{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Best Books of 2023 \u2022 Episode #154","description":"It's our 2023 review of the year. Join me (Kate), Laura and Phil as we look back over our favourites, from new releases to backlist gems. Find out our overall book of the year, plus the books we're looking forward to in 2024. If you're wondering what to read next, this is the show for you, with over fifty tried and tested recommendations. Support the show, get our weekly newsletter or join our monthly book club via Patreon. Follow us on Instagram or Threads Find full shownotes and a transcript on our website thebookclubreview.co.uk Book list Favourite New Release  August Blue by Deborah Levy  The Rainbow by Yasunari Kawabata, and we also discussed Snow Country  Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks&amp;nbsp;  Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton  Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan &amp;nbsp; Favourite backlist title  Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald  The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston Charlotte by David Foenkinos  A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr  A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel  Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd &amp;nbsp; Favourite non-fiction  This Much is True by Miriam Margolyes  A House of Air (collected writing, ed. Hermione Lee) by Penelope Fitzgerald&amp;nbsp;  The Palace Papers by Tina Brown  How to Talk About Books you Haven\u2019t Read by Piere Bayard Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles&amp;nbsp;  Free by Lea Ypi &amp;nbsp; Favourite Book Club Read Super Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Katherine Rundell The Years by Annie Ernaux &amp;nbsp; Favourite comfort reads  Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe  The Grove: A Nature Odyssey in 191\/2 Front Gardens by Ben Dark  Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire  Madensky Square by Iva Ibbotson  Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld  Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O\u2019Farrell  Going Zero by Anthony McCarten &amp;nbsp; Most disappointed by The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton  Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (but do read  Sabrina and Corina) &amp;nbsp; Patreon recommends  Loot by Tania James  Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen  Cider House Rules by John Irving  Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung  The Axman\u2019s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey Not Now Not Ever by Julia Gillard  All That\u2019s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien  River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer  The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey Machines Like Me by Ian McKewan Death and the Penguin by Andrei Kurkov The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting &amp;nbsp; Overall Book(s) of 2023 Septology by Jon Fosse (and we mentioned Morning and Evening)  Stay True by Hua Hsu How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo  The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff  Monsters by Claire Dederer &amp;nbsp; Books we\u2019re looking forward to Arturo\u2019s Island by Elsa Moranti  Rememberance of Things Past by Proust (vol. 3)  Miss Benson\u2019s Beetle by Rachel Joyce Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford Tremor by Teju Cole The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut &amp;nbsp; ","author_name":"The Book Club Review","author_url":"https:\/\/www.thebookclubreview.co.uk","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/29268983\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/165625508"}