My Favourite Fiction Books of 2023 ☕📚
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Hi beautiful people, lovely readers of the Internet. This is my 2023 fiction wrap-up, 8 must-read fiction.
Better late than never!--besides, 2024 barely started and people are still filling up their yearly TBR (as if filling up your TBR ever stops).
There's an array of books for all readers, although if we'd have to box it all up into a category of fiction, I'd say these are mostly literary fiction. A couple of these center on love, and they are of various lengths.
But here's a list anyway
00:00 Intro with a wonderful quote by James Wood
1:23 A short story collection by Amina Cain
for lovers of Claire Keegan, spare prose style, and very short succinct, atmospheric stories
4:44 #7 Climate fiction by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Set in near-future Florida by the author who wrote the novel that the film starring George Clooney as a scientist in the Arctic was based on.
8:45 A Satire on writers: Mona.
An intelligent, witty, bizarre, and wild satire on writers, contemporary fiction, a novel originally written in Spanish by Pola Oloixarac, with a wild, pot-smoking, beautiful female narrator.
11:09 An Italian Novella
A recently revived, reprinted, Italian novella by a badass feminist writer set in the 50s (the legendary Natalia Ginzburg) that opens with a reversal of the usual marriage collapse by death -- this time, she shoots the husband.
16:38 A Lesbian Love Affair
A queer, lesbian love story in lush, lyrical prose - full of passion and desire and naked-women vibes, by Jeanette Winterson
20:23 A novel-in-stories on Love
An exploration of the different shades of love and desire as one man goes through life from childhood to adulthood, by André Aciman.
20:28 A fictional biography of an elusive Artist
An intelligent, fictional biography, mystery, and detective story, set in an alternate past in the US - explores the role of art in society, and the elusive nature of the ones we think we know. by Catherine Lacey
30:33 Genre-bending novel on Technology and AI and geniuses
A masterpiece of genre-bending literature exploring the real and fictional lives of world-shattering physicists and mathematicians - yes, one of them is a dark horseman of the apocalypse - and a chilling account of AI prowess recounting AlphaGo and DeepMind victory over world Go Champion -- The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut
#booktube #bookrecommendations #favouritebooks #mustread
Пікірлер: 46
I have no idea where you have been your whole life because you should have been here in booktube with us… glad that you found your way here. Nice to meet you… loved your recommendations… ❤ and I will be waiting for more ✌🏼
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Through the screen, nice to meet you too! And thank you!! You're right... took a while for me to just go for it but there's nothing better than going on and on about books! Hope you like what's coming soon!
@sylandbooks
3 ай бұрын
Echoeing this! Thankful YT brought you to my feed 😍 I love how your sélection is far from the Booktube/tok trends
Glad this came up in my reccomendations. Nearly all added to my tbr. Subscribed :)
Great video! Many interesting authors I knew nothing about before
I'm so here for your channel! Your style is wonderful and I appreciate the work you put into your edits. The text on screen as you read quotations is really helpful, and I love page-turning sound effect in your transitions. Your book choices are so outside of my world, so it's super interesting to hear about them. I did once read a Jeanette Winterson book - Sexing the Cherry, but I barely remember it. I'm so glad you commented on my newbie tag video and pulled me over to your channel!
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment and for watching my suggestions! I also love hearing and learning about new books. I often love reading outside of what I know / usually read. I guess that’s how my taste and palette changes every year… the more widely I read and am surprised by new books the more it adds to the endless list of books I want to read though haha. I will definitely look into the ones you discuss!
@CamsCampbellReads
4 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc I just added The Maniac to my TBR. BookTube is such a trip! And lol to the endless list. I guess we'll never run out of content :)
LOVE THIS STYLE OF YOUR VIDEO, CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
THANK YOU SO MUCH
I am so obsessed with your channel one video in 🤩👏
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
Yay! That's super encouraging 🤩
I LOVE your channel. I've already bought a few of your recommended books. Keep up the great work!
