Books Read in 2023

Year In Review • ​​I read a total of 113 books • 110 (97%) were written by she &/or they • ​
​42 (37%) were works of translation, representing 13 different languages
Favorite Fiction

​Favorite New to Me
Recently Republished Writers
Favorite Nonfiction

​Favorite #NYRBWomen23
*There are so many close seconds, this list could change daily.
December
  • CROSS-STITCH by Jazmina Barrera (2021, Two Lines Press 2023) translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney #WIT
  • A LINE IN THE WORLD: A YEAR ON THE NORTH SEA COAST by Dorthe Nors (2021, Graywolf Press 2022) translated from the Danish by Caroline Waight #WIT
  • **BASIC BLACK WITH PEARLS by Helen Weinzweig (1980, NYRB Classics 2018) #NYRBWomen23
  • HACKENFELLER'S APE by Brigid Brophy (1953, Faber & Faber 2023)
  • THE LONGCUT by Emily Hall (2022, Dalkey Archive Press)
  • ​PANTHERS AND THE MUSEUM OF FIRE by Jen Craig (2020, Zerogram Press)
November
  • **VISITATION by Jenny Erpenbeck (2008, New Directions 2010) translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky #WIT #Bookclub
  • THE BRIDGE OF BEYOND by Simone Schwarz-Bart (1972, NYRB Classics 2013) translated from the French by Barbara Bray #WIT #NYRBWomen23
  • SO LATE IN THE DAY by Claire Keegan (2023, Faber & Faber)
  • PRAIRIE, DRESSES, ART, OTHER by Danielle Dutton (2024, Coffee House Press)
  • IN ITALY: VENICE, ROME AND BEYOND by Cynthia Zarin (2020, Daunt Books 2024)
  • THE WOMAN WHO BORROWED MEMORIES: SELECTED STORIES by Tove Jansson (1971-1998, NYRB Classics 2014) translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal & Silvester Mazzarella #WIT #NYRBWomen23
  • **TONE by Sofia Samatar & Kate Zambreno (2023, Columbia University Press) **Don't miss this Between the Covers episode with Kate & Sofia.
October
  • FRANKENSTEIN: THE 1818 TEXT by Mary Shelley (1818, Penguin Classics 2018) 
  • LIFE AMONG THE SAVAGES by Shirley Jackson (1953, Penguin 2015)
  • THE LETTERS OF SHIRLEY JACKSON (1938-1965, Random House 2021) edited by Laurence Jackson Hyman
  • WHITE MAGIC: ESSAYS by Elissa Washuta (2021, Tin House) #Bookclub
  • A FAIRLY GOOD TIME with GREEN WATER, GREEN SKY by Mavis Gallant (1970, 1959, NYRB Classics 2015) #NYRBWomen23
  • DAYBOOK: THE JOURNAL OF AN ARTIST by Anne Truitt (1982, Scribner 2013)
  • EVE'S HOLLYWOOD by Eve Babitz (1972, NYRB Classics 2015) #NYRBWomen23
September
  • GENERATIONS: A MEMOIR by Lucille Clifton (1976, NYRB Classics 2021) #Bookclub
  • TRAIN DREAMS by Dennis Johnson (2002, Picador 2012)
  • SEDUCTION AND BETRAYAL by Elizabeth Hardwick (1970-1974, NYRB Classics 2001) #NYRBWomen23
  • COME BACK IN SEPTEMBER: A LITERARY EDUCATION ON WEST SIXTY-SEVENTH STREET, MANHATTAN by Darryl Pinckney (2022, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • **LANDSCAPES by Christine Lai (2023, Two Dollar Radio)
  • SLEEPLESS: A MEMOIR OF INSOMNIA by Marie Darrieussecq (2021, Semiotext(e) 2023) translated from the French by Penny Hueston #WIT
  • **SPEEDBOAT by Renata Adler (1976, NYRB Classics 2013) #NYRBWomen23
August
  • THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson (1972, NYRB Classics 2008) translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal #WIT [reread]
  • LETTERS FROM TOVE (2014, University of Minnesota Press 2020) edited by Boel Westin & Helen Svensson, translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death #WIT
  • THIS LITTLE LUCK by Claudia Piñeiro (2023, Charco Press) translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle #WIT
  • THE EMPLOYEES by Olga Ravn (2020, New Directions 2023) translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken #WIT
  • THE ENDLESS SUMMER: A REQUIEM by Madame Nielsen (2014, Open Letter 2018) translated from the Danish by Gaye Kynoch #WIT​
  • THE MIRADOR: DREAMED MEMORIES OF IRÈNE NÉMIROVSKY BY HER DAUGHTER by Élisabeth Gille (1992, NYRB Classics 2011) translated from the French by Marina Harss #WIT #NYRBWomen23
  • THE PACHINKO PARLOUR by Elisa Shua Dusapin (2018, Daunt Books 2022) translated from the French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins #WIT
  • THE RAVISHING OF LOL STEIN by Marguerite Duras (1964, Pantheon 1986) translated from the French by Richard Seaver #WIT
  • MRS. S by K. Patrick (2023, Europa Editions) **Don't miss this One Bright Book episode discussing MRS. S.
