Jeffrey Brown's 3 favorite reads in 2023

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but that’s exactly what I did when I saw the deluxe wood-bound edition of The Eyes and The Impossible; warm and inviting and hinting at untold adventure.

The first thing to love is the central character Johannes, a self-proclaimed very fast dog who is caring and brave and very often funny as he describes the world he lives in (a park) and his friends (a gull, a squirrel, a raccoon, and more).

The story begins with a seemingly mundane but full life that transforms into a time of unknown dangers and unpredictable revelations. The book describes true friendship – the kind that is unconditional yet tested, that will be forever even if it ends. It has the most important things for any great story – action, humor, and, above all heart.  

Geneviève Castrée’s book Susceptible is still one of my all-time favorite graphic memoirs; like all of her work, it was funny and heartfelt and serious and real.

Sadly, Castrée passed away at a far too young age, but this collection shows just how productive she was an artist and writer. 

This huge book contains comics, scraps, and stories (including Susceptible) – it’s not something to read so much as something to live with for a while, even though it takes plenty of reading to work your way through the material. Her comics and art are at times completely vulnerable and raw, other times angry and impenetrable, but always fierce and honest. 

I like a good murder mystery, and that’s sort of how this book feels, except there’s no murder, just an accidental death, although the details are only known by the narrator, June Hayward.

Kuang does an excellent job making June easily dislikable but somewhat sympathetic; you want to root for her even if June will never get out of her own way. There is another mystery that develops as the story moves along, and seeing June’s rise through the literary world and inevitable fall is popcorn-worthy entertainment.

That would be enough to make this a great novel, but the book is also full of sharp social satire and great deconstructions of the perceptions people have of authors (whether established or struggling or both). Smart and funny is accurate, even if it’s a woefully inadequate summary.