favorites—2023
fiction
- The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is one of the most unusual and memorable novels I've read in a while. It's a murder mystery with a meta-mystery about a time loop. The author's other novel, The Devil and the Dark Water, is pretty great too.
- Tender is the Flesh is one of the most disturbing novels I've read in a while. Keep in mind that most of the horrible things done to people in this book are done to animals, as a matter of routine and at mind-boggling scale, in the real world.
- Perdido Street Station is the third China Miéville novel I've read (after The City and the City and Embassytown) and easily my favorite. It's a macabre fantasy in a world of mad scientists and bioengineered monstrosities.
- The Terraformers includes a romance between a hyperintelligent cat and a robot beaver so I guess if there's a theme here, it's that I like weird.
- Watership Down is a children's story that I did not read as a child, which is just as well, because I don't think I would have appreciated how wonderful the prose is.
nonfiction
- Strangers Drowning is full of astonishing and heartwarming biographical sketches of people who did extreme things to help others.
- Politics is for Power was not what I was expecting based on the title. It argues that a counterproductive "political hobbyism" is the predominant form of political engagement among Americans, and that we need to shift our focus toward more locally-grounded, long-term-oriented, empathetic forms of engagement instead.
- The Feeling of Value is about the foundations of morality—about what ultimately makes anything right or wrong. I like it because it lays out essentially the view I hold, and it's the first time I've seen that view presented systematically in print.
- Parfit is a biography of my favorite philosopher, and probably only of interest to people who share my respect for him or at least have an interest in analytic philosophy. For those who do, it provides a great look into the life of this very odd man.
- In Order to Live recounts a woman's life in, and escape from, North Korea. It's moving and fascinating, though keep in mind that her truthfulness is disputed.
- Open Borders is a collaboration between a well-known economist and one of my favorite cartoonists to make the case, from both a moral perspective and a selfish/nationalistic perspective, for allowing immigration to drastically increase.
games
- Tears of the Kingdom, of course. Like more or less everyone else who owns a Switch, I spent an absurd amount of time playing this. It's impressive, it's beautiful, it's addictive. (How much of the time I was actually having fun is less clear to me.)
- Brotato is a minimalist roguelike where you control a heavily-armed potato facing waves of enemies for some reason. It's the perfect way to waste 15 minutes—and then another 15 minutes, and another...
- Return of the Obra Dinn is one of the most unique games I've ever played. You have to piece together the events that occurred on a lost ship by exploring frozen instants of time. The music might be stuck in my head forever.
- Stray has you explore a post-apocalyptic world as a cat. It's beautiful and doesn't overstay its welcome.
- Cloudpunk involves running errands around a cyberpunk city in a flying car. It's easy to pick up and is relaxing without being boring.
music
shows
