Why I loved those 20 books from 2023 - part one!

 

Why that Top 20?

It occurred to me yesterday that it was all well and good letting everyone know what my top reads were but perhaps I should say why I loved them...

Non Fiction:

One Hundred Saturdays  - this was a completely new to me story about both WW2 and Rhodes (an island that is always going to be very special to me) and it has made me really want to go back and to explore this new history. It also reminded me of Louis de Bernieres Birds without Wings in that there weren't as many differences between the Turks/Ottomans and Greeks as we think. Review for this book here.

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad - another WW2 story but fascinating to read of the parallels between Hitler and Stalin's treatment of people. I knew some of the stories but again there was a lot of new information - and it tied in quite nicely with the novel The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley which just missed out on being one of my top 10 fiction books of the year.

The Dictionary People - a recent read and a fascinating insight into how the OED was one of the first crowd sourced projects - review here.

All the Beauty in the World - this is the biography of a museum guard at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It combines personal history, history of art and quirky tales from the museum - including sock allowances!

Venice - after visiting Venice, and falling in love with the city, I've been reading lots of books about La Serenissima. Some have been histories and others personal reflections on the place but there was just something beautiful about this book of one man's visits to the city and the small things he notices while there.

The Six - not quite so many books about space crossed my path this year but this was a stand out as it is the story of the first six female astronauts picked at the start of the Space Shuttle era. It contained biographies of the women and details of their space flights and it was great to read of this era of space travel from a female perspective.

Femina - after reading For Thy Great Pain... at the end of 2022 I was keen to read more about women from further back in history and this book was wonderful to dip in and out of as women were put back into the narrative.

The Diary Keepers - after reading Bart van Es' The Cut Out Girl and learning more about the Netherland's less glorious WW2 history this was a fascinating collection of diary excerpts covering the whole political spectrum of life in occupied Holland. My thoughts from earlier in the year. 

Portable Magic - a book about the history of books by an author I really like, not much more to say really except that it really increased my list of books I want to read at some point!

Letter From New York - I've been a fan of Hanff for years but didn't know about this gem until it was republished this year. It is a more cosy, intimate, version of Letters from America by Alistair Cook and focusses very much on Hanff's life in New York before it was cleaned up. She has a unique writing style and I am sad that I have now read everything that she published in book form.