The 2023rd top-ten list you’ll see this week

In the news business, we call this Dead Week. Nothing happens between Christmas and New Year. Courts are closed, schools are closed, business is on vacation. Except for the occasional unpredictable tragedy, there’s nothing to write about.

That’s why your feed has been choked with top-ten lists for books, movies, music, news, etc. We have very little else to do, people. If you ever have a project or major initiative to announce, do it between Christmas and New Year. We. Are. Bored.

So here are the top ten books and movies I consumed this year, with a notice that I was in grad school for the first half the year and it definitely influenced my reading choices.

• Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias. This book is a story cycle, a form that has fascinated me enough that I intend to try one myself. What’s a story cycle? It’s basically a collection of short stories that are intertwined to form a continuing story, such as Olive Kitteridge or The Women of Brewster Place. This one becomes a little more episodic in the last quarter of the book, but definitely qualifies. Each story is interconnected, returning to the same characters as they progress, all living under the shadow of late-Trump era border wars and children in cages. The language(s) are beautiful, even as I read some of them with hand jammed to mouth in horror. I can see why Iglesias has gained so much acclaim (and he is also a friendly, nice person, which you don’t always get with super talented authors.) This was one of the best books I’ve read this year.
• A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline. Full review. Catching my eye as a book based on my favorite painting, “Christina’s World” by Andre Wyeth, it turned out to be historical fiction based on the painting and the life of the woman it depicted. The author did extensive research, but obviously much of it is fiction. I found it a compelling read despite jumping back and forth in time, which has to be done carefully. You cannot help but root for Christina, who was handed one of the all-time worst hands of fate and repeatedly has chances for a better life torn from her, but for the most part bears her sorrows with dignity and grace — even those she brings upon herself. It was an impulse buy at a bookstore and I’m so glad I did.