JoeB1934 Finding and Reading Literary Mysteries: Using LibraryThing Recommendations
Original topic subject: JoeB1934 Finding and Reading Literary Mysteries
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1JoeB1934
What is a Literary Mystery?
I just completed quite a thorough analysis of my 50+ years of reading mysteries of all types. This included over 1400 books and 675 authors.
The most important conclusion I came to was that I seriously prefer reading those books which have been categorized by some as Literary Mysteries. As is true for many attributes that could be assigned to a book, there isn’t any precise definition of these books.
The best definition I have come across is that given by Heather Bottoms from Book Riot, May 22, 2018:
There are so many subgenres of mystery to choose from: detective novels, true crime, noir, cozy mysteries, psychological suspense, and more. But when I am looking for a thrill, I find myself drawn to literary mysteries. I want the tension and excitement of a mystery, but I long for it to deliver more than just the name of a murderer. While there is no precise definition, I consider a literary mystery to involve substantial character development, stunning narration, and a storyline that reaches for broader emotional or social depth.The article goes on to list twelve books that she ranks in this category. They are:
THE THIRTEENTH TALE BY DIANE SETTERFIELD
EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU BY CELESTE NG
WHITE TEARS BY HARI KUNZRU
REBECCA BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER
MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE BY ROBIN SLOAN
THE HIDDEN KEYS BY ANDRÉ ALEXIS
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM BY KATE ATKINSON
THE DISTANT HOURS BY KATE MORTON
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN, LUCIA GRAVES (TRANSLATOR)
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS BY DAVID GUTERSON
THE BOOK HUNTERS OF KATPADI BY PRADEEP SEBASTIAN
BURIAL RITES BY HANNAH KENT
If you are not familiar with this category of book, I encourage you to read any of the books on the list. There are two ways for you to obtain an expanded list of such books.
Within LibraryThing, the most obvious way is to do a Tagmash search with an appropriate phrase, such as ‘literary, mystery’. This will produce a list of 500 top ranked literary mysteries. The books you have read with be check marked.
Such a search indicates I have read 118 of the top 500. A different tagmash of ‘2021, literary mystery’ produces a list of 376 books, of which I have read 307. I will explain these differences later.
An alternative is to go to Goodreads where there is a list of Literary Mystery books that contains 2,322 books as voted on by 3,275 members. This list was started in 2008 and it was instrumental in my becoming aware of the literary mystery category in 2021. I have read 85 of the top 100 books in this list.
The most valuable insight I gained from such lists is my personal “master” literary mystery author list. While knowing which specific books are on any list is interesting, it is also important to note that authors have written other books not on the top 500 list. Inevitably their other books have similar literary and mystery qualities.
It is very important also to our understanding of the search for literary mysteries is that they are dependent upon members assigning tags to books based on how they see the book. Do you know anyone that would assign the literary mystery tag to a book?
Consider the first book in the 12 books listed above as an example of this complexity. Going to the LT book page for The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield will display the set of tags by some, but not all readers of the book.
Members 16,605 Reviews 890
Tags: mystery (970), literature (74), literary (38), crime and mystery (7), literary fiction (51), literary mystery (20).
These numbers show that not many readers assign genre-like tags as much as what I would call administrative, or book-keeping tags.
Regardless of the paucity of genre-like tags I have found that the tags that do exist are very valid and informative for my purposes.
I have spent many hours using the Tag Mirror to summarize the tags across a complete library, or a smaller collection. The tags produced for books I have read consistently include tags I would have designated on my own.
I have never been a tagger of any kind and all tags on my library were produced by an automated process that used Tag Mirror and Excel to create an import of those significant tags for all books in my library.
I just completed quite a thorough analysis of my 50+ years of reading mysteries of all types. This included over 1400 books and 675 authors.
The most important conclusion I came to was that I seriously prefer reading those books which have been categorized by some as Literary Mysteries. As is true for many attributes that could be assigned to a book, there isn’t any precise definition of these books.
The best definition I have come across is that given by Heather Bottoms from Book Riot, May 22, 2018:
There are so many subgenres of mystery to choose from: detective novels, true crime, noir, cozy mysteries, psychological suspense, and more. But when I am looking for a thrill, I find myself drawn to literary mysteries. I want the tension and excitement of a mystery, but I long for it to deliver more than just the name of a murderer. While there is no precise definition, I consider a literary mystery to involve substantial character development, stunning narration, and a storyline that reaches for broader emotional or social depth.The article goes on to list twelve books that she ranks in this category. They are:
THE THIRTEENTH TALE BY DIANE SETTERFIELD
EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU BY CELESTE NG
WHITE TEARS BY HARI KUNZRU
REBECCA BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER
MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE BY ROBIN SLOAN
THE HIDDEN KEYS BY ANDRÉ ALEXIS
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM BY KATE ATKINSON
THE DISTANT HOURS BY KATE MORTON
THE SHADOW OF THE WIND BY CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN, LUCIA GRAVES (TRANSLATOR)
SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS BY DAVID GUTERSON
THE BOOK HUNTERS OF KATPADI BY PRADEEP SEBASTIAN
BURIAL RITES BY HANNAH KENT
If you are not familiar with this category of book, I encourage you to read any of the books on the list. There are two ways for you to obtain an expanded list of such books.
