To my surprise, I have read a similar number of books to last year, 34 books in all – nowhere near my illusory goal of a book a week. The year started slowly as I only managed two books a month until August. Results for the latter part of the year were helped by a number of novellas and short stories which on the virtual bookshelf appeared to be novels, if you judge by price alone. This year I have also reviewed twice the number of books as last year, which is a definite improvement.

Once again historical books (non-fiction and novels), including two semi-autobiographical novels written over a century ago, predominate – making up nearly three-quarters of my reading. Interestingly, though not by design, a quarter of my reading was either set in Ireland or written by Irish writers, though that might be explained partly by my August John Banville binge. I should make an effort next year to read more Australian.

As usual, my favourite reads of the year were those that took me farthest from the here and now and sometimes took my breath away with the beauty of the prose, the depth of character insight, or understanding of the human condition.

My six best reads for 2023 (along with their opening lines) are listed in order of my preference for them. All are brilliant books, each in its own unique way, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.

These Days by Lucy Caldwell
It’s Emma who wakes first.
Set during the Belfast Blitz of 1941 and while it centres on two middle class sisters, it encompasses the experiences of a range of people from other sections of the community. The novel is told in third person present tense which adds immediacy to the storytelling and avoids foreshadowing. Beautifully written, moving, haunting, absolutely compelling… I could go on and on. It is the winner of the 2023 Walter Scott Prize.

The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the Great War by Bill Gammage
Before 1914 most Australians wanted a paradise for the majority in Australia.
In Bill Gammage’s classic work the historical progress of the war is traced from beginning to end but is illuminated by the words of those who took part, allowing us to glimpse what those soldiers thought and felt. It draws on 1,000 of the letters and diaries written by Australian soldiers and held in the Australian War Memorial’s collection. It is a profoundly moving book.

Ancestry by Simon Mawer
What is the past?
Long listed for the Walter Scott Prize, this novel imagines the lives of two sets of Mawer’s great-great grandparents. Struggles and sorrows as well as moments of joy and achievement are brought to vivid life in a meticulously researched past world. And, at moments, Mawer draws aside the curtain to show the slim documentary foundations upon which fictionalized lives are often based. The final lines sum up the novel well: ‘…they lived and loved, cried tears of pain and laughter, slept and dreamt, awoke and ultimately died. We know that because they are attributes of being human; the rest is intuition.’
To my mind, an absolutely brilliant novel.

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Some time in the sixties old Mr Tomelty had put up an incongruous lean-to addition to his Victorian castle.
Another masterpiece by Sebastian Barry that casts light on the effects of Ireland’s dark past and the way people can rise above the worst done to them as children although still haunted by it. The novel begins by giving the impression that it’s a murder mystery but that impression is as unreliable as the narrator is at times. Haunting, heart-breaking, lyrical.

Foster by Claire Keegan
Early on Sunday, after first Mass at Clonegal, my father, instead of taking me home, drives deep into Wexford towards the coast where my mother’s people came from.
Foster follows a withdrawn, over-looked nine-year-old girl sent, over the summer holidays of 1981, to spent time on the farm of older relatives of her mother’s. Keegan’s spare, lyrical prose paints a realistic world with great emotional depth.

Iris by Fiona Kelly McGregor
You need to start talking, Webber.
Why should I talk to you?
Excellent, compelling and realistic historical fiction set in 1930s Sydney. Based on a period in the life of Iris Webber, a busker, petty thief and sly-grog seller, later described as ‘the most violent woman in Sydney’.

It was extremely difficult this year to settle on my top six reads. The final decision came down to those that resonated most deeply with me. The following two books are excellent and I also recommend them highly.

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
If you had set out in the summer of 1660 to travel the four miles from Boston to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the first house you would have come to after crossing the Charles River would have been the Goodkins’.
A gripping historical thriller which imagines the hunt for two of Charles I’s regicides believed to have escaped to America.

Sea of Shadows by Amy Maroney
Anica Foscolo hurried through a crowd gathering in the marketplace, under the blazing sun, trailed by her slave, Maria.
A beautifully-written and vivid novel set in fifteenth-century Rhodes. Anica Foscolo is a gifted artist and, as her father’s sight is failing, is doing far more than merely preparing the backgrounds to his paintings, as most assume. As her father’s sight worsens, Anica is forced into an unwanted alliance with a Scottish privateer in an attempt to save her family’s reputation and avoid a forced marriage.

