The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,707 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Betrayals

A.F.E. Smith I ❤️ loved this book because...

I’ve loved Bridget Collins as an author since I read her debut YA book, The Traitor Game. Then came the great success of her first adult novel, The Binding, which made her a household name.

All her books show the same unbeatable knack for writing complicated, intense, and fully immersive relationships, and this book is no different.

It’s part dark academia, part twisted love story/rivalry, part exploration of the rise of fascism – all written with the author’s usual spellbinding prose and ability to conjure atmosphere, set in a world that’s a distorted mirror of our own.

As with all her books, it lingered in my mind long after I’d read the final page.

By Bridget Collins,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Betrayals as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LOSE YOURSELF IN THE MOST EPIC BOOK OF THE YEAR.

'BEAUTIFUL' JOANNA CANNON
'MESMERISING' ERIN KELLY
'TOTALLY ADDICTIVE' JOANNA GLEN
'SUMPTUOUS' OBSERVER
'DIZZYINGLY WONDERFUL' THE TIMES

WINNING WAS EVERYTHING...
UNTIL IT DESTROYED THEM

Two young men, Leo and Carfax, close friends and fierce rivals.
A family ripped apart by madness and tragedy.
One woman, her life built upon a lie, with a mysterious connection to them all...

'INGENIOUS' GUARDIAN
'A STORYTELLER OF RARE IMAGINATION' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'BRILLIANT' WOMAN & HOME
'A RICH DELIGHT' SANDRA NEWMAN
'CAPTIVATING' DAILY MIRROR
'AN IMMERSIVE, IMAGINATIVE SLICE OF STORYTELLING' DAILY EXPRESS
'MAGICAL' IRISH INDEPENDENT


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Babel

A.F.E. Smith I ❤️ loved this book because...

Like all three of my favorites for 2023, Babel belongs loosely in the category of dark academia, given that it’s largely set in an alternative historical version of Oxford University. Yet it’s much more than that.

It’s a fascinating exploration of language, a study of the art of translation and what may be lost or gained by carrying it out, and – above all else – a passionate deconstruction of, and defense against, colonialism and racism.

If you’re interested in words and ideas and the limits of both in effecting real change in the world, you’ll enjoy this book. Although all that may sound daunting, it’s also a smooth, gripping, and fast read.

By R. F. Kuang,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Babel as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE #2 SUNDAY TIMES AND #1 NYT BESTSELLER

'One for Philip Pullman fans'
THE TIMES

'An ingenious fantasy about empire'
GUARDIAN

'Fans of THE SECRET HISTORY, this one is an automatic buy'
GLAMOUR

'Ambitious, sweeping and epic'
EVENING STANDARD

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Oxford, 1836.

The city of dreaming spires.

It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world.

And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the Empire flows.

Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by…


Want my future book recommendations?

My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The It Girl

A.F.E. Smith I ❤️ loved this book because...

The It Girl is set at Oxford University. The story alternates between two timelines: the past, showing Hannah’s studies at Oxford, culminating in the murder of her best friend and roommate; and the present, in which Hannah starts to wonder if the wrong person was convicted of the crime.

Each timeline has its own unique feel – hedonistic and edged with darkness, versus anxious and full of doubt – making it easy to keep the two strands distinct in your mind as you race towards the clever final denouement.

I’d recommend any of Ruth Ware’s beautifully written page-turners, but this one would be a great place to start.

By Ruth Ware,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The It Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*** PRE-ORDER RUTH WARE'S THRILLING NEW NOVEL, ZERO DAYS, COMING IN PAPERBACK SPRING 2024 ***

THE RICHARD & JUDY PICK

'Deliciously dark and utterly addictive - my favourite Ruth Ware yet' LUCY FOLEY

Everyone wanted her life
Someone wanted her dead

It was Hannah who found April's body ten years ago.
It was Hannah who didn't question what she saw that day.
Did her testimony put an innocent man in prison?

She needs to know the truth.

Even if it means questioning her own friends.
Even if it means putting her own life at risk.

Because if the killer wasn't…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Dawn Rising

By A.F.E. Smith,

Book cover of Dawn Rising

What is my book about?

Ever since she can remember, Alyssia has experienced unsettling visions: flashes of four other people’s dark and difficult lives in a world that’s not her own.

She’s always believed them to be her brain’s way of filling the void left by the accident that killed her parents and took her memories. That’s why she tries very hard not to think of these imaginary people as friends.

Yet when she wakes up inside one of her own visions, it becomes clear that she was seeing the truth all along. Now, she’s no longer just an observer. Now, she has the chance to change things.

My 9-year-old's favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Lost Twin

A.F.E. Smith I ❤️ loved this book because...

My daughter loves the Scarlet and Ivy books and has been reading her way through them all year. They are mysteries set in a sinister boarding school. She says she likes them because the story is exciting, and it makes you want to keep reading it.

She even dressed up as Ivy for World Book Day this year!

By Sophie Cleverly,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lost Twin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

The first unputdownable mystery in the thrilling and bestselling SCARLET AND IVY series, perfect for fans of MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE, SINCLAIR'S MYSTERIES and THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL.

This is the story of how I became my sister...

When troublesome Scarlet mysteriously disappears from Rookwood School, terrifying Miss Fox invites her quiet twin sister Ivy to 'take her place'.

Ivy reluctantly agrees in the hope of finding out what happened to her missing sister. Only at Rookwood will Ivy be able to unlock the secrets of Scarlet's disappearance, through a scattered trail of diary pages carefully hidden all over…


Explore all books for 9-year-olds

My 11-year-old's favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Nevermoor

A.F.E. Smith I ❤️ loved this book because...

My son bought the first three Morrigan Crow books as a set this year and read them in quick succession. He loves the characters, especially Jupiter North and Fenestra, and the overarching plot that continues across the series. He’s really looking forward to the fourth book.

I can also add my own recommendation – he was so enthusiastic that I read them, too, and thoroughly enjoyed them. It's an exciting story and very funny in places.

By Jessica Townsend,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Nevermoor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A breathtaking, enchanting new series by debut author Jessica Townsend, about a cursed girl who escapes death and finds herself in a magical world--but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination.

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters…


Explore all books for 11-year-olds