Nice & Niche Book Awards of 2023

I promise not to spoil Lolita for you.

Since elementary school, I’ve kept lists of all the books I’ve read. The lists are disorganized, strewn across journals in my current home and in my childhood bedroom. It comforts me to know I could technically patchwork together my history of bookish inputs. In elementary school, I had a rating system out of ten stars, and I’d write reviews of most of the books. I have always been a tough critic. By which I mean, it’s tough for me to be a critic. That’s especially true now, on the internet, because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, jeopardize my future job prospects, or lie. In addition, spoilers are so hard to avoid, and I hate to be part of the problem. A few years ago, I spoiled Lolita for my friend. The book was published in 1955, but that’s not an excuse.

Me as a young reader with my shoes on the couch.

Despite these limitations, I have some book awards to share before the clock strikes 2024, and we all make like Ryan Atwood and run dramatically to the tune of “Dice” by Finley Quaye, and then listen to the tragic yet perfect “The New Year” by Death Cab for Cutie. (“I wish the world was flat like the old days, then I could travel just by folding the map…”)

Forgive my digression into NYE rituals set to an aughts soundtrack. Back to the point. Books. 2023.

The eligible books are the 31 books I read this year, which are a secret between me and my seven friends on Goodreads, and the categories are as niche as can be. 

Best Audiobook To Eavesdrop On

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

My husband and I listened to this book together. By which I mean that I was listening to this book alone, and he kept lingering nearby, making comments, reacting animatedly, and requesting plot summaries to catch him up when I listened without him. He was as frustrated as I was when the library DELETED IT FROM MY LIBBY APP on the due date, and I had to wait a few weeks to get it back. But don’t worry, when I listened to the second half, he was even more invested. He loves Six Thirty the dog and thinks the book is somewhat like Great Expectations, which I haven’t read, but I’ve heard is good.

Best Celebrity Autobiography

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

I loved this book, and I recommend the audiobook performed by Michelle Williams. Fascinating, heartbreaking, confounding, and very upsetting. When I finished listening, it was all I could talk about for a few days. I watched the two NY Times docs on the subject, which my husband joined me for because he “likes to hang out with me,” but then afterwards he was ready to move on from the topic, so I had to make plans with other people so I could keep talking about it.

Best Graphic Novel

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Okay fine, it’s the only graphic novel I read this year. I laughed, I cried, and I sent my aunt an email about it.

Best Epic Which My Therapist Says Is “Too Sad” For Her To Read

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I’m compelled to call this a tour de force. This was recommended to me years ago but I knew it was historical and I wasn’t particularly interested in a very historical novel. Well guess what?! It’s not! She tells you everything you need to know, and it’s fascinating and grounded in a dramatic family story through the generations. Worth the tears, the time, and the wait. 

Best Salacious Memoir

Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles by Kate Flannery

Kate Flannery is not Meredith from The Office, although she has the same name. She’s a survivor of the cult of American Apparel. The early aughts were really gross, and this audiobook takes you on the journey. I won’t get into details because: spoilers. This was also a contender for Best Audiobook To Eavesdrop On.

Best Book To Keep You Up Late

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Gah!!! She can write, and you’re an adult, so you can stay up reading as late as you want! When I was a kid, this wasn’t the case. After I complained about my parents making me go to bed before I had read to my heart’s content, my friend gifted me a small reading light. What did she take me for, a rebel?

MVP Author

Elizabeth Strout

Strout is the only author I read more than one book by this year, and I love her and am thrilled that I’ve only just dipped into her catalog. 

This is a good time for me to admit I only finished one book written by a man this year. By chance? Well… In 2017, I decided to only read books by women, to reprogram my mind after decades of education where most of the required books and cultural references were by and about white men. My approach was applauded by most women and one male coworker and hailed as “cute” by my slightly sexist male neurologist. (This was one of three strikes, I don’t fling that label around without cause.) I don’t live by this rule anymore, but the 30 to 1 ratio tells me the proclivity persists. Nevertheless, she persists!

Et voila! Happy New Year! Want to ring it in with some niche book awards from your own past 12 months? Comment below, I’d love to read about what you read, too.