing Method, Stephen King

Intellectuals, Paul Johnson

Girl, 20, Kingsley Amis

That Uncertain Feeling, Kingsley Amis

Professor of Desire, Philip Roth

Prague Orgy, Philip Roth

Museum of Lost and Found, Leila Sales

Runt, Craig Silvey 

Lives of the Wives, Carmela Ciuraru

Matilda, Roald Dahl

Parent Agency, David Baddiel

When Sea Becomes Sky, Gillian McDunn

Goldfish Boy, Lisa Thompson

Falcon’s Malteser, Anthony Horowitz

Day No One Woke Up, Polly Ho-Yen

Rare Birds, Jeff Miller

Day I Was Erased, Lisa Thompson

Shape of Thunder, Jasmine Warga 

Space We’re In, Katya Balen

Silver Arrow, Lev Grossman

Groosham Grange, Anthony Horowitz

Remarkables, Margaret Peterson Haddix

Duet for Home, Karina Yan Glaser

Song for a Whale, Lynne Kelly

Nightmare House, Sarah Allen

When Maisie was There, Joan Robinson

Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes

Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King 

Dying Animal, Philip Roth

Rationality, Steven Pinker

Blaze, Stephen King

Field of Screams, Wendy Parris

Grow up Tahlia Wilkins, Karina Evans

Perception, Dennis Profitt

Page & Co, Anna James

Sea Monsters, Chloe Aridjis

Thin Air, Michele Paver

Other Words for Home, Jasmine Warga 

On the Wings of Heroes, Richard Peck

Young Man on Bicycle, Victor Canning

Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe

Us, David Nichols

Death in the Stocks, Georgette Heyer

I Want it Now, Kingsley Amis

Arabella, Georgette Heyer

Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz

Cotillion, Georgette Heyer

House on the Strand, Daphne du Maurier 

Lies Lies Lies, Adele Parks

Tied up in Tinsel, Ngaio Marsh

Other People’s Children, Joanna Trollope

A Passionate Man, Joanna Trollope

Alice Alone, Amanda Brookfield

Two Dead Wives, Adele Parks

The Nine Tailors, Dorothy Sayers