The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,707 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories

Feyisayo Anjorin I this book because...

I fell in love with short stories in my preteen years. Chinua Achebe, Kola Onadipe, and Cyprian Ekwensi were my fictional gods until the passage of time brought the creative wonder woman, Alice Munro, into my life. 

However, as a Nigerian, it was in Lesley Nneka Arimah’s narrative universe that I first saw myself as a speaking, living, welcome presence in the crazy world we live in.

I’m weird, like the characters in this collection. There was a time when fitting-in was a big question for me, and like the characters, I felt troubled by the ugly truth that may unfold. These 12 stories explore humanity in all its depressing details and messiness.

For me, Michelle Branch’s You Get Me is the perfect soundtrack for the stories in this collection.

By Lesley Nneka Arimah,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A PBS NewsHour/New York Times Book Club Pick

A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION "5 UNDER 35" HONOREE

WINNER OF THE 2017 KIRKUS PRIZE

WINNER OF THE NYPL'S YOUNG LIONS FICTION AWARD

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE LEONARD PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE

A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home. 

In “Who Will Greet You at Home,” a National Magazine Award finalist for The New Yorker, A woman desperate for a child weaves one out…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of T.C. Boyle Stories II: The Collected Stories of T. Coraghessan Boyle, Volume II

Feyisayo Anjorin I this book because...

T. C. Boyle’s characters become real-life people to you. You would think this is an author that believes in everything and everyone, whether good or bad. I laughed out loud a couple of times, and there were times I wanted to reach and hold the characters.

This was, for me, a journey through the façade of pop American lifestyle to the closets of secrets.

By T.C. Boyle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked T.C. Boyle Stories II as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A man falls from a roof whilst spying on his beautiful widowed neighbour. A newly married couple seeking enlightenment take a three year vow of silence and move to a yurt in the Arizona desert. A handsome young man works in real-estate by day, but has a far more sinister profession by night. An elderly woman is determined to return to her home in the countryside, despite the knowledge that in doing so she may be signing her own death warrant. Giant men are kept in cages to ensure their nightly service to their country. A man develops an unhealthy…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Let's Tell This Story Properly

Feyisayo Anjorin I this book because...

The stories were like an invitation to a place where people freely talk about real-life experiences that one wouldn’t have heard somewhere else. It chronicles the life of Ugandan women and their interaction with changes and challenges, while focusing on the twin themes of departing and returning.

This book got me hungry for more from the author.

By Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Let's Tell This Story Properly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Men behave badly in these stories, women suffer or negotiate for power, families bicker and try to cooperate. There is Uganda, and there is Britain, and then all the miles in between."—Los Angeles Times

How far does one have to travel to find home elsewhere? The stories in Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s collection attempt to measure that distance. Centered around the lives of Ugandans in Britain, Let's Tell This Story Properly features characters both hyper-visible and unseen―they take on jobs at airport security, care for the elderly, and work in hospitals, while remaining excluded from white, British life. As they try…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

One Week In The Life of A Hypocrite

By Feyisayo Anjorin,

Book cover of One Week In The Life of A Hypocrite

What is my book about?

One week in the life of Bosun and Titi, lovers longing for the approach of their wedding day, caught in the complicated web of secrets and the demands of trust.

One truth could threaten the love journey; but one of the lovers defies the risk and decides to let it all out, resulting in an unexpected unraveling.