Book Review 2023
2023 Book Review.
Finished: 31 Pages: 11,258
| Book Title | Author | Series Name | Genre | Rating | Date | Pages | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acceptance | Jeff VanderMeer | Southern Reach | SciFi | 5 | 2023 | 368 | Fiction |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 104 | Fiction |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 188 | Fiction |
| The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 194 | Fiction |
| The Return of Sherlock Holmes | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 404 | Fiction |
| The Saturday Night Ghost Club | Craig Davidson | Coming of Age/Horror | 5 | 2023 | 224 | Fiction | |
| The Stand | Stephen King | Dystopian | 5 | 2023 | 1328 | Fiction | |
| The Terror | Dan Simmons | Suspense;Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 784 | Fiction | |
| The Valley of Fear | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 5 | 2023 | 172 | Fiction |
| World War Z | Max Brooks | Zombies/Horror | 5 | 2023 | 352 | Fiction | |
| 2001: a Space Odyssey | Arthur C. Clarke | Space Odyssey | SciFi | 4 | 2023 | 256 | Fiction |
| A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 4 | 2023 | 174 | Fiction |
| Authority | Jeff VanderMeer | Southern Reach | SciFi | 4 | 2023 | 368 | Fiction |
| Circe | Madeline Miller | Mythology/Folk Tales | 4 | 2023 | 416 | Fiction | |
| His Last Bow | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 4 | 2023 | 183 | Fiction |
| The Hike | Drew Magary | Humor/Fantasy/Adventure | 4 | 2023 | 288 | Fiction | |
| The Postmortal | Drew Magary | Dystopian | 4 | 2023 | 400 | Fiction | |
| The Sign of the Four | Arthur Conan Doyle | Sherlock Holmes | Mystery | 4 | 2023 | 126 | Fiction |
| And Then I Woke Up | Malcolm Devlin | Horror | 3 | 2023 | 166 | Fiction | |
| Every Dead Thing | John Connolly | Charlie Parker | Thriller/Mystery | 3 | 2023 | 512 | Fiction |
| Quantum Radio | A.G. Riddle | Multiverse | SciFi | 3 | 2023 | 512 | Fiction |
| The Graveyard Book | Neil Gaiman | Ghosts | 3 | 2023 | 368 | Fiction | |
| The Haar | David Sodergren | Horror | 3 | 2023 | 220 | Fiction | |
| The House at the End of the World | Dean Koontz | SciFi/Dystopian | 3 | 2023 | 398 | Fiction | |
| The Rover | Drew Magary | SciFi | 3 | 2023 | 23 | Fiction | |
| The Song of Achilles | Madeline Miller | Mythology | 3 | 2023 | 408 | Fiction | |
| The Way of Shadows | Brent Weeks | Night Angel | Fantasy | 3 | 2023 | 645 | Fiction |
| Cloud Atlas | David Mitchell | SciFi | 2 | 2023 | 509 | Fiction | |
| Crooked House | Agatha Christie | Mystery | 2 | 2023 | 256 | Fiction | |
| Gideon the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir | The Locked Tomb | Fantasy | 2 | 2023 | 496 | Fiction |
| The Deep | Nick Cutter | Horror | 1 | 2023 | 416 | Fiction |
Sherlock Holmes Collection
This collection from audible contains the following works:
- A Study in Scarlet
- The Sign of the Four
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
- The Valley of Fear
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes
- His Last Bow
The Song of Achilles
Mixed feelings on this one; not as good as "Circe". I found Patroclus to be a fairly passive and uninteresting narrator. I was captivated with the story of Achilles and the Trojan war which the book did cover well, but since so much of the story does revolve around Patroclus I have to knock it a few points because his thoughts/viewpoints didn't interest me as much as the hypothetical thoughts/viewpoints might have been from Achilles Point-of-view. Still a pretty solid read overall.
Every Dead Thing
A pretty dark detective story with lots of graphic murder descriptions. With that being said, it was really strange because it sort of felt like two entirely separate books between Part 1 and Part 2, which I found a little jarring. Characters were fun, mostly believable, and the writing was generally quite descriptive which is always a bonus. You won't find a book around with more Beignets being consumed alongside people being skinned alive.
Postmortal
A really interesting premise around the "cure" for death (from aging) and the potential ramifications of that. I could never really guess where the book was going next and pretty much every development came as a surprise to me. I did find the book slightly too sexualized in tone however. A surprising, funny, and dark book that I'd recommend for anyone looking for something a bit 'different'
And Then I Woke Up
A strange, strange book. Even after finishing it and looking up other people's interpretations of the ending I'm not totally sure what to make of it. It wasn't bad? Unique approach to a generally over-done "zombie" genre.
The Deep
It's just not good. Read IT by King, or possibly something else by Cutter, but not this one.
Quantum Radio
I think the closest thing I could relate this to is the early Pendragon books by D. J. MacHale. Clearly the start of a series as well. Pretty good all around, I was expecting this to be slightly "harder" SciFi than it turned out to be, but regardless I thought it was an entertaining read.
The Rover
After reading The Hike, I was curious what this free short-story from Drew was on Audible. It was only a 50m long audiobook or something. (23 pages??). So this almost doesn't even count as a book to include here, but if you want a very, very, very short story that's sort of interesting then feel free to read it. Glad it was free!
The Hike
It's a book that feels like you're dreaming. An acid trip, nightmare, day-dream all rolled into one. Very interesting -- I've never read anything quite like this before. Kept me thinking and going "what???" the entire time.
