Literary Delights: My Top Recommended Books of 2023

As I begin my 44th book of the year, it’s appropriate to pause and comment on some of the literary gems I was fortunate to experience throughout the year. It should be noted this refined list of top recommendations are not books solely released in 2023. The works I comment on are books I managed to complete throughout the year regardless of release timing. Each book I read is paired with an album played on repeat throughout the duration of the book. I find this pairing enhances the transformative effect of the storytelling, provided you have the ability to listen to music and read at the same time. I read many phenomenal books this year and I appreciate the efforts of anyone who creates a work of fiction. This list represents what I would say if someone on the street forced me to “give my top 5”. Here they are starting with numbers 5A and 5B (I am cheating already).

5B: “Iron Flame” by Rebecca Yarros; 5A: “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros

The Empyrean Series, books 1 and 2 tie for my 5th spot.

The “Fourth Wing” is a book that introduces the reader to Violet (aka “Violence”) Sorrengail. Despite odds stacked heavily against her, she dreams of becoming a dragon rider. Along her journey of self-discovery, she routinely defies expectations as a training cadet at Basgiath War College. Violet not only faces exhausting physical challenges but societal prejudices as well. Over time she learns to embrace her unique strengths and astutely forges strategic alliances with unlikely companions.

I paired, “Fourth Wing” with “We Don’t Need to Whisper” by Angels & Airwaves. The album helped create a sweeping, fantasy landscape in my mind as I read the book and listened. I dare to say it was perfect.

In “Iron Flame” Yarros raises the stakes as Violet and her allies find themselves in a war threatening to send the entire continent into chaos. Lines between good and evil get blurred and Violet has to reconcile with the consequences of some of her personal choices. In my opinion, “Iron Flame” is a worthy sequel advancing the narrative and I very much look forward to book 3!

As one might expect, I stayed with Angels & Airwaves as the music artist and spun their second album, “I-Empire” on repeat for the duration. Perfect again.

“1Q84” by Haruki Murakami: A Mind-Bending Journey into a Dystopian Dreamscape

“1Q84” by Haruki Murakami is very tough to describe due to its enigmatic nature. It’s a blend of magical realism and mystery mixed with some philosophical and political exploration. The story follows Aomame (pronounced like the vegetable, “edamame”). She is a young woman who somehow finds herself trapped in a parallel reality, while Tengo, a struggling writer pursues a perceived reality of his own. In the end, this is a bit of a love story with two people who at times are unknowingly trying to find each other. I recommend this book for absolute originality. It is at times tough to get through and it is 1400 pages. It may not be for everybody.

This enormous work is broken into 3 “books”. I took a different approach to music pairing and used 3 different albums (by the same artist) for each book.

I used the first three albums by the band, Sleep Token in sequential order. Book 1 - “Sundowning”; Book 2 - “This Place Will Become Your Tomb”; and, Book 3 - “Take Me Back to Eden”. Once again, I struck gold with the pairing (a theme with my recommendations). The music set such a tone for the book. Sleep Token can be considered “genre-less” or “genre-bending” by some. At times the music is pop and heartbreaking, then metal, then hardcore, then screamcore, and then jazz, sometimes in the same song! The band which is bit of an enigma itself, worked beautifully for this book.

Number 3: “The Deluge” by Stephen Markley

“The Deluge” by Stephen Markley: A Terrifying Tale of Hope and Survival

Coming in at number 3 is “The Deluge” by Stephen Markley. Stephen King wrote a blurb for this book, calling it the most terrifying story he read in 2022. He’s not wrong, though, it’s not terrifying for reasons King’s books are terrifying. This novel, delivers a chilling and thought-provoking story of hope and survival amidst catastrophe. It’s a near future tale of the consequences of climate change. It contains enough plausible hard science to make the resulting domino effects terrifying due to the nature of their possibilities. Rising ocean temps have caused the world to be ravaged by rising waters and Markley fantastically weaves a tapestry of the resulting social, political, geo-ecomomic and personal impacts. In a word, “terrifying”.

For the music soundtrack, I broke my rule of no repeats. I used Sleep Token’s album, “This Place Will Become Your Tomb” for this book as well. I was/am admittedly a little obsessed with Sleep Token as a band, and I do not apologize for it :-). This particular album is dark, moody and sets a good tone for catastrophe. Another pairing success.

“Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee: A Sprawling Family Saga Spanning Generations

This book came so close to taking my top spot. I just recently finished it and it’s still sitting with me. It’s unforgettable in nature. The novel is a story of resilience, love and loss (a LOT OF LOSS) against the backdrop of Japanese-occupied Korea. The story follows Sunja, who is a young woman forced to flee her homeland, requiring her to navigate the complexities of being a young woman in a forein land. The author provides painstaking detail regarding the nature of the Koren immigrant experience in Japan during the 1900’s. Amidst all the loss and tragedy, this book is a reminder of the enduring strength of the human spirit.

I paired the self-titled, debut album by The Lumineers with this reading. Another unmitigated success. Nothing else needs to be said.

Number 1: “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver: Incredible Tale of Love and Loss

Taking the top spot for the book I’d most recommend of all the books I read this year is “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. I actually finished it in January of this year and it set in motion the need to then read seven more Kingsolver books throughout the year. She’s that good. This book is the story of “Demon” who is an orphaned boy navigating a world of poverty, addiction and prejudice in the applachia area of the eastern United States. It just so happens Demon grows up during the emerging (and still ongoing) opioid epidemic that has a strangle-hold on that part of the country. As with many of Kingsolver’s books, the characters are vivid and unforgettable. The author is also brilliant for always describing the natural surroundings in such detail that location becomes it’s own character. I cannot recommend this book and Kingsolver enough.

I paired the book with the album, “A Deeper Cut” by a band called The Temperance Movement. The band/music to me sounds like Appalachia itself. As I listened, I felt like there would be a real posibility that Demon would be blasthing this album in his car as he drove around. Just an overall tremedous experience of reading/listening.