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 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Carolyn Purnell Why did I love this book?

Gabrielle Zevin creates such vivid characters with so much depth that I felt as if I knew them.

I grew up playing the same video games they reference; I’ve experienced some of the same anxieties; and I’ve worked through grief with the same halting uncertainty—as if life can’t and shouldn’t continue normally in the wake of profound loss. By the end of the book, I felt a rare connection with these characters—one that only a supremely talented author can create.

This is a novel I’ve thought about over and over, and I can’t wait to pick it back up and rediscover it in the future. 

By Gabrielle Zevin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

* AMAZON'S #1 BOOK OF 2022 *

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow takes us on a dazzling imaginative quest, examining identity, creativity and our need to connect.

This is not a romance, but it is about love.

'I just love this book and I hope you love it too' JOHN GREEN, TikTok

Sam and Sadie meet in a hospital in 1987. Sadie is visiting her sister, Sam is recovering from a car crash. The days and months are long there, but playing together brings joy, escape, fierce competition -- and a special friendship. Then all too soon that time is…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption

Carolyn Purnell Why did I love this book?

I have a not-so-secret love for histories that focus on seemingly ahistorical topics: the history of the senses, the history of color, the history of emotions, etc. I love the wonder that washes over you when you realize that you’ve taken critical parts of life for granted, and it’s extra special when a piece of writing fundamentally changes the way you see the world.

Katy Kelleher’s Ugly History of Beautiful Things has that magical power. It weaves history, science, and personal stories into an incredible tapestry of beauty, wonder, and repulsion. Kelleher carries readers through studies of items like makeup, flowers, silk, and perfume, leading readers to curious places without forcing judgment. Fascination, revelation, inspiration—this book has a little something for everyone. 

By Katy Kelleher,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ugly History of Beautiful Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Paris Review contributor Katy Kelleher explores our obsession with gorgeous things, unveiling the fraught histories of makeup, flowers, perfume, silk, and other beautiful objects.

April recommended reading by the New York Times Book Review, Vanity Fair, Goodreads, Jezebel, Christian Science Monitor, All Arts, and the Next Big Idea Club
One of Curbed's and Globe and Mail's (Toronto) best books of the spring
A most anticipated book of 2023 by The Millions

Katy Kelleher has spent much of her life chasing beauty. As a child, she uprooted handfuls of purple, fragrant little flowers from the earth, plucked iridescent seashells from the…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of American Mermaid

Carolyn Purnell Why did I love this book?

Julia Langbein is an art historian who specializes in nineteenth-century popular humor. Of course, just because someone studies comedy, it doesn’t mean that they’re funny. Luckily for us, Langbein is hilarious. American Mermaid is, in turns, smart, cheeky, cynical, beautiful, silly, ridiculous, and profound.

I couldn’t put it down, but I know that its quick-read quality was deceptive. American Mermaid, with its story-within-a-story structure, must have taken incredible skill to fine-tune and layer. With this caliber of debut, I can’t wait to see what else Langbein has in store for us. 

By Julia Langbein,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR • "Sublime." —New York Times Book Review

"Brilliantly sharp, funny, and thought-provoking, the gripping story of a woman trying to find her way in our chaotic world." —Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe

Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist, eco-warrior novel American Mermaid becomes a best-seller. But when Hollywood insists she convert her fierce, androgynous protagonist into to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her fictional mermaid come to life, enacting revenge…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Blue Jeans

By Carolyn Purnell,

Book cover of Blue Jeans

What is my book about?

Americans have accepted jeans as a symbol of their culture, but today jeans are a global consumer product category. Levi Strauss made blue jeans in the 1870s to withstand the hard work of mining, but denim has since become the epitome of leisure. In the 1950s, celebrities like Marlon Brando transformed the utilitarian clothing of industrial labor into a glamorous statement of youthful rebellion, and now, you can find jeans on chic fashion runways. For some, indigo blue might be the color of freedom, but for workers who have produced the dye, it has often been a color of oppression and tyranny.

Blue Jeans considers the versatility of this iconic garment and investigates what makes denim a universal signifier, ready to fit any context, meaning, and body.