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 The Nine: The True Story of a Band of Women Who Survived the Worst of Nazi Germany

Karen Meyer Why did I love this book?

These nine women escaped from a Nazi death march at the chaotic end of WW2. I felt their fears and pain as they trudged through war-torn Germany back to France, their homeland. Their struggle to find food, to evade predators, and even to survive made my trials seem insignificant. 

I admired their shared skills as they overcame the many obstacles on their way. This book graphically reminds a new generation of the horrors of Nazism as a warning against repeating them.

By Gwen Strauss,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"[A] narrative of unfathomable courage... Ms. Strauss does her readers―and her subjects―a worthy service by returning to this appalling history of the courage of women caught up in a time of rapacity and war." ―Wall Street Journal

"Utterly gripping." ―Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes

"A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women’s resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades." ―Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author of Cilka's Journey

The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Karen Meyer Why did I love this book?

The title alone is a grabber. As an introvert, I learned much about myself, thus maximizing my strengths as I interact with others. 

The author packs the book with fascinating studies and examples to prove the fact that introverts are the creative ones and make better leaders. Fellow introverts, we now have the ammunition needed to get a private cubicle at work or even bow out of committee meetings.

Extroverts can learn much from the book, too, since their strengths are highlighted.

By Susan Cain,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Quiet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SUSAN CAIN'S NEW BOOK, BITTERSWEET, IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE HOW YOU SEE INTROVERTS - AND YOURSELF - FOREVER.

Our lives are driven by a fact that most of us can't name and don't understand. It defines who our friends and lovers are, which careers we choose, and whether we blush when we're embarrassed.

That fact is whether we're an introvert or an extrovert.

The most fundamental dimension of personality, at least a third of us are introverts, and yet shyness, sensitivity and seriousness are often seen as…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Sisters of Sea View

Karen Meyer Why did I love this book?

We still read Jane Austen because she gently exposes the foibles of her characters as they try to uphold the social conventions of their time. This novel, set in the same time period, does the same.

The three genteel sisters in the story, each with a well-defined personality, are thrust into the dire necessity of earning a living when their father dies. 

We expect romance, of course, but it’s the sister who wears a veil to hide her repaired hare lip who surprises us. Do we see beneath the less-than-lovely exterior of those we meet? That’s one challenge for readers of this multi-layered novel.

By Julie Klassen,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Some guests have come for a holiday, others for hidden reasons of their own . . .

When their father's death leaves them impoverished, Sarah Summers and her genteel sisters fear they will be forced to sell the house and separate to earn livelihoods as governesses or companions. Determined to stay together, Sarah convinces them to open their seaside home to guests to make ends meet and provide for their ailing mother. Instead of the elderly invalids they expect to receive, however, they find themselves hosting eligible gentlemen. Sarah is soon torn between a growing attraction to a mysterious Scottish…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Simon Kenton, Unlikely Hero: Biography of a Frontiersman

By Karen Meyer,

Book cover of Simon Kenton, Unlikely Hero: Biography of a Frontiersman

What is my book about?

Indian attack, disease, even near-starvation—early pioneers faced these and more. Frontiersman Simon Kenton used his scouting skills to aid them. His narrow escapes from Shawnees made him a legend in his own time. Simon’s influence on the events of his day can be gauged by the men he counted as friends—the daring military leader George Rogers Clark, fellow frontiersman Daniel Boone, and the renegade Simon Girty, whom settlers loved to hate.

Bravely facing gauntlets and tortures and sentenced to death by burning at the stake, Kenton earned great respect from the Shawnee.

Tramp the woods with Kenton and gain a new appreciation for what pioneers faced as they sought to claim a slice of wilderness on the Ohio frontier.