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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.

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My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Terciel & Elinor

Emily Layne Why did I love this book?

This book was pure nostalgia for me. Terceil and Elinor is a prequel of Garth Nix’s original Old Kingdom series, which I fell in love with when I was in middle school (almost twenty years ago!)—all of which I highly recommend for anyone who likes a little zombie and WWI vibes with their fantasy.

The world Nix has created is amazing and feels like a second home. Elinor is a strong female character who discovers her powers and learns how to wield them with NO training montage.

If you love romance (with some Insta vibes), horrifying monsters, necromancers, and lots of action, you need to read this prequel fantasy. And the rest of the series, too, obviously!

By Garth Nix,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Terciel & Elinor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

The long-awaited new novel from multi bestselling Garth Nix, set in the Old Kingdom, now in paperback! For fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo.

In a land where the dead will not stay dead, eighteen-year-old orphan Terciel is learning to wield a mighty and terrible power: necromancy.

For he is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, the latest in a ancient line of necromancers tasked with protecting the Old Kingdom and preventing the Dead from crossing over to the realm of the living.

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, where magic does not usually work, Elinor, nineteen, lives a secluded life. But when…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Stolen Songbird

Emily Layne Why did I love this book?

I first wanted to read The Stolen Songbird when I was 16, but my local library didn't buy a copy, and I eventually forgot about the book. But a few months ago, I stumbled upon it again… and immediately remembered how much younger I wanted to read it! Was it worth the fourteen-year wait? ABSOLUTELY!

If you're looking for a forced marriage and bond to an otherworldly creature (without instalove or spice), I would highly recommend this book. The characters were fleshed out and complex, as is the world-building.

And as for the "trolls?" They may not be what you assume them to be... But that's all I'll say!

By Danielle L. Jensen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stolen Songbird 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?

USA Today bestseller

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain—time enough for their nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophecy has spoken of a union that will set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. But if she is to succeed, she must bide her time and…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Court of Dragons

Emily Layne Why did I love this book?

Intense action, desperate revenge, animal-like dragons, and a battle-hardened heroine? YES PLEASE!

The world of Court of Dragons is simply mesmerizing. I loved how the author took a mythological creature that has been used over and over again and gave it a new, animalistic twist.

Between the constant danger, the fiery heroine, and the tension-riddled romance, I could not put this book down.

By Frost Kay,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

As a daughter of the Dragon Court, Wren knows three truths: never show weakness, pay the tithe, and never trust the elves.

When the enemy strikes on the eve of her wedding, Wren has no choice but to fight. Captured, she's dragged before the elvish king and given two choices.

Death or marriage.

She submits, biding her time as she plots and spies, determined to strike at the heart of the elvish royalty and take back her family's throne once more. But the more time she spends with her dangerous and achingly handsome husband, she finds herself wavering.

Only the…


Plus, check out my book…

Of Starlight and Bone

By Emily Layne,

Book cover of Of Starlight and Bone

What is my book about?

Aurelia Peri is used to being an outsider. As if being the adopted daughter of the galaxy’s most powerful man weren’t enough, she also has to deal with the stigma of being part machine, which is why she’s dead-set on proving her worth.

But when her first mission as a DISC agent ends disastrously, and then her suspect—a man accused of murdering and cannibalizing his own family—proclaims innocence and launches himself off the top of a building, she fears she’ll never be trusted with another case.