The Ten Best Books I've Read in 2023

2023 was a decent year for the blog. Not wall to wall content as years prior, but still a substantial sum of books reviewed regardless. And with the calendar once again about to turn over, it's time for the third annual look back at the best and worst books I've covered for the blog for the particular year. In this blog, it's the a look back at the best of the bunch from this year's blogging. Honestly, I ran into more books I liked this year than I thought. Hopefully it's not a case of me being more lenient in recent years and more just landing on one good call after another. What made the grade? Let's see with one last look at the winners for 2023.

#01: LIGHT'S OUT

Now, stop me if you've heard this one: Me thinking the camp book is one of the best books. I really don't know what it is about the camp book that always wins me over, but it's almost always the case. And when Fear Street offered up a camp story, I ended up really loving it. And a lot of that has to do with the character progression of protagonist Holly. Meek and easily bullied to eventually being able to overcome her fears by the end of the story. Character growth in a Stine story? That shit's my catnip. There's some decent gore and a solid mystery, even if Mick might be Stine's worst red herring ever. Though, given he was also in on Geri's bullying of Holly, him getting a happy ending kind of stinks. But that aside, for a camp-based mystery, and a fun change of pace from the normal Shadyside setting, this one worked like a charm for me. 

#02: CAMP NOWHERE

You know, I think I might have a bias towards camp books. I think the reason is that the setting can lead to some great concepts. And what Camp Nowhere offered for me was essentially Return to Ghost Camp done right. Because that's ultimately what Camp Evergreen feels like. A camp trapped forever in near-eternal slumber, only allowed a day awake every year. It's understandable why it can drive someone like Drew the Shmoo crazy enough to try and ruin it. Add in a harrowing adventure with Brian and the other campers as they try to survive in the woods, which adds to Brian's need to be brave and ultimately become a leader. Again, it's so interesting that the camp books are cases where Stine actually writes characters with some dimension and development. If you're looking for deep horror, you won't get it, but if you want a solid adventure with a neat idea in Camp Evergreen, then you might be pleasantly surprised.

#03: GUESS WHO'S COMING FOR DINNER?

Shivers was quite the rollercoaster for me this year. A lot more concerning than I'd hoped, but I will at least say that one book was one I absolutely enjoyed and that was Guess Who's Coming For Dinner? even if it doesn't go full dark like it could (This IS Shivers after all), it still delivers in terms of creepy build, setting up that the Sturdevant family are depraved and very likely cannibals. Not just any cannibals, the kind that target their prey. The scene with Josh finding all the photos of him in the Sturdevant house works in terms of legitimate horror because it both blurs the lines on if Michael can be trusted and it means that he's been the target of a creepy stranger for a long while. And it still delivers on the tension and immediacy needed in this situation. Shivers is a series that often crosses the line in terms of what it can get away with. Sometimes it's questionable, but in a case like this, it's just enough of the line crossed to make for one of the more memorable stories in kids horror.

#04: CLAUDIA AND MEAN JANINE

We took a few more trips to Stoneybrook this year for Baby-Sitters Club, and of the batch, it was Claudia's second time in the driver's seat that won the most points. What I think makes the book work so well is the overall conflict of Mimi's stroke and how both Claudia and Janine handle the situation. Janine feels ostracized as nobody really asks her to help, mostly out of the belief that her studies are more important to her. And then Claudia who feels guilty for Mimi's stroke and later guilty for her outbursts and treatment of Janine. It gives us a very believable conflict on both ends. You can get why Claudia acts the way she does throughout given her own guilt and inability to even give Janine a chance, while still seeing how Janine's inability to break from her studies and speak up more was the thing causing the conflict. Baby-Sitters Club has offered strong character stuff so far and this might be the best example of such since Mary Ann to the Rescue. 

#05: THRILLOGY

Would you look at that? It's time for the annual "It's three books but I'm counting them as one pick" section of the blog. Which is fair here since it's a three-part story and all. I wasn't expecting much when it came to the Thrillogy books. Its plot sounded interesting on paper, being about a Survivor style reality show just as the Survivor franchise was beginning which is rare for Stine to be so on the ball. In this case, it's the Life Games, which is really a trap to find the daughter of a witch. And we spend the trilogy of books thinking April is the reincarnation of Deborah when it was Kristen this whole time essentially using Deborah as a pawn to lure her mother Katherine, who may easily be in the upper echelon of pure evil antagonists in all of Stine's stuff, especially Nightmare Room. A zero shades of gray monster willing to let her daughter die just to save her own skin. And when we get the confrontation, it's as insane as you'd hope for. Stine stated this was a story he wanted to do that was too big for one book, and thankfully he didn't do the big special editions yet otherwise this would no doubt have been a mess, but with better pacing between books and a decent build with lots of action pieces, this makes for one of the hidden gems in Stine's library.

