5 (+1) Anticipated 2023 Holiday Reads
Summer is coming, the kids are getting old enough to entertain themselves these holidays, so I’m in full book mode. Here are the 5 (+1) books that I’m most looking forward to getting stuck into. For those who would prefer my sign off — I’ll send a post summer book report to let you know how they went. (You can see my 2021 version here) So here they are.. sorted by Publication Date.
‘Juno Loves Legs’ by Karl Geary (Ireland, published April 2023) 304 pages
Goodreads Rating 4.24
So, I have this friend, let’s just call him Andy. He is my go-to for heart-wrenching, dark, and miserable novels. Some bodies in a lake — ? even better. But what keeps me coming back for his recommendations, are books filled with twisted beauty, and characters who refuse to get out of your head. Like most recommendations from Andy — I hardly research the plot — though the starting blurb for this: “Juno loves Legs. She’s loved him since their first encounter at school in Dublin…” hooked me. Beyond that, there seems to be Dubliner poverty in the 80s, horrible Catholic nuns and priests, and the enduring pain suffered as a consequence — but the promise of a heartwarming friendship. “Painful beauty” is how the Guardian describes it. I’m in.
VERDICT: Oh goodness! I didn’t think that there could be a book more depressing than ‘Shuggie Bain’ — but Juno proved there could be. Avoid if you don’t like the harshly somber, or need a light beach read, however, it’s a weirdly rewarding read with (some say) some shards of hope. (4.5 stars)
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‘Chain Gang All Stars’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (USA, published May 2023) 367 pages.
This has been on so many must read / best of lists this year, so waiting with anticipation for my reserve to come in from the library. Book Riot (my go to for book recommendations) declared it a Most Anticipated for 2023, and I generally agree with their predictions. Reading the blurb on this one — I really have no idea what to expect: “ … a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.” My only reference is the author’s debut ‘Black Friday’, which was incredible, so I expect more of the same from his first novel.
VERDICT: This ended up being one of those books where I can’t work out if the rave reviewers have read the same story. While I loved the premise of a dystopian US with a Hunger Games type prison system, the execution (excuse the pun) fell flat for me. Too many characters, not enough depth. (3 stars)
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‘Yellowface’ by R.F.Kuang (China, Published May 2023) 329 pages
I have to admit, that one of the reasons I still haven’t read ‘Yellowface’ is that it kept coming on and off my To Be Read pile. Every time it was reviewed at the start, it went to the pile, but after so many reviews I was worried it was becoming a Hype Novel and not worth the trouble. But then I read her 2022 novel ‘Babel’ and it went back on.. then back to the top after I realised it was a ‘Reese Book Club Pick’ (I love her picks). As for the plot — it sounds like the Black Swan of publishing. Two rising stars of writing, one steals the others masterpiece — and on from there….. As a self confessed book nerd, when the New York Times says “It’s also the most granular critique of commercial publishing I’ve encountered in fiction” — this book is not moving from the pile.
VERDICT: I really need to stop falling into the Hype Book Trap….. I even called it out in the overview! An interesting premise… but really unlikeable characters and felt it was pretty poorly written…. won’t ever get that time back! (2 stars)
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‘Crook Manifesto’ by Colton Whitehead (USA, Published July 2023) 336 pages
Colson Whitehead is one of those authors where I will read everything they write… Loved ‘The Underground Railroad’, though didn’t get the hype of ‘The Nickel Boys’. With ‘Harlem Shuffle’ though (the first in Whitehead's ‘Harlem Trilogy’) I fell back in love again. Set in 1960s New York, putting family saga against jewelry heist novel, it was a book that hooked me instantly. Now comes #2 in the series. Taking us to Harlem early 70s, we’re told “trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is going bankrupt, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army…” Very keen to see where this NYC family saga goes in part 2.
VERDICT: Such a worthy follow up — perhaps even better than ‘Harlem Shuffle’. Now it’s 1970s Harlem, and over three connected stories, we get more of the thievery, robbery, and arson-loving passion of New York’s underbelly. (4 stars)
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‘The Running Grave’ by Robert Galbraith (UK, Published September 2023) 960 pages
Ten years ago — JK Rowling released ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’ under the pen name Robert Galbraith. The first in her now legendary ‘Cormoran Strike’ detective series, each tome of a book has been addictive, and vintage whodunnit — with the ever likable anti-hero Cormoran Strike and his partner Robin Elliott. Now we have number 7 in the series, where our two heroes must “rescue a man ensured in the trap of a dangerous cult”. CAN’T WAIT.
VERDICT: Galbraith has done it again. A romping mystery wrapped in a religious cult; with Cormoran and Robin’s will-they-won’t-they romantic tension continuing. There is a cast of characters, plots and sub-plots, twists, turns and dead ends. While Number 7 in the series has this feeling a little formulaic, it is the perfect summer read where you have about 16 hours needed! (3.5 stars)
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‘Edenglassie’ by Melissa Lucashenko (Australia, Published October 2023) 320 pages.
I prefer to keep political debate out of my book recommendations, so I’ll just say that Melissa Lucashenko redefined First Nation writing for me. Her books ‘Mullumbimby’ and ‘Too Much Lip’ are some of the best Australian literature I’ve read, and gave beautiful insights into Indigenous culture, with a touch of modern-day grit. I’ve yet to hear much about her latest novel apart from the blurb that states “Lucashenko torches Queensland’s colonial myths, while reimagining an Australian future. Two extraordinary Indigenous stories set five generations apart.”
VERDICT: Oh dear… I don’t know what happened with me and this book. While I devoured Lucashenko’s previous books ‘Mullumbimby’ and ‘Too Much Lip’ — I just couldn’t crack this one. The characters confused me, I got lost in the dialect and the back and forth of time scenes just didn’t grab me. (2.0 stars)
