The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

Join 1,708 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Hidden Bodies

Hayley Quinn I this book because...

Follow-ups can be tricky. I’m suspicious of book trilogies that don’t live up to the original. After I read Kepnes' breakout hit You (an edge-of-your-seat, darkly humorous first-person book about a love-addled psychopath), I felt it was such a tour de force that it was unstoppable. Screeching to a dark and nail-biting conclusion, where could this plot go next?

It turns out it went to LA, and Kepnes' sequel Hidden Bodies does the literary equivalent of an ‘8 Mile’ rap battle smackdown of a sequel.

Joe’s new love interest, Love, is his perfect match (Beck, who?). The settings of LA and Vegas are more high-octane than New York, and the sub-characters are equal parts more obnoxious and captivating. I loved it.

By Caroline Kepnes,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

We all binged on YOU when it became a major hit Netflix series last Christmas.
***Now the major Netflix series is back for SERIES TWO, based on the even more twisted HIDDEN BODIES***

JOE GOLDBERG IS BACK . . .

Joe came to Los Angeles to start over, to forget about what happened in New York. But in a darkened room in Soho House everything suddenly changed.

She is like no one he's ever met before.

She doesn't know about his past and never can.

The problem is, hidden bodies don't always stay that way.

Praise for You:

'THRILLER OF…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Troubled Blood

Hayley Quinn I this book because...

J K Rowling, as Robert Galbraith, is the master of detailed, rich plots. The kind where when the final plot twist is delivered, you find yourself flicking back to page 102 and realizing you should have worked it out then. All the clues are there but perfectly hidden amongst incredibly well-developed characters.

Having read all her Strike novels, in my opinion, Troubled Blood is the zenith of the “oh no, what’s going to happen next?” thriller writing like in the earlier books in this series, without being slightly unwieldy in length like her later books.

I highly recommend it to lovers of thrillers and mysteries. 

By Robert Galbraith,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Troubled Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the Crime and Thriller British Book of the Year Award 2021

'One of crime's most engaging duos' Guardian

'Magnificent' Sunday Times

'Finely honed, superbly constructed' Daily Mail

'Terrific' Daily Express

Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough - who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974.

Strike has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one forty years old. But despite the slim chance of success, he is intrigued and takes it on; adding to the long list of…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder

Hayley Quinn I this book because...

I was fully prepared to dislike this book. I thought it was going to be twee and safe, and I was wrong!

I loved how the setting of this book transported you into small-town life in the UK. There are many fabulous young adult thrillers about (think McManus!) set in the USA, but I really enjoyed a UK teenage experience being brought to life by Jackson. 

I’m also a sucker for books that use intertextual sources: Excerpts from diaries, recorded interviews, and a map kept it highly engaging.

I’m also happy to report that while this book series ignited my passion for young adult fiction, it was also satisfyingly creepy in places! 

By Holly Jackson,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked A Good Girl's Guide to Murder 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?

THE MUST-READ MULTIMILLION BESTSELLING MYSTERY SERIES• Everyone is talking about A Good Girl's Guide to Murder! With shades of Serial and Making a Murderer this is the story about an investigation turned obsession, full of twists and turns and with an ending you'll never expect.

Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

The Last First Date

By Hayley Quinn,

Book cover of The Last First Date

What is my book about?

At 31 years old, Helen Pines is far from where she thought she would be. While her ex-boyfriend is now engaged, Helen’s still eating ready meals for one, wistfully dreaming of her last first date.

Determined to give online dating a go, she matches with drop-dead-gorgeous Brody, and they hit it off immediately. One date later, Helen’s heart is still singing. Brody’s everything she’s looking for in a man – sexy, charismatic, and the perfect gentleman. But then she receives an error message on the app: all her contacts have been deleted.

With nothing but Brody’s name and job title to go on, Helen is determined to track him down. Despite the initial chemistry, Helen realizes she knows surprisingly little about her mystery man.