#06: THE BEST FRIEND

Coming in super late to the game yet still worthy of addition, The Best Friend might be one of Stine's best books because it feels like he never hit a wall. Maybe with trying to add the early car accident to the story, but other than that, it feels like a horror story that he always knew what to do with. And it gives us one of our best endings in just how dark and defeatist it ultimately is. Honey wins. Her gaslighting and manipulation ultimately wins in the end and she gets Becka all to herself. And like I said in the blog for it, this is easily Stine's most lesbian-coded book ever. Because with no other explanation given as to why Honey is so obsessed with Becka, it's really the only explanation you can have. 

And I am thankful it didn't hard pivot into Honey being written as a lesbian because, like I said, it would come off as harmful stereotyping, specifically that of the queer character being written to be a violent and obsessed groomer. Thankfully it's not as extreme as you'd fear. Add in the idea that Becka may also be violent and insane and you have a book that works in terms of the many ways you can interpret it. Was Honey the problem or was a lot of this Becka's doing? A Stine book that makes you think is always a plus because it feels like the ultimate rarity.

#07: VAMPIRES DON'T WEAR POLKA DOTS

Bailey School Kids might be the youngest I've skewed in terms of kids horror books, but I mean, they were too tempting not to give a look at. And it's first outing works pretty well. I like the swerve that we never truly know what's going on with Mrs. Jeepers. If she's really a vampire or not. Because it works well in fueling the imagination of the kids reading the book to leave that answer for themselves. It makes her feel enough like a threat, especially when dealing with Eddie's nonsense, while ultimately never making her a villain either. Right down to the ambiguous defeat of Eddie, even though it doesn't matter if Mrs. Jeepers is a vampire or not, all it took to get Eddie to calm the fuck down was likely saying she'll call his parents. That'll do the trick. Hope to cover more of Bailey School in 2024. 

#08: THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK

We got a bit of Bone Chillers in this year and of the ones read, it was this one that definitely won out. And the main reason was for the concept itself being about a rogue AI that can make any lie come true but it comes with a price, as the AI is evil and the more chaos caused, the more it gains power. You could argue how can a computer program create magic termites and puke pizza, but when it offers some fun insanity, I can't be too upset. I also like the concept of how power can corrupt as Azie, Josh and Tyler definitely go too far when it comes overusing SHGSIC's powers. So while it's a moral book, it's a book that has a fun idea to get to the crux of said moral. And Bone Chillers is known for some insane concepts, so to no surprise, the ride was worth it. 

#09: GOODNIGHT KISS 2

Sequel books are tricky, especially Stine sequels and especially Stine sequels in Fear Street. But I was pleasantly surprised with Goodnight Kiss 2. And a lot of it has to do with how the two twists are structured. First being that Diana isn't April or even a vampire, but so good at tricking everyone, especially the other two vampires into thinking she's a vampire. It's a better execution of this kind of mid-book twist than The Dead Lifeguard did with its attempt. Then there's the second and more important twist of Peter being a vampire this entire time. Having been turned into a vampire during the events of the previous book, now seeking vengeance on other vampires and, also I guess intentionally singling out everyone else for his own feasting. Stine's "They were the monster all along" twists often land with a thud, but this one works with how the mystery is structured and how each victim is discovered. Stine actually tried with a mystery and in a SEQUEL no less. Maybe I've misjudged him... Nah.

#10: THE HITCHHIKER

I've made no bones about saying that Stine's Point offerings might be his worst stuff. It's almost always his weak point. But the diamond in the rough (that I've read so far) is easily The Hitchhiker, which offers one of his better mysteries and one of his better swerves, even if it does feel way too obvious that James Dark isn't our villain and that Christina and Terri (more so Christina) are. But the book still sets up everything involving James' anger and shady past that it makes it feel like he's the more concerning character of the three, only to correctly absolve him by the end. And while doing that, giving us another villain in Art who takes us to the one thing I love the most, overly elaborate climax set piece, only with more piranhas than usual. This definitely feels like a book that Stine had fun with and, more importantly, didn't hit a wall with. It doesn't absolve the many, many awful Point Stine stories, but it's proof that it wasn't a complete shit show. 

And that's 2023 in a nutshell for the blog in terms of the good stuff. 2024 should be an interesting year, even if the well is drying up on some other content streams. But I'm sure to still at least find ten books worth giving some high praise to next year regardless.