The 10 BEST BOOKS I read in 2023

Hi Dakota, I was wondering if you read young adult fantasy books. I would love to send you an ARC for my book to be released on April 9, 2024 titled The Dark One's Hand. This is the blurb:

A summons from a long-lost mentor thrusts Reev Nax, a boy of uncertain parentage, into a fateful journey of discovery. Reev learns that an ancient evil has reawakened in the world of Varda, and that two prophetic figures, one the Hand of Light and the other, a man declared the Dark One's Hand, are predicted to appear. Along the way, Reev will meet many friends: Fortunato, a warrior and tracker; Wrinn, a former pit fighter; Ambrass, a serving girl whose fate may be written in the stars; and more. But as the world spirals into chaos, a question arises: who is the long-awaited hero, and who is the Dark One's Hand?

i haven't got 10 but my top 5 books of 2023 were (in no particular order):
- If Cats Disappeared From The World by Genki Kawamura
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
- No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Bunny by Mona Awad

Like if you watched before the black and white!

I strongly recommend The Torn Skirt by Rebecca Godfrey for a book on feral girlhood!

when I tell u Anaïs Nin SCARRED ME with Delta of Venus, I’m making an understatement.
That being said I liked her style so I think i have to check out A Spy in the House of Love bc I’d love to see her tackle something less… perverse that mermaid necrophilia 😅

the quote you read from Rilke's book "Letters to a Young Poet" is one of my favorite lines from all books ever. crying every time :')

my top reads of the year (in no particular order)
- the book of mother by violaine huisman
- song of silver, flame like night by amélie when zao
- journey under the midnight sun by keigo higashino
- stay with me by ayobami ayebayo
- even if this love disappears tonight by misaki ichijo
- red rising trilogy by pierce brown

So absurd that I was scouring the Internet for literature recommendations and I not only found them, but I also found an individual whose pure essence and demeanour just captivates and calms me. She needs to make a podcast.

Aaaaah "Written on the Body" is one of my favorite books ever :) Jeanette Winterson is such a genius.

Lady D I read 10 books last year, are you proud of me? 😅

Ahhh 🩷 Anais Nin, Jeanette winterson and Betty blue were my.early twenties loves. I'm 40 now and still adore. Great recommendations 🫶

- “Books without Handles” by Gerard Finstrommer

- “A Handbook for a Mermaid’s Seamstress” by Gabriel Pieter Mitre

- “On Carousal” by Philip Pony Jr.

- “seabrack” by billy woods and ELUCID

- “The Girl who Wore a Beehive” by Stanley Nordstrom

- “The Man without Quantities” by Bobby Pneumonia

Have you read Poor Things by Allistair Gray?

omg !! i found your channel when you only had 2 videos and then lost it, i'm so happy to see how much its grown !! you immediately drew me in and your videos made me want to pick up a book right then and there 📖😁 you deserve all the subs and more, can't wait to see what else you have to share🥰🤩

God I love You, I wish I had someone as passionate about reading AND with this magnificent taste in my life. But instead I'm giggling about the fact that I'm standing in the middle of my room just listening to You talk and we are both on the verge of tears because of old, magnificent use of language.

I love that you read such a variety.
Most of 2023 for me was a mid century sci-fi trip. It's so interesting what writers thought our modern world would be like 50 - 100 years ago.

you should also read Oranges are not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson, it's beautiful

My favourite books of the year were Lessons in chemistry, daisy jones and the six and eve green by Susan fletcher

My top five books of 2023:

- Just Kids (Patti Smith)

- Death in a strange Country (Donna Leon, just please read it its wonderful even if you don´t enjoy crime novels is funny and so, so touching)

- Franny and Zooey (J.D. Salinger, probably one of my favourites of all time)

- Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen probably my favourite of hers that i´ve read)

- Frankenstein (Mary Shelly, a masterfully crafted work, i can not believe she was just seventeen i adore her and i adore this book)

Letters to a Young Poet was in my top 10 as well....why don't we write letters like that anymore??!!
Best fiction was my discovery of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke...it's one of those books you can only read once for the first time.
Best in non-fiction was Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent, a meditation on what about growing/cultivating attracts the female soul. Best poetry, as always, Fernando Pessoa. I will die on this hill.

l

My best reads of 2023 in no order:

Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse Five
Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
William Golding - Lord of the Flies
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Charlotte Perkins Gilman - The Yellow Wallpaper
Kazuo Ishiguro - Remains of the Day
Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner
Graham Greene - The Quiet American
John Green - The Anthropocene Reviewed
Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita

anais nin is one of my fav female authors and i am so happy you gave her a chance with her least known works. her diaries (and the unexpurgated ones too) are fantastic, full of lyrical and ephemerical prose. de profundis by wilde is that kind of book that represents a wound in me that has not healed yet </3 love from argentina

Betty Blue sounds like Madame Bovary but with more communication

please do a video on annotating books

Hi! Love all your recommendations! Where is your outfit (shirt? dress?) from? Thanks in advance!

I watched Betty Blue a few days ago, loved it, had no idea it was originally a book... I've immediately ordered it 😅

thank you for this! Your book recs are amazing😍

my personal favs of 2023

1. Song of Achilles (obvi)
2. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
3. Mexican Gothic
4. Paradise Rot
5. My Dark Vanessa
6. Sharp Objects (agreed that one was SO good)
7. The Girl on the Train
8. Earthlings
9. Piranesi
10. The Courage to be Disliked

Pleaseeeee tell me what’s on your eyelids PLEASE 😍

Remember some of the best stories were never written just told(Real knowledge is heard never read(peace and love)🎥📺🎥

I read sharp objects last year and in my opinion, it's a masterpiece!

I was reluctant to read it because it seemed no different to any of the other popular thrillers, like girl on the train (which I hated). But im so glad I did pick it up, and since I've read gone girl and her short story the grownup and loved both (though I think sharp objects is unrivalled)

Some other of my 2023 favourites were
The road (most horrible book ive read, have not stopped thinking about it)
Wuthering heights and Rebecca (I have a soft spot for the gothic and wuthering heights is probably my #1 book of the year)
Someone like you (dark twisted funny stories by roaldh doahl)
Good omens (hilarious)
Things fall apart
The book thief 😢 (Most cried over book of the year)
Circe (simply beautiful)

Thank you for the recommendations!! 🍯🎯

Some of my faves from 2023:
-No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai
-The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
-De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
-The Collected Novellas of Stefan Zweig
-Mercies: Selected Poems by Anne Sexton

it's almost ALWAYS impossible for me to finish ur book recommendation videos bcos in the middle of watching i always get the strong urge to suddenly buy books and read books

❤❤❤

omg this is crazy i read those letters last year also !

as a sharp objects stan, it was so nice to finally see it in someone's best books video.

There is a really nice game called The Wanderer: Frankenstein‘s Creature which I think could be nice to play after reading the classic

dakota i've come to the realisation that i'd trust you with my life. when i walk into a library i always look for your recommendations first and foremost

I had 9 favorite reads but two to mention here "My Volcano" by John Elizabeth Stintzi and "All the Gay Saints" by Kayleb Rae Candrilli!! 🌙💖💫

Thank you Lady Dakota… Thank you

i’m begging you to make a poetry collection recs vid

My 5 (no order):
1. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
2. Bluets by Maggie Nelson
3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
4. My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
5. Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh

my favorite read of 2023 (and now my favorite book ever) was Piranesi by Susanna Clarke <3 so magical