my 2023 in reads

A list of every single thing I read this year.

Ancient manuscript seen at The Getty in Los Angeles.

2023 wasn’t my best but certainly wasn’t my worst year in reads. Sometimes you just hit a stride and 2022 was an especially rewarding reading year. I read Eve Babitz for the first time (an experience I wish I could have again) and three books that have transformed my understanding of life, or at least how I want to live it: On Freedom by Maggie Nelson, The Subversive Simone Weil by Robert Zaretsky, and On Beauty and Being Just by Elaine Scarry. Weil’s writings and On Beauty and Being Just were works I’d encountered many a time through other beloved writers, including Nelson and Zadie Smith. (The title of Zadie Smith’s third novel, On Beauty, is a reference to Scarry’s work.) These books offered illumination while also being intellectually and philosophically challenging. Very fulfilling reading experiences.

From a day spent perusing the shelves at LA’s Central Library.

I was drawn to those three titles because I’d been ruminating on the concepts of attention and beauty for some time. I wondered about the philosophy behind both. I’d started to notice the significance both held in my life. Why was I suddenly transformed by the act of noticing and taking photographs of the flowers I saw? Why did I feel embarrassed if someone saw me? Why did it feel so indulgent, even naive, when there was so much to worry about? But why, then, did it make me feel lighter, like I was seeing more clearly, like these beautiful things were calling out to me, begging, really, for me to take notice?

The library at the community garden.

I’m not a religious person, but lately when I see something beautiful, I’ve said to myself, sort of jokingly and dramatically, “Honey, that’s God calling out to you!”

God, the universe, whatever you want to believe in. But it’s true; life is full of moments of synchronicity and grace. Sometimes they pass by us unnoticed, but other times we catch a glimmer or trace that stops us in our tracks. When I’m distracted, when my attention has been co-opted by my anxieties or frankly other people, these moments become less frequent. Reading is an act that transforms my capacity for attention and awareness. I read for pleasure and insight and advice, but also for the sense of daydreaming it offers me.

The beautiful library at Japan House in Hollywood.

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Lo and behold, here is the list! My general reading goal is a book a week, so 52 titles a year. I’m not always consistent; sometimes I read nothing in a week, sometimes 4.

This list includes plays, monographs, and magazines. In bold are my favorites. Yes, there are even a few titles in here that are in the category of self-help… That tells you what kind of year I was having. 2023, don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

My 2023 in reads:

1. Sula by Toni Morrison

2. How to Be An Adult in Relationships: 5 Keys to Mindful Loving by David Richo (I honestly believe every human would benefit from reading this book.)

3. “Because of the King of France” by Adrienne Kennedy (Last year, I interviewed editor Christopher Niquet of Study Magazine on an issue dedicated to Kennedy. I first encountered her work through this assignment, and I was blown away by the fact that I’d never heard of her.)