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The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,641 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

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My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Sunnyside Up: A spellbinding tale that lifts the veil between life and death

Robin Gregory Why did I love this book?

I fell in love with Adelaide and Felicity, two sisters who are opposites living at a 150-year-old family funeral home and farm in Kentucky.

Their personalities are like hens scratching at each other in a fun, witty manner that illuminates psychological and spiritual depth. Good medicine during the pandemic.

Throw in a bit of amnesia, a forgotten trauma, visitations from the departed, and Julian, whose funeral is delayed for reasons that are revealed, and you have an upbeat, thought-provoking, and sometimes delightfully irreverent glimpse into a rollicking multi-verse.

It made me consider more carefully what I do and say. For, when all is said and done, we may never be truly separate from each other, either here or in the hereafter.

By Rea Nolan Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sunnyside Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sunnyside Up is a deeply character-driven tale of two lovingly combative Kentucky sisters and a man named Julian, a miner’s son, who was not their social equal. It’s a story of love and survival, but also of quantum entanglement at a Jungian level. Entanglement that requires each character to dive deep into murky shadows with open eyes to consciously execute the unraveling. Such an unraveling requires cooperation from all involved. Cooperation that is buried alive in ego and resentment from a mysterious accident that tethers all parties to a single event in the past. Whether or not they’re successful depends on…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Robin Gregory Why did I love this book?

Oh my gosh, Stephen King. He could make a soup label sound entertaining. Imagine this: A manual for writers delivered in the form of hilarious, irreverent, and sometimes scatological memories.

He demonstrates his mastery of storytelling by providing snapshots of the past and glimpses into his life’s highs and lows. Advice about process, craft, publishing, and reviews is offered in a conversational way that makes it sound fresh and exciting. 

I don’t know; when I was reading this, I felt like I was sitting with the Buddha of fiction, and being told, “You can do it, too.”   

By Stephen King,

Why should I read it?

23 authors picked On Writing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.

“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Door of Everything

Robin Gregory Why did I love this book?

A lifelong seeker of spiritual truth, I literally got goosebumps when I read this book, which was published in 1963. The author speaks of true Christianity, not in religious terms, but as I’d imagine Jesus did.

The book is about becoming a door for love. It’s about shedding the mortal sense of life and opening that door to allow God to reinterpret appearances of limitation, conflict, disorder, disease – any kind of evil – according to the heavenly version.

Ruby Nelson makes it clear that every individual, not just Jesus, is born to experience the full bloom of a transcendent being. Everyone possesses the qualities of the Grand Cosmic Self.

Of course, the teaching is not new, but this is a unique version of Jesus’ teachings. Truly inspiring and uplifting. I’ll cherish re-reading it time and again. 

Plus, check out my book…

Book cover of The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman

What is my book about?

Moojie Littleman is not just another disabled orphan, he is not just a kid who falls into a series of magical, mystical adventures involving goats, bees, and watermelons. He is, above all, the most unlikely hero ever known. Through friendship with alien outcasts, Moojie discovers his healing powers and a surprising destiny ... if only he can survive one last terrifying trial.

Welcome to Moojie's mythical world of mayhem and merriment, where miracles are standard fare, mistaken identity is rampant, and the desire to belong can be dangerous.