My Favorite Five Reads Of 2023
Each year, what I read and the amount of reading I do ebbs and flows. There are always a few memoirs and business books, some fast-read fiction and a few books that I digest slowly. And while I’ll listen to handful on audiobook when I paint or drive, I still prefer turning paper pages in a physical book. Sometimes I highlight, underline, or write notes in the margins.
In total count, I’ll fall a few books short of having read fifty this year. Looking back on the most memorable page turners for me, here are my favorite five reads of the last twelve months. I will not choose a favorite, so they are listed in the order that I read them.
The Winners by Fredrik Backman
Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors because of the way he can bring characters to life, and the Beartown Series is unlike anything else I have ever read. The Winners is the final installment of the Beartown story. It is just as good as the other two parts. Told through hockey in a hockey town, the darkest and brightest parts of humanity pour from every page.
Our lives ripple further than we realize, and this story hits hard. There isn’t one hero or one villain. There is simply the way our stories interconnect and who we are to each other at a moment in time. While I’m sure this book would be phenomenal on its own, it is best read after Beartown and Us Against You.
The Perfectionist’s Guide To Losing Control by Katherine Morgan Schafler
The personality trait of perfectionism has gotten a bad reputation over time. These days we predominately see it as negative and something to fight against or overcome. That perfectionism will only hold us back and get in the way. And while there are certainly some downsides to rigid perfectionism, we’ve made it so easy to overlook the good parts with our narrow definitions.
This book challenged my thinking and changed my perspective. It helped me understand that perfectionism can also be a powerful tool, and acknowledge that it isn’t a tendency I need to push away. Perfectionism is nuanced. It can be messy and paralyzing. But it can also help you achieve amazing things if you understand how to not let it get it the way. After I read this book, I’m so much more comfortable embracing my inner perfectionist.
PARIS The Memoir by Paris Hilton
Of all the memoirs I read this year, this was my favorite. Outside of remembering that she was famous for being famous, that she didn’t mind humiliating herself on The Simple Life, and her cameo in that one episode of The O.C., I didn’t stay up to date Paris Hilton. Not in the early 2000s and not any time since. But I saw her book in a stand at the airport and decided that I absolutely wanted to hear her tell her story.
It was one of my best impromptu purchases of the year. Paris’ story was more than I expected. I don’t know how much of it made headlines the last twenty years that I ignored. But in her own words, I got to learn how different her life was from how I would have pictured it if you’d asked me to imagine it. Far more gritty than glamorous, this memoir was definitely memorable.
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
I find deep dives into data analysis fascinating. Yes, the topic has to interest me. And this book in particular has been on my to read list for a few years. With the past few years being more tumultuous for women’s rights, I finally checked this one out from the library and dove in. Well-supported scientific study after meticulously researched fact, this book delivered on thought provoking analysis and hopeful ideas of where we go from here.
Caroline Criado Perez does a wonderful job articulating why it matters that gender data is often missing from scientific trials. Why we are missing out when we only view the world from one perspective. I didn’t realize how not average the average human is, and how often that can let us down. From how helpful our efforts to support communities actually are to our commute times and our health. She tackles so much that I never thought about until now.
Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
There may not be another person out there who can weave psychology and business in a more compelling way than Adam Grant. While all of his books challenge common perceptions, his most recent book tackles how we determine potential. How we falsely believe that aptitude at a young age is a great indicator of who has the most potential and how far someone will go. How we often miss realizing what someone may be capable of if their starting point is unremarkable. He uses data and stories to hammer home that what matters isn’t where you start but how far you travel.
For all the books I read, there are not many that I hold onto. Most are passed on to others or donated to libraries. To earn a spot on my bookshelf, you have to be a book I plan to read again. And probably again after that. While there are a few authors with two or three titles, only a rare few have more than three. With his newest book Adam Grant has earned four slots on my shelf. Only J.K. Rowling and Cecily von Ziegesar have more space than that.
