This post includes a list of five authors I’d like to finally read in 2023. These five authors have been on my bookshelves for years. Instead of making unreasonable New Year resolutions, I figured I will try to read at least one book by each author on this list. It is a much more reachable goal. Since I’m a reader, this seems a very appropriate goal to set up for myself.
Some of those authors are super popular and known throughout the world, but somehow I just never got around to reading them. All of them have numerous books they’ve written. Among them, some were highly rated books of the respective year for several years.
Let me get started with the list of the five authors I’d like to finally read in 2023.
Chloe Benjamin
Chloe Benjamin came on my radar only a couple of years ago, most likely after I joined Goodreads. Her book, ‘The Immortalists” was very popular when it came out in 2018. Although it seems that people either love or hate this book, it is still one of the ones that I really want to get to. It’s been sitting on my tbr for almost as long as it came out, so hopefully, I will finally get to it next year.
Here’s a small synopsis Goodreads gives:
“It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.
A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.”
It has been compared to The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, so I’m really curious to see if I will like it as well.
Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett wrote a few amazing books, and I personally own three of them in my library. A couple of her older works, “Run” and “The Patron Saint of Liars”, although great books are not on my immediate tbr. The one I’d really like to read is The Dutch House, her most recent work. We shall see if I manage to get to it in 2023.
See if it catches your interest as well.
This is the Goodreads description:
“At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves.
Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.”
A highly-rated book, it was very popular when it came out in 2019, and it is still very sought-after today. Some may say it’s a modern-day classic novel that will withstand the test of time. I really want to read it, but I’m a bit scared. Usually, very highly-rated books are not to my taste, but we’ll see.
Louise Penny
Canadian writer Louise Penny has been writing detective novels for more than a decade. I can’t believe I never picked up any of her books, especially since this is my favorite genre. Plus the premise of her books is in Quebec, the province where I live. If I listen to fellow reviewers, her first book “Still Life” is not her best work in the series, but that is still the one I am to start with. I do have four of her physical books, plus an ebook in my collection.
Here’s a small description of Still Life on Goodreads:
“The discovery of a dead body in the woods on Thanksgiving Weekend brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his colleagues from the Surete du Quebec to a small village in the Eastern Townships. Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines – a place so free from crime it doesn’t even have its own police force.
But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets…”
Sounds promising, but I’ll see how I enjoy her writing. I also want to read this book before watching the TV series “Three Pines” on Prime Video. I hope the book is better than the series, because I did sneak a peek at the series, and it seems pretty well done.
Joan Didion
The late Joan Didion is a true classic novelist. Her works explore themes of American morals, especially how they affect the individual and the roles they play in society. Her books generally seem like sociological essays I was forced to read when I was in school, but I happen to enjoy this type of reading. We shall see how I enjoy her writing because most fellow reviewers speak very highly of her books. My two copies include the ebook of Play it as it Lays, and a physical copy of The Year of Magical Thinking.
Here’s a synopsis of The Year of Magical Thinking on Goodreads:
“Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later–the night before New Year’s Eve–the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma.”
This book is based on the author’s personal experience, and it is a powerful work of literature. I cannot wait to read it and share my thoughts with you. Stay tuned for a full review.
Stephen King
This very beloved and popular author comes as a surprise to many when I say that I haven’t yet read. I’ve always meant to, but never really had the inclination to do so. I will attempt to try reading at least one of his older books this year. I do have three of his books on my shelves, so I really have no excuse.
The man wrote more than 20 novels. His style seems to be a mesh of horror and thrillers, so it’s very surprising I never read any of his books. A few of his earlier works were made into movies, which are also very popular. I did watch a few of them many years ago, so I think it’s time I get to his books.
I own a few older paperbacks that have been sitting on my shelves for years, so I’ll get started with Needful Things. This particular book was written in 1992.
It will be interesting to pick up some of his newest works at a later date and see how his writing progressed over his long career. That is one of my future reading goals.
Here’s the short Goodreads description:
“Leland Gaunt opens a new shop in Castle Rock called Needful Things. Anyone who enters his store finds the object of his or her lifelong dreams and desires: a prized baseball card, or a healing amulet. In addition to a token payment, Gaunt requests that each person perform a little “deed,” usually a seemingly innocent prank played on someone else from town. These practical jokes cascade out of control and soon the entire town is doing battle with itself. Only Sheriff Alan Pangborn suspects that Gaunt is behind the population’s increasingly violent behavior.”
I will hopefully read this book early on in the year and follow through with a review.
Concluding Words
There are a lot more wonderful authors that I haven’t read yet, but I shall start with these five for now. Those who know me a little, know that I don’t do well with New Year’s resolutions. Therefore, I think trying to read just one book by each of these authors is a very realistic goal. If you read my previous article on how to create change, I am trying to listen to my own advice.
Small steps and achievable goals are key.
Until next time, keep reading my fellow bookworms!
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