My 2023 reading

According to StoryGraph, I read 68 books, totaling 20,065 pages, in 2023. Of those, ⅔ were nonfiction and ⅓ were fiction, which is more fiction than usual. That's because I read all three books in the Scholomance series (teenage wizards, but incredibly dark) that Cassie recommended and all eight books in Mick Herron's Slough House series (so far; they were released from 2010 to 2022) that my friend Bill recommended. In a New Yorker profile, Jill Lepore asked "Is Mick Herron the Best Spy Novelist of His Generation?" I don't read enough spy novels to have an opinion, but I do highly recommend all of the Slough House books, as well as the three seasons of the Slow Horses series on Apple TV+ based on the first three books. 

As recent episodes might suggest, one of my contenders for the best nonfiction book I read in 2023 is The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness (2023) by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. The subtitle says it all. The book distills the lessons the authors learned as the director and co-director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. They boil 85 years of the study down to one principle for living: "Good relationships keep us healthier and happier." They go through the evidence and give suggestions for how to "cultivate warm relationships" in all aspects of your life. There's a ton of good information in the book, conveyed in an approachable style.

 

As much as I enjoyed and learned from The Good Life, my favorite nonfiction book I read in 2023 is Why Fish Don't Exist (2020) by Lulu Miller, which I picked up for $1 at the Fall 2023 book sale after first learning about it on one of those employee recommendation cards at the independent Third Place Books shop near Dylan and Moriah's house. It's an odd book which doesn't fit into any neat categories. As the publisher describes it, it's part memoir, part biography of David Starr Jordan (the founding president of Stanford University), and part scientific adventure, but the total effect is significantly greater than the sum of its parts. The book is probably not to everyone's taste, but I found it both intellectually stimulating and packing an emotional punch. One of a kind.

Some other books I'd recommend if the subject matter interests are: Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us (2023) by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross; The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2023) by David Grann; Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes (2019) by Jessica Pan; Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage (2022) by Heather Havrilesky; and Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully (2023) by Kelly Starrett and Juliet Starrett.

All the books I read in 2023

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As usual, my 2023 reading also included keeping up with various cooking magazines. Cook's Illustrated ended the year with a bang with this recipe, printed in its November & December issue, for a delicious, and gloriously simple, chocolate olive oil cake. This is easily assembled, in less than 20 minutes, just by whisking all of the ingredients together. The taste is fantastic and the texture light, which is different from a number of the dense chocolate cakes I've already posted recipes for.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated (Nov. & Dec. 2023)

 

Time: (~50 minutes total, 19 minutes to get the cake into the oven)

105 grams (~⅞ cup) all-purpose flour
21 grams (¼ cup) cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
105 grams (½ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
85 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 7 squares of Trader Joe’s Pound Plus 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate)
2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
200 grams (1 cup) white granulated sugar + 25 grams (2 tablespoons)
120 grams (½ cup) dairy or nondairy milk, any fat level

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 350 degrees. Lightly spray the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with Pam cooking spray; using a paper towel, wipe the sides of the pan only, leaving a thin film of oil.
    2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
    3. In a small bowl, nuke the oil and chopped chocolate in a microwave until the chocolate is melted, about 1 minute. Whisk until smooth.
    4. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk just to break them up a little bit. Add the 200 grams sugar and whisk until combined. Whisk in the oil/chocolate mixture until smooth. Whisk in the milk until incorporated. Whisk in the flour mixture until smooth.
    5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 25 grams sugar evenly over the surface of the batter. Hold the pan clip (to make sure the pan doesn’t open) while you rap the pan on the counter to knock out any bubbles on the surface.
    6. Bake until a long skewer (not a toothpick) inserted diagonally into a crack at the edge of the cake (below the sugar crust), aiming for the center, comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 to 35 minutes.
    7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool completely, at least 2 hours. Run a disposable plastic knife around the edge of the cake. Unclip the pan and remove the sides. Transfer to a serving plate. Serves 8 to 10. (Any leftover cake can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, but the sugar crust will get soft and weepy.)