The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,708 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Guest List

A.M. Geever I this book because...

The Guest List was a spine-tingling delight. The wedding of a beautiful social media influencer and a handsome actor on a remote Irish island castle is accessible only by boat and only when the weather cooperates. What could go wrong? Plenty. 

Author Lucy Foley weaves a complex web of characters with complicated pasts and conflicting interests, ratcheting up the tension in a classic haunted house setting of people trapped in an inaccessible location with a murderer on the loose.

Foley taps into the unsavory layer of secrets and lies simmering below the surface of polite society's respectability while constructing an unpredictable plot that kept me hooked with not one loose thread left dangling at the end of this who dunnit thriller.

You won't be able to put it down.

By Lucy Foley,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked The Guest List as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The brand new thriller from Lucy Foley - THE PARIS APARTMENT - is available to pre-order now*

The No.1 Sunday Times bestseller

*Over 1 million copies sold worldwide*
*One of The Times and Sunday Times Crime Books of the Year*
*Goodreads Choice Awards winner for Crime & Mystery 2020*

A gripping, twisty murder mystery thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

'Lucy Foley is really very clever' Anthony Horowitz
'Thrilling' The Times
'A classic whodunnit' Kate Mosse
'Sharp and atmospheric and addictive' Louise Candlish
'A furiously twisty thriller' Clare Mackintosh

On an island off the windswept Irish…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Corporate Gunslinger

A.M. Geever I this book because...

Corporate Gunslinger’s speculative, dystopian world creates a horrifying yet believable future of corporate greed, debt slavery, and glorified gun violence that is as addictive as it is dark. Saddled by student and generational family debt, artist Kira has few options to escape a life of grinding wage slavery. The only path she sees out of her predicament is to become a Corporate Gunslinger.

If she can survive a prescribed number of televised duels, which function as appeals of life and health insurance denials for her insurance company employer, Kira’s debt will be erased. She cultivates an aura of invincibility as the Angel of Death, but when she’s injured in a duel, her carefully laid plans are plunged into jeopardy.

This is smart, scathing, addictive fun that will keep you up past your bedtime.

By Doug Engstrom,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Doug Engstrom imagines a future all too terrifying-and all too possible-in this eerie, dystopic speculative fiction debut about corporate greed, debt slavery, and gun violence that is as intense and dark as Stephen King's The Long Walk.

Like many Americans in the middle of the 21st century, aspiring actress Kira Clark is in debt. She financed her drama education with loans secured by a "lifetime services contract." If she defaults, her creditors will control every aspect of her life. Behind on her payments and facing foreclosure, Kira reluctantly accepts a large signing bonus to become a corporate gunfighter for TKC…


Want my future book recommendations?

My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Deadly Education

A.M. Geever I this book because...

"I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life."

The first line of A Deadly Education lets the reader know the world inside its pages is dangerous and dark. The protagonist, El, would just as likely stab you in the back (literally) as accept offered help she won't be gracious about receiving. Her attitude isn't even her fault.

As an unpopular outsider in the school of magic where alliances are the key to survival, El is vulnerable, and she knows it.

A Deadly Education is original and smart, with a protagonist you'll root for despite her surly bad attitude. The entire Scholomance series is a must-read that you'll enjoy and think about long after it is over.  

By Naomi Novik,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked A Deadly Education as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal. Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.

El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.

Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Undead Menagerie

By A.M. Geever,

Book cover of Undead Menagerie

What is my book about?

When the world ends, you adapt or die. Zookeeper Imogen loves caring for endangered Iberian Lynxes, and a promotion is on the horizon. But when a colleague throws her under the bus, her world falls apart.

Mike dropped out of college to raise his sisters. Now, decades later, it's time to live for himself. But an unwelcome surprise derails his plans, and the future he's longed for slips from his grasp.

When the zombie apocalypse strikes, Imogen and Mike are trapped inside the zoo. If Imogen wants to protect her lynxes, she'll have to adapt. If Mike wants to find his family, he needs to survive. Together, they must find a way out of the zoo—before it's as deadly as the zombies beyond its fence.