  • THE PASTOR by Hanne Ørstavik (2004, Archipelago Books 2021) translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken #WIT
  • THE LAST SAMURAI by Helen DeWitt (2000, Vintage 2018) #DeWitt2023
  • THE LAST SAMURAI REREAD by Lee Konstantinou (2022, Columbia University Press) #DeWitt2023
  • IZA'S BALLAD by Magda Szabó (1963, NYRB Classics 2016) translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes #WIT #NYRBWomen23
July
  • ​THE LIMIT by Rosalind Belben (1974, NYRB Classics 2023)
  • THE DAYS OF ABANDONMENT by Elena Ferrante (2002, Europa Editions 2022) translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein #WIT
  • **THE WALL by Marlen Haushofer (1968, New Directions 2022) translated from the German by Shawn Whiteside #WIT #Bookclub
  • THUS WERE THEIR FACES: STORIES by Silvina Ocampo (1937-1988, NYRB Classics 2015) translated from the Spanish by Daniel Balderston #WIT #NYRBWomen23 **You can listen to my conversation with Kassia & Dylan on the Unburied Books podcast here.
  • SILVINA OCAMPO: POETRY (1942-2001, NYRB Imprints 2015) selected & translated from the Spanish by Jason Weiss #WIT
  • THE PROMISE by Silvina Ocampo (2010, City Lights Books 2019) translated from the Spanish by Suzanne Jill Levine & Jessica Powell #WIT [reread]
  • THE DRY HEART by Natalia Ginzburg (1947, New Directions 2019) translated from the Italian by Frances Frenaye #WIT #DryHeartSummer **You can listen to my conversation with Trevor, Paul & Merve Emre on The Mookse & the Gripes podcast here.
  • A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN: SELECTED STORIES by Lucia Berlin (1977-1999, Picador 2016)
  • THE NEW ANIMALS by Pip Adam (2023, Dorothy Project)
  • THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS by Maria Dermoût (1958, NYRB Classics 2002) translated from the Dutch by Hans Koning #WIT #NYRBWomen23
June
  • A LIFE OF ONE'S OWN: NINE WOMEN WRITERS BEGIN AGAIN by Joanna Biggs (2023, Ecco Books)
  • A FROZEN WOMAN by Annie Ernaux (1981, Four Walls Eight Windows 1995) translated from the French by Linda Coverdale #WIT
  • LOVE'S WORK by Gillian Rose (1995, NYRB Classics 2011) #NYRBWomen23
  • AUGUST BLUE by Deborah Levy (2023, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • **ORDINARY NOTES by Christina Sharpe (2023, Farrar, Straus & Giroux) **Don't miss this Between the Covers episode with Christina Sharpe.
  • **THE LIGHT ROOM: ON ART AND CARE by Kate Zambreno (2023, Riverhead Books)
  • **THE LONG FORM by Kate Briggs (2023, Dorothy Project) **Don't miss this Between the Covers episode with Kate Briggs.
  • THE ILLITERATE by Ágota Kristóf (2004, New Directions 2023) translated from the French by Nina Bogin #WIT
  • SUMMER WILL SHOW by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1936, NYRB Classics 2009) #NYRBWomen23
May
  • SEMPRE SUSAN: A MEMOIR OF SUSAN SONTAG by Sigrid Nunez (2011, Riverhead Books 2014)
  • FOSTER by Claire Keegan (2010, Faber & Faber 2022) #Bookclub
  • MORE WAS LOST: A MEMOIR by Eleanor Perényi (1946, NYRB Classics 2016)
  • **COLD NIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD by Tezer Özlü (1980, Transit Books 2023) translated from the Turkish by Maureen Freely #WIT
  • VOYAGER: CONSTELLATIONS OF MEMORY by Nona Fernández (2019, Graywolf Press 2023) translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer #WIT
  • TRESPASSES by Louise Kennedy (2022, Riverhead Books)
  • **OUR SPOONS CAME FROM WOOLWORTHS by Barbara Comyns (1950, NYRB Classics 2015) #NYRBWomen23
  • AT MRS LIPPENCOTE'S by Elizabeth Taylor (1945, Virago 2008)
  • THE YEARS by Virginia Woolf (1937, Vintage Classics 2016) 
April
  • LAVISH ABSENCE: RECALLING AND REREADING EDMOND JABÈS by Rosmarie Waldrop (2002, Wesleyan University Press 2002)
  • BIOGRAPHY OF X by Catherine Lacey (2023, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
  • AFTER KATHY ACKER by Chris Kraus (2017, Semiotext(e) Press)
  • DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING by Penelope Mortimer (1958, McNally Jackson 2021) #Bookclub
  • STILL BORN by Guadalupe Nettel (2020, Fitzcarraldo 2022) translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey #WIT
