Books To Bookend the Year

My top books from 2023

Welcome back to The Burnett Breakdown. I haven’t written anything in months mainly because I haven’t been keeping up with the news, but here is a post recapping some of the best books that I read this year.

I would highly recommend all of these books to anyone, but I wanted to select my favorite in specific categories to ensure variety in my selections. Other than recapping for self-satisfaction, part of my goal is to create a list of books from this past year that isn’t overwhelming but will hopefully inspire someone to pick at least one of these books up in the year to come.

Without further ado, here are my favorite books that I read in 2023 (spoiler: none of them were actually published this year).

Best Fiction: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I think this may be the best novel I have ever read. That doesn’t mean it is an easy read; in fact, it is an incredibly tough read. There are a ton of characters to keep up with, it is long, and the content itself is heavy, but it is so thought-provoking that I know I will be coming back to it for years to come.

Written in the late 1800s in Russia, Dostoevsky writes about a highly dysfunctional (to say the least) family of three brothers: Dmitri, Ivan, and Alyosha Karamazov. Dmitri is a sensualist who indulges his flesh. Ivan is an intellectual nihilistic atheist reminiscent of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch. Alyosha is a deeply pious man, and the hero of the story, who is a novice in the local monastery at the start of the book.

What was most striking about this book to me is how it makes a better argument for Christianity against nihilism than any rational argument ever could. In fact, Ivan, the nihilistic atheist, makes better arguments throughout the novel than Alyosha; and yet, it is impossible to get to the end of the book and not intrinsically know that Alyosha is right.

Quotation to Consider: “For the secret of man’s being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living, and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth, though he had bread in abundance.”

Honorable Mention: Middlemarch by George Eliot

Another book that is tough to read but well worth the effort. This one is set in the fictional town of Middlemarch, England in the early 1800s. Eliot beautifully (her writing truly is beautiful) paints a vivid picture of life in an English town of that period.

This isn’t a mere historical portrayal though. Eliot takes time to develop her characters so that the reader can really wrestle with the various relationships and motivations of the individual characters. So much so that the reader has no choice but to feel exactly what the characters are feeling as they act.

The novel tracks the story of Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate, two idealists who, in the pursuit of their ideals, get trapped in ruinous relationships that shatter their idealism. While many “critics” say it is a critique of marriage, I think that is modernist nonsense as Eliot is far too complex of a writer to focus on such a shallow theme. Instead, she meticulously chronicles just how confusing and complex it is to be human by making it clear that we don’t even understand why we do the things that we do sometimes.

Quotation to Consider: “But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

Best Nonfiction: The Right: The Hundred-Year for American Conservatism by Matt Continetti

There are very few subjects that I find more interesting than the history of political conservatism. As someone who reads history generally, it bothers me a great deal when people make an argument or idea (usually a bad one) that they think is original to them. The reality is that the vast majority of the arguments that we have today, especially political arguments, are repeats of arguments in the past. The particularities are different, but the general principles at war with each other very rarely change from one generation to the next.

This is why I loved this book. Continetti expertly tracks the various intellectual strands that have all contributed to the American Right over the last century. The book is appropriately titled The Right because it does not seek to define conservativism. Instead, it tracks the various intellectual camps that have all been “anti-Left” but whether they are “conservative” remains contentious.

Continetti brilliantly tracks the populist underbelly that has always been present on the right but whose influence has waxed and waned over the decades. The biggest asset this book has though is how readable it is. I’m not sure there is a better “starter” book to the history of conservatism in America than this book.

Quotation to Consider: “My framework is the endless competition and occasional collaboration between populism and elitism. Is the American Right the party of insiders or outsiders? Is the Right the elites—the men and women in charge of America’s political, economic, social, and cultural institutions—or is it the people? And is the Right even able to answer such a question?”

Honorable Mention: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

This book by Bryan Stevenson is a pretty different book than I normally read. It is a memoir that tracks Stevenson’s career as a Harvard-trained lawyer who goes into defending criminals who are on death row in Alabama. In particular, Stevenson focuses on his efforts to overturn the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillan, a black man from Alabama who was convicted of murder.

Stevenson is fiercely progressive and the book can feel pretty preachy at times, but it is a well-written narrative that keeps you engaged as the reader. Whether I agree with Stevenson’s politics or not, I couldn’t help but be inspired by his willingness to continue to fight for justice despite the immense obstacles put in his way giving him every opportunity to stop.

Quotation to Consider: “There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise.”

Must Read: Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

This book is the one book that I would recommend everyone reading this to read. While I think Brother’s Karamazov is the better literary masterpiece, Hannah Coulter is infinitely easier to read, but, dare I say, just as emotionally moving. In fact, this is the first book that has EVER made me cry… and I cried multiple times reading it.

The story is told from the perspective of an old woman reflecting on her life. She recounts her most joyous moments along with her most heartbreaking ones, but she retells these events almost nonchalantly. Instead, she prizes the seemingly mundane, day-to-day moments that made up the vast majority of her life on a farm in the town of Port William, Kentucky.

Along with being beautifully written, Berry laments the growing extinction of small-town farming communities being replaced by the modern world. Berry is more than just nostalgic though. He makes a compelling argument that there is something intrinsically human and fulfilling about making a home for yourself surrounded by people who blur the line between being friends or family. I’m not saying everyone should live on a farm, but Berry makes a pretty good case that we may not be that much worse off if everyone did.

Quotation to Consider: “I was yet grateful. Sometimes I was grateful because I knew I ought to be, sometimes because I wanted to be, and sometimes a sweet thankfulness came to me on its own, like a singing from somewhere out in the dark. I was grateful because I knew, even in my fear and grief, that my life had been filled with gifts.”

Merry Christmas,

Hunter Burnett