A VIEW FROM ATOP THE ANTHILL VOL. 2

Best Novellas 2023

It’s that time of year again! 2023 was one hell of a messed-up sludgefest but at least the novellas were good. Indeed, I read about 110 of them, of which 83 made their way onto the anthill. So, in case you’ve been holding off to bulk buy (and still have any money left after the holiday book binge) or just want to annoy your local librarian with obscure requests, here’s my baker’s dozen in no particular order:

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill
Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia
Columba’s Bones by David Greig
German Fantasia by Philippe Claudel
Gibbons by James Morrison
Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein
Corey Fah Does Social Mobility by Isabel Waidner
Shy by Max Porter
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Small Pain by Victoria MacKenzie
Three Fires by Denise Mina
The Pole by J.M. Coetzee
At the Edge of the Woods by Kathryn Bromwich
Salmon by Sebastian Castillo

There were also a few absolute standouts that were published before 2023, so big love to:

The Confessions of a False Soul by Ilarie Voronca
Mandelbrot the Magnificent by Liz Ziemska
The Old Woman and the River by Ismail Ismail Fahd
The Strangers by Jon Bilbao
The Fur Hat by Vladimir Voinovich

And, finally, of the longer books I read, my three favourites were:

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Annual Banquet of the Gravedigger’s Guild by Mathias Énard
The Glutton by AK Blakemore

So, thanks for sticking around and not dropping Ant Rid on my head. Here’s to 2024 and another huge year for little books.