Reader's Digest: Best Books

Looking back at the past year and at years previous, it occurred to me that I could disaggregate my nascently traditional “Year in Review” from “The Best Books of 202x.” Instead of burying my book recommendations at the end of a post about myself—in a vain attempt to balance the karma of vanity—I could give the books I most admired their own proprietary newsletter. So here it is.

In 2022, my favourite novels were Pure Color by Sheila Heti and The Delivery by Peter Mendelsund. My analysis was appropriately pithy, if not illuminating: “Both short, funny, and philosophical.” I’ve been meaning to reread and write about The Delivery some time. Maybe next year?

In 2023, I loved Kate Briggs on translation and Laura Beatty’s Looking for Theophrastus. Having written about both, I took the opportunity for self-promotion, linking to my own posts, thereby nullifying any karmic benefit.

I’ll do the same, this year, with Ali Smith’s lecture-novel, Artful, and Lara Pawson’s equally trans-generic essay-…