2023 Picks of the year

85 books this year. All these books were reviewed in full at the time of reading and the full reviews are a simple scroll away. 

There were a couple of minor disappointments - the Whitley Strieber and the FW Armstrong were not great. However, the worst book of the year by a considerable margin was...

This pile of junk- Cat's Cradle by William Johnstone. which is a real shame because that is an amazing cover

  

In no particular order. the best books of the year were these.  Don't ask me to pick an individual best book.  I honestly can't choose.  that's why there's 11 in my top 10.

 

The most emotional book of the year. I was sobbing for most of the second half of the book

Max Porter pulled off an amazing story here.  He really made me feel for a main character with very few redeeming qualities except for his basic humanity.

This was beautifully written, stylish, shocking, brutal and surreal in equal measures.  

By far the funniest thing I read all year.  

6 great novellas by Josh Malerman. A great mix of horror, sci fi and just plain weirdness.  

The follow up to Mordew was just as good. Literary writers trying to write fantasy is normally a recipe for disaster, but this series is phenomenal.

It's almost unbelievable that this is a debut novel. despite me having slight qualms over the final chapter of the book, this remains one of the most memorable books I've read this year.  Creepy and paranoid.

This set a whole new benchmark for me for body horror. Well written, good characters and truly brutal. Made me squirm several times 

A journey into a mans psyche as he has a breakdown of sorts. 

Just an astonishing book. I would never have thought a book written in first person from the POV of Hitler would be this funny. Audacious doesn't begin to describe it.  My jaw was on the floor for most of it. 

A modern day take on Animal farm that provides a deep evisceration of modern politics in the UK.  Hilarious and frightening in equal parts