5 Great Books Read in 2023

Just like last year, I wanted to do a post talking about books I’ve read that I would really recommend to people.

These aren’t going to be the “Top 5 books” or anything like that. I don’t want to restrict myself.

When I’m reading books, I tend to hop around between genre fiction (I’m an avid reader of Star Trek books, as well as Inspector Lynley mystery novels and I read Loren Estleman’s novels religiously when they come out) and history books, along with the occasional “current events” or sociological book as well.

After I’ve finished a deep history book, I like to do a deep cleanse and read something “simple” (in the sense that I plow through it, enjoying it immensely all the while) like Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” novels.

Just like in 2022, I did do a Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Last year, I read 57 books (my challenge was 55), but again I did read some novellas and novelettes to make up some of that quota.

It’s a bit of a cheat.

But I think it works for me.

Still, I read 61 books in 2022, so it was a bit of a down year.

But I read a lot of longer, harder books that take me longer to finish.

There are a couple of honorable mentions that I will reference at the end.

These were great books but I already did a review of them, so I won’t list them here (other than as, well, the honorable mentions, so I guess I will list them!).

On that note, let’s begin!

Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze by Peter Harmsen

This is a fascinating book about a subject that I don’t often get to in my reading: the war between Japan and China that even predated World War II.

This book was published in 2013, but it details the Japanese assault on the Chinese city of Shanghai in 1937 (duh, that’s in the title!).

What was really interesting about this is how detailed it is given the fact that it’s not that long.

I really found intriguing how there was the international part of the city that housed many foreign visitors, and how it was mostly untouched (though not completely). Americans, British, other foreign nationals, were all housed in this area and the Japanese army was careful not to do too much to antagonize these countries.

On the other hand, the bitter house-to-house fighting as the Japanese army increased the pressure on the Chinese soldiers trying to defend the city was really fascinating to read about.

Harmsen does go a little bit into the Chinese politics of the whole thing. Chiang Kai-Shek was determined to defend the city for as long as possible.

The fighting here was truly almost as bitter as Stalingrad when the Germans the Soviets faced off, and I loved all the detail in this book.

In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters by Nancy Goldstone

I’ve had a soft spot for Nancy Goldstone history books since I read The Friar & the Cipher by both her and her husband and I received a really nice email from one of them (I don’t remember which one) about the review I just linked to.

Nancy Goldstone has since gone out on her own and done a number of historical biographies about a number of subjects.

Yes, they are light history, but they are about subjects that aren’t typically written about in popular history (though I’m sure there are some academic historical accounts about them).

This one involves Maria Theresa, empress of Austria and one of the most renowned female European rulers, and her three daughters.

While Marie Antoinette is the most famous of them, all of them went on to marry into European royalty of some kind.

The book jumps between Maria Theresa and her daughters, so there are some timing jumps that need to be dealt with, but it’s also an interesting history of the 30 Years war as it involved her. Of course, there is a lot about the French Revolution as well as another daughter, Maria Carolina, queen of Naples, who ended up having to deal with Napoleon.

The whole book is a great read and while pure academics may find it too light for their tastes, I found it a great read.

The Thirty Years War, 1618 – 1648: The First Global War and the End of Habsburg Supremacy by John Pike

Speaking of the Thirty Years War, here’s a book about the entirety of the war.

Pike covers everything in great detail (it’s almost 500 pages) and I did find it a hard slog to get through, but only because of the way I read.

Fans of military history will gobble this up, and I did find it very valuable.

I don’t know a lot about the Thirty Years War, and this book showed the back and forth nature of the conflict, the rise and fall of individual figures (like Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, for example) and how it spelled the end of the Habsburg empire in Austria (dovetailing nicely with the previous book, though I read them a couple of months apart).

This was a really great read, and even though I had to take it slowly (I think it was my mindset when I read it), I found it really valuable.

I learned a lot from this one.

Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey

Let’s move on to some genre fiction.

It wouldn’t be a “great books” list with an Expanse book in it.

In 2023, I managed to finish the Expanse series!

And what a finish it was.

It was interesting to note that the TV series ended right when the books did a major time jump, a number of years into the future.

Unlike a lot of large series (this one is 9 books), this one manages to stick the landing almost perfectly.

The status quo of the Earth solar system as well as all of the colonies scattered around the galaxy through the portals created by the ancient aliens is totally changed. Some would say for the better, some would say for the worse.

And some would say “it is what it is.”

I also read the novella written after this one, The Sins of Our Fathers, and it has an intriguing take on the consequences of what happens in this final novel.

All of it is so good.

I’m almost sorry I’m done with it.

Lincoln’s Wizard / The Georgia Alchemist by Dan Willis and Tracy Hickman

I haven’t read a Tracy Hickman book since the last series of fantasy books he wrote with Margaret Weis (and I do mean after the Dragonlance books).

This duo of books was published in April 2023 and it’s a really cool alternate history of the Civil War where the Union has developed huge mechanical vehicles (almost like the Battletech mechs) while the Confederacy has developed a way to bring the dead back to (limited) life in order to fight battles.

This series involves an inventor of the Union mechs who is tasked with a secret mission behind enemy lines to find and destroy the Confederate ability to employ these undead soldiers.

It also takes something from the Temeraire series of books by Naomi Novik, even so much as to say that the Confederate dragons were lent to them by the French (so maybe it’s a tie-in with that series? Definitely an homage).

Confederate dragon riders are also a difficult thing for the Union soldiers to deal with.

This is a really cool Civil War espionage thriller in a fantasy alternate history with some romance, interesting characters, some spy shenanigans, and just a ton of fun.

I read both books back to back and enjoyed them immensely.

The two honourable mentions that I need to mention are books that I’ve reviewed in 2023.

Ring of Steel: Germany & Austria in World War I by Alexander Watson was really interesting.

You know a book has grabbed me when I actually write a review of it.

A great look at the Central Powers in World War I. I loved it.

The other book is a hilarious science fiction comedy from Connie Willis.

The Road to Roswell is so good, and just made me laugh.

There were some issues with the ending, but the book was well worth reading.

There you have it.

Five (seven!) great books I read in 2023.

What did you read last year?

This year’s Reading Challenge on Goodreads, I also chose 55 books. I barely made it, hitting 57, so I didn’t want to really push myself too far.

Let me know in the comments!