J. S. Fields' 3 favorite reads in 2023

This was such a surprising collection of darkly hopeful stories.

As with any anthology, some land more than others, but the ones that did land did so much like a crater impacting Earth. Stufflebeam has the ability to draw not just on shared experience but deeply buried collective guilt.

It is impossible not to connect with the characters, even when they’re possessed houses or engineers tearing out the insides of still-living sex dolls. How do you drive empathy for these characters? How can the serial killing of androids be compelling? Stufflebeam slithers into our subconscious, drags up our long-buried guilt, and weaves it into almost bizarre caricatures of the human experience that resonate.

I didn’t sleep well for several days after reading this book, which speaks well to the gentle horror genre as a whole.

This was a surprising find for me. I’m not generally a YA reader, and I’d argue this isn’t exactly a YA book. It’s a new take on part of Odysseus lore, told by one of the twelve maidens sacrificed to the sea.

It’s beautifully queer, with the main character interested in both the prince and another former sacrifice. It has gods, curses, political intrigue, and blends Greek lore with modern speech patterns (I’m guessing this is why it’s in YA). It’s strangely accessible and imminently enjoyable.

I love a good ‘let’s find hidden stuff in a castle’ adventure, and this filled those shoes as well. As a hidden bonus, one of the romantic scenes had a very realistic depiction of what nudity on a beach entails. That alone is worth the price of admission.

What a great overall take on the mafia-and-waif trope.

Quirk is gentleman for hire, more or less, who ends up on the wrong side of the mob. Moth is a foul-mouthed, recently orphaned former-convent girl who needs a guardian. The two end up stuck together, hunting down a killer android on the moon.

I mean, if that didn’t check off your list of everything you want in a book, I don’t know what will. There are gun fights, weird technology, fancy Merino suits, a bi-curious protagonist, cursing, and surprising emotional investment. The next book in the series apparently also has dinosaurs, dinosaurs!

My kid loves the book for the creepy vibe with a classic hero’s journey.

There’s necromancy, both good and bad, big scary monsters, magical bells, and a lonely girl who no one understands and who finds the strength within herself to be extraordinary.

There’s a lot of cheering when monsters are defeated, and my kiddo really connected with Lirael’s pet dog that she uses magic to bring to life to be her friend and confidant. From one lonely, different kid to another, Lirael really resonates.

I like the book because while Lirael is fairly autism coded, it deals with other adolescent feelings like depression and anxiety. Having those elements woven with the fantastical lets me talk about them with my kid without pressure, and of course, battling big monsters is always a bonus.