Goodreads 2023 Year in Books

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2023

18,844

pages read

books read

Cody | CodysBookshelf

Shortest Book

128

pages

Longest Book

787

pages

Average book length in 2023

362

pages

Most Shelved

2,268,654

people also shelved

Least Shelved

294

people also shelved

Cody | CodysBookshelf’s average rating for 2023

4.0

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.46 average

Cody | CodysBookshelf’s first review of the year

it was amazing

2023 is off to a bang-up start with We Spread, a masterwork rumination on aging and art and eternity. I didn’t expect it to scare me so much, and I didn’t expect it to break my heart. THIS is my kind of horror: smart and ambiguous.

CODY | CODYSBOOKSHELF’S 2023 BOOKS

it was amazing

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz

it was amazing

it was amazing

The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

it was amazing

it was amazing

A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates

it was amazing

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver

Cody | CodysBookshelf’s last review of the year

it was amazing

2023 Reread:

I still love this collection to bits! What a relief. A few weaker entries (“Blockade Billy”, the poems) can’t bring down my overall rating, and other stories such as “Mister Yummy” and “Premium Harmony” revealed layers not appreciated by my 2015 self.

2015 Review:

In addition to writing novels, novellas, comic adaptations, and screenplays, Stephen King often tries his hand at short stories. His latest collection of short tales -- the s 2023 Reread:

I still love this collection to bits! What a relief. A few weaker entries (“Blockade Billy”, the poems) can’t bring down my overall rating, and other stories such as “Mister Yummy” and “Premium Harmony” revealed layers not appreciated by my 2015 self.

2015 Review:

In addition to writing novels, novellas, comic adaptations, and screenplays, Stephen King often tries his hand at short stories. His latest collection of short tales -- the sixth in his long and illustrious career -- dropped this week and I finished reading it last night. I'm quite happy to say this is (in my humble opinion, of course) his best collection of short stories since 1985's Skeleton Crew and, arguably, his most consistent collection yet. Clocking in at almost 500 pages and chocked full of works -- eighteen stories and two poems -- there isn't a word out of place here. Each story deserves to be here, improving on the one before it.

Before I go any further, yes, I realize this all sounds like the rabid love of a fanboy. And, yes, I am a Stephen King fanboy. He's my favorite author. However, I do pride myself on being able to call out bad work from him when I see it. I don't think Firestarter is so grand, and The Dark Half seems clunky. And if we're talking short stories, I don't like some of the tales to be found in Everything's Eventual and Nightmares and Dreamscapes. Those are still good collections, mind, but they're not for me. That's the thing about King -- his writing is so varied that there's something for everyone (and that, inadvertently, means no one is going to like everything he releases), and no where has that ever been more apparent than in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, an eclectic buffet of everything King does well.

Stories like opener "Mile 81" and "Bad Little Kid" show the King of Horror is unafraid to still stick his claws in his Constant Readers every now and then, even after all these years. These stories bring to mind vintage King stories while still feeling fresh and invigorating. However, horror stories are not all this collection has to offer. Almost every story within these pages does have an edge, but most are so much more than simple genre stories. (And that's not to say "Mile 81" or "Bad Little Kid" don't compare to the other works to be found here -- quite the opposite. Those were two of my favorites in the book, and they're not just genre stories either. And the titular bad little kid will haunt my dreams for quite some time...)

The theme of this book seems to be death, but not just the scary aspects of it. The stories -- "Afterlife", "Mister Yummy", "Batman and Robin Have An Altercation", "Premium Harmony", and "Summer Thunder" chief among them -- are among King's most literary works yet. They show an author with more years behind than in front ruminating on the aging process and what comes after we pass away, something also explored in King's recent novel, Revival. The author is now sixty-eight, and it's only natural to assume these stories are, at least in some way, autobiographical. I know it's hubris to read into the stories like that and try to connect them to the author's personal life, but I couldn't help think about it during the reading. These stories show more mature and nuanced looks at death and dying than we've ever seen from King before. The fiction shows that death can, in fact, be a comfort -- as seen in "Mister Yummy". And while it might not be a comfort for some like it is others, the afterlife maybe isn't so bad, as seen in "Afterlife" (my favorite story in the collection, by the way). Eventually, the process of dying becomes the running thread of the collection -- from the grisly murders via possessed alien car in the first story to the apocalypse in "Summer Thunder". And what happens between birth and death -- what happens on that strange highway we call life -- is the real terror. Sometimes real life is scary enough, or so these stories show. There's no need for vampires or clowns when dementia and nuclear bombs alike exist in the real world and are, therefore, much more frightening.

If I'm completely honest, I'm finding myself at a loss of what to say. This collection is so good that it has turned my thoughts to mush. As I said before, this book has it all. King's humorous side is on display in "Drunken Fireworks" -- a story reminiscent of a (much) lighter Dolores Claiborne. "A Death" is a wonderful historical piece that took a reread to fully appreciate, but once I got it, I really got it. "The Dune", another personal favorite of mine, and one that that would have fit in well in Skeleton Crew, is one of the only supernatural outings here. It's a corker. In it, a man has lived his life with a private addiction that has been a driving force for eighty years. The story's end is one of King's best, causing me to gasp and then chuckle. And, of course, there are two poems that ain't so bad. Stephen King will never be a renowned poet, but these two -- especially "Tommy" -- are just fine.

"Herman Wouk is Still Alive" is shockingly gritty and real, and the decision made by two of the main characters is among the darkest in all of King's oeuvre. "Under the Weather", another horror story...kind of...supplies the gross-out necessary in any good King book, and the narrator's gradual descent into denial and insanity brings to mind Louis Creed from Pet Sematary. "Ur", a story I didn't think I'd like much, ended up being another favorite. With alternative universes to explore and copious Dark Tower references, this story is a definite winner. "The Little Green God Of Agony" brings to mind Revival, and what is most shocking is the twist to be found within. No, not the fact there is an actual little God of agony within someone, but how wrong our assumptions can be about people, no matter how sure we think we are.

What I'd really love to do is review every story in detail, dedicating an entire blog post to each one. They deserve that much attention, but... then again, all of King's short fiction does. Maybe one day that'll happen, but for now this review will have to do.

In case you haven't already picked up on it, I really, really dug this book. Just After Sunset was a phenomenal collection, but The Bazaar of Bad Dreams beats it simply for its length, scope, and variety. Every story packs a punch, and King's precision in writing memorable short stories is nothing but astounding, especially at this late date. It brings to mind Skeleton Crew and Night Shift, and that makes this fanboy quite happy. Buy it as soon as possible.

2016 update: While my opinion of Bazaar hasn't changed, my thoughts on Skeleton Crew certainly have. I would now argue it's King's weakest collection, outdone only by (maybe) Nightmares and Dreamscapes. ...more

2023 READING
CHALLENGE

Cody | CodysBookshelf read 52 out of 52 books.

100%

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