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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 The Quarry Girls

Kathryn Knight Why did I love this book?

This novel has so many of the things I look for in a book—mysterious disappearances, dark and suspenseful secrets, and compelling, realistic characters that I care about.

But it also had some things I wasn’t expecting…an eerie setting that felt like its own character and a timeframe in the past that brought me back to my own childhood. The accuracy and nostalgia surrounding the 1977 setting pulled me right in, and the mystery heightened as the teenage characters’ friend becomes one of the missing.

Reading this book was like finding treasure, and I quickly purchased all of this author’s other books.

By Jess Lourey,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Killers hiding in plain sight. Small-town secrets. A girl who knows too much. From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline comes a nerve-twisting novel inspired by a shocking true crime.

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it's not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can't forget. They've decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Greenwich Park

Kathryn Knight Why did I love this book?

Another thriller involving a group of friends with a dark shared history made this debut a must-read for me. While I started with the e-book, I also had to purchase the audiobook because I needed to be immersed in the mystery at every moment possible!

This book had dual timelines, which I love as a way to weave together the secrets of the past with the current timeline, in which a stranger insinuates her way into a main character’s life, and odd occurrences and dangerous lies begin stacking up.

This person is not who she pretends to be…who is she, and what does she want?

By Katherine Faulkner,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

COMING IN JUNE 2023: KATHERINE FAULKNER'S BRILLIANT NEW NOVEL, THE OTHER MOTHERS THE TOP TWENTY BESTSELLER WATERSTONES THRILLER OF THE MONTH 'If you like Louise Candlish, then you'll want to take a walk in Greenwich Park' RED 'A twisty, fast-paced read' SUNDAY TIMES 'The perfect thriller' CAZ FREAR Helen has it all... Daniel is the perfect husband. Rory is the perfect brother. Serena is the perfect sister-in-law. And Rachel? Rachel is the perfect nightmare. When Helen, finally pregnant after years of tragedy, attends her first antenatal class, she is expecting her loving architect husband to arrive soon after, along with…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Open House

Kathryn Knight Why did I love this book?

This psychological thriller also entwines the past and the present when the bracelet of a long-missing girl is discovered at the bottom of an isolated gorge.

The young woman’s unsolved disappearance has taken a toll on her family and friends during the past ten years, and the new clue brings the pain, secrets, and lies swirling back to the surface. But when one of them is attacked in the present, it becomes clear that someone is dangerously invested in keeping the mystery buried.

The small town setting was both intriguing and claustrophobic, with characters connected by many threads.

By Katie Sise,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A missing young woman, ten years gone. A town still held in the grip of an unsolved mystery. A breathtaking novel of psychological suspense by the bestselling author of We Were Mothers.

A decade ago in upstate New York, art student Emma McCullough walked into the woods and was never seen again. It's a mystery that still haunts her bucolic university town and her broken family, especially her sister, Haley, whose need for closure has become an obsession. But now, finally, the first piece of evidence in the vanishing has been found: Emma's bracelet, lodged in a frozen piece of…


Plus, check out my book…

Silver Lake

By Kathryn Knight,

Book cover of Silver Lake

What is my book about?

Rain can't decide which is more unsettling…encountering the ghost of her missing friend or reuniting with the man whose love she foolishly rejected. But one thing is certain: the past has come back to haunt her, quite literally.

Five years ago, Rain's tight-knit group of high school friends unraveled when one vanished during their senior year. Now, a deathbed request has reunited the friends, including the man Rain discarded. Rain and Jason discover the powerful attraction between them has survived, but although Jason is willing to forgive, he can't let himself forget.

Dangerous paranormal activity escalates—Brandy's ghost has a message to share. As Rain and Jason struggle to unravel the truth, they must face a desperate spirit—and a passion that refuses to die.

My book recommendation list