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 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Janet Hulstrand Why did I love this book?

From the very first words of this novel I was drawn into the world of Francie Nolan, age 10: Francie is a sensitive soul, avid reader, and future writer.

This heartwarming story of her loveable Irish-American family in Brooklyn in the early years of the twentieth century, with its cast of richly drawn characters and documentary detail of the world they live in, is funny, sad, touching, thought-provoking, and wonderfully well told.

Betty Smith’s insight into the human condition—and human psychology—is exceptional, and exceptionally well expressed, and her sense of humor keeps it from ever being depressing, no matter how difficult the lives of the characters she’s describing may be.

Their vitality and love of life in spite of the considerable challenges they face is contagious, and inspiring. 

By Betty Smith,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

A special 75th anniversary edition of the beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior―such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce―no one, least of all Francie, could…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Bookish People

Janet Hulstrand Why did I love this book?

I laughed out loud frequently while reading this book and when I wasn’t laughing out loud, I was smiling.

Susan Coll’s writing is satire, but it is very gentle satire: the author’s affection and sympathy for people is always clear, even as she is describing their ridiculously bumbling ways. I love all of her novels but this one, as the title suggests, is perfect for people who love books, set as it is in an indie bookstore full to overflowing with characters who embody all the ways that bookish people can be both loveable and ridiculous in their typically bookish ways.

By Susan Coll,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A perfect storm of comedic proportions erupts in a DC bookstore over the course of one soggy summer week-narrated by two very different women and punctuated by political turmoil, a celestial event, and a perpetually broken vacuum cleaner.

Independent bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein is burned out on books. Mourning the death of her husband, the loss of her favorite manager, her only child's lack of aspiration, and the grim state of the world, she fantasizes about going into hiding in the secret back room of her store.

Meanwhile, renowned poet Raymond Chaucer has published a new collection, and rumors that…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The French Art of Living Well: Finding Joie de Vivre in the Everyday World

Janet Hulstrand Why did I love this book?

As a dedicated Francophile, I love books that celebrate all that is wonderful about the French, and this book definitely falls into that category. It is, however, not blindly celebratory.

Cathy Yandell’s love of France and the French is tempered by a balanced view of French life: the stories she tells about her experiences in France over a period of 40-some years provide insight into some of the ways that American and French sensibilities (and habits and ways) can occasionally collide. All of this is recounted with humor and affection—from a soundly American, French-loving point of view.

I also love this book for the abundance of practical information about a variety of topics, including suggestions for good contemporary French books, films, and recording artists. 

By Cathy Yandell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The French Art of Living Well as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What is joie de vivre, and why is it a fundamentally French concept?

In search of those ineffable qualities that make up the joy of living, this lively book takes readers on a voyage to France through forays into literature, history, and culture. How does art contribute to daily life? Why is cuisine such a central part of French existence? Why are the French more physical than many other cultures? How do French attitudes toward time speak volumes about their sense of pleasure and celebration? And finally, to what extent is this zest for life exportable? These and other questions…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France

By Janet Hulstrand,

Book cover of A Long Way from Iowa: From the Heartland to the Heart of France

What is my book about?

This memoir chronicles the lives of three generations of women with a passion for reading, writing, and travel. The story begins in 1992 in an unfinished attic in Brooklyn as the author reads a notebook written by her grandmother nearly 100 years earlier. This sets her on a 30-year search to find her grandmother’s journals, and uncover the hidden interior lives of her mother and grandmother. Her adventures take her to a variety of locations, from a small town in Iowa to New York, Washington, London, and Paris—and finally to a little village in France, where she is finally able to write the book that will tell her own story, intertwined with the stories of her mother and grandmother.