Sure, we still have a few months until the end of this year, but it’s never too early to get excited about a new school of books on the way. Set alongside imaginative, immersive fictional worlds – set against the backdrop of Andy Warhol’s Factory, 1940s Trinidad or even 15th-century Ghana – the best books of 2023 will bring us a slew of moving memoirs and sharp cultural analysis. There are much-anticipated debuts from activists like Munroe Bergdorf and bereavement Host Cariad Lloyd, as well as meticulous exploration of some of our modern day obsessions – think: NFTs and Web3.
Below we’ve rounded up a handful of the best books to look forward to in 2023.
A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Inexorable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie by Daniel Evans
Lifting the Lid on Britain’s Modern Class Structure, Daniel Evans’ forthcoming book, A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Inexorable Rise of the Petite Bourgeoisie, focuses on the class of people existing between the working class and the bourgeoisie who were expected to be swallowed up by monopoly capitalism but who have actually grown in recent years. In the book, Evans will examine how the growth of shopkeepers, small landlords and self-employed artisans both encourages individualism and prevents socialists from organizing. Referring to them as a “mysterious class,” he examines what their seemingly unstoppable rise could mean for the left.
To be released in January 2023 via Repeater Books
You are not alone from Cariad Lloyd
Cariad Lloyd, who lost her father at 15, inspired her award-winning podcast. bereavement, in which she speaks to celebrities about dealing with their own experiences of loss. In her upcoming book You are not alone, The comedian and writer examines society’s reluctance to talk about death and the impact it has on those left behind. Amidst stories from those she’s interviewed, including Stephen Mangan, Sara Pascoe and Adam Buxton, are Lloyd’s own thoughts on therapy, friends (both good and bad) and coping with the moments when you miss them — or maybe do not miss person who is gone. Debunking stereotypes – like the “five stages of grief” – You are not alone sees Lloyd appreciate grief in all its unexpected forms.
To be published in January 2023 via Bloomsbury Publishing
Toy fights by Don Paterson
toy fights – the forthcoming memoir of Don Paterson – is named after the game children played when Paterson was a boy growing up in Dundee in the late 1960s. More specifically, a game that the poet and writer had to avoid as players wanted to kill him. When not avoiding his peers on the council estate where he grew up, Paterson was doing what most kids do: learning the guitar, falling in love, pursuing fleeting hobbies, and hanging out with his father (who happens to be a country western was) working singer). documentation of the first 20 years of his life, toy fights also examines Paterson’s descent into insanity, as well as his involvement in the Scottish club scene and eventual move to London. Already compared to Shuggie Bain, toy fights is a story about family, the working class, money and everything in between that we do to avoid boredom.
