Traci Thomas is rounding up her end-of-the-year ‘best of 2023’ list. On her podcast “The Stacks,” she’s come up with her picks for books of the year.

She speaks with host Scott Tong about some of her favorites as well as the importance of year-end lists.

Book recommendations from Traci Thomas

Fiction

• “Chain-Gang All-Stars” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• “Family Meal” by Bryan Washington

Non-fiction

• “We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America” by Roxanna Asgarian (True crime)
  • Click here for a conversation with Asgarian and host Deepa Fernandes.
• “Poverty, by America” by Matthew Desmond (Politics, current events)
  • Click here for a conversation with Desmond and host Robin Young.
• “Ordinary Notes” by Christina Sharpe (Essays)
• “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight” by Andrew Leland (Memoir plus)
• “Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian and Black in White America” by Julia Lee (Essays/cultural criticism)
• “Creep: Accusations and Confessions” by Myriam Gurba (Essays/cultural criticism)
• “Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir” by Lamya H (Memoir plus)
• “A Living Remedy: A Memoir” by Nicole Chung (Memoir)
• “When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era” by Donovan X. Ramsey (History)
• “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma” by Claire Dederer (Cultural criticism)
• “Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice” by Cristina Rivera Garza (Memoir/true crime)
• “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears (Celebrity memoir)

Poetry

• “Above Ground” by Clint Smith
  • Click here for a conversation with Smith and host Scott Tong.
• “Promises of Gold” by José Olivarez

Kids books

• “Big” by Vashti Harrison
• “There Was a Party for Langston” by Jason Reynolds

Scott Tong’s book picks

• “Old Babes in the Wood” by Margaret Atwood
  • Click here for a conversation with Atwood and host Scott Tong.
• “Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future” by Ian Johnson
  • Click here for a conversation with Johnson and host Scott Tong.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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