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 American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

G.K. Belliveau Why did I love this book?

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer was an incredible feat of writing.

Bird and Sherwin constructed a narrative so powerfully that it read like a novel. This is so hard to do when tackling such an iconic life as Oppenheimer’s. From the very beginning we are introduced to this “wonder-kid” who speaks multiple languages and is quite simply a genius, awkward, out of sorts, bullied… and who eventually not only finds a path forward but actually hacks the path single-handedly into the atomic future and his own mythmaking status.

And that is the fundamental pleasure of this epic and incredibly well-researched biography, we watch the boy genius grow up with all the foibles, quirks, magnificence, worshipers and haters that such genius intellects collect along their strange journey through life’s messy roadways.

The drama of a young academic so boldly creating a theoretical physics department by himself; the stunning relationships forged with the greatest physicists in the Western world; the leadership and folly of Los Alamos; the child-like fascination of brilliant minds working to solve the atomic problem… which ultimately leads to the greatest destructive force ever created by man; the horror and rebellions, the attacks by his jealous accusers – all of this is brilliantly captured in wonderous detail, well-constructed plot arcs that build amazing characterization of all the major and minor characters of Oppenheimer’s age.

 This is a National Book Award must read. This is a biography for every shelf.

By Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked American Prometheus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Physicist and polymath, 'father of the atom bomb' J. Robert Oppenheimer was the most famous scientist of his generation. Already a notable young physicist before WWII, during the race to split the atom, 'Oppie' galvanized an extraordinary team of international scientists while keeping the FBI at bay. As the man who more than any other inaugurated the atomic age, he became one of the iconic figures of the last century, the embodiment of his own observation that 'physicists have known sin'.

Years later, haunted by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer became a staunch opponent of plans to develop the hydrogen bomb.…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Buried Giant

G.K. Belliveau Why did I love this book?

Ishiguro is a master at combining both amazing world-building and dynamic and controlled prose. The Buried Giant is a master class in both! But that’s what one expects by a Nobel Prize winning author of The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go. But let’s be specific in our praise.

First, let’s take a closer look at the world-building. When a writer chooses a world to populate, he/she steps into the “known/new” dilemma. This is the conundrum of what is out there, what would be derivative, what would be cliché or such a well-trodden path that to use it would ruin my career – and all of this juxtaposed to: what is something new I can say? Well, Ishiguro decides on Arthurian Legend.

That choice alone is so daunting for most writers that they don’t even consider it. Ishiguro not only considers it, dives deep into it, and by doing so… elevates it all to something profound. The world is so steeped in historical research, so steeped in conflicts and feuds of that time (Anglo vs Saxon) – his world so well mapped and thought out that the reader is immersed In Medias Res that all we need do is observe, collect, and enjoy.

Secondly, the prose – as any reader of his work will understand – is delightfully subtle, incredibly controlled, an ultra-fine brush used in such minute and delightful ways. What do I mean? Ishiguro uses minimalism as a technique to capture the fantastical, and by doing so grounds it into the real, the concrete.

In one magnificent stroke he couples the mundanity and sadness, the terror of what Malcom Gladwell called “A World Lit Only by Fire” with a spell-induced mist, a terrifying dragon, and a cunning Saxon who is a wonderfully, dare I say brilliantly constructed. These are both known AND new elements, and when combined on Ishiguro’s palate…. They create a story filled with sadness, love, hope, and tragedy.

This is a must read for all fantasy readers, but most importantly all readers who delight in great storytelling and amazing craft. 

By Kazuo Ishiguro,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Buried Giant as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel Klara and the Sun is now available*

The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin.

The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years. They expect to face many hazards - some strange and other-worldly - but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another.

'A beautiful fable with a hard message at its…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Changeling

G.K. Belliveau Why did I love this book?

Lavalle’s The Changeling is everything the hype says it is.

It is a dark fairy tale (really horror) told in such compelling prose that one cannot stop reading. Cryptic in its approach (for to choose another way to tell it would be cliché), Lavelle’s carefully told story combines all the genre’s elements – supernatural, thriller, panic-inducing moments, and deeply felt and deeply resonating psychologically complex characters and ideas.

It is hard to create such a sustained and intense story arc, one filled with mystery and “what happens next.” Any observant reader understands the referential nature of the yarn from the very beginning: a dream-plagued Apollo, the main character, must find meaning in a world where supernatural events continually try to separate those things he holds dear: his books, his wife, and his newly born child.

This is a terror tour de force, and it will keep reading and leaving the lights on late into the night. 

By Victor LaValle,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When Apollo Kagwa was just a child, his father disappeared, leaving him with recurring nightmares and a box labelled 'Improbabilia'. Now a successful book dealer, Kagwa has a family of his own after meeting and falling in love with Emma, a librarian. The two marry and have a baby: so far so happy-ever-after.

However, as the pair settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Emma's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, until one day she commits an unthinkable act, setting Apollo on a wild and fantastical quest through a suddenly otherworldly New York, in…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Gods of IMAGO

By G.K. Belliveau,

Book cover of Gods of IMAGO

What is my book about?

It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome to Gods of IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series. Gods of IMAGO is Science Fiction/ Dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence. 

Book cover of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Book cover of The Buried Giant
Book cover of The Changeling

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