http://www.jonimacfarlane.com/blog
After a bit of an extended break, I've come to decide that I miss blogging. Yes, it's time-consuming, and yes, I confess to a little self-pity wondering if anyone ever reads, or cares, about my blogs. But I love books and I love reading, and when I get right down to it, my blog is a great vehicle to combine the two. Not to mention, getting a little self-discipline for the writing life while I'm at it. So, dear reader, I'm back. First, let's talk about books of 2023. Here are my top picks: Top Fiction: The Wasted Vigil, Nadeem Aslam Top Canadian Fiction: Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng Top Commonwealth Fiction: The Queen of Dirt Island, Donal Ryan Top Short Story Collection: Animal Person, Alexander MacLeod Top Book from an Indigenous Writer: The Circle, Katherena Vermette Top Classic: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Top Canadian Non-Fiction: Wake, Linden MacIntyre Top Non-Fiction: Wager, David Grann Top Fictionalized book based on true events: Everything Turns Away, Michelle Berry Top book I couldn’t forget: The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moshin Hamid Other Reads: We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies, Tsering Yangzom Lama The Sleeping Car Porter Suzette Mayr Trust, Herman Diaz Winning, Katherine Koller Pathway Through Peril, Agnes Thibert Shallow Rapids, Tyler Trafford Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia Greenwood, Michael Christie A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers Hotline, Dimitri Nasrallah Possessed Jawita Bydlowska All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, Rebecca Donner Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, Kate Beaton Fayne, Ann Marie-MacDonald Women Talking, Miriam Toews The Children of Men, P.D. James The Lonely Hearts Hotel, Heather O'Neill The Golden Legend, Nadeem Aslam Born A Crime, Trevor Noah Lark Ascending, Silas House Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton The Almost Widow, Gail Anderson-Dargetz A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis Wide Sargasso Seam Jean Rhys The End of the Alphabet, C.S. Richardson The Bear's Embrace, Patricia Van Tighem Snow Road Station, Elizabeth Hay Beloved, Toni Morrison Sentimentalists, Johanna Skisbsrud Traitor, Jim Walker The Whispers, Ashley Audrain Big If, Mark Costello Earthly Possessions, Anne Tyler The Magician's Assistant, Ann Patchett Tom Lake, Ann Patchett Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Grams The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams The Adversary, Michael Crummy Unwanted, Kristina Ohlsson Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, Patrick Radden Keefe The Theory of Crows, David A. Robertson All the Colour in the World, C.S. Richardson The Double Life of Benson Yu, Kevin Chong The Ash Garden, Dennis Bock A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer Away from the Dead, David Bergen Wolf Winter, Cecilia Ekback There were some hits and misses, but mostly, there were just so many great books to be read. Interesting to me, was that when deciding on my "Top" books, the most difficult category from which to choose was Canadian Fiction. We are so lucky in this big beautiful country to have such an amazing pool of talent, young and old. What's coming up in 2024? Stay tuned and be sure I'll be blogging about it. And on that note, if you have a chance, please let me know what you'd like to see: In-depth book reviews? Shorter reviews of say 3-6? Or just me yakking about whatever book/writing topic I feel like? Would be helpful for me to know. Thanks so much for being a part of my writing journey. I am filled with gratitude to have this platform and devoted bookworms like you. Stay healthy, and in the meantime, happy reading. Joni
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