Within LibraryThing, the most obvious way is to do a Tagmash search with an appropriate phrase, such as ‘literary, mystery’. This will produce a list of 500 top ranked literary mysteries. The books you have read with be check marked.
Such a search indicates I have read 118 of the top 500. A different tagmash of ‘2021, literary mystery’ produces a list of 376 books, of which I have read 307. I will explain these differences later.
An alternative is to go to Goodreads where there is a list of Literary Mystery books that contains 2,322 books as voted on by 3,275 members. This list was started in 2008 and it was instrumental in my becoming aware of the literary mystery category in 2021. I have read 85 of the top 100 books in this list.
The most valuable insight I gained from such lists is my personal “master” literary mystery author list. While knowing which specific books are on any list is interesting, it is also important to note that authors have written other books not on the top 500 list. Inevitably their other books have similar literary and mystery qualities.
It is very important also to our understanding of the search for literary mysteries is that they are dependent upon members assigning tags to books based on how they see the book. Do you know anyone that would assign the literary mystery tag to a book?
Consider the first book in the 12 books listed above as an example of this complexity. Going to the LT book page for The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield will display the set of tags by some, but not all readers of the book.
Members 16,605 Reviews 890
Tags: mystery (970), literature (74), literary (38), crime and mystery (7), literary fiction (51), literary mystery (20).
These numbers show that not many readers assign genre-like tags as much as what I would call administrative, or book-keeping tags.
Regardless of the paucity of genre-like tags I have found that the tags that do exist are very valid and informative for my purposes.
I have spent many hours using the Tag Mirror to summarize the tags across a complete library, or a smaller collection. The tags produced for books I have read consistently include tags I would have designated on my own.
I have never been a tagger of any kind and all tags on my library were produced by an automated process that used Tag Mirror and Excel to create an import of those significant tags for all books in my library.
2JoeB1934
How can I know if a book is a Literary Mystery?
I have found that legitimate ‘Literary Mysteries’ can be identified by any one of 3 different tag labels.
1) The book has been provided the Literary Mystery tag.
2) The book possesses the tag combination of Literary Fiction and Mystery.
3) The book possesses the tag combination of Literature and Mystery.
The most useful of these 3 options is number 3 because almost every reader can describe that a book has the quality of literature, or one of many synonyms.
The tag of Mystery is also very easy for a reader to apply to a book. As an example, consider the tag counts I displayed for The Thirteenth Tale where mystery counted at 970, and other tags were less than 100 combined.
If you are wondering about a specific book, go to that book detail page and search for each of the three tag combinations listed above. Normally you will need to expand the display to all tags and display the numbers.
If the tag exists at all, I personally count it as a valid designation even if the quantity is low. There isn't any loss to a reader if the book is erroneously designated as a literary mystery. I don't believe I have ever been disappointed in such a book.
You can also focus by reading books written by favorite Literary Mystery authors. Now that I have been reading literary mysteries for a long time my preferred method is to search for new books, or older books written by an author that I love to read.
Finding Literary Mystery books by use of LT Recommendations.
For anyone except a literary mystery fanatic like me, the previous discussion would naturally lead to “why bother?”.
The ability to probe for new L-M books was greatly enhanced by the recent introduction of Recommendations by LibraryThing. My testing and sampling of the process led me to identification of excellent L-M books for myself. The pertinent results were as follows:
Combined Recommendations for New Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) Zero books for Literary Mystery tag
2) Ten books for Literary Fiction tag
3) Seven books for Literature tag
Mystery Genre Recommendations for New Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) Zero books for Literary Mystery tag
2) Zero books for Literary Fiction tag
3) Zero books for Literature tag
Mystery Genre Recommendations for All Time Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) 4 books for Literary Mystery tag
2) 18 books for Literary Fiction tag
3) 249 books for Literature tag
Based on these results for my library, I consider the search for books all-time using the mystery genre combined with the literature tag to be quite useful. I chose selectively 80 books that I knew would most likely be of interest to me and added them to my library Wishlist. I will report later in detail how those selections worked out for me as I read some of them.
I have found that legitimate ‘Literary Mysteries’ can be identified by any one of 3 different tag labels.
1) The book has been provided the Literary Mystery tag.
2) The book possesses the tag combination of Literary Fiction and Mystery.
3) The book possesses the tag combination of Literature and Mystery.
The most useful of these 3 options is number 3 because almost every reader can describe that a book has the quality of literature, or one of many synonyms.
The tag of Mystery is also very easy for a reader to apply to a book. As an example, consider the tag counts I displayed for The Thirteenth Tale where mystery counted at 970, and other tags were less than 100 combined.
If you are wondering about a specific book, go to that book detail page and search for each of the three tag combinations listed above. Normally you will need to expand the display to all tags and display the numbers.
If the tag exists at all, I personally count it as a valid designation even if the quantity is low. There isn't any loss to a reader if the book is erroneously designated as a literary mystery. I don't believe I have ever been disappointed in such a book.