The rest of my reading is listed in no particular order. I enjoyed every book and all are well worth reading.

A Christmas Love Redeemed by Alison Stuart
Fabien Brassard, the Comte de Mont Clair, paused at the head of the graceful stairs leading down into the ballroom of his sister’s fashionable Mayfair residence.

The Convent Girl by Tania Crosse
How had it all begun? It was a question Maisie O’Sullivan had asked herself so many times, but could never answer.

The House Children by Heidi Daniele
My birth was a sin and a crime.

Homecoming by Kate Morton
And, of course, there was to be a lunch party to mark the new year. A small affair, just family, but Thomas would require all the trimmings.

Dancing in the Ring by Susan E Sage
Catherine stared at an oak tree outside the classroom window without seeing the young man on the branch staring back in at her.

My Oedipus Complex and Other Stories by Frank O’Connor
Some kids are cissies by nature but I was a cissie by conviction.

Adalbert by Craig R Hipkins
The humble priest sat in the straight-backed ash chair looking at the young man who was perusing the letter with a dull interest.

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
On Friday, July 29th, Dublin got the weather that was forecast.

Teatime Trouble by Tonya Penrose
Page hung up the phone and turned to her cousin. “You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Betsy Ross.”

In the Shadow of Gallipoli by Robert Bollard
Every April, the shores of Gallipoli witness a fresh invasion as patriotic Australian tourists throng to Anzac Cove.

The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black
The young girl stood in the darkness before the tall window and watched with excitement and fascination the bombs falling on the city.

Snow by John Banville
I’m a priest, for Christ’s sake – how can this be happening to me?

April in Spain by John Banville
Terry Tice liked killing people.

The Lock-Up by John Banville
Father Damian stood with a hand held up to shield his eyes against the sun and watched the man, still far off, making his slow way up the steep track towards the monastery.

No Stone Unturned by Pam Lecky
Lucy Lawrence looked up from her book with a start. Something had struck the windowpane, shattering the silence of the room.

The Sum of our Sorrows by Lisette Brodey
Lily Sheppard twisted her torso as she sat in her mother’s floral armchair, her back now facing the assemblage of darkly dressed people in the living room.

Genuine Deceit by Joy York
If he didn’t find it soon, all bets were off.

AnaRose and the Templar’s Quest by Mary Ann Bernal
A glimmer of sunlight appeared on the horizon, casting the sun’s warm glow upon the waking city.

Fat Dogs and French Estates by Beth Haslam
Part 1 It was a dark, filthy night just south of Limoges. Our car was at a standstill, surrounded by police brandishing glowing neon batons and torches, like extras from Star Wars

Fat Dogs and French Estates by Beth Haslam
Part 2 Jack took a hasty gulp of his rosé and glanced at the fresh set of property details our estate agent, ItsWill, had thrust at him.

Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys
It was like a curtain had fallen, hiding everything I had ever known.

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham
The day broke grey and dull. the clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow.

The Unquiet Spirit by Penny Hampson
Eyes squeezed shut, Kate held her breath and strained her ears for the sound of pursuit.

The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Perveen Mistry Book 3)
‘Well done.’
Perveen Mistry spoke aloud as she slid the signed contracts into envelopes.

The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey (Perveen Mistry Book 4)
Sisters will fight.

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
‘Someone is out there.’
I’m standing at the kitchen sink, my hands plunged in warm soapy water.

And at present I am reading The Road to Grantchester by James Runcie. I have not read any of the other Grantchester books but have enjoyed the TV series, particularly those starring James Norton. My Love Must Wait by Ernestine Hill still sits patiently on my bedside table. I have added Seek the Fair Land by Walter Macken, set in Ireland during Cromwell’s blood-soaked rampage. I have read the final book in Macken’s trilogy and have been meaning for several years to read the other two. I hope over the next year to keep reading and reviewing at the same pace as this year. And, as I mentioned earlier, to read a few more Australian authors.

Wishing you all a year filled with all that is good in 2024 and many enthralling books.