pat loughery

An expansion of a post I made to Mastodon in 2023 (written in 2024, backdated)

Some of my favorite reads of 2023, in no particular order:

Four Thousand Weeks – Oliver Burkeman

Here’s a deeper book summary from my Obsidian vault.

By page 5 I had decided that I needed to return my library copy and buy both the audiobook and a print copy of this, and was recommending it to friends. The title may mislead you; it’s really the anti-Productivity(tm) book; it’s about limits and mortality and recognizing that you’re actually human. Bonus points for reading this book while family members are going through potentially life-or-death medical issues.

After I read this, I went back and put tabs on pages I’d highlighted or written notes on or wanted to remember, and the book now looks like a peacock in full bloom. There’s good stuff everywhere in here.

This book was life-changing.

Once truly understand that you’re guaranteed to miss out on almost every experience the world has to offer, the fact that there are so many you still haven’t experienced stops feeling like a problem. Instead, you get to focus on fully enjoying the tiny slice of experiences you actually do have time for – and the freer you are to choose, in each moment, what counts the most.(Page 50)

If simplicity, difficulty-practicing-mindfulness, Zen and Jung are your bag, you’ll extra-love this.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built – Becky Chambers

WOW I loved this so much. Sweet, curious and gentle story looking at personhood, vocation and meaning. It’s rare that I plan to reread something soon after a first read (my to-read list is sooo long!) but I’m returning my library copy of this and buying a print copy so I can revisit this soon, and recommending it widely. A kind, Zen Buddhist – flavored exploration of a gentle world.

I’ve since reread this two more times, and recommended it to every person I can think of. YOU, dear reader, should read this book.

I’d love to live in the world that Chambers has created in this book.

How to Build a Boat – Elaine Feeney

Jamie, a neurodivergent 13 year old, and the family and community around him explore shame, unhealthy institutions, connection and community.

The book is like a river – At first slow, meandering, settling into its paths. Then powerful, strong. These characters are deep and wide, real, complex. And the vehicle of building a currach (a wooden boat) in order to bring focus to a community was haunting.

Halfway through the book I liked-but-didn’t-love this; after the epilogue I’m desperately searching for a signed copy to put on my shelf if most favorite books.

Author Elaine Feeney is a powerful new voice in the pantheon of Irish storytellers and writers.

Babel – RF Kuang

Kuang has become one of my most treasured authors, and I’ve read, or soon will read, everything she’s written.

In Babel, she writes “a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire”, which is a good summary. Loved the characters, loved the plot, REALLY intrigued by the magic system based upon the difference in meanings between translated words.

Somehow, Kuang keeps writing these mindblowing novels while in grad school herself – she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale. So you know that she understands how to write good dark academia fantasy.

The Fifth Season – NK Jemisin

Similarly to RF Kuang, Jemisin’s work is some of my very favorite. This is the first book in a trilogy – all of which are fantastic – dealing with a magic system based in power over geology. Kind of. It’s super unique, super well written, and this trilogy will be a classic in sci-fi/fantasy. The character work is deep; all the characters are real, well fleshed out, and complex. The worldbuilding is so unique. You’ll be confused, intentionally, as you first read.. and probably won’t get it all after you’re done, but it all builds together.

Listen to the Land Speak – Manchán Magan

I will do a much more in-depth review of this book later, but for now, suffice to say that after I finished transferring highlights of notes and quotes from this print book over to my readwise.io account, I have 70 quoted sections. 70. It’s that good and that thought provoking.

Magan writes about the deep history of land and landscape, particularly focusing on Ireland. He digs deeply into a great experience of mythology:

Myths aren’t a complete account either, of course, but as a form of interface with existence, they are closer to the truth than the limited, holographic-like presentation we in the West content ourselves with. On our journey through myth and landscape, you’ll find yourself entering a maze in which physical reality warps and winds back on itself, with different themes and locations melding and dividing, seemingly on a whim.

The profoundly fractal nature of the Irish landscape will become clear.
(Page 3)

His chapter on the enchantment of the River Shannon was my favorite, for personal reasons:

Sionainn is said to have been an intelligent, gifted and generous character, much like Tuag, but to have lacked self-esteem. She had a yearning to learn more, to acquire wisdom and expand her outlook, in particular to have the creative inspiration and ability to write poetry that could change the world. (Page 35)

I won’t continue to quote more, but this book was sooooo good.

Firekeepers Daughter / Warrior Girl Unearthed – Angeline Bouilley

This duology is vibrant YA storytelling set in Ojibwe country, and peopled with a host of interesting, real folks. It’s a mix of crime drama, family and relationships, Indigenous wisdom, and just plain fantastic story. It reads like a Frederich Backman novel series with the depth of an Indigenous author and community.

“When someone dies, everything about them becomes past tense. Except for the grief. Grief stays in the present. It’s even worse when you’re angry at the person. Not just for dying. But for how.”

The duology’s serious exploration of grief was amazing.

Summary

I’m adding flavor to this little list post from a year ago, and each of these books continues to be meaningful and powerful to me. A Psalm for the Wild Built and Four Thousand Weeks in particular are books I’ve recommended dozens of times, and I hope to reread all of them – as well as others by each of these authors – again.

See you soon for a 2024 recap.