Once again, we’ve come to the end of another year. If you are anything like me, then you feel like you really should have read more books in 2023. Well, it’s not too late to amend your list on Goodreads. Here are a few under-the-wire recommendations.

“Pittsburgh Rising: From Frontier Town to Steel City, 1750-1920”

By Edward K. Muller & Rob Ruck

University of Pittsburgh Press, $29

“Pittsburgh Rising: From Frontier Town to Steel City, 1750-1920” traces Pittsburgh’s development from a colonial outpost to a major center of industry over 170 years, presenting a sort of “Upstairs, Downstairs” account of the city.

Sure, Braddock, Carnegie and Frick are well represented in this history by University of Pittsburgh professors Edward K. Muller and Rob Ruck, but we also learn about lesser-known (but no less important) figures such as Shawnee Chief Cathecassa Blackhoof, street preacher-turned-inmate-turned-mayor Joe Barker, and Martin Delaney, a leader in Pittsburgh’s early Black community.

By offering a perspective across class and ethnic divisions, Muller and Ruck present a deep, nuanced portrait of our city.

“Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern”

By Neil Baldwin

Alfred A. Knopf, $40

Do you prefer biographies? Neil Baldwin’s “Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern” is a real humdinger. Graham, world-famous as a dancer, choreographer and teacher, was born in Allegheny City (now known as the North Side) in 1894.

Baldwin follows Graham from her early education at Second Ward Elementary School to the very height of her art. The tome is thorough in its research and thoroughly enjoyable.

“Chuck Tanner and the Pittsburgh Pirates”

By Dale Perelman

The History Press, $23.99

If you’re suffering from the baseball blues, check out Dale Perelman’s “Chuck Tanner and the Pittsburgh Pirates.”

Tanner comes across as the embodiment of can-do spirit in this admiring account of the man who managed the Pirates from 1977 to 1985 and won the World Series pennant in 1979.

Revisit a sunnier time in the team’s history when Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and Sister Sledge made the whole city smile.

“Appalachian Winter”

By Marcia Bonta

University of Pittsburgh Press, $20.95

Nature writer Marcia Bonta’s quartet of classic Appalachian season books has received a gorgeous reissue this year, and “Appalachian Winter” is the final entry in the series.

Erudite and inviting, Bonta’s books are like spending time with a good friend who just happens to know just about everything about the natural world around her.

Her meditative account of life along the Laurel Ridge in the snowy season is perfect for those chilly nights reading under the blankets.