The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

Join 1,707 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Hamnet

Alana Woods Why did I love this book?

The language is just spell-binding! I have to say the story is slow to develop at the outset, and it took a couple of chapters before I fell in love with it. But once I did, I was entranced.

It tells the story of William Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, and their children from Anne’s viewpoint. As not much is known about his family, the story is the author’s imagining.

As with Shakespeare’s plays, it runs the gamut from love to tragedy and everything in between. It was the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and I can see why. 

By Maggie O'Farrell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021
'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Shelter in Place

Alana Woods Why did I love this book?

Nora Roberts is a publishing phenomenon. She’s written at least 200 books over the course of her writing career, and, astounding as it is to believe, they keep getting better.

Shelter in place takes us into the world of terrorists and their victims and follows Simone Knox and Reed Quartermaine as they rebuild their lives after a mass shooting in a shopping mall.

If you like a love story wrapped in heart-in-the-mouth story-telling with some exquisitely written sex scenes thrown in, then I recommend this book. 

By Nora Roberts,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Shelter in Place as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Nora Roberts comes the #1 New York Times bestseller Shelter in Place (June 2018)―a powerful tale of heart, heroism...and propulsive suspense.

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed,…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Sun Sister

Alana Woods Why did I love this book?

This is the sixth in a series called The Seven Sisters based on The Pleiades star constellationBorrowing books from the local library on an extended stay overseas, I chose this without checking if it was part of a series. 

Since then, I've been compelled to buy the rest as the storyline was too intriguing, atmospheric, and enthralling to walk away from. The sun sister is Electra D'Aplièse, a supermodel with seemingly everyone and everything at her feet.

But after the death of her adoptive father, she spirals into an alcohol and drugs tailspin. Then, a letter from a complete stranger saves her. I haven't read all seven books as yet, but those I have are equally enthralling and well-told.

By Lucinda Riley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sun Sister as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the frenetic atmosphere of Manhattan to the magnificent wide-open plains of Africa, The Sun Sister is the sixth epic tale in the Seven Sisters series by the number one bestseller Lucinda Riley. A breathtaking story of love and loss, inspired by the mythology of the famous star constellation.

To the outside world Electra D'Apliese, in her mid-twenties, seems to have it all: as one of the world's top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous.

Yet Electra's already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

A Legal Affair

By Alana Woods,

Book cover of A Legal Affair

What is my book about?

Elisabeth Sharman is one of the Sydney Director of Public Prosecution’s star legal eagles and is destined for a bright future with them. Why would she resign without warning and move to Canberra to take up a position with the enemy, Legal Aid? 

A question many in both offices pondered among themselves but stopped short of asking privacy-loving Elisabeth. Was it to widen her legal experience; was it because she had just ended an affair, or was it something else entirely, something she had told no one? 

The last thing she was expecting in Canberra was to attract the professional and personal interest of a colleague., a very attractive colleague, one she was going to have difficulty avoiding on both levels.