I don't usually do end-of the-year retrospectives, but I decided to do a couple this year!
10 Books I loved in 2023
I read a lot: in 2023 I read 46 books, almost all signed out from the public library. I write down titles, authors in my reading journal, and I always include 1-2 sentences about them to jog my memory if I go back to look at the list.
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| My mom's reading journal, on the far left, inspired me to start keeping one in 2003. I have filled 2 blank books and started on the third last year. |
Here are the top 10 books I read and loved this year with my short descriptions. They’re not in any particular order.
Doomsday Book, Connie Willis (1992): a time-traveling Oxford history student mistakenly ends up visiting England during the Plague while her colleagues live through a pandemic in 2054. Gift from Lisa!
The Windfall Diksha Baku (2017): Indian couple moves from a crowded apartment building where they’ve lived for years to the posh side of town. Delightful comedy of manners.
Matrix, Lauren Groff (2021): a fictionalized account of 12th c. Matrix (abbess) Marie de France, her visions and her building of a famous abbey in England.
Nothing to see Here, Kevin Wilson (2019): Disillusioned young woman is asked to care for two children who burst into flames when agitated. Funny, and also about the power of parenting and love.
Lost Journals of Sacajawea, Debra Magpie Earling (2023): Sacajawea tells her own story in lyrical language. Wonder, community, nature, loss and resilience.
The Librarianist, Patrick DeWitt (2023): A kind, retired introvert encounters a woman with dementia and begins volunteering at the retirement home where she lives. Later, he is surprised to find out who she is.
Nonfiction
Fatherland, Burkhart Bilger (2023): A journalist researches what his grandfather did as a Nazi school teacher during the war, and reflects on how it affected his family.
Butts: a Backstory, Heather Radtke (2022): intelligent and witty critique of how our culture has viewed women’s backsides over the centuries.
A Line in the World, Dorothe Nors (2022): Danish woman explores the wild western coast of Denmark, reflecting on personal and national history. Gift from Bruce!
The Wager, David Grann (2023): Shipwreck after a harrowing voyage leads to castaways trying to survive on an island. They eventually travel in 2 separate groups to where they are rescued, but whose version of the story is true?
Top 5 bird sightings
I also like to walk around and look at birds–and I’ve recently been reporting what I see using the ebird app–I’m doing citizen science! Ebird says I saw 129 species this year.
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| Top 100 birders in Linn County: I have birded with most of the 10 ahead of me! |
Here are my top 5 sightings:
Magnolia Warbler: in bushes along the Sac and Fox trail during spring migration
Peregrine pair at Cedar Lake: scaring the pigeons, then bathing.
Canada Warbler: at Wanatee Park, hanging out with chickadees during fall migration.
A common loon at Palo Lake (Pleasant Creek SRA). A loon in Linn County, Iowa!
The kingfisher pair that I almost always see along the Sac and Fox trail.
Photos swiped from ebird.org.
