Vicki Olsen's 3 favorite reads in 2023

This is the most original book I have read in years. I can hardly wait to read the sequels. I will confess that after reading You I watched the television adaptation and all the sequels. I was just not ready to say goodbye to Joe in much the same way he was reluctant to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Beck.

Joe Goldberg is the most likeable manipulative, homicidal stalker you will never want to meet. He makes Dexter Morgan look like an ordinary well-adjusted fellow.

The writing is brilliantly clever, and Joe comes alive on the page as we crawl inside his delusional psyche.

I generally don’t read biographies (yet I have two on my top 3 for this year.)

I came to read Red Comet by happenstance. I had mentioned to my daughter that I was pleased to finally cross The Bell Jar off my TBR list. It had lingered there for five decades. I lamented that I had waited so long.

For my birthday I received a 1154-page door stop from my daughter. I had never heard of the book and felt I knew all I wanted to know of Sylvia Plath from reading her famous autobiographical novel. I laid it aside with little hope of reading it. As guilt over not appreciating my daughter’s thoughtfulness took hold, I thumbed through the book. I was amused that a 1154-page book was subtitled The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath.

Before I knew it, I was engrossed in the most beautiful biography I have ever read. It covers minute details of Plath’s life including the names of dinner guests, with never a boring moment. I still marvel at how Ms. Clark managed to make all the minutia interesting and kept me turning the pages.

Not just for fans of Sylvia Plath or lovers of biographies, this book is worthy of the praise that has been heaped on it as well as its status as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Do yourself a favor and read the opening chapter. Chances are you will be hooked.

I read this book as part of the research I did for my WIP, a WW2 novel. Hitler does not play a significant role in my novel, but it is impossible to study the modern history of Europe without wondering what turned a talented young Austrian artist into  the most hated man of the 20th Century.

The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler, Volume 1: The Anointed is Part One of a two-part biography. Presented as a personal journal, this  well researched expertly written revelation  follows the formative years of Hitler’s life. This exploration seeks to help the reader  understand the desperate journey that turned an ordinary child into a charismatic madman, who after more than seven decades, still remains one of the greatest enigmas of all time.

An insightful must- read for any 20th Century History Junkie.