You can also focus by reading books written by favorite Literary Mystery authors. Now that I have been reading literary mysteries for a long time my preferred method is to search for new books, or older books written by an author that I love to read.
Finding Literary Mystery books by use of LT Recommendations.
For anyone except a literary mystery fanatic like me, the previous discussion would naturally lead to “why bother?”.
The ability to probe for new L-M books was greatly enhanced by the recent introduction of Recommendations by LibraryThing. My testing and sampling of the process led me to identification of excellent L-M books for myself. The pertinent results were as follows:
Combined Recommendations for New Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) Zero books for Literary Mystery tag
2) Ten books for Literary Fiction tag
3) Seven books for Literature tag
Mystery Genre Recommendations for New Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) Zero books for Literary Mystery tag
2) Zero books for Literary Fiction tag
3) Zero books for Literature tag
Mystery Genre Recommendations for All Time Books found: (Only using my authors)
1) 4 books for Literary Mystery tag
2) 18 books for Literary Fiction tag
3) 249 books for Literature tag
Based on these results for my library, I consider the search for books all-time using the mystery genre combined with the literature tag to be quite useful. I chose selectively 80 books that I knew would most likely be of interest to me and added them to my library Wishlist. I will report later in detail how those selections worked out for me as I read some of them.
3JoeB1934
Literary Mysteries are Genre neutral.
A very important attribute of Literary Mysteries is that they exist in all genres usually named as genre specific interests.
From early in my reading experience, I have always been looking for books that were by good story tellers, which I now equate to being literary.
The mystery component seemed to be essential, but not devoted purely to crime. The important thing is to recognize that a mystery is not limited by genre. Romance, fantasy, horror, science fiction and beyond can all have a mystery dimension.
When I think about the mystery dimension of books I have read, it was the mystery embedded in the book that often kept me going. This led me to books that I wouldn’t have considered before.
One prime example is Possession by A. S. Byatt, which is one of my most favorite books of all time. It has many attributes but certainly a strong romance book. Another book off my normal shelf is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A classical horror book, which I previously had not thought of as my thing.
I am not an author in any way, but I have concluded that a contained mystery dimension is often present in a good book. Is this a device included in "how to be a writer" courses?
It reminds me of the lecture I attended at GE intended to teach new engineers how to make an effective technical presentation. The advice was "always include a ho-hum crasher".
My solution to the problem of finding literary mysteries for any specific genre, like science fiction, or history, is to identify authors that are very literate in that genre. When you use the literature & mystery tags to produce a long list of books dedicated to your authors you can visually spot those authors and choose to add them to your library.
I need to emphasize that literary mysteries are NOT the only books worth reading. I read almost all genres and non-fiction books are very close to my heart.
It is simply true, for me that I find literary mysteries so satisfying and, at my age I need to maximize my reading pleasure.
Already this year I have read excellent books as I find that literary fiction is a category that has a lot of value even if no mystery seems to be attached.
A very important attribute of Literary Mysteries is that they exist in all genres usually named as genre specific interests.
From early in my reading experience, I have always been looking for books that were by good story tellers, which I now equate to being literary.
The mystery component seemed to be essential, but not devoted purely to crime. The important thing is to recognize that a mystery is not limited by genre. Romance, fantasy, horror, science fiction and beyond can all have a mystery dimension.
When I think about the mystery dimension of books I have read, it was the mystery embedded in the book that often kept me going. This led me to books that I wouldn’t have considered before.
One prime example is Possession by A. S. Byatt, which is one of my most favorite books of all time. It has many attributes but certainly a strong romance book. Another book off my normal shelf is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A classical horror book, which I previously had not thought of as my thing.
I am not an author in any way, but I have concluded that a contained mystery dimension is often present in a good book. Is this a device included in "how to be a writer" courses?
It reminds me of the lecture I attended at GE intended to teach new engineers how to make an effective technical presentation. The advice was "always include a ho-hum crasher".
My solution to the problem of finding literary mysteries for any specific genre, like science fiction, or history, is to identify authors that are very literate in that genre. When you use the literature & mystery tags to produce a long list of books dedicated to your authors you can visually spot those authors and choose to add them to your library.
I need to emphasize that literary mysteries are NOT the only books worth reading. I read almost all genres and non-fiction books are very close to my heart.
It is simply true, for me that I find literary mysteries so satisfying and, at my age I need to maximize my reading pleasure.
Already this year I have read excellent books as I find that literary fiction is a category that has a lot of value even if no mystery seems to be attached.
4JoeB1934
Today I will be developing a listing of my personal 25 top ranked literary mysteries, including why they are at the top of all the books I have read.
This is a difficult task, so it might take me a while.
After the previous task I will present an analysis pre-read of the 80 books I chose using the Recommendations function of LT
This is a difficult task, so it might take me a while.
After the previous task I will present an analysis pre-read of the 80 books I chose using the Recommendations function of LT
5JoeB1934
After a few days contemplating what to discuss about this literary Mystery search, I have determined how to proceed.
First, I want to present statistics concerning the prevalence of literary mysteries in my current library which has about 1300 books. This analysis should spotlight how effective each of the three methods for identifying which books can be labelled a literary mystery.
