January is upon us, which means that, once again, it is time to look back at all the books I read in the previous year (in this case, 2023) and hand out (imaginary) awards to the best of them. Let me warn you up front, that my list won’t include any of the completely obscure and/or long-out-of-print novels that I generally take so much pleasure in discovering and then writing about. Previous Mimsie Award lists have included such forgotten masterpieces as Richard McGill’s Omamori, Kay McGrath’s The Seeds of Singing, James Leigh’s Downstairs at Ramsay’s, and James Robert Baker’s Boy Wonder. Last year, my work as a freelance writer dictated most of the reading I did. As a result, most of what I read was written by famous writers whose careers I was re-evaluating for Quillette, this blog, or some other online venue. I read a great number of really thrilling novels in 2023, but none of them was terribly obscure. In 2024, I am going to try to make an effort to find some really unsung writers to praise in future installments of this blog. With luck, the 2024 Mimsie Awards essay will introduce you to some writers and books you’ve never heard of before. But, for now, let’s talk about 2023.
AND THE WINNER IS…THE 2023 MIMSIE AWARDS!
AND THE WINNER IS…THE 2023 MIMSIE AWARDS!
AND THE WINNER IS…THE 2023 MIMSIE AWARDS!
January is upon us, which means that, once again, it is time to look back at all the books I read in the previous year (in this case, 2023) and hand out (imaginary) awards to the best of them. Let me warn you up front, that my list won’t include any of the completely obscure and/or long-out-of-print novels that I generally take so much pleasure in discovering and then writing about. Previous Mimsie Award lists have included such forgotten masterpieces as Richard McGill’s Omamori, Kay McGrath’s The Seeds of Singing, James Leigh’s Downstairs at Ramsay’s, and James Robert Baker’s Boy Wonder. Last year, my work as a freelance writer dictated most of the reading I did. As a result, most of what I read was written by famous writers whose careers I was re-evaluating for Quillette, this blog, or some other online venue. I read a great number of really thrilling novels in 2023, but none of them was terribly obscure. In 2024, I am going to try to make an effort to find some really unsung writers to praise in future installments of this blog. With luck, the 2024 Mimsie Awards essay will introduce you to some writers and books you’ve never heard of before. But, for now, let’s talk about 2023.