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    10 best books for 2023: Or make that 12, if you include a trio that shouldn’t work at all

    by Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune Dec 13, 2023 6 minutes
    Annual best books of the year, from left, "Whalefall" by Daniel Krauss, "Bride of the Tornado" by James Kennedy, "Lone Women" by Victor Lavalle, "King, A Life" by Jonathan Eig, "Biography of X" by Catherine Lacey, "The Deadline" by Jill Lepore, "The Parrot and the Igloo" by David Lipsky, "Small Mercie" by Dennis Lehane, "The Fruad" by Zadie Smith, "Chain-Gang All-Stars" by Nana Kwame...

    CHICAGO -- Imagine a holiday party, attended only by books. If it helps, give them little arms and legs. That’s the way to think about the best books of the year. You’ve invited a bunch of books that you can’t get out of your head to a Christmas blowout, and there were so many, it’s crowded and loud. Some guests are wild and drunk off their asses; some are formal; some are thick and popular. A few guests corner you and insist that you love them; they chew up more time than you like. You glance past them, you scan the room.

    You spot themes. You notice our future squashed tightly against our past — and everyone mingling with our nervous present. You see a lot of Chicago guests; it’s been one of the best years for local authors in a while. You see many good books on climate change. You see history and 2023 huddled in a heated conversation that never ends.

    Anyway, that’s what I see.

    And by the end of the night, when I’ve kicked everyone out, 10 books

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