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
Ouuuuu thank you 🤍 please do tell what you think when you’ve read them 🙏
Hey Sarah! I just stumbled upon your channel, and I'm already loving your vibe! Can't wait to binge-watch all your videos. Welcome to BookTube, and consider me your newest subscriber!
Lovely!
❤
Is it ok to ask you share all the books titles and authors names in the video? Maybe you can also make chapters in the video ? 😊
I love Amina Cain and love your style of talking about books.
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Thank you!! Too happy to do it
Oh Natalia Ginzburg! I'm living for people reading and loving her books. If you like her you might also like Cesare Pavese, Beppe Fenoglio or Elsa Morante. They are other major authors in Italian literature and I swear they really deserve your time.
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
Yesss ! Im releasing a new video soon actually with my friend and I discussing and reviewing a good handful of her books. I’m now into the oeuvre of Elena Ferrante! Have you read her books? She writes about Elsa Morante a lot in her interviews so I was thinking of reading her. I have one on my TBR from Cesare Pavese, very much looking forward to it. I’ve never heard of Beppe Fenoglio! Thanks for your recommendations. Which books of these authors do you recommend starting with?
@chiyokotakeda309
4 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc Yes! I've read quite a lot of Elena Ferrante and I really think that if you like her, you will definitely like Elsa Morante. The books she's most well known for are "History", "Arturo's Island" (which won the most important literary prize of Italy, Premio Strega) and "Lies and sorcery" which I think are all good starting points if you want to get into her. But I honestly think that "Lies and sorcery" is her most beautiful novel. Also, if you decide to start with "History" I would recommend to read a bit about the Italian situation during WWII in the years between 1943 and 1945 to better understand what's going on in the novel. As for Beppe Fenoglio, I think there are only 2 books of his that have been translated and they are "The Twenty-three Days of the City of Alba" and "A private affair", so if you want to read him the choice is quite limited. I really loved "A private affair", it's set in the end of WWII and it's the story of Milton who's part of the partisans fighting against the fascists. He's trying to save his friend Giorgio from the hands of the fascist, but his motives are not the best as he wants to "interrogate" Giorgio about his relationship with this girl Fulvia that Milton also loved. So the private affair of the title refers to how he's pursuing this personal objective in the midst of the caos, civil war and massacre. And one last thing, if you like Elena Ferrante and want to read a really great short story, you can look up "A pair of eyeglasses" by Anna Maria Ortese (you can find it easily on the internet and I think it will only take like 20 minutes to read this story). Anna Maria Ortese is also an Italian author, she's less well-known even in Italy, but I think she really has a mastery of the Italian language that few authors have. Sorry for the long message, I get really passionate about these authors :) I also can't wait for your video on Natalia Ginzburg because I really love hearing people's opinion on her books! And I would really love to know what Cesare Pavese book you're planning on reading.
@SarahFoulc
4 ай бұрын
@@chiyokotakeda309 Wow thanks so much for this, this is amazing, I guess this year will be Italian-themed! Do you speak Italian? Did you read them in their original language or translated? How about "House of Lies" by Elsa Morante, (or is it "liars"?) have you read that one? -- I will without a doubt pick up your book recommendations ;)
@chiyokotakeda309
4 ай бұрын
@sarahandthebookbath Yeah, I'm actually Italian so I've read them in the original (my name on KZread was a choice I made at 15 in honor of a character I really loved 😅) And "House of lies" is just another title for "Lies and Sorcery", I guess it depends from the translation :)
The Maniac was one of my best reads of 2023 too! Such a compelling read, love love love Benjamin Labatut
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Same he was all I ever needed in life hahaha! Well… his books 🥲
@Fevrier95x
3 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc girl i met him during the book launching and i kinda need him too tbh loool 😭
Aaaah Written in the Body is one of my favorite novels. It was also super transgresive when it was published. I was only 15 when I read it and it changed my life
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Woahhhhh that's super cool, tell me more!!! Were you like, "Ok, I'm gay" or it changed your life in another way? hahah
@tirarosaurioreads
3 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc Well, I am hetero (for the most part lol) and 42 now, but back in the day it really opened my mind about other ways to love, s3x val orientations and how irrelevant or fluid gender can be (meaning how the book is written in a way that you do not really know the gender of the narrator).
