My Favorite Reads from Each Month 2023

I know there's still half a month left in the year but everyone is posting theirs rn so...

In total I read 115 books this year (as of today), and here are my favorites from each month.

January: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters 

I absolutely loved this. Some of the most human and messy characters I've seen in anything. Peters writes these characters from a grounded and empathetic perspective, showing their lowest lows and worst thoughts yet still calling for us to sympathize with them. I also really appreciated how there was no holding back on how down and dirty it got into the trans experience. When so much media about trans people follows one very clean very hopeful narrative, Peters explores the many ways it can be messy. From dealing with really gross chasers to de-transitioning due to social pressures, Detransition Baby does not hold back any punches. I also loved how realistic and grounded the characterization and dialogue was. When so often queer, especially trans, media follows characters detached from reality, Peters writes characters that feel like real trans people I could know. These characters all have different views on what being trans means, live different life  styles, hold their own (sometimes problematic) opinions. This is one of my favorite novels I have ever read.

February: In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado 

Machado has a very unique and very visceral style of writing. The way she utilizes the formatting of the book itself to drive home what she's trying to say is truly impressive. This is such a personal memoir that is held up by her amazing writing that really puts you into her thoughts when she went through these experiences. This was absolutely amazing and one of my favorite memoirs I have ever read.

March: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado 

My praise for her use of formatting still stands. Her Body and Other Parties is such a varied collection of short stories all bending the medium itself. Her exploration of women's struggles through bone-chilling horror stories is so enthralling. I want to return to this novel at some point because there are a few of the stories I want to run through with a finer comb than I did the first time.

April: The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe Vol. 1-3  

April was a really bad month for my reading, all of it was mid to bad with the exception of this manga. The Girl from the Other Side is such a sweet and beautiful series. We all know I'm a slut for adoptive dad stories. The father/daughter relationship between a monster and a little girl abandoned by her family is so heartfelt and at points heart breaking. The world building is subtle but engaging with a lack of confusion. Oh and the art. Oh my god THE ART. This series is just so gorgeous, like it's jaw-dropping how pretty it is. I really need to read the rest.

May: In Memoriam by Alice Winn 

We gotta have the miserable historical gays! What's a year end list without a tragic queer period drama? I really loved the storytelling in this and while it is a decently standard forbidden love story the constant threat of death hanging over the whole book is so intense and I spent the whole book doing just as the characters, praying that they will make it to the next day and their friends wont end up in the obituaries. 

June: The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May

We all know I love road trips as personal growth. In this memoir we follow May as she goes on a 630-mile walk, contemplating her life and future though out the whole book. A huge focus of the book is May coming to terms with the fact she's autistic and re-contextualizing her past through that lens. As someone who is autistic myself, I found myself relating to her experiences greatly. The winding road that connects the whole book is the innate connection of all life, you might even say, the electricity of living thing, which was just a beautiful connecting thread. 

July: They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib 

This is one of, if not the best, essay collection I have read in my entire life. Abdurraqib uses music as a lens to look through his own life in such a masterful way. It's such an enlightening and engrossing read that I struggle to communicate it. Just like please read it it's so powerful. 

August: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ok fine this is a classic for a reason. I was intimidated to read this because so many people described Dostoevsky's writing as dense but I was immediately hooked. I was never once lost or confused but I was sure as shit engaged. Everyone in this novel is such a melodramatic mess I love it. I need to read more Dostoevsky. 

September: Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano Vol. 2-3

Again, dry month but Punpun really is so devastating in a truly unique manner. This manga is so fucking bizarre yet real. People were not kidding about this series being depressing but jesus it really is trauma after trauma but just to the extent it still feels somewhat grounded. While the world of Punpun may be thoroughly unreal the emotions of those in it are painfully realistic. The struggles of every character, all horrible people in their own ways, are so powerful. I loved what I read of this and need to read more, that being said I do not recommend this to anyone who has had suicidal thoughts in the past month because this manga goes crazy.

October: The Tradition by Jericho Brown 

Now this doesn't mean much as I've barely read any, but this is my favorite poetry collection I have read by miles. It's so personal and visceral in way that is so powerful and so mortifying. I struggle to put into words how amazing this collection is. 

November: A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib 

Another truly stunning essay collection from Abdurraqib. Just like his other collection I read this year I can't put into words how amazing this it. 

December: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar 

This is a really gripping sci-fi thriller. I mean seriously this shit goes crazy. It's 200 pages of toxic yuri manipulation I love it. It's if death note was even gayer. It's so damn good.