The following table will list several interesting data points about my library.
The first column shows the prevalence of literary mysteries in my library prior to 2021 when I learned about such a designation. Quite obviously I was choosing books to read based on some mental judgement about which books I really liked to read. It would appear that learning about them didn't affect my book reading very much.
I suspect that many LT members are also picking books that fit the category purely based on personal likes/dislikes.
It is important, also to note the row labelled Top 1000 L-M Authors. I analyzed the Goodreads list of the 1000 top vote getters in their categorization of books. I identified all unique authors in that list and merged it with the LT top 500 authors. It can be seen that about 60 % of the books in my library were written by such authors.
My main conclusion is that any book which has a mystery tag and some form of literature tag can be considered to be a 'Literary Mystery' book. My current favorite book category is literary fiction books that contain a mystery.
Since I made quite an issue about using the new LT Recommendations feature to find new books to read, the fourth column is very interesting to me. This data certainly confirms that the process is well tuned to my reading.
Tomorrow I will present data which corroborates these conclusions and produces a reasonable list of my personal top 50 literary mystery books/authors.
First, I want to present statistics concerning the prevalence of literary mysteries in my current library which has about 1300 books. This analysis should spotlight how effective each of the three methods for identifying which books can be labelled a literary mystery.
The following table will list several interesting data points about my library.
The first column shows the prevalence of literary mysteries in my library prior to 2021 when I learned about such a designation. Quite obviously I was choosing books to read based on some mental judgement about which books I really liked to read. It would appear that learning about them didn't affect my book reading very much.
I suspect that many LT members are also picking books that fit the category purely based on personal likes/dislikes.
It is important, also to note the row labelled Top 1000 L-M Authors. I analyzed the Goodreads list of the 1000 top vote getters in their categorization of books. I identified all unique authors in that list and merged it with the LT top 500 authors. It can be seen that about 60 % of the books in my library were written by such authors.
My main conclusion is that any book which has a mystery tag and some form of literature tag can be considered to be a 'Literary Mystery' book. My current favorite book category is literary fiction books that contain a mystery.
Since I made quite an issue about using the new LT Recommendations feature to find new books to read, the fourth column is very interesting to me. This data certainly confirms that the process is well tuned to my reading.
Tomorrow I will present data which corroborates these conclusions and produces a reasonable list of my personal top 50 literary mystery books/authors.
6JoeB1934
I have mentioned that literary mysteries and related tags are genre neutral. Any genre can be involved in such books. However, we read books for what I will call Tag Genres. These are content genres such as, science fiction, history, fantasy etc.
I have developed personal preferences for these tag genres that I look for when considering a book to read. Individual tags in my list are not mandatory before I will read a book. Rather, they are key tags that catch my attention, and the more of these key tags a book has the more I will want to read it.
For the same four set of books in the preceding display I have measured the content of those books by what percentage of them have at least a partial membership of each of my personal favorite tag genres.
I have sorted the rows starting at Historical Fiction in descending order of percentages. It is very clear that 2/3 of my books are historical fiction, and that Family, Relationships and Romance are included in about 1/2 of the books. Then there are many tag genres that occur in 20 to 30 percent of my books.
The fourth column portrays the tag genre coverage of the LT Recommendation books. The blend of the genres is very satisfying to my needs.
You must remember at all times that book content by tag genre is multi-dimensional and usually books will possess quite a number of my personal tag genres. That issue will be important to my selection of favorite books of all time, which I will discuss in the next posting.
I have developed personal preferences for these tag genres that I look for when considering a book to read. Individual tags in my list are not mandatory before I will read a book. Rather, they are key tags that catch my attention, and the more of these key tags a book has the more I will want to read it.
For the same four set of books in the preceding display I have measured the content of those books by what percentage of them have at least a partial membership of each of my personal favorite tag genres.
I have sorted the rows starting at Historical Fiction in descending order of percentages. It is very clear that 2/3 of my books are historical fiction, and that Family, Relationships and Romance are included in about 1/2 of the books. Then there are many tag genres that occur in 20 to 30 percent of my books.
The fourth column portrays the tag genre coverage of the LT Recommendation books. The blend of the genres is very satisfying to my needs.
You must remember at all times that book content by tag genre is multi-dimensional and usually books will possess quite a number of my personal tag genres. That issue will be important to my selection of favorite books of all time, which I will discuss in the next posting.
7JoeB1934
A major point of this exercise was to test the new feature of LT to produce reasonable recommendations of books to read. Prior to performing this analysis, I identified 81 books that LT Recommendations identified for my future reading.
I believe that the LT process uses the same information that I exploit in the Tag Mirror calculations, so I have been optimistic about this these new recommendations.
I analyzed the 81 books for membership in the literary mystery universe that I work in. I found that all 81 were very appropriate to my interests, but about 50 were especially on target. I processed the 50 and eliminated any duplicate authors and books that had an average rating of less than 3.6. I really prefer books with an average rating of 3.7 and above, if not 4.0 and above.
The net result were 36 books that meet my criteria and is a number of 3 per month that is doable for me. The final books are identified below.
