My top 10 books of 2023

I haven’t read that many books last year, but I enjoyed all of them. These were my favorites:

10. At the Breakfast Table – Dafne Suman

Set in Turkey, this book focuses on a famous artist and her family as they gather to celebrate her 100^th birthday. She, however, hides a secret that has been haunting the family for generations and it’s finally the time to unravel the truth.

While there were few 5 star reads that could have taken this spot, I ultimately thought this book deserves it more. The novel had certain flaws which prevailed it from getting the highest rating, but important and interesting topics made it stand out.

9. Crooked House – Agatha Christie

When the head of a wealthy family is murdered, the suspicion falls on his new young wife who everyone believes was after his money. However, there is not enough evidence. Thus, the police asks Charles Hayward, a fiancé of the old man’s granddaughter to spend time with the family in an attempt to gather more information.

Exploring British high society and their inheritance, both in terms of property and personal characteristics is very interesting. The ending is great too and ties well into the overall theme. However, the first part of the story is a little boring and doesn’t seem to be particularly relevant for what happens afterwards.

8. Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller – Nadia Wassef

In 2022, Nadia, her sister and their friend started Diwan, an independent bookstore. Not having a business background they had to learn everything from scratch. Their success is that much more impressive when you realize that such bookstores didn’t really exist in Egypt at the time and that books were seen as a luxury. Now, she looks back at their beginnings, challenges and people they encountered along the way and the culture surrounding it all.

The book is organized in an interesting way. Each part corresponds to a different section of the bookstore and a different genre featured in it. The author discusses the genre itself and certain memories related to it. For example, she talks about self-help books and then her own personal challenges or books about motherhood and then her own family.

I liked how honest Nadia is, opening up about her mistakes as much as her accomplishments. She has a great insight into the culture she is a part of, recognizing its beauty but also its fundamental flaws.

The book is fun and easy to read, but it also covers many important topics such as feminism, classism, marriage, business, religion and so on.

7. Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death – Anthony Everitt

In this book. the author examines Alexander’s life, his empire and the characteristics of the time period which contributed to his success.

Despite being a nonfiction book, it reads like a novel. A lot of research went into it, but the book is easy to read and requires no prior knowledge of the events. Even things I expected to be boring were actually explained in a compelling way. In that context, learning about battle strategy, technology that existed back than and people that shaped our history was fascinating.

6. Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8) – Terry Pratchett

A secret society is planning to overthrow the ruler and control the city through a puppet king. In order to do so they summoned a dragon, which is now destroying the city and is up to The Night Watch to stop it.

This is, technically, the eight book in the series, but many people have said to pick this one first if you are trying to get into the Discworld, so I did just that.

It was phenomenal. Beyond absurd, but funny, unpredictable and insightful. There were so many great quotes, too.

The only reason it is not higher on the list is because it was darker than I expected. Under the colorful facade hides a brutally realistic depiction of human society and, while, the book was fascinating and fun to read it was not ligthearted at all and thus not what I had hopped for at the time.

Still, one of the best books I ever read.

5. I will wake up in Shibuya (Probudím se na Šibuji) – Anna Cima

Rating:

This book follows three narratives which come together in the end.

The first focuses on the main character studying at the university in Prague, the second on a seventeen-year-old version of her stuck in Japan as a ghost and the third is told trough the works of a mysterious Japanese author.

The prose is simple, resembling everyday conversations, but it fits the story perfectly. Although it mentions few darker topics, the book is never heavy. It’s easy and fun to read and I loved every secon of it. Who would guess this is a debut?

4. A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) – Brigid Kemmerer

Rating:

Prince Rhen is cursed by a powerful enchantress and now has to make a girl fall in love with him. Sounds easy enough, but after many failed attempts both he and his kingdom are barely holding on.

Harper suffers from cerebral palsy, her mother is on her death bed and her brother is forced to work for criminals. Things only get worse when she is forcefully taken to another world where she is told there is a curse that needs to be broken.

This is their story.

I usually put an entire series in one spot as I have a hard time looking at the individual books completely by themselves. This one is an exception. Though I gave both sequels 5 stars, they take the story in a direction that doesn’t feel consistent with what is established in this one, so in a way the books don’t go together.

This is a Beauty and a Beast retelling and the fairy tale feeling is perfectly preserved. The chapters are short and the book is easy to read.

The characters are complex, the connections between them are gradually built and the plot is good.

Having said that, the story gets pretty dark at one point and I was surprised how much I liked it despite that.

3. The Secret Adversary (Tommy & Tuppence #1) – Agatha Christie

In a desperate need of money Tommy and Tuppence open an agency of sort, proclaming they are willing to do anything for the right amount. Tuppencee is soon hired to pose as a missing girl Jane Finn, but everything changes when their employer disappears and they find out the girl is the only one who knows the location of some very important documents.

This is a fast paced story with many twists and turn. It feels complex despite being so short. The characters are full of personality and their interactions are often funny.

The book doesn’t take itself too seriously and is so fun to read.

There are few more serious topics mentioned as well, such as poverty, unfair treatment of people after the war and manipulation of the masses.

2. Shades of Magic – V. E. Schwab

Four arallel worlds, four different Londons and one magician who can travel between them. He is also smuggling items from one world to another knowing it’s banned. Things fall apart when one item proves to be more dangerous than he could have ever imagined…

Though it moves rather slowly, the story is very interesting. However, the main focus here is on the characters and the setting. The worlds the author created are so unique and memorable and they were my favorite aspect of the series.

1. Monsters of Verity – Victoria Schwab

In a city where violence creates real monsters people are divided. Kate Harker wants to be ruthless just like her father, but so far her tough demeanor has only been a facade. August Flynn wants to be a kind person and help others, however he is a monster that can steal people’s souls. They are on opposite sides, but a strange event will force them to unite.

How far will a person go to survive? What does it take to acquire and maintain power? How to achieve peace? I loved the discussions in this series. It asks difficult questions and makes you think.

I loved the writing, too. The author builds her story slowly, but the world and its inhabitants feel so alive. Nothing is purely black and white, there are no easy decisions and the characters have to face both external and their inner demons.

I was a little nervous going into this book thinking it would be a little too dark for me, but after reading the very first page I knew I have found something special.