Gideon the Ninth
Yugh...overhyped novel. Interesting ideas, cool setting, terrible protagonist with cringe dialog. A set of characters way too large that you can easily lose track of who (mostly) have no impact on the story. I did enjoy the descriptions of the setting, and some of the ideas here were great (lot of Dune / Warhammer 40k Vibes) but unfortunately I just personally feel the execution was not great. I don't plan on reading the sequels.
The Haar
ReA strange and disturbing book. The plot is basically that an evil Jeff Bezos type wants to buy an Old Lady's land, but she doesn't want to sell and somehow comes into contact with a sea creature/alien. I won't give away more than that, but the story is pretty wild, bloody, has a lot of body-horror and graphic descriptions of mutilation and death. For a short novel of only 220 pages it's actually a pretty good story for what it is.view
The Graveyard Book
A young adult novel literally sold in the children's section in Barnes and Nobel. But still, a great book. I didn't realize this until the end of the book, but this is a twist on "The Jungle Book", basically a boy is raised in a graveyard by ghosts, mummies, vampires, ghouls, etc. Pretty fun, nothing life-changing but an entertaining coming-of-age story.
Acceptance
Probably my least favorite out of the trilogy, which is funny considering it's the final novel. It's not a bad book per se, and the differing points of view provides some much desired back-story and explanation to questions left unanswered from the previous two books. Again, I wouldn't say it was a bad novel, but I think it's just hard to "end" a story was broad and mysterious as the Southern Reach Trilogy set's up. Tall order.
Authority
I read Annihilation in 2021, and finally finished up the Southern Reach Trilogy this year. Authority was a very different novel from Annihilation. I liked it just as much, but if Annihilation was a SciFi, adventure, thriller this was more like a bureaucratic, mystery, thriller? This book reminded me of the game Control a ton! Which is a good thing, lots of SCP (Secure Contain Protect) vibes, great tie into the previous novel. Also, I found the creepiness/horror of this book actually greater than that of Annihilation
The Crooked House
My second Agatha Christine novel after "And Then There Were None", I didn't like this one as much. The story was fine, I guess the characters / setting just didn't capture me that much. I also found the main narrator a bit of a boring point-of-view. Not bad, but also not amazing?
2001: A Space Odyssey
Having never seen the film, I went in to this novel sort of blind beyond knowing it's considered a classic SciFi novel. It did not start the way I expected, and It did not end the way I expected. I really enjoyed the middle of the book the most, but some of the ending portions lost me a little bit. A philosophical space adventure that might also have some unexpected religious motifs.
The Stand
An intense, dark, and very long novel. It's a post-apocalyptic tale of a deadly virus that wipes out most of humanity spread across three "books" within the novel. I was pleasantly surprised with the book and found the themes of good vs evil very interesting and an unexpected backdrop for a novel that I assumed was just about a biological accident of horrid proportions so to speak. Not a light read, not a fun read, but an excellent read.
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
I went into this book expecting a fun and lighthearted story about teenagers hunting ghosts, but I was surprised by the depth of the plot and the emotional impact of the story. The book is ultimately a story about nostalgia, loss, and the power of friendship and family. While it is certainly a fun read, it is also a moving and thought-provoking exploration of the human condition; loss and grief.
The House at the End of the World
The story is one of desperation, isolation, and hopelessness. The dark plot line is surprisingly sci-fi for a mystery/suspense novel, but it works well to highlight the themes of good and evil, as well as the strength of the human spirit. I enjoyed the focus on family bonds, and I found the book to be a quick and enjoyable read that was hard to put down.
The Way of Shadows
This somewhat generic fantasy novel has it all: love, violence, action sequences, betrayals, death, plot twists, and cheesy dialogue. If you're looking for a fun and generic fantasy read, this is the book for you.
Cloud Atlas
Really not my favorite. I found the "gimmick" of the novel was not worth the payoff at the end. I enjoyed less than 3/6 of the stories in the book...so for that, 2/5. Never seen the movie, maybe it's good?
Circe
Circe is a unique approach to Greek mythology that tells the story of the witch Circe from her own perspective. The novel is full of life, love, family, death, loneliness, and finding one's inner strength.
I was not familiar with the myth of Circe before reading this novel, but I was quickly drawn into her story. Miller does an excellent job of weaving together the threads of mythology and creating a believable and relatable character.
Circe is a complex and fascinating character. She is strong, independent, and intelligent, but she is also vulnerable and flawed. She makes mistakes, but she learns from them and grows as a person; ultimately finding her own inner strength. I highly recommend it.
The Terror
The Terror is a novel by Dan Simmons that tells the fictionalized story of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, a British naval expedition that disappeared in the Arctic. Simmons adds his own twist to the story that adds an oppressive layer of suspense and horror to the novel, and I especially appreciated how well he was able to blend these historic and fictitious events. The result is a novel full of cold, dread, and misery. It's not exactly "scary" but undeniably grim. It's a hell of a journey, and I would recommend this book to anyone.
The characters in The Terror are well-developed and believable. The reader can feel the fear and desperation of the crew as they are trapped in the Arctic. Simmons does an excellent job of creating a sense of claustrophobia and isolation, and he makes the reader feel as if they are right there with the crew, experiencing everything they are experiencing. It is a story about survival, hope, and the human spirit. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, horror, or adventure stories.