Books I’ve read in 2023

So far.

I’ve been wanting to get back into casual reading, so I made it a goal of mine to read 6 books this year – one bi- monthly. To my delight, I have already done 6 despite there being 4 more months to go until the year ends. 

To celebrate this achievement, I thought I would share with you my thoughts on these books. 

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams – This was the first book I picked up this year and I’ll be honest with you, I only read it because Paul Mescal was playing the leading man in a London production of the play. My apologies if that wasn’t very literary cool girl of me. 

This book is a play and while plays are rarely my go-to literary genre (I prefer watching them instead), I thought it was quite enjoyable standing in front of my bedroom mirror, reading out the lines. It’s a story about an ex-Southern Belle who, following the loss of their family’s fortune, moves in with her sister and brother-in-law in their small apartment. 

Some parts were pretty tough to read, and the story overall didn’t really appeal to me, so I would say this was just an alright read.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha – Now this one left an impression on me. So much so that I dare deem it the best book I read this year. The story follows 4 women in South Korea whose lives becomes entangled as they grapple with their place in a society that is heavily dictated by impossible beauty standards. 

It was confronting to learn of the way South Korean women live where physical beauty is a highly valuable currency that brings in many privileges (if you are beautiful by patriarchal standards, that is). I think this book hits close to home – despite not being South Korean myself – because the imposition of beauty standards haunts women and young girls everywhere. 

I was literally gasping in disbelief and furrowing my eyebrows in anger throughout my five days reading this. I think you should read it too. 

Idol, Burning by Rin Usami – Probably the most unsettling book I read this year. I did not enjoy it as much as I wanted to because every time I flip through a page, my stomach was twisting in anxiety. It’s a fangirl story but a very extreme one. We witness the descent of a girl’s livelihood and wellbeing as she becomes more and more obsessed with a J-Pop idol. 

I don’t really know what more I could say about the substance of this book because I think my brain supressed it, but it is a rather terrifying illustration of celebrity parasocial relationships and its impact on young women. I finished the book being thankful of my mother for keeping a reasonable reign on me during my One Direction/5SOS fangirl era.  

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion – Ok, I’ll be honest with you again, I definitely picked this one up because I wanted to feel like a literary cool girl. The book is a compilation of selected Joan Didion essays featuring stories of California, New York, motherhood, life in the 70s, etc. 

Unfortunately, I think I might’ve fallen for the hype on BookTok a little bit too much because the book didn’t really do it for me and that really broke my heart. I really wanted to like it. But alas, I didn’t, and it’s not because Joan Didion isn’t a good writer – she’s an icon for a reason – but I think it’s because not all her essays spoke to me or interested me, so I couldn’t say I enjoyed the book wholly. 

The ones that I did enjoy though, I enjoyed a lot. They were Goodbye to All That, On Keeping a Notebook, and Marrying Absurd. I think I might try her fictions next, maybe those will win me over. 

Galatea by Madeline Miller – It’s a really short story, so my comments will also be short: her last two books we’re beautiful and this one is no less. It’s a short retelling of the Greek mythology, Galatea, who tries to rescue her child and escape her obsessive husband. 

When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah – I got this one from a panel interview with the author at this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week. It’s about two highschoolers from very different backgrounds with very different social views falling in love. While that may be the basis of the story, the book also highlights the traumatic experiences faced by refugees both during and after living in detention centres, their constant struggle with xenophobia and racism, and how a child’s perception of other’s is deeply dependent on the way their parents view and treat other people. 

It is a YA fiction, so I really shouldn’t have gone in expecting there to be in-depth discussions on social and political issues – it’s meant to be palatable and digestible for its intended audience and I’m not really it. Nonetheless, it was an interesting read. 

Some books I want to read next:

• Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda – A young vampire who is half Malaysian (OMG!) wants to live and eat like a normal human. Not only do I want to read this because the main character is Malaysian but also because vampires in Malaysia are known as the very terrifying, Pontianak, so I’m curious to read this author’s version of an iconic folk horror character. 
• Intimacies by Katie Kitamura – A women gets caught up in a bunch of dramas working as an interpreter for The International Court in Hague. Languages, law… and drama? It would be rude not to get it. 
• King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green – I was watching Shrek The Third and remembered how big of a crush 7 year-old-me had on Prince Arthur, so now I’m curious what his deal is.