R. Scott Mackey's 3 favorite reads in 2023

To me, good non-fiction is as page-turning as the most captivating fiction. Michael Lewis’s books do just that, and The Premonition is no exception.

Much like he did in The Big Short, Lewis offers an insight into how the unthinkable can happen and happen quite easily.

In this case, a global pandemic is seen coming by some very smart people, but people who are considered outsiders to the powers that be: big business, the CDC, the World Health Organization, state governments, and the US government, especially the Trump administration. Had these so-called outsiders - with their clear-cut proof, exceptional experience and intellect, and stellar reputations - been listened to and their advice acted upon, the greatest pandemic in US history could have been avoided.

Lewis’s tale is told at the personal level, revealing that no one is in charge when it comes to health care at the national and even statewide levels. 

Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, Doerr’s novel about a blind French girl and a German soldier during World War II weaves together two compelling storylines that connect in ways that are at once uplifting and heartbreaking.

All the Light We Cannot See is one of those books that you can never get out of your mind. It’s a true masterwork by a literary stylist and skilled storyteller. 

I love mysteries. They are my favorite genre to read (though I'm finding myself discovering science fiction after a thirty-year hiatus from that genre). 

As its title implies, this book presents the top short mystery fiction of 2022, some of it from bestselling writers (Michael Connelly, Jo Nesbo, Joyce Carol Oates, Colson Whitehead) along with lesser-known authors.

While I usually don't read a lot of short fiction (this was a birthday gift), I found myself picking this book up every day to read a new piece of exceptional short fiction.

It's a great book for somebody who enjoys well-written, short-form mysteries.