2023 — a book year in review
The 12 and only books that I read in 2023
This comes as a surprise for me too. And I will tell you in a bit why… I only managed to read 12 books this year and I am super happy because of that! Here goes one reflection on my past “selves”, starting with the one back in my faculty years, when I could read up to 7 books in a week. And I am only wondering where is that capacity of my brain now (: . Then gradually, as the years passed, I was more into traveling and dancing, and reading was somehow getting more and more minimized. This minimization came to a 0 when I got pregnant and during my maternity leave, when I could only read no more than 2, parenting-related, books at most.
And here I am today, in 2023, on the 28th of December, finally aligned with “I want to read all the books in the world” and “I cannot read as much as I could” and therefore“I will focus on reading only the good books”.
Here comes my list of my 5 top books, with a short review included, and a link to each one as originally posted on my GoodReads profile.
1. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
“Never talk to strangers.” That is the magnificent beginning of this book, and it is unfolding in a way that tells the story in many different facets, in the layers of society, art, and the universal topics of good and evil.
The question of existence of the good or evil, and its omnipresence through such hyperbolical visuals marks the culmination of the meaning of this novel.
It is about the thin line between madness and a clear mind, about the intention and morality that give another dimension to one’s point of view and mark it as equally viable.
It is so remarkably captured in just a few sentences at the moment of conversation between Voland and Mateja Levi, that for the trees, humans, and Sun to form, we need their shadows to make it happen, or in other words, for the good to exist, we need the evil’s existence too.
2. Папокот на светлината, Венко Андоновски
Although only in Macedonian, Venko never seems to amaze with his writing style. This is the 2nd part of his initial book: „Папокот на светот“. In his piece we are searching for the substance, the essence of life, if before we were searching only after the meaning of life. It is a book about our limitations to grasp the meaning of life through words and language, as they are limited, compared to what life is, open and infinite. Yet, it is the only way through, for it is in our essence to search for something unsearchable, to be driven by this force to search and reveal the ultimate truth.
3. Nothing, Janne Teller
When 7th-grade primary schoolers embark on a journey to find the meaning of life, things get complicated. Yet, it is in the development nature that children start to find the meaning of life at some point. This is the story of classmates and their attempt to find the purpose, the meaning. In that attempt they fail, as any child would do, and as it is not per their capabilities to grasp the complexity of life and its meaning at that age.
As time passes, children get the sense that meaning is relative, and thus meaningless in their eyes. Little did they know that is the meaning of life, and that meaning is relative and fleeting.
4. Hold onto your kids, Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté
This is the most elaborative overview of the attachment phenomenon as the sole postulate on which humans experience life and tend to live in this world, and that is through attaching. If something I appreciate about this book, it is the feeling that I was left with, after finishing reading it, and that is the courage to take over parenting into my own hands as a parent, it is the only natural way forward since if not the parent then who else? The North Star of the narrative is that parenting is a relationship instead of a set of skills and techniques and because of that it has a “live” attribute that should be nurtured the whole time, for its own sake.
The downside, of this now already 3rd book that I am reading from Mate is that it is pointing too much to “what is wrong” and only starting to give insights on how to solve things merely before the end.
5. Stillness speaks, Eckhart Tolle
Short and on point, like the presence is, if only we could stop and experience it for what it is in this very moment.
If only we could hear, feel, and see in the now and here, wonders would happen and we would come to our true selves which are not isolated by pain, and fear, but overcome everything if we just stop and let the thoughts pass, and just be.
A great read that one should keep by his bedside and read it from time to time. To be reminded that the only way through, is in the now.
For the curious mind
Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St. John Mandel
For the wisdom of our body, as part of ourselves
When the body says NO, Gabor Maté
For exploring one’s limits and self
Седумте, Илина Арсова
Books that can be read in an instance, because of the great storytelling
Beatiful world, where are you, Sally Rooney
Татко ми Босфор, Јован Илиески
Понекогаш доаѓа среќа, Винка Саздовска
And with that, I am going into 2024 with very little expectations about books, and would be happy to be able to read at least 5 good books in the upcoming year!
Thank you and cheers! 🥂
