The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,608 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

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My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World

Jean Ryan Why did I love this book?

I loved this book for its gorgeous writing, particularly the descriptions of paintings and buildings in Rome. I was so moved by Doerr’s evocative words that I was compelled to find online images of these subjects as I read.

Not only does he write with beautiful precision, but he also conveys his experiences with honesty and humility, noting the linguistic and physical challenges he encountered as a writer trying to justify a fellowship while raising two infants in an ancient city.

By Anthony Doerr,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Four Seasons in Rome as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning #1 New York Times bestseller All the Light We Cannot See and Cloud Cuckoo Land, a "dazzling" (Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran) memoir about art and adventures in Rome.

Anthony Doerr has received many awards—from the New York Public Library, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Library Association. Then came the Rome Prize, one of the most prestigious awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and with it a stipend and a writing studio in Rome for a year. Doerr learned of the award…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Winter: Notes from Montana

Jean Ryan Why did I love this book?

I have read Winter three times, and with each reading, my admiration for the talent of Rick Bass grows.

As a writer, I favor economy and distillation as a means of mining the essence of a subject, which Bass demonstrates with his poetic yet conversational style.

He focuses on natural beauty, seeing the hidden connections around us, like deer antlers resembling tree branches. To read Winter is to live inside the wilderness he describes. His reverence for this world abounds on every page.

By Rick Bass,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This book is a classic celebration of winter in a remote Montana valley.


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Short History of Nearly Everything

Jean Ryan Why did I love this book?

A Short History of Nearly Everything lives on my bedside table. Each time I open it, I am struck anew by the extent of Bryson’s scientific knowledge and the time it must have taken him to compose this masterpiece.

With clear and flawless language, he brings us inside a cell or to the edge of the solar system as he conveys the miracles of planet Earth. For instance, so widely are atoms recycled that a billion of our own once belonged to Shakespeare.

By Bill Bryson,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked A Short History of Nearly Everything as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The ultimate eye-opening journey through time and space, A Short History of Nearly Everything is the biggest-selling popular science book of the 21st century and has sold over 2 million copies.

'Possibly the best scientific primer ever published.' Economist
'Truly impressive...It's hard to imagine a better rough guide to science.' Guardian
'A travelogue of science, with a witty, engaging, and well-informed guide' The Times

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller, but even when he stays safely at home he can't contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to…


Plus, check out my book…

Lovers and Loners

By Jean Ryan,

Book cover of Lovers and Loners

What is my book about?

In Lovers and Loners, Jean Ryan's new collection of short stories, we meet a richly varied group of women struggling for footholds in a shifting world.

In "Parasites," we're introduced to a widow who agrees to have dinner with a man she fears is a killer. "Manatee Gardens" deftly explores the relationship between a mother and daughter who discover common ground at a marine sanctuary just when time seems to be working against them.

In "Chasing Zero," a woman with a mysterious illness loses her hold on the callous man she adores. "Odds and Ends" follows a woman running errands on the last day of her life.