Best books 2023: Fiction and non-fiction releases to look forward to reading
Of course, we still have a few months until the end of this year, but it’s never too early to be excited about a new school of books on the way. Alongside imaginative and immersive fictional worlds – set against the backdrop of Andy Warhol’s factory, 1940s Trinidad or even 15th century Ghana – the best books of 2023 should bring us a wealth of moving memoirs and burning cultural analyses. There are highly anticipated debuts from activist Munroe Bergdorf and Grief host Cariad Lloyd, as well as meticulous explorations of some of our modern obsessions – think: NFT and Web3.
Below, we’ve rounded up a handful of the best books to look forward to in 2023.
A Nation of Traders: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie by Daniel Evans
Lifting the lid on the UK’s modern classroom structure, Daniel Evans’ forthcoming book, A Nation of Traders: The Irresistible Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie, focuses on the class of people existing between the working class and the bourgeoisie – which was to be swallowed up by monopoly capitalism, but which has in fact grown in recent years. In the book, Evans will explore how the growth of merchants, small landowners, and independent artisans both encouraged individualism and prevented socialists from organizing. Calling them a “mysterious class,” he investigates what their seemingly unstoppable rise could mean for the left.
Released January 2023 via Repeater Books
You Are Not Alone by Cariad Lloyd
Cariad Lloyd losing his father at 15 inspired his award-winning podcast, Sorrow, in which she talks to celebrities about dealing with their own experiences of loss. In his forthcoming book, You’re not alone, the comedian and writer explores society’s reluctance to talk about death and the impact it has on those left behind. Amid the stories of those she interviewed, including Stephen Mangan, Sara Pascoe and Adam Buxton, are Lloyd’s own thoughts on therapy, friends (good and bad) and dealing with the times you miss – or maybe don’t miss – the person who left. Demystifying stereotypes – such as the “five stages of grief” – You’re not alone sees Lloyd assessing grief in all its unexpected forms.
Released January 2023 via Bloomsbury Publishing
Toy Fights by Don Paterson
toy fights – the forthcoming memoir by Don Paterson – is named after the game children played when Paterson was a boy growing up in Dundee in the late 1960s. More precisely, a game that the poet and writer had to avoid, because those who played it wanted to kill him. When he wasn’t dodging his peers in the field he grew up in, Paterson was doing what most kids do: learning the guitar, falling in love, obsessing over fleeting hobbies, and working with his dad (who happened to be a country western singer). Document the first 20 years of his life, toy fights also explores Paterson’s descent into madness, as well as his involvement in the Scottish club scene and eventual move to London. Already compared to Shuggie bath, toy fights is a story of family, working class, money and everything we do to avoid boredom.
