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The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,624 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Subversive Witness: Scripture's Call to Leverage Privilege

Andrew L. Whitehead Why did I love this book?

I loved this book because it was a clear and firm call for Christians to love their neighbors.

What sets this book apart, though, is it shows Christians how to understand the systems and society around us that create and perpetuate privilege for particular groups. Only then can we faithfully begin to accept the responsibility to leverage our privilege to benefit those who have historically been marginalized and oppressed by the way our world works.

This book shows us how we can play a role in allowing God’s kingdom to come in the here and now.

By Dominique DuBois Gilliard,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Learn to leverage privilege.

Privilege is a social consequence of our unwillingness to reckon with and turn from sin. But properly stewarded, it can help us see and participate in God's inbreaking kingdom. Scripture repeatedly affirms that privilege is real and declares that, rather than exploiting it for selfish gain or feeling immobilized by it, Christians have a responsibility to leverage it.

Subversive Witness asks us to grapple with privilege, indifference, and systemic sin in new ways by using biblical examples to reveal the complex nature of privilege and Christians' responsibility in stewarding it well.

Dominique DuBois Gilliard highlights several…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Bullet That Missed

Andrew L. Whitehead Why did I love this book?

This is the third in the Thursday Murder Club series. Returning to Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim's antics and friendship is such a joy.

This newest mystery draws a reader right in, and it is such a wonderful escape to follow along as the Thursday Murder Club saves the day (again) and each other. I just love books that show real friendship in all of its quirks.

This book, like its predecessors, does not disappoint! It's a great read for that weekend when you're staying in and want to lose yourself in a story.

By Richard Osman,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Bullet That Missed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Brought to you by Penguin.

A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from record-breaking, bestselling author Richard Osman.

It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal.

Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill. . . or be killed.

As the cold case turns white hot, Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning

Andrew L. Whitehead Why did I love this book?

I was asked to review this book and possibly provide an endorsement. After reading it, there was no way I couldn’t endorse it.

It is a bracing read with such difficult stories. But hearing these stories is necessary for any change to take place. For American Christians, especially American Evangelicals, the abuse of women has been hidden.

It is time for a reckoning, and Sarah’s book is a necessary start. Her empathetic writing helps bring readers along, and this book should be required of anyone entering into ministry.

By Sarah Stankorb,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER!

Journalist Sarah Stankorb outlines how access to the internet-its networks, freedom of expression, and resources for deeply researching and reporting on powerful church figures-allowed women to begin dismantling the false authority of evangelical communities that had long demanded their submission.
A generation of American Christian girls was taught submitting to men is God's will. They were taught not to question the men in their families or their pastors. They were told to remain sexually pure and trained to feel shame if a man was tempted. Some of these girls were abused and assaulted. Some made to shrink…


Plus, check out my book…

American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

By Andrew L. Whitehead,

Book cover of American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church

What is my book about?

Power. Fear. Violence. These three idols of Christian nationalism are corrupting American Christianity.

Andrew Whitehead is a leading scholar on Christian nationalism in America and speaks widely on its effects. In this book, he shares his journey and reveals how Christian nationalism threatens the spiritual lives of American Christians and the church.

Whitehead shows how Christians harm their neighbors when they embrace the idols of power, fear, and violence. He uses two examples--racism and xenophobia--to demonstrate that these idols violate core Christian beliefs. Through stories, he illuminates expressions of Christianity that confront Christian nationalism and offer a faithful path forward. American Idolatry encourages further conversation about what Christian nationalism threatens, how to face it, and why it is vitally important to do so.