Recommendations of 2023

2023 brought lots of interesting books, movies, television shows, podcasts, and more. Now, it’s time to reflect and review.

I personally consumed and enjoyed lots of media in 2023. This was the year that I graduated college, started working at my first full-time job, and catapulted into adulthood. I also traveled to countries I’ve never seen before, befriended people from around the world, and tried my best to embrace new experiences and step outside of my comfort zone.

Similarly, with media consumption, I approached 2023 with the intention of reading, watching, and listening to different genres of media than my norm. Additionally, I listened to podcasts for the first time, and I discovered that I’m a huge fan of them!

I’ll keep this list short and sweet: here is a proclamation of my favorite book and podcast.

Books

My book recommendation from this year is The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. Many obviously know Green from his entourage of YA novels, a couple of which were adapted into beloved mid-2010’s “teen films.” As a middle schooler during those years, I read and watched much of John Green’s work, and I mentally categorized his writing in the same box as Nicholas Sparks – easy reads and cheesy films.

The Anthropocene Reviewed deviates from Green’s bestseller YA novel formula, and instead reflects on pivotal experiences from Green’s 40-something years. The book blurs the line between memoir and social commentary, and it is organized into dozens of semi-autobiographical “essays” that review different components of the Anthropocene: the period of human history where humans prevailed. These “components” are seemingly arbitrary–some examples include Jerzy Dudek’s winning goal, Kentucky bluegrass, and Diet Dr. Pepper–but they each offer incredible and intimate insight into John Green’s life. The book graciously covers Green’s struggle with mental illness, and includes some interesting details about the author’s life prior to the publication of his first novel The Abundance of Katherines.

I was expecting The Anthropocene Reviewed to compare to Green’s YA novels, but I was pleasantly surprised by its more mature tone. I recognize that Green and his publishing team have a great understanding of nostalgic consumers. I believe that this memoir was targeted to his original fans–his YA readers from 2000’s and 2010’s.

Of course, this book was not published in 2021. However, it grew international acclaim and recognition in 2023, which is why I chose it for this list. One of my (few) qualms with this book was that the various mentions to the COVID-19 pandemic, living through “unprecedented times” and general pandemic-related anecdotes, ages this book tremendously.

This book will not completely revolutionize your outlook on the world, but it will provide another perspective. If you were once a John Green fan, The Anthropocene Reviewed reads like a monologue of an old and trusted friend.

Podcasts

Love them or hate them, podcasting is an oversaturated market that’s here to stay. I resisted listening to podcasts prior to 2023 primarily because I detested the way that every semi-relevant celebrity or content creator seemingly rented weekly studio to record episodes of pure nonsense. Truthfully, there are a plethora of unlistenable podcasts that, if it were up to me, would be scrubbed from the internet. However, there are a select few that make my week ever-so-slightly more enjoyable. Here’s the one podcast that capped my annual Spotify Wrapped and dominated my work commutes:

Celebrity Memoir Book Club, or sometimes abbreviated CMBC, is hosted by two New York based comedians, Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton, who read a celebrity memoir every week, and dedicate an hour to covering the book with the appropriate level of snark and condescension that most celebrity memoirs admittedly deserve. I love reading memoirs, but the celebrity memoir market is constantly growing, and to be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t want to pay upwards of $40 for the latest celebrity book without guarantee that it is worthwhile. Claire and Ashley definitely understand there’s a whole audience of readers facing this similar scenario.

I personally find Claire and Ashley honest and hilarious, and while they do snark on celebrities frequently, they also give credit where credit is due. When a memoir is touching or dealing with a heavy subject matter, Claire and Ashley are respectful and praise decent writing or storytelling. I listened to thousands of minutes of this podcast in 2023, and it’s definitely my favorite. I recommend!

More to Come…

I’ve watched so many movies and television shows this year that I need extra time to pick out my favorites. I’ll be back soon!

❤ Katherine Julia