I believe that the LT process uses the same information that I exploit in the Tag Mirror calculations, so I have been optimistic about this these new recommendations.
I analyzed the 81 books for membership in the literary mystery universe that I work in. I found that all 81 were very appropriate to my interests, but about 50 were especially on target. I processed the 50 and eliminated any duplicate authors and books that had an average rating of less than 3.6. I really prefer books with an average rating of 3.7 and above, if not 4.0 and above.
The net result were 36 books that meet my criteria and is a number of 3 per month that is doable for me. The final books are identified below.
8Tess_W
>7 JoeB1934: I hope you enjoy A Gentleman in Moscow, possibly in my top 10 books of all time. However, I classified it as historical fiction!
9JoeB1934
>8 Tess_W: I am definitely looking forward to reading it. The fact the the LT Recommendations popped it up is encouraging, as my browsing technique never did.
As to it being historical fiction, that isn't any surprise at all. The Tag Genre Percentages display indicates that 65% of the books I have read all time are H-F. Also, that the LT list here has 89% H-F.
I obviously have always preferred those books.
As to it being historical fiction, that isn't any surprise at all. The Tag Genre Percentages display indicates that 65% of the books I have read all time are H-F. Also, that the LT list here has 89% H-F.
I obviously have always preferred those books.
10JoeB1934
I will always be available to answer questions related to this search for literary mysteries, but reporting on my reading of the books listed here will be presented in my 'Reading Fingerprints' chat.
About 1/3 of the books I read are either non-fiction, or literary fiction books that don't officially have the mystery component I use to classify as L-M.
Please follow along in that chat if you are interested.
About 1/3 of the books I read are either non-fiction, or literary fiction books that don't officially have the mystery component I use to classify as L-M.
Please follow along in that chat if you are interested.
11JoeB1934
I have been reading a lot of books in 2023 that fell into the literary mystery category. Out of those books there is a special selection that all qualified as 5 Star books to me. Through May 16 the list of such books that I have read are listed below.
In the display below there is a column providing for each book my personal favorite tag genres so you can get some idea why each book appealed to me.
In those tag genres there is one labeled FV Auth which means that it is a book by one of my 160 most favorite authors accumulated over the decades.
Another tag is LM Star which means that the author has been designated a Literary Mystery author by either GR, or LT.
It is also important to note that the columns labelled 5 and 4 Star % came from Goodreads because the book count is very high with their records.
You need to realize that these are 5-Star books for me, by my personal definitions. However, the 5 Star and 4 Star percentages for each book should give you a general idea of the quality of each book over the universe of other readers.
In the display below there is a column providing for each book my personal favorite tag genres so you can get some idea why each book appealed to me.
In those tag genres there is one labeled FV Auth which means that it is a book by one of my 160 most favorite authors accumulated over the decades.
Another tag is LM Star which means that the author has been designated a Literary Mystery author by either GR, or LT.
It is also important to note that the columns labelled 5 and 4 Star % came from Goodreads because the book count is very high with their records.
You need to realize that these are 5-Star books for me, by my personal definitions. However, the 5 Star and 4 Star percentages for each book should give you a general idea of the quality of each book over the universe of other readers.
12JoeB1934
Since the preceding display was processed I have continued to read and, as of 06-02 there are 4 new books to display. These are contained in the following display which I will continue to use for upcoming books.
13JoeB1934
During 2023 YTD I have read 58 books, of which 27 were 5 Star books to me. My listing of those 5 Star books left me somewhat dissatisfied as there exists a subset of those books which provided me with enjoyment beyond other books.
Recently i was perusing Raton-Liseur's 2023 reading journal (Part 1) located at https://www.librarything.com/topic/347510#n8155007.
Early in that very comprehensive journal of her reading is an excellent solution to my problems. She introduces the concept of memorable reads as follows:
" Memorable reads from 2022
My memorable reads include books that I really enjoyed but are not exactly a top 5 or top 10 or top whatever number list. They are books that have made a lasting impression, not necessarily for their intrinsic qualities, but because I learnt a lot and/or I read them at the right time for me, and/or because they bring something utterly new in my reading world.
My more recent reads are more represented, probably because they are fresher in my mind rather than because I had a particularly splendid end of year reading! So this is a highly imperfect list, but it does give an idea of where my readings lead me to."
Raton has succinctly presented a set of criteria which matches my concept about some of my books. The key phrases in her statement that rang bells with me are:
1) books that have made a lasting impression, not necessarily for their intrinsic qualities.
2) because I learnt a lot
3) and/or I read them at the right time for me
4) and/or because they bring something utterly new in my reading world.
A list of my 2023 readings that qualify by one, or more of these conditions is presented below
You might consider this list of books as my best-of-the-best so far in 2023
Recently i was perusing Raton-Liseur's 2023 reading journal (Part 1) located at https://www.librarything.com/topic/347510#n8155007.
Early in that very comprehensive journal of her reading is an excellent solution to my problems. She introduces the concept of memorable reads as follows:
" Memorable reads from 2022
My memorable reads include books that I really enjoyed but are not exactly a top 5 or top 10 or top whatever number list. They are books that have made a lasting impression, not necessarily for their intrinsic qualities, but because I learnt a lot and/or I read them at the right time for me, and/or because they bring something utterly new in my reading world.
