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 The Lincoln Highway

Bibi Belford Why did I love this book?

Reading The Lincoln Highway is like taking a road trip in 1954 with Emmett, newly released from an undeserved incarceration in juvenile detention, and his eight-year-old precocious brother, Billy, as they attempt to journey west for a fresh start.

Amor Towles is a master of storytelling, creating a memorable cast of characters with hints of heroes and legends. The obstacles that Emmett encounters—some tragic, some comical—threaten his goal to provide a promising future for Billy and test his resolve to do what’s right. It’s a can’t-put-it-down, stay-in-your-mind novel that has become one of my favorite-evers.

By Amor Towles,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

More than ONE MILLION copies sold

A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Bill Gates and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year

“Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club
 
“Fantastic. Set in 1954, Towles uses the story of two brothers to show that our personal…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Firekeeper's Daughter

Bibi Belford Why did I love this book?

The high stakes and tension in Firekeeper’s Daughter had me on the edge of my seat in the same way as The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

Daunis Fontaine, an Ojibwe teenager, becomes an informant for the FBI to find the source of a recreational drug that threatens her tribal community. I love teens cast into reluctant heroine roles and felt like I was getting an inside glimpse into the cultural identity of a Native teen from a reliable narrator.

Even though I’d consider this a crime thriller, the prose is so poetic that I copied many beautiful phrases into my book journal.

By Angeline Boulley,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Firekeeper's Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER!
A MORRIS AWARD WINNER!
AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK!

A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK

An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller

Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.

“One of this year's most buzzed about young adult novels.” ―Good Morning America

A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time Selection
Amazon's Best YA Book of 2021 So Far (June 2021)
A 2021 Kids' Indie Next List Selection
An Entertainment Weekly Most Anticipated Books of…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Swan Light

Bibi Belford Why did I love this book?

As a lover of lighthouses, I was immediately drawn to Swan Light’s book cover. But what hooked me was discovering it’s a tale told by two protagonists with two timelines—lighthouse keeper Silvestre Swan, as he tried to save Swan Light from the sea in 1913, and Mari Adams, the marine archeologist hired to dig for it in 2014.

Don’t plan on putting this down. It will consume you until you’ve finished it. Before reading it, I knew nothing about competitive shipwreck hunting or the Newfoundland coast. However, due to the amazing research in this debut novel, I’m now fascinated by shipwreck hunting and hope to visit Eastern Canada next year.

By Phoebe Rowe,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A sweeping, emotional tale of hope and perseverance, Swan Light weaves together the stories of two people separated by a century but connected by family, purpose, and one extraordinary lighthouse.

1913. Eighty-three-year-old Silvestre Swan has dedicated his life to the care of his Newfoundland lighthouse. His petition to relocate Swan Light from its precarious cliff's edge is going unheard by town patriarch Cort Roland-that is, until a terrible storm brings an unlikely ally into Swan's life. But is it too late for the stone lighthouse?

2014. Marine archaeologist Mari Adams's attempts to fund her search for the notorious SS Californian…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Crossing the Line

By Bibi Belford,

Book cover of Crossing the Line

What is my book about?

Some people think there’s a line, and if everybody stays on their side of the line, then we’ll all get along just fine. That’s what Billy’s da told him, back before he joined up in the Great War. 

'Course, that was before the war ended, and Billy’s da came home with shell shock. It gets harder when Billy becomes friends with Foster, a black boy who loves baseball and whose daddy went to war, too. 

Soon, the boys’ friendship has triggered a series of events that will change both their lives forever. With racial tensions in the city coming to a head, Billy must decide once and for all what it means to be courageous, to be a friend, and to truly cross the line.

My 5-year-old's favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Creepy Pair of Underwear!

Bibi Belford Why did they love this book?

Creepy Pair of Underwear is absolutely hysterical. My granddaughter laughs every time we read it.

It has just the right amount of scariness and humor. She loves the allusion on one of the pages to Creepy Carrots, Reynold’s other book that we love. 

By Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Creepy Pair of Underwear! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

From the celebrated team behind Creepy Carrots!, Aaron Reynolds and Caldecott Honor winner Peter Brown, comes a hilarious (and just a little creepy) story of a brave rabbit and a very weird pair of underwear.

Jasper Rabbit is NOT a little bunny anymore. He’s not afraid of the dark, and he’s definitely not afraid of something as silly as underwear. But when the lights go out, suddenly his new big rabbit underwear glows in the dark. A ghoulish, greenish glow. If Jasper didn’t know any better he’d say his undies were a little, well, creepy. Jasper’s not scared obviously, he’s…


My 5-year-old's 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Unicorn Named Sparkle

Bibi Belford Why did they love this book?

My granddaughter is obsessed with unicorns, so this book went easily into the library bag. But we were as surprised as the protagonist, Lucy, when we found out Sparkle isn't a unicorn—spoiler alert—she's a goat!

Poor Lucy wants Sparkle to behave like a unicorn, and she decides to send her back when that doesn't happen. But with a wonderful twist, Lucy changes her mind, and Sparkle stays. The subtle lesson the new goat owner learns is that sometimes, expectations can be changed to accommodate the new situation. 

By Amy Young,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Unicorn Named Sparkle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Lucy sees an ad in the newspaper for a unicorn, she sends in her twenty five cents and waits four to six long weeks for her very own unicorn to arrive. She imagines the flowers that she'll braid into his beautiful pink mane, and she even picks the perfect name for him: Sparkle. But when Sparkle arrives, his ears are too long, his horn is too short, he smells funny and oh, he has fleas. Lucy isn't pleased, but in the end she warms up to Sparkle and realises that even though he wasn't exactly the unicorn she wanted,…


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My book recommendation list