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 Klara and the Sun

Jed Henson I this book because...

I’d been hearing about this book in forums and chatrooms for a while before I read it. Then I heard it won the Nobel Prize for literature. Then I learned its plot involved near-future artificial intelligence and knew I had to read it because I’ve long been fascinated by AI. I’m so glad I did.

If I had to sum up Klara in two words, I’d say it’s crushingly beautiful. It’s somehow both simple and intricate. It somehow explores and shows what it means to be human through AI. 

I now see why Kazuo Ishiguro is regarded as a master, and I look forward to reading more of him in 2024.

By Kazuo Ishiguro,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Klara and the Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
*Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021*
*A Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick*

'A delicate, haunting story' The Washington Post
'This is a novel for fans of Never Let Me Go . . . tender, touching and true.' The Times

'The Sun always has ways to reach us.'

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Clockwork Dynasty

Jed Henson I this book because...

I went into this book without high expectations because the author was unknown to me, and it surprised me.

I read a lot of thrillers, especially techno- and sci-fi-ish thrillers, and most are fun but meh. I found this one to be really interesting, with a fresh plot idea and captivating historical settings spun together like a kaleidoscope.

It hooked me from the beginning, and then the escalation and intensity wouldn’t let me go.

By Daniel H. Wilson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An ingenious thriller that follows a race of human-like machines that have been hiding among us for untold centuries—from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse.

"[A] fantastic hybrid of Highlander and The Terminator…. It reads like classic steampunk on steroids." —Ernest Cline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Ready Player Two

Present day: When a young anthropologist specializing in ancient technology uncovers a terrible secret concealed in the workings of a three-hundred-year-old mechanical doll, she is thrown into a hidden world that lurks just under the surface of our own. With her career and her life at…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Critical Mass

Jed Henson I this book because...

I couldn’t wait for this book to come out in 2023 because it’s the sequel to my #1 favorite book of 2022, Delta-V.

Sometimes sequels don’t live up to their predecessor, but Daniel Suarez did well with this one. After AI, all things rocketry and space are my other big interests, and in this book, Suarez spins up some believable, near-future, hard space science and wraps it into a thriller-style plot that kept me reading when I should’ve been working.

By Daniel Suarez,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In New York Times best-selling author Daniel Suarez's latest space-tech thriller, a group of pioneering astropreneurs must overcome never-before-attempted engineering challenges to rescue colleagues stranded at a distant asteroid—kicking off a new space race in which Earth's climate crisis could well hang in the balance.

When unforeseen circumstances during an innovative—and unsanctioned—commercial asteroid-mining mission leave two crew members stranded, those who make it back must engineer a rescue, all while navigating a shifting web of global political alliances and renewed Cold War tensions. With Earth governments consumed by the ravages of climate change and unable to take the risks necessary…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

All In

By Jed Henson,

Book cover of All In

What is my book about?

During a routine corporate security job, hacker Jim Ericssen accidentally steps on the digital toes of something he’s never “met” before a powerful, malevolent artificial intelligence buried deep in cyberspace. He could’ve survived just fine with an apology and a promise of silence. But Jim’s pride gets in the way, and he pushes too far. 

He quickly finds himself in an escalating back-and-forth battle with brutal real-world consequences as his AI foe proves able to hack and use just about anything attached to the internet as a weapon. As their one-on-one fight explodes into an inconceivable global conflict, Jim must navigate dwindling options to save not just his own life but humanity from a desperate future.