10 Books To Be Read in 2023 (+1 extra) Patron Only Video

Berthold Brecht plays are awesome! Absolutely recommended!

Death in Venice was good! I've still 3 big ones from Mann to still to read on my self. Buddenbrooks, Magic mountain and Doctor Faustus, the latter that I want to re-read since I was a teenager when I did it. Ive also the Tibetan book of the Dead to read this year after having read the Bhagavad Gita which I enjoyed.

Just finished Butcher’s Crossing. It’s terrific. Now on to Stoner for me.

What a refined group. You guys are into such fancy lit. Will I be made ridiculed for admitting to be on a hardcore John Le Carre kick. Am writing a story about a drug dealer who uses many old school espionage tactics so it fits for the time being. Great to join the group, best to you all.

I’ve just started Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas. I’m pretty sure I heard about it from BtF.

This year is a re-read of "Infinite Jest" for me. I'm also planning on getting through Gogol's "Dead Souls", Roberto Bolano's "2666" and whatever else you'll be recommending.

Dhalgren is outstanding. I had the pleasure of seeing Delaney at a book read in Philadelphia. A very modest man. I ordered Butcher's Crossing last week. Augustus is beautiful all the way through. I read Salter's memoir Burning the Days. It's a must-read, really remarkable. A Moveable Feast is also on my 2023 list. Wise Blood is otherworldly. I love your choices! Enter the Void is a stunning movie! I plan to read The Tale of Genji, Infinite Jest, Finnegans Wake and Miss McIntosh, My Darling.

Hair trim looks killer

I gotta send you some Gene Wolfe to read… one of these days.

I was at the bookstore just yesterday and was tempted by Moby Dick but I ultimately decided against it for now. However, I did pick up Hamlet, Swann’s Way, Pale Fire, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, so that is my tbr for the foreseeable future. I also have David Byrne’s “How Music Works” that I might try to read intermittently to hopefully stimulate some musical inspiration.

James Salter is one of my favorite writers, such beautiful, impressionistic prose. And Butcher's Crossing is a masterpiece. Happy reading.

I really hope you enjoy the Thomas Mann collection. His short stories are masterful. Wise Blood sounds fantastic. I'm too scattered to plan my reading very far, but I'll definitely get to the following. 1. The Stammering Century, Gilbert Seldes - I'm in the middle of it and it's enthralling. 2. A Love Affair, Dino Buzzati. 3. This Other Eden, Paul Harding. And of course, you're sure to review something that will interest me.

I'm currently reading Bruce Chatwin's 'In Patagonia' and have nearly finished a biography of The Sisters of Mercy called 'Paint My Name in Black and Gold', which is superb. My reading list for the year: * 'All For Nothing' by Walter Kempowski * 'Deep Song: The Life and Work of Federico Garcia Lorca' by Stephen Roberts * 'Labyrinths' by Jorge Luis Borges * 'The First Man' by Albert Camus * 'Journey to a War' by Isherwood and Auden * 'A Moveable Feast' - Hemmingway * 'Sometimes a Great Notion' - Ken Kesey * 'The Man in the High Castle' - Phillip K. Dick * 'Philosopher of the Heart: The Restless Life of Soren Kierkegaard' by Clare Carlisle * 'Cannery Row' - Steinbeck * 'Rebellion in Patagonia' by Osvaldo Bayer * 'When I was Old' by Georges Simenon * 'The Betrayal of Anne Frank' by Rosemary Sullivan

Awesome list, Cliff. Taken note of a few of those to keep an eye on, myself. Keen to see what you think of Butcher's Crossing. Mobydick is one of my big ones for this year, too. All the best for the year ahead!

Good to see Butchers Crossing, Moby Dick and Moveable Feast on your list. Enjoy those three. I myself am probably going to reread Butchers Crossing this year. In terms of my tbr goals this year I just want to firstly get through the three stacks on my bedroom floor (90 books approx). Also got some rereads planned including A clockwork orange, The remains of the day and The peregrine amongst others.

Cliff, I wonder if you’ve ever read Infinite Jest or have any interest in it? Hearing your opinion on it would be very entertaining, it has been mind blowing for me so far. And about your trip to Venice, wishing you the best! If you’re staying long enough, and your hotel is in one of the nearby cities (either Mestre or Marghera) it’s really worth it to rent a car and go up to the Dolomites. It has one of the best views in the world, and Pragster Wildsee (Lago di Braies) is no joke!

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Moby Dick. It’s my favorite novel, and I’m due for a re-read. If I’m lucky, maybe we’ll both be reading it around the same time. Some other things I have to get to this year are Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, Mason & Dixon by Pynchon (reading Against the Day right now, what a trip!) and Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake. And for whatever reason, I’ve never read Jane Eyre, so that’s on the list too.

Hello! I have yet to finish 3 books I started reading last year but wasn’t able to finish: 1 - Ulysses - James Joyce 2 - Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace 3 - Paradise Lost - John Milton (These are a lot harder to get through and require reading other books for a better comprehension, so I plan to finish at least one of them this year) The other ones I plan on reading are: 4 - Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf 5 - Sons and Lovers - D.H. Lawrence (Since you mentioned the fact that books rarely have decent sex scenes described in them, I do think Lady Chatterley’s Lover does a decent job at that without getting pornographic and stuff) 6 - L’Étranger - Albert Camus (I’ve read it in english the first time, and now I’m going to make an attempt in french) 7 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson (I really love the movie and procrastinated long enough to read the book, but after watching your review and booking my first trip to Vegas - and the U.S. - I’ve decided it’s about time to do so) 8 - De La Terre À La Lune - Jules Verne 9 - The Woman In Black - Susan Hill 10 - Il Diavolo - Afonso M. Di Nola

Thanks Cliff! Great list. I'm reading Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. I want to read more Shakespeare so I'll be reading Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and As You Like It. I'll read Cormac McCarthy's new books when they're out in paperback. I'm a huge fan of absolutely anything translated by Stephen Mitchell so I may try his version of the Illiad this year. I would also like to finish Dante; I've only read the Inferno so I may try Purgatory. I may try to join you with Moby Dick. I've been wanting to read that for years.

Hey Cliff, Love the list! As a lover of Moby-Dick it is totally worth it. A good way to appreciate the language is to mark all the alliteration like I did as you go. If you do this or mark other poetic conventions you will see why Harold Bloom considers it a prose poem. Also, if you want more supplumentary material Benjamin McEvoy is doing great work at the hardcore Literature Bookclub on Patreon and has done a lecture series on this book. I hope you all have the best reading year!