My more recent reads are more represented, probably because they are fresher in my mind rather than because I had a particularly splendid end of year reading! So this is a highly imperfect list, but it does give an idea of where my readings lead me to."
Raton has succinctly presented a set of criteria which matches my concept about some of my books. The key phrases in her statement that rang bells with me are:
1) books that have made a lasting impression, not necessarily for their intrinsic qualities.
2) because I learnt a lot
3) and/or I read them at the right time for me
4) and/or because they bring something utterly new in my reading world.
A list of my 2023 readings that qualify by one, or more of these conditions is presented below
You might consider this list of books as my best-of-the-best so far in 2023
14JoeB1934
As a longer term project I hope to review my entire library to determine year-by-year the memorable books I can identify. This accomplishment will only come about with some difficulty as I am about to reach my 89th birthday and memories are fading for me
In my analysis of this group of books the most common theme is a focused story on an individual, or a family and their dealing with some unusual situation that kept me very involved in a 'resolution'. In all stories there is a mystery component, but not usually a crime, perse.
The literary content is very high from my perspective, and many are classed as literary fiction.
Maybe because I just finished them, but the books by Jodi Picoult and Shelley Read are outstanding stories about two very different girls that left me in tears.
In my analysis of this group of books the most common theme is a focused story on an individual, or a family and their dealing with some unusual situation that kept me very involved in a 'resolution'. In all stories there is a mystery component, but not usually a crime, perse.
The literary content is very high from my perspective, and many are classed as literary fiction.
Maybe because I just finished them, but the books by Jodi Picoult and Shelley Read are outstanding stories about two very different girls that left me in tears.
15JoeB1934
I just finished the book Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry and it ranks very high on my unwritten lifetime list of memorable books. Please go to reviews of this book on Goodreads for descriptions well beyond anything I can write. A partial list of the publishers blurb is as follows:
From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author, a dazzlingly written novel exploring love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets
Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children, Winnie and Joe.
A beautiful, haunting novel, in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.
The key word in that statement is haunting
While I can't do justice to describing this book, my personal description is this: An autobiography written by a poet about the loves of his life with uncertainty about where reality and dementia overlap. The writing is so exquisite that almost every sentrence is quotable, if one stops to think it through, and retains the capacity to remember it.
From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author, a dazzlingly written novel exploring love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets
Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children, Winnie and Joe.
A beautiful, haunting novel, in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.
The key word in that statement is haunting
While I can't do justice to describing this book, my personal description is this: An autobiography written by a poet about the loves of his life with uncertainty about where reality and dementia overlap. The writing is so exquisite that almost every sentrence is quotable, if one stops to think it through, and retains the capacity to remember it.
16JoeB1934
Many reviewers have profound statements about this book but one that summarizes it for me is on Goodreads as follows:
"Meredith (Slowly Catching Up)
794 reviews
12.4k followers
Follow
December 29, 2022
Haunting
4.5 stars
“Nothing was what it was made out to be. The truth included.”
Tom Kettle, a retired policeman, is startled out of his retirement reverie of a secluded life by the Irish sea when former colleagues approach him about a case involving a murdered priest. Stirring memories long tamped down, Tom must finally face the demons in his life.
Tom shifts from sharing memories of the past as he struggles to grapple with life in the present. The reader learns of his immense love for his wife, June, and their two children. Tragedy fills the pages.
Tom's story slowly unfolds. His narrative is sometimes confusing as he meanders from the past into the present. Tom is the sole narrator, and it is hard being in his head. His memories aren’t reliable, and his present is murky at best. I was constantly questioning what was real and what was fabricated to fit his truth.
Over time, he shares a harrowing story filled with love and much loss. As Tom reveals buried memories, I was pained and horrified. This is not an easy book to read.
There is also a bit of a mystery at play involving a case from Tom's past. However, the true mystery is about Tom's life and the losses he suffered.
Barry’s writing is exquisite. He captures the emotions and depths of a man long-suffering alone. It’s a quiet and depressing story filled with loss, trauma, and sorrow, but there is also beauty and unwavering love."
"Meredith (Slowly Catching Up)
794 reviews
12.4k followers
Follow
December 29, 2022
Haunting
4.5 stars
“Nothing was what it was made out to be. The truth included.”
Tom Kettle, a retired policeman, is startled out of his retirement reverie of a secluded life by the Irish sea when former colleagues approach him about a case involving a murdered priest. Stirring memories long tamped down, Tom must finally face the demons in his life.
Tom shifts from sharing memories of the past as he struggles to grapple with life in the present. The reader learns of his immense love for his wife, June, and their two children. Tragedy fills the pages.
Tom's story slowly unfolds. His narrative is sometimes confusing as he meanders from the past into the present. Tom is the sole narrator, and it is hard being in his head. His memories aren’t reliable, and his present is murky at best. I was constantly questioning what was real and what was fabricated to fit his truth.
