reading — Blog — Jan Carson

My Favorite Reads of 2023

I’m a day late but I’ve finally been able to sit down with my diary to have a good think through my reading year. It’s been an absolute cracker. Lots of travel time to read in transit, a brilliant reading project -working my way chronologically through the complete works of Toni Morrison and Kurt Vonnegut- and the ongoing brilliance of Mexico and Below Book group, (which meets monthly in No Alibis to read translated literature from countries below Mexico- you can follow us on Instagram), have all combined to make it the best reading year I can remember.

Julie CarsonJanuary 1, 2024No Alibis, reading, Catherine Lacey

My Favourite Reads of 2022

2022 was a great reading year. It shall henceforth be known as the year I discovered Barbara Pym, Annie Proulx and Barbara Comyns about a million years after everyone else. The year I tried to get into Patricia Highsmith and Virginia Woolf and ultimately decided life was too short. And also the year I devoured Graham Greene and found all the Catholic Guilt felt oddly comforting.

A Decade's Worth of Great Novels

I’m spending this Christmas by myself in France. It is quite strange, but mostly ok. There’s only so much Netflix and napping I can stomach so I’ve spent this afternoon compelling a list of what was meant to be the hundred best books i’ve read in the decade since I first started keeping a diary of everything I read. Before sharing my list, let me outline how I’ve managed to narrow it down.