Books of 2023

Finishing out the year — my round-up of books I read in 2023. Only 68 to last year’s 82, but I think it’s not a bad showing considering that there was a lot going on in 2023. Although the list is bulked out a little by my re-reading of the Red Riding Quartet in November.

Feels like a lot less non-fiction this year as well; not intentional, and the odd bit surfaced here and there throughout the year (see the history of Factory Records that I talked about a couple of months ago), but apparently I’ve had my mind on fiction more than not.

You might notice at the end of December, I go off on a Games Workshop tear. A long time ago, when I was still working as a consultant, I started reading the Horus Heresy books, as they were very easy to read on planes. Of course, this being Games Workshop, the series ballooned into a hilarious 50+ title set explaining in big capital letters to its fanbase “the Emperor was a fool, and the Imperium of Man are not something to admire, you useless idiots”. But I idly went to the Black Library site the other day and saw that the Siege of Terra series was coming to an end. Although I didn’t realise that there’s still a Volume III of the final book to come out next year. So, for those for aren’t keeping count at home, that’s 54 books or so of the main Horus series, which then leads into an eight book series of just the final siege, of which the final book is spread across three separate volumes. They’re masters of dragging this thing out. Anyway, reading the dying embers of a fading dream as the forces of chaos pound on the gates feels like an appropriate way of ushering in 2024…