Recently I was invited to participate in a terrific project by the folks at Shepherd, led by Ben Fox. The whole project is about leading readers to books. Some pundits think the book is dead or dying. Ben sure doesn’t. He’s almost single-handedly trying to revitalize book discovery. And as an author, I sure appreciate it.

As a part of this project, Ben and his team invited me (and 883 other authors) to name our three favourite books of 2023.

Here are mine.

At the same time, I was thrilled to discover that another author, my friend John Corcelli, had placed my recent memoir about working for CBC Radio, Adventures in the Radio Trade, on his own list for the project. (You might remember John from our podcast Re-Creative, where John brought Mark A. Rayner and I up to speed on the life and work of comedian George Carlin.)

You might well ask, gee Joe, why didn’t you include John’s book on YOUR list? And the answer is, I SHOULD have. I’m sorry John! But let me make up for that a little bit by plugging it here. Here’s what I had to say about John Corcelli’s Outside Looking in: The Seriously Funny Life and Work of George Carlin when it first came out earlier this year:

Author John Corcelli deftly presents Carlin’s evolution from clean-cut comedian to profane, astute observer of the human condition, perhaps the wittiest of irreverent philosophers to have ever lived. Along the way Corcelli introduces Carlin’s many influences, such as Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. I kept putting the book down to look up videos of these legendary comedians and various instances of Carlin’s work, such as a fascinating early appearance on Marlo Thomas’s That Girl.

Expertly researched, written, structured and paced, I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining chronicle of one of my favourite comedians.

Outside Looking In is currently sitting at 4.8 stars on Amazon.ca. Need I say more?

Incidentally, this isn’t the first list I’ve prepared for Ben Fox and his team. I also curated a list called The Best Time Travel Books for People Keen to Change the Past.

And I suspect it won’t be my last.

Bonus link: Shepherd’s 100 Best Books of 2023