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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 The Sunrise Sisterhood

Kim Nash Why did I love this book?

I adored the seaside setting of Salcombe in Devon and felt like when the characters made a trip to the beach, that I was alongside them, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and the waves lapping at the shore while I was having an imaginary paddle.

The multigenerational characters were totally relatable, wonderful people that I felt I really connected with. It covered family dramas, dilemmas and secrets, lies, and second chances. It really is an incredibly uplifting and wonderful heartwarming read. Will guarantee the gorgeous feel-good factor you look forward to from this genre of book. 

Total escapism, full of joy, hope and heart and left me with a huge smile on my face. 

By Cathy Bramley,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'This was pure joy to read and left me feeling warm inside!!'

'This book pulled at my heart strings and broke me in places and then slowly pieced me back together again'

'Oh my!!!!!! Cathy Bramley has done it again, a fantastic read and I could not stop reading it'

'This book - I absolutely adored it!'

Three generations of women, and the summer that saved them.

The holidays are here, and in Salcombe, Liz longs for the arrival of her god-daughters, Skye and Clare and Clare's daughter baby Ivy. After years on her own, she needs help to save…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Mrs. Nash's Ashes

Kim Nash Why did I love this book?

This book for me was full of the tropes that romance readers love. Cute meet cute. Forced proximity. Male character grumpy, female character full of sunshine. Enemies to lovers. Opposites attracts. Misunderstandings. Break-ups. Right in front of you all along. Happy ever after.

It was a rollercoaster ride of all of these tropes and it worked absolutely brilliantly. I was rooting for them to get together right from the start, but then I changed my mind. But then I changed it again! LOL! It was a really fun read, that just left me grinning with a wonderfully romantic ending that I adored. Another one that left me with a heart full of hope and joy! 

My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Lessons in Chemistry

Kim Nash Why did I love this book?

Set in the early 1960s, I loved the way that the main character of Elizabeth Zott was incredibly different to any other characters that I’d read. 

A female chemist in a man’s world facing misogyny on a daily basis, sadly not just by men, but by women too, she is a total badass, attempting to smash down barriers in her wake. Despite people telling her what to do, she still does it in her own way and when offered a cooking show on TV, she does it in her own unique way, changing the lives of women in her nation! I absolutely loved her.

This taught me how it wasn’t that long ago that the world was so very different and that we are so lucky today and that impacts can be made in small ways. 

By Bonnie Garmus,

Why should I read it?

60 authors picked Lessons in Chemistry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads

"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…


Plus, check out my book…

Finding Family at the Cornish Cove

By Kim Nash,

Book cover of Finding Family at the Cornish Cove

What is my book about?

For years, Gemma has been running her late mother’s café with devotion, and when an opportunity comes to buy out her next-door neighbour and expand, she jumps at the chance. She knows she will do her mother proud – keep her legacy going strong – but deep down she knows there’s still something missing.

But sometimes family are those you choose, or those who choose you! With a growing community of supporters cheering Gemma on, will she really spend the rest of her life alone?

And with some new faces at her blossoming bistro, perhaps romance may also be on the cards?