The Appalachian Trail

Notable Long-Form Reads of 2023

Earlier, I shared books I bought in 2023 I didn’t get to yet. Here’s a look back at the notable ways in which I weathered my book collection in 2023.

Stadsbiblioteket, Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

Novels

• Never Let Me Go

  • I’ve read two Ishiguro novels: this and The Buried Giant. Neither was what I expected and, at first, each left me disappointed. A quote on the back cover of my edition promises a “gothic tour de force.” My eye conjures Robert Pattinson as Batman, Fall of the House Usher, anemia, ravens, and autumn. But this novel is gothic in a sense closer to definition 7 from dictionary.com, with an imperiled heroine trapped in an old mansion, of sorts. I suppose. It’s powerful, and an astonishing exercise in concealing information with cruel-at -its-kindest titration. Really, I think I enjoyed it. 

• Our Hideous Progeny