2023 Year-in-Review

In which I share my reading journey for 2023

Exploring the intersection of life and literature to answer the questions how do the books we read influence our lives and how do our life experiences influence the books we choose.

---

And that’s a wrap folks! 2023 is in the history books. It has been quite a year!

For the past several years my Year-in-Review has been posted on social media for friends and family. This year it comes in this format. The experience with this great community of readers and writers has been truly wonderful. I am grateful to have you all along for this journey.

---

2023 Year-in-Review

This year I read books ranging from bestsellers to classics to the complete works of Shakespeare. My experiences as a reader this year helped to shape and form my writing which has brought me so much joy.

Book of the Year

*Stay tuned in January for a review of this beautiful work of art. It blew me away!

Here is the complete list in alphabetical order by author:

Aeschylus

• Prometheus Bound

Austen, Jane

• Persuasion

Backman, Fredrik

• The Deal of a Lifetime

Bellow, Saul

• Ravelstein

Box, C.J.

• Below Zero

• Blood Trail

• Breaking Point

• Cold Wind

• Free Fire

• Force of Nature

• In Plain Sight

• Nowhere to Run

Brands, H.W.

• Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West

Bronte, Charlotte

• Jane Eyre

Brusatte, Stephen

• The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World

Burke, Brian

• The Hands-off Investor

Card, Orson Scott

• Ender’s Game

• Speaker for the Dead

• Xenocide

Cather, Willa

• My Antonia

Cervantes, Miguel

• Don Quixote

Chodron, Pema

• When Things Fall Apart

Cohen, Joshua

• The Netanyahus

Connelly, Michael

• Desert Star

Conroy, Pat

• Prince of Tides

Dickens, Charles

• A Tale of Two Cities

• Great Expectations

Doerr, Anthony

• Cloud Cuckoo Land

Dostoevsky, Fyodor

• The Brothers Karamazov

Dumas, Alexandre

• The Count of Monte Cristo

Ellison, Ralph

• Invisible Man

Franzen, Jonathan

• Freedom

Gaiman, Neil

• Norse Mythology

Gawande, Atul

• Better

Hesse, Herman

• Siddhartha

Ibsen, Henrik

• Hedda Gabler

Isaacson, Walter

• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

• Einstein: His Life and Universe

Johnson, Adam

• The Orphan Master’s Son

Jordan, Robert

• A Crown of Swords

• A Memory of Light

• Crossroad of Twilight

• Knife of Dreams

• Lord of Chaos

• The Fires of Heaven

• The Gathering Storm

• The Shadow Rising

• The Path of Daggers

• Towers of Midnight

• Winter’s Heart

L’Amour, Louis

• Bowdrie

• Conagher

• Dark Canyon

• Kid Rodelo

• Lando

• North to the Rails

• The Man from the Broken Hills

• The Sackett Brand

Lee, Min Jin

• Pachinko

Martine, Arkady

• A Memory Called Empire

McGrath, Tim

• James Monroe: A Life

Milhauser, Steven

• Martin Dressler

Milton, John

• Paradise Lost

Mortenson, Greg

• Three Cups of Tea

Munro, Alice

• Carried Away

• Dear Life

Murakami, Haruki

• Hear the Wind Sing

• Kafka on the Shore

• Killing Commendatore

• Pinball, 1973

Orwell, George

• Animal Farm

Rhodes, Richard

• The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Robinson, Kim

• Red Mars

Shakespeare, William

• The Complete Works

Souder, William

• Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck

Steinbeck, John

• Cup of Gold

• The Pastures of Heaven

• The Red Pony

• To A God Unknown

Tartt, Donna

• The Secret History

Tolkien, J.R.R.

• The Fellowship of the Ring

• The Return of the King

• The Two Towers

Tolstoy, Leo

• War and Peace

Towles, Amor

• Rules of Civility

Traub, James

• John Quincy Adams

Verghese, Abraham

• The Covenant of Water

Wilde, Oscar

• The Importance of Being Earnest

Woolf, Virginia

• Orlando

---

If you made it this far, here is a throwback photo to winter, 1984, Lamar, CO. That’s me and my life-long friend, Melissia. It was a beautiful childhood and I am beyond blessed that she and I have stayed in touch for over 40 years.

Have a Happy New Year folks!

---

---

This publication is entirely reader supported. Please consider subscribing at one of the paid tiers. Thank you for your support.

---