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
That's SO true!! I was mesmerised by the prose and i think i took for granted the knowledge of gender fluidity to really take into account how it must have felt like to read this at the time it was published... Yet it's strangely not a very popular book, is it?? (in comparison i mean) @@tirarosaurioreads
@tirarosaurioreads
3 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc Exactly! Back in the day it was deemed either scandalous or very eye-opening, depending on the kind of reader who encountered it. In my case it was eye opening. I remember reading it not knowing anything about it, and finding it mind blowing and so beautiful and raw at the same time. Then later on I saw all kinds of extremes views about it in the book media of the time. Regarding how it's not the most well known or popular book by her, yes I think part of the word of mouth for it may have faded a bit over the decades precisely because how far ahead we have gone as a society regarding its themes. So what was shocking back then it is now naturally accepted (as it should be) to a great extent, at least.
im so glad i found your channel! im now subscribed. these sound like v interesting books! ive always wanted to read enigma variations, as cmbyn completely floored me, and i hv a thing for prose stylists and lyrical writing. based on ur commentary i think i will finally pick it up. other than cmbyn, i read aciman's memoir called out of egypt. and its one of the most enthralling things ive ever read, almost surpassing cmbyn for me. but then again ive also read find me. and unfortunately disliked it as i found it rather pretentious and corny, and it made me hestitant to continue reading his other works.
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
I think maybe his publishers commissioned him for a follow up / sequel and it didn’t work out! - I have deeply resonated with enigma variations because the writing is my thing but also one of the stories there really hit home. But it’s not the usual novel for sure (more of a novel-in-stories type of thing). I haven’t read Out of Egypt yet but I’m excited to do so! I will eventually read all of his books. I actually prefer his essays/nonfiction. I’ve read a couple of his essay collections and they’re always great. But they go quite deep into literary theory sometimes so could get boring or too much if you’re not into that but still ! I’ll take this as my cue to read out of Egypt ;)
okay your vibes and everything are amazing im so happy i found your channel
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Ohhh hiiiii I actually follow you and your friend Quirine on insta! so funny! never realised you would have youtube too i'm totally gonna go check your channel out right awayyyy! Glad you like it
@leoraaileen
3 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc haha omg hi!!! I actually started as a youtuber 10+ years ago lollll insta is my side thing tbh
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
@@leoraaileen oooooh that's super cool ! I've actually deleted insta recently because it was getting bad for my mental health (maybe i should have done it just with the personal account, my bookstagram account was just filled with book stuff haha) When did KZread really kick off for you / or when did you make it a "full-time" thing? Or is it? // You live in the Netherlands right? If you ever pass by Antwerp let's hang at bookstores xx
Hey, just found your channel and watched a bunch of your videos! I really enjoy your content and I was wondering if you maybe see a belated fave nonfiction of 2023 video down the line? I'd love to watch that!
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Ouuuuu yes absolutely! Definitely coming soon, which I think I'll just label my favourite non fiction books (since I only started seriously reading non fiction in 2023 anyway!hehe)
Here at 1:19 and very much subscribing!!
just discovered your channel! your voice sounds a little bit like chloë grace moretz?
@SarahFoulc
3 ай бұрын
Hi there! Hahaha, I shall take that as a compliment? Seeing as she is divine I don't feel like I live up to it though hahahah
@nna_oj
3 ай бұрын
@@SarahFoulc a compliment for sure, your voice is so nice to listen to!!
Okay, two things. 1. Wow. So you reading out parts from some of these books makes me actually want to read literary fiction? What? Never thought that would happen. 2. Umm.... but when I checked the description for the book titles the descriptions were super weird. What was that about?