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The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,624 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Hello Beautiful

Jen Craven Why did I love this book?

Have you ever read a book you couldn’t finish fast enough but also were desperate to never finish? That’s what this one was like for me. I savored every single sentence.

A beautiful homage to Little Women (that alone meant I couldn’t resist!), it’s the story of a Chicago family, tight as can be, who splinter following a seeming betrayal within their ranks. What happens next is a long-stretching unfolding of highs and lows, as each character discovers their identity, mends relationships, and realizes the true power of familial bonds.

In a word, this book is simply stunning. Do yourself a favor and read it…but not without tissues nearby. 

By Ann Napolitano,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Hello Beautiful as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward comes a poignant and engrossing family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

“Hello Beautiful is exactly that: beautiful, perceptive, wistful. It’s a story of family and friendship, of how the people we are bound to can also set us free. I loved it.”—Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Whispers

Jen Craven Why did I love this book?

It’s hard to put into words what a really, really great book does to me. But this one did it, as I knew it would (I loved the author’s debut, The Push).

Audrain manages to capture motherhood in a way no one else does. When a terrible accident happens—but was it an accident?—it forces a wedge between neighborhood friends, all of whom harbor their own secrets. The story explores envy, women’s friendships, motherhood, and lies we tell ourselves in such a raw and unfiltered way. And the ending (!!)…don’t cheat…getting there is the best part, trust me. 

By Ashley Audrain,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“Expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered….[The Whispers] delivers a sucker-punch ending you’ll have to read twice to believe.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[An] electrifying…razor-sharp page-turner.” —Carley Fortune, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

Featured in summer reading recommendations by Good Morning America, TIME, ELLE, The Washington Post & more

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Push, a propulsive page-turner about four families whose lives are changed when the unthinkable happens—and what is lost when we give in to our own worst impulses

On Harlow Street, the well-to-do neighborhood couples and their children gather…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Count the Ways

Jen Craven Why did I love this book?

Here’s the best way to describe this book: utterly heartbreaking and yet simply beautiful. Some reviews call it depressing, but I don’t see it that way. Maybe I just love sad books?

There’s something about being gutted by such rich storytelling, in this case about a family navigating the ups and downs of life, following a tragic accident involving one of their own. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a story that so resonated with the female experience in marriage and parenthood. It will make you smile, it will make you cry, and it will stay with you long after reading. 

By Joyce Maynard,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard returns to the themes that are the hallmarks of her most acclaimed work in a mesmerizing story of a family-from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and the costly aftermath that ripples through all their lives

Eleanor and Cam meet at a crafts fair in Vermont in the early 1970s. She's an artist and writer, he makes wooden bowls. Within four years they are parents to three children, two daughters and a red-headed son who fills his pockets with rocks, plays the…


Plus, check out my book…

The Baby Left Behind

By Jen Craven,

Book cover of The Baby Left Behind

What is my book about?

Born with a medical condition that prevents the possibility of pregnancy, forty-one-year-old Cate wants nothing more than to be a mother. After two failed adoptions, Cate is not only distraught but desperate. But when a baby appears on her doorstep with a note asking her to take him, Cate is faced with the ultimate dilemma: call the police and lose the baby, or pass him off as hers, fulfilling her lifelong dream.

A sudden slice to the façade threatens to expose the lie she has been so desperate to hide. Can Cate discover who the child’s real mother is? And if so, will she be able to make the hardest decision of her life to protect the child?