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 A Month in the Country

Andy Marr Why did I love this book?

There is so much to love about this short, Booker-shortlisted novel. It’s narrated by Tom Birken, who reflects on a summer spent in the small Yorkshire village of Oxgodby in 1920. Still reeling from his experiences in the trenches of the First World War and the recent break-up of his marriage, Tom is tasked with restoring a medieval mural on the wall of the village church.

What follows is a tender, introspective story which, on one hand, explores the loss of youth and times gone by and, on the other, examines the human spirit’s capacity for resilience and the enduring power of art to heal and inspire.

I’ve been reading my entire life, but I have rarely come across such a soft, whispering beauty of a book.

By J.L. Carr,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Month in the Country as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Penguin Decades bring you the novels that helped shape modern Britain. When they were published, some were bestsellers, some were considered scandalous, and others were simply misunderstood. All represent their time and helped define their generation, while today each is considered a landmark work of storytelling.

J. L. Carr's A Month in the Country was first published in 1980. Tom Birkin, a damaged survivor of World War One, is spending the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting in the village church of Oxgodby. Joined by another veteran, employed to look for a grave outside the churchyard, he uncovers old secrets…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of In: A Graphic Novel

Andy Marr Why did I love this book?

Of all the graphic novels I read last year – and I read around fifty – this was easily my favorite.

It’s a beautiful and bittersweet portrait of modern life that describes, with heartbreaking accuracy, a young illustrator’s struggle with his mother’s illness and his own ennui. McPhail’s delicately lined graphite drawings are delightful, the humor is spot on, and the protagonist’s yearning for personal connection in a world of social media and online dating apps is deeply relatable.

This is a book that I will read again and again and which I urge you to read as well. It’s just perfect.

By Will McPhail,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A poignant and witty graphic novel by a leading New Yorker cartoonist, following a millennial's journey from performing his life to truly connecting with people

Nick, a young illustrator, can’t shake the feeling that there is some hidden realm of human interaction beyond his reach. He haunts lookalike fussy, silly, coffee shops, listens to old Joni Mitchell albums too loudly, and stares at his navel in the hope that he will find it in there. But it isn’t until he learns to speak from the heart that he begins to find authentic human connections and is let in—to the worlds…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Himself

Andy Marr Why did I love this book?

This captivating Irish mystery tells the story of a long-ago murder in a remote coastal village and Mahony, the young man who, twenty-six years later, seeks to avenge it.

Set almost entirely in Mulderrig, a benign little speck of a place. Pretending to be harmless,’ this dark fairytale is chock-full of folklore, humor, and flawless comic touches. Reading this, I was particularly impressed with how successfully Kidd managed to meld superstition and folklore with real personal tragedy.

Mrs Cauley, the ancient former actress who inhabits the guesthouse where Mahony is staying, is one of the most memorable fictional characters I’ve ever met. She’s fully original and fearless, and her encounters with both Mahony and the local priest are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.

By Jess Kidd,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice
Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2016
Shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017
Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2017

When Mahony returns to Mulderrig, a speck of a place on Ireland's west coast, he brings only a photograph of his long-lost mother and a determination to do battle with the lies of his past.

No one - living or dead - will tell Mahony what happened to the teenage mother who abandoned him as a baby, despite his certainty that more than one of the villagers…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

A Matter of Life and Death

By Andy Marr,

Book cover of A Matter of Life and Death

What is my book about?

Six months ago, Tom Halliday left his job. Two days after that, his wife left him. Now, with his mother seriously ill, he is forced to return to his childhood home and rejoin the family he has worked to avoid for the past twenty years.

As the weeks pass and his mother’s condition continues to worsen, secrets are revealed, and longstanding grudges resurface within the Halliday home.

But by re-examining their shared histories and the status of each tattered relationship, the family begins to reconnect in moving and unexpected ways, and Tom is finally able to make sense of the mess his life has become.

Book cover of A Month in the Country
Book cover of In: A Graphic Novel
Book cover of Himself

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