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 Once and Future Witches

Gabby Gilliam Why did I love this book?

I loved The Once and Future King, so I was drawn to this book by the title. I loved the three sisters, who are the main protagonists immediately (even though they can be a bit prickly).

Reading their three storylines and waiting to see how they would converge was enjoyable. Juniper reminds me of Granny Weatherwax from Terry Pratchett’s books. Harrow gives us a feminist adventure story full of magic, and I’m here for every page of it.

By Alix E. Harrow,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Once and Future Witches as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Glorious . . . a tale that will sweep you away' Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger

'A gorgeous and thrilling paean to the ferocious power of women' Laini Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of Strange the Dreamer

In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Nettle & Bone

Gabby Gilliam Why did I love this book?

I only picked up this book because I was trying to read all of the Hugo Award nominees. I didn’t expect much since it’s such a short read. I was pleasantly surprised once I started reading.

It reads like a dark fairy tale, reminiscent of the original Brothers Grimm. Our heroine is given three impossible tasks and, through stubborn determination, begins to make her way through them.

What I liked about this fairy tale is that the princess didn’t wait to be saved by anyone. She didn’t even want to marry a prince. Instead, she does her best to kill one.

By T. Kingfisher,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Nettle & Bone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Instant USA Today & Indie Bestseller
An Oprah Daily Top 25 Fantasy Book of 2022
An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022
A Goodreads Best Fantasy Choice Award Nominee

From Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes an original and subversive fantasy adventure.

*A very special hardcover edition, featuring gold foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.*

This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.
It's the one where she kills him.

Marra never wanted to be a hero.

As the shy, convent-raised,…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Unshuttered: Poems

Gabby Gilliam Why did I love this book?

Patricia Smith gathered a collection of antique portraits of African Americans, most from the years near the end of the Civil War and during Reconstruction. She gives those frozen subjects a voice and a story to give readers a piece of imagined history.

Her word choices give the poems a beautiful sound. The first poem of the collection was a personal favorite, and I expect I will read these poems many more times just to revisit them.

By Patricia Smith,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An award-winning author presents a portrait of Black America in the nineteenth century

Over the course of two decades, award-winning poet Patricia Smith has amassed a collection of rare nineteenth-century photographs of Black men, women, and children who, in these pages, regard us from the staggering distance of time.

Unshuttered is a vessel for the voices of their incendiary and critical era. Smith's searing stanzas and revelatory language imbue the subjects of the photos with dynamism and revived urgency while she explores how her own past of triumphs and losses is linked inextricably to their long-ago lives:

We ache for…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Trouble in Tomsk

By Gabby Gilliam,

Book cover of Trouble in Tomsk

What is my book about?

An ancient parasite thaws from the permafrost, infecting its human hosts and reducing them to mindless husks, attacking any living creature to create new parasitic hosts.

The remnants of humanity flee to the coldest regions of the Earth, where they build walls to protect themselves from the wandering infected—the husks. Armed with her father's shamanic drum, Bree settles in Tomsk, the largest city in Siberia, where she uses the beats of the drum to draw these husks to her; the steady beats mirroring the heartbeats of their hosts.

Arrested by the city's patrol guards, she and her neighbour, Tyler, who is working on a cure, must convince the council that his serum can neutralise the parasites, eradicating the threat on humanity. But the council isn't ready to listen.

My 12-year-old's favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Time Villains

Gabby Gilliam Why did they love this book?

It's one of my favorite books because it incorporates multiple figures from history, and some of the figures are very cool. And Blackbeard somehow even seemed to be better than anticipated. That's why I liked this story. This story had a lot of action and ended up being a great read.

By Victor Piñeiro,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Time Villains as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

"Magnificent."-Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review
Story Thieves meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library in this wacky, hilarious, and fast-paced middle-grade series starter, with the perfect combination of magic, imagination, and adventure.
Javi Santiago is trying his best not to fail sixth grade. So, when the annual "invite any three people to dinner" homework assignment rolls around, Javi enlists his best friend, Wiki, and his sister, Brady, to help him knock it out of the park.
But the dinner party is a lot more than they bargained for. The family's mysterious antique table actually brings the historical guests to the meal...and Blackbeard…


My 12-year-old's 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Monster Problems

Gabby Gilliam Why did they love this book?

This was a great book because it incorporated lots of fictional characters. These characters made the story really great and entertaining. It modified the storyline of the first book by adding new landmarks to the town and changing the inside and outside of the school. And it added new rooms and new people.

By Victor Piñeiro,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Monster Problems as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

"Magnificent." -Kirkus Reviews, STARRED Review on Time Villains

Story Thieves meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library in the second book of this wacky, hilarious, and fast-paced middle-grade series. Can Javi and his friends stop Count Dracula from taking over the school?

With Blackbeard banished from their present time, life has gone somewhat back to normal for Javi, his sister Brady, and his best friend Wiki. And Javi can now focus on his favorite thing in the world: crafting extreme sandwiches. Except their beloved Principal Gale has to make an unexpected trip back to Oz, leaving the excessively strict and downright…


Explore all books for 12-year-olds

Book cover of The Once and Future Witches
Book cover of Nettle & Bone
Book cover of Unshuttered: Poems

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