  • BODY KINTSUGI by Senka Marić (2018, Peirene Press 2022) translated from the Bosnian by Celia Hawkesworth #WIT
  • KICK THE LATCH by Kathryn Scanlan (2022, Daunt Books 2023)
  • EASTBOUND by Maylis de Kerangal (2012, Archipelago Books 2023) translated from the French by Jessica Moore #WIT
  • A CHILL IN THE AIR: AN ITALIAN WAR DIARY 1939-1940 by Iris Origo (NYRB Classics 2017) #NYRBWomen23
  • **WAR IN VAL D'ORCIA: AN ITALIAN WAR DIARY 1943-1944 by Iris Origo (1947, NYRB Classics 2017) #NYRBWomen23
  • IMAGES AND SHADOWS: PART OF A LIFE by Iris Origo (NYRB Classics 2019) 
March
  • MAUD MARTHA by Gwendolyn Brooks (1953, Faber & Faber 2022) **Don't miss this One Bright Book episode discussing MAUD MARTHA.​
  • IN A LONELY PLACE by Dorothy B. Hughes (1947, NYRB Classics 2017) #NYRBWomen23 #Bookclub
  • NO MODERNISM WITHOUT LESBIANS by Diana Souhami (2020, Head of Zeus 2021)
  • ORWELL'S ROSES by Rebecca Solnit (2021, Viking Books)
  • FIRST LOVE by Gwendoline Riley (2017, Melville House 2017)
  • **WE THE PARASITES by A. V. Marraccini (2023, Sublunary Editions)
  • DISEMBODIED by Christina Tudor-Sideri (2022, Sublunary Editions 2022)
  • AMERICAN FICTIONARY by Dubravka Ugresic (1993, Open Letter 2018) translated from the Croatian by Celia Hawkesworth & Ellen Elias-Bursać #WIT
  • **A SILENCE SHARED by Lalla Romano (1957, Pushkin Press 2023) translated from the Italian by Brian Robert Moore #WIT
  • BOULDER by Eva Baltasar (2020, And Other Stories 2022) translated from the Catalan by Julia Saches #WIT
  • **FORBIDDEN NOTEBOOK by Alba de Céspedes (1952, Pushkin Press 2023) translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein #WIT
  • A VIEW OF THE HARBOUR by Elizabeth Taylor (1947, NYRB Classics 2015) #NYRBWomen23
February
  • WHAT IS FOUND THERE: NOTEBOOKS ON POETRY AND POLITICS by Adrienne Rich (1993, WW Norton 1994)
  • THE ROAD TO THE CITY by Natalia Ginzburg (1947, Daunt Books 2021) translated from the Italian by Frances Frenaye #WIT
  • TWO DAYS IN ARAGON by Molly Keane (1941, Virago 1986)
  • PROLETERKA by Fleur Jaeggy (2001, And Other Stories 2019) translated from the Italian by Alastair McEwen #WIT
  • GRAND HOTEL by Vicki Baum (1929, NYRB Classics 2016) translated from the German by Basil Creighton with revisions by Margot Bettauer Dembo #WIT #NYRBWomen23
  • THE WAR: A MEMOIR by Marguerite Duras (1985, The New Press 1994) translated from the French by Barbara Bray #WIT
  • PANICS by Barbara Molinard (1969, Feminist Press 2022) translated from the French by Emma Ramadan #WIT​
  • JOAN by Katherine J. Chen (2022, Random House) #Bookclub
  • MEN IN THE OFF HOURS by Anne Carson (2000, Vintage Books 2001)
  • STORIES I FORGOT TO TELL YOU by Dorothy Gallagher (2020, NYRB Imprints)
  • MRS. DALLOWAY'S PARTY by Virginia Woolf (1923, Harcourt Brace & Co 1973) edited with an introduction by Stella McNichol
  • YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN by Dorothy Baker (1938, NYRB Classics 2012) #NYRBWomen23​
January
  • THE TRUE HEART by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1929, Penguin 2021)
  • FROST IN MAY by Antonia White (1933, Virago 1991)
  • RUN TOWARDS THE DANGER: CONFRONTATIONS WITH A BODY OF MEMORY by Sarah Polley (2022, Penguin Press) #Bookclub
  • LOTE by Shola Von Reinhold (2020, Jacaranda Books) **Don't miss this One Bright Book episode discussing LOTE.
  • SCHOOL FOR LOVE by Olivia Manning (1951, NYRB Classics 2009) #NYRBWomen23
  • COCKROACHES by Scholastique Mukasonga (2006, Archipelago Books 2020) translated from the French by Jordan Stump #WIT 
  • THE BAREFOOT WOMAN by Scholastique Mukasonga (2008, Archipelago Books 2018) translated from the French by Jordan Stump #WIT 
  • IGIFU by Scholastique Mukasonga (2010, Archipelago Books 2020) translated from the French by Jordan Stump #WIT **Don't miss this The Mookse & the Gripes episode discussing Mukasonga's work.​
  • ​THE HEARING TRUMPET by Leonora Carrington (1974, NYRB Classics 2020) #NYRBWomen23
  • THE SURREAL LIFE OF LEONORA CARRINGTON by Joanna Moorhead (2017, Virago 2019)
  • A BOOK OF DAYS by Patti Smith (2021, Random House)