Over time, he shares a harrowing story filled with love and much loss. As Tom reveals buried memories, I was pained and horrified. This is not an easy book to read.
There is also a bit of a mystery at play involving a case from Tom's past. However, the true mystery is about Tom's life and the losses he suffered.
Barry’s writing is exquisite. He captures the emotions and depths of a man long-suffering alone. It’s a quiet and depressing story filled with loss, trauma, and sorrow, but there is also beauty and unwavering love."
17JoeB1934
I was really on an amazing string of 3 memorable books read in a row, so I naturally expected to add to that success. This was not to be, even though my recent books were mostly reasonable reads.
I decided to display all of the books I was drawn to even though I didn't finish 3 of them. I will explain why I didn't finish the three books, but I don't want to discourage others from reading those books.
If I had read each of the three DNF books last year I most likely would have read them and rated them highly, but this year I want to focus on those books which match my current mood & expectations.
The authors Isabel Allende and Dennis Lehane are on my favorite authors list but I currently am concentrating on books which really speak to my basic soul, so to speak. Historical mysteries have always been most interesting to me, with current societal issues less so.
The 4 books I did finish were all matched to my expectations, with the seven books listed below.
I decided to display all of the books I was drawn to even though I didn't finish 3 of them. I will explain why I didn't finish the three books, but I don't want to discourage others from reading those books.
If I had read each of the three DNF books last year I most likely would have read them and rated them highly, but this year I want to focus on those books which match my current mood & expectations.
The authors Isabel Allende and Dennis Lehane are on my favorite authors list but I currently am concentrating on books which really speak to my basic soul, so to speak. Historical mysteries have always been most interesting to me, with current societal issues less so.
The 4 books I did finish were all matched to my expectations, with the seven books listed below.
18JoeB1934
Book Notes:
(1) By all indicators I should love The House of the Spirits but as I started the book, I had recently finished a different family saga and somehow the magical realism and touch of fantasy just didn't match my interests that day and I shelved it.
(2) Time Shelter is a very interesting Literary Fiction book with Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Time Travel facets. I am interested in such stories, but again just not in the mood at this time.
(3) Small Mercies is a highly rated book by an outstanding author. I have been looking forward to reading this book all year and it just became available in audio to me from my library. Unfortunately, I need to pass it off for another reader as the intensity of the book is higher than I can appreciate at this time. Maybe later in the year will be OK. From a LT review "Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane is his latest ‘smack you in the face and rip out your heart’ novel."
(4) The Bookman's Tale contains my most favorite storyline, books-about-books with a touch of romance (?). I even read a mention of Possession, which is almost my most favorite book of all time, as comparable. That was the tragedy as an excellent start to the story was soon eclipsed by marginally believable coincidences. The writing wasn't very literate, even by my uneducated standards. The author also threw in an unnecessary murder as well as an 'Indiana Jones' plot point.
(1) By all indicators I should love The House of the Spirits but as I started the book, I had recently finished a different family saga and somehow the magical realism and touch of fantasy just didn't match my interests that day and I shelved it.
(2) Time Shelter is a very interesting Literary Fiction book with Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Time Travel facets. I am interested in such stories, but again just not in the mood at this time.
(3) Small Mercies is a highly rated book by an outstanding author. I have been looking forward to reading this book all year and it just became available in audio to me from my library. Unfortunately, I need to pass it off for another reader as the intensity of the book is higher than I can appreciate at this time. Maybe later in the year will be OK. From a LT review "Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane is his latest ‘smack you in the face and rip out your heart’ novel."
(4) The Bookman's Tale contains my most favorite storyline, books-about-books with a touch of romance (?). I even read a mention of Possession, which is almost my most favorite book of all time, as comparable. That was the tragedy as an excellent start to the story was soon eclipsed by marginally believable coincidences. The writing wasn't very literate, even by my uneducated standards. The author also threw in an unnecessary murder as well as an 'Indiana Jones' plot point.
19JoeB1934
The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a very anticipated book for 2023. This book has outstanding reviews, as can be noted by the GR 5-Star rating of 59%. The blurb on the book from the publisher is:
Goodreads Choice AwardNominee for Best Historical Fiction (2017)
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
In spite of the many positives about this book I ended up not being able to award 5-Stars to the book. The story was very unusual and always intriguing. It is very difficult for me to describe exactly why this happened. There were times when I was disappointed in the literary dimensions and, in spite of my interest in romance in the story, the romance details were more than seemed necessary.
Yes, I realize that is unrealistic about a book that is grouped with books by Colleen Hoover, which I would never read. I still am happy that I read the book.
What kept me going after the disappointments was the desire to find out when the 'mystery' would be revealed. I realize that most readers associate mystery with crime, but not me. I truly believe that, for me an element of mystery in a story is essential to keep me reading. In this book the mystery was a significant and surprising event. Not enough to make the book memorable to me, but enough to move my rating to 4.5.
Goodreads Choice AwardNominee for Best Historical Fiction (2017)
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
In spite of the many positives about this book I ended up not being able to award 5-Stars to the book. The story was very unusual and always intriguing. It is very difficult for me to describe exactly why this happened. There were times when I was disappointed in the literary dimensions and, in spite of my interest in romance in the story, the romance details were more than seemed necessary.
