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The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,627 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 Mad Honey

Deb Richardson-Moore Why did I love this book?

I learn something – unintentionally – every time I pick up a Jodi Picoult novel, which, by the way, is every time she comes out with a new title.

In this case, it was about honeybees. But the book, of course, is about so much more and you don’t realize what that is until halfway through. It is amazing to me that an author, or two in this case, can create a plot without revealing the central concept until mid-book. An awesome feat.

By Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Mad Honey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Alternatingly heart-pounding and heartbreaking. This collaboration between two best-selling authors seamlessly weaves together Olivia and Lily’s journeys, creating a provocative exploration of the strength that love and acceptance require.”—The Washington Post
 
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • PEOPLE’S BOOK OF THE WEEK • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Other Passenger

Deb Richardson-Moore Why did I love this book?

If there’s anything better than a twisty thriller, it’s a twisty thriller set in England. Louise Candlish sets The Other Passenger largely on a commuter catamaran on the Thames.

Her middle-aged, underemployed, phobia-filled protagonist falls in with a younger lot. As police investigate the disappearance of one of them, Candlish takes us back to the preceding year, unpeeling it like an onion. Surprise after surprise after surprise ensues. Candlish is a thrill master at the height of her powers.  

By Louise Candlish,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

*** PRE-ORDER THE ONLY SUSPECT NOW, THE NEW CAUTIONARY TALE OF OBSESSION, LOVE, JEALOUSY AND DECEPTION FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF OUR HOUSE AND THE OTHER PASSENGER ***

'Absolutely brilliant... An exceptionally exciting, mysterious book - we both loved it' Richard & Judy

It all happens so quickly. One day you're living the dream, commuting to work by riverbus with your charismatic neighbour Kit in the seat beside you. The next, Kit hasn't turned up for the boat and his wife Melia has reported him missing.

When you get off at your stop, the police are waiting. Another…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Beneath Devil's Bridge

Deb Richardson-Moore Why did I love this book?

This is the book that sent me scurrying to the library in search of more Loreth Anne White novels.

Beneath Devil’s Bridge is a murder mystery with heart and mood and an eerie sense of place. White keeps circling back to the bridge, the victim, the bystanders, revealing layer after layer of mystery and pathos. A riveting novel.   

By Loreth Anne White,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Beneath Devil's Bridge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A true crime podcast yields new revelations about a shocking murder in a riveting novel of suspense by Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author Loreth Anne White.

True crime podcaster Trinity Scott is chasing breakout success, and her brand-new serial may get her there. Her subject is Clayton Jay Pelley. More than two decades ago, the respected family man and guidance counselor confessed to the brutal murder of teenage student Leena Rai. But why he killed her has always been a mystery.

In a series of exclusive interviews from prison, Clayton discloses to Trinity the truth about what happened…


Plus, check out my book…

Murder, Forgotten

By Deb Richardson-Moore,

Book cover of Murder, Forgotten

What is my book about?

Best-selling mystery author Julianna Burke has a secret weapon – what family members call her “wanderings,” periods when she loses track of time and place in service to her complex plots. When her beloved husband is killed in their South Carolina beach house, Julianna is stricken with grief, certainly, but also with fear: Could she, deeply enmeshed in a wandering for her latest novel, have become confused and killed him?