Books to read in 2023

By Linda Cicoira

     It’s nearly 2023! Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday that the world was wondering what the turn of the century might bring. Then, in 2020, we tried to be optimistic about the isolation and hoped (and prayed) for survival of the great pandemic.

     In 2022, we had the capital incident, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, the great gas and food hikes, and much more. Honestly, I’m just ready to enjoy a good novel and escape. A goal in 2022 was to read more books, but the year is nearly gone and I am still just thinking about it. I’m not much for resolutions. I never keep them for more than a week or so.

    Writing about favorite books of the year has been an annual exercise for me to get through the slow news time during the holidays and to discover what I’m missing.

     So here is some 2023 inspiration. Yippee!

     I always take a tip from my friend, Patricia Hart, a Wachapreaguer, who reads constantly. Hart recommended, “The Rapture of Canaan,” by Sheri Reynolds. “It just kept my curiosity,” she said. “It kept me guessing what was going to happen next. I like a mystery.” Hart is sure that her next read, also a Reynolds book, “A Gracious Plenty,” will also be great.

     Traci Johnson, Northampton’s Clerk of the Circuit Court, has seen a lot of mystery in her job. She recommended “Verity,” by Colleen Hoover. “Grabs you from the first sentence,” Johnson said. “I read it overnight!” It “was so good!” She also gave a shout out for “Where the Crawdads Sing,” by Delia Owens, a 2018 coming-of-age murder mystery novel. The story follows two timelines that slowly intertwine. The first describes the life and adventures of a young girl as she grows up isolated in the marshes of North Carolina.The second follows an investigation into the apparent murder of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity.

     “The Greatest Miracle in the World,” by Og Madino, was recommended by Barry Drew, who now lives in Maine. It’s the mystical story about the life changing events in one man’s life and how readers may change their own lives. Drew called it “excellent” and “inspirational.”  He said he had heard about the book and went to four book stores looking for it. “Nobody had it,” he said. “I was really bummed.” Three days later he received it in the mail from a woman in Boston he did not know. “It gave me goosebumps as soon as I saw it,” Drew said. “I’m dead serious. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it.”

     David Lassiter, of Onancock, suggested, “This Is Not the Story You Think It is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness,” by Laura Munson. Amazon says both the essay and the book are ultimately about how to be responsible for your own well-being, especially during a crisis. Lassiter also recommended “Beak of the Finch,” by Jonathan Weiner. Washington Post Book World described it as “a dramatic story of groundbreaking scientific research of Darwin’s discovery of evolution that “sparks not just the intellect, but the imagination.”

     And finally, Judy Granz Reasonover, of Temperanceville, recommended, “Daylight, by David Baldacci (Ball-doch-e), a favorite writer for her. In the thriller, an FBI agent’s search for her sister clashes with a military investigator’s high-stakes case, leading them both into a global conspiracy.

        I caught a glimpse of a volume while searching the internet. “Lessons in Chemistry,” by Bonnie Garmus, is the Barnes and Noble Book of the Year and has been on the New York Times Bestseller’s List for six weeks or more. Traveling to 1960s California sounds interesting. I’ve never seen the Pacific Ocean. The main character is a scientist who finds herself being the host of a TV cooking show. Okay, food and travel and the story has already been picked up as an Apple TV series. I’ll try it.

         Happy New Year!