Yes, I realize that is unrealistic about a book that is grouped with books by Colleen Hoover, which I would never read. I still am happy that I read the book.
What kept me going after the disappointments was the desire to find out when the 'mystery' would be revealed. I realize that most readers associate mystery with crime, but not me. I truly believe that, for me an element of mystery in a story is essential to keep me reading. In this book the mystery was a significant and surprising event. Not enough to make the book memorable to me, but enough to move my rating to 4.5.
20DeltaQueen50
Hi Joe, I have both The House of Spirits and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on my shelves - just haven't been in the mood for either of them yet.
21JoeB1934
>20 DeltaQueen50: They are both excellent books and you are right to get in the 'mood' to read them. They just weren't right for me at this time.
22JoeB1934
I really enjoyed both of the 5-star books in this group of books, but I didn't place either in my Memorable Reads category.
Then we had the traditional Fathers' Day on Sunday, my only granddaughter came, and she had prepared a photo montage of all fathers and grandfathers in her life with pictures from our lives she had gathered. This was followed by a really special homage to each of us that brought tears to all of our eyes. She can really write!. She included my father, her great grandfather in the package.
What about this made me change my mind on a book rating? In her homage to me she gave me credit for instilling within her the love of books. (This might be partially true but her skills in writing and art history go way beyond anything I contributed.)
We often exchange book ideas even though her favorites are science fiction and mine are literary mysteries. Some of my best books came from her because she knows me to my core.
I have kept her posted on my search for memorable books, but I realized that the book I wanted most to tell her about was Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris The more I think about that book the more important it becomes in my memory.
So, it goes on my list.
The book was an Edgar nominee way back in 2007 but I didn't discover the author until this year.
A lot is made about the mystery content in this book, and it is a fabulous mystery only resolved in the last few chapters. But it wasn't the mystery that pushed this book into my memorable category.
What was revelatory? It was the ingredients of coming-of-age issues with dedicated teachers and the educational institution that overrides the dynamic blend. Top it all off with the parents and local customs, economics and class structures. The importance of teachers and their ability to deal with their own personal life issues while leading students into a promised future is dramatically shown.
This NOT just another mystery!
I require a mystery component to keep me going, but I evaluate a book based on the details in the lives of the participants.
I realize this approach might seem incongruous, but I think of a mystery somewhat like a period at the end of a sentence to tell me the thought is finished, but it is the sentence content that is important.
Then we had the traditional Fathers' Day on Sunday, my only granddaughter came, and she had prepared a photo montage of all fathers and grandfathers in her life with pictures from our lives she had gathered. This was followed by a really special homage to each of us that brought tears to all of our eyes. She can really write!. She included my father, her great grandfather in the package.
What about this made me change my mind on a book rating? In her homage to me she gave me credit for instilling within her the love of books. (This might be partially true but her skills in writing and art history go way beyond anything I contributed.)
We often exchange book ideas even though her favorites are science fiction and mine are literary mysteries. Some of my best books came from her because she knows me to my core.
I have kept her posted on my search for memorable books, but I realized that the book I wanted most to tell her about was Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris The more I think about that book the more important it becomes in my memory.
So, it goes on my list.
The book was an Edgar nominee way back in 2007 but I didn't discover the author until this year.
A lot is made about the mystery content in this book, and it is a fabulous mystery only resolved in the last few chapters. But it wasn't the mystery that pushed this book into my memorable category.
What was revelatory? It was the ingredients of coming-of-age issues with dedicated teachers and the educational institution that overrides the dynamic blend. Top it all off with the parents and local customs, economics and class structures. The importance of teachers and their ability to deal with their own personal life issues while leading students into a promised future is dramatically shown.
This NOT just another mystery!
I require a mystery component to keep me going, but I evaluate a book based on the details in the lives of the participants.
I realize this approach might seem incongruous, but I think of a mystery somewhat like a period at the end of a sentence to tell me the thought is finished, but it is the sentence content that is important.
23JoeB1934
The title of this chat says I will describe using Library Thing Recommendations so at the last minutes I decided to add pictures of the LT capabilities in this regard.
This first picture shows the suggested books to read that are literary fiction books written by authors that I follow. There are numerous choices that are excellent, and I only printed a few at the top as examples.
This first picture shows the suggested books to read that are literary fiction books written by authors that I follow. There are numerous choices that are excellent, and I only printed a few at the top as examples.
24JoeB1934
In this display I present those books written by my favorite authors that are described as literary fiction which are also considered mysteries.
25JoeB1934
I also make great use of the tagmash capabilities of LT. The following display is a tagmash run finding those books in LT which are described as 500 highest ranking Literary Fiction, Mystery books.
The display tells me that I have read 266 of the 500 highest ranking such books. The green checkmarks indicate if I have read a specific book, while the red checkmarks indicates a book that is on my wishlist to read soon.
The display tells me that I have read 266 of the 500 highest ranking such books. The green checkmarks indicate if I have read a specific book, while the red checkmarks indicates a book that is on my wishlist to read soon.
