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 Lone Women

Lucy Jane Bledsoe Why did I love this book?

I loved this book so much for its strong—and deeply believable—female characters.

The way they interacted with each other and the land just blew me away; how real it felt. This book made me realize how much I want to see this realism and deep heart/courage in the stories I read.

Speaking of realism, there’s a fantastical element to the story, which totally worked. Yet the fantastical part was deeply rooted in the realism of the story.

By Victor Lavalle,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Lone Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an “absorbing, powerful” (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.

“Propulsive . . . LaValle combines chills with deep insights into our country’s divides.”—Los Angeles Times

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2023: The New York Times, Time, Oprah Daily, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Essence, Salon, Vulture, Reader’s Digest, The Root, LitHub, Paste, PopSugar, Chicago Review of Books, BookPage, Book Riot, Tordotcom, Crime Reads,…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Boys

Lucy Jane Bledsoe Why did I love this book?

I love novels that tell stories I’ve never read before, and The Boys delivers.

The characters are utterly unique and strange and, best of all, lovable. A deep compassion drives the characters through their scenes, and by the end of the book, my heart ached for them in the best way.

There’s also a huge reveal in this novel that came to me as a total surprise but one that made so much sense. The novel is seamlessly wonderful.

By Katie Hafner,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"Hafner's taut and utterly delightful debut is a novel of multitudes.... What a wonder of storytelling." -Weike Wang, New York Times

New York Times Editors' Pick | Most Anticipated | GMA Summer Reads

A delicious summer read filled with humor and surprise for readers of Anne Tyler and Kevin Wilson.

When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries fun-loving Barb, so comfortable in the world, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. To ease Ethan's fears of becoming a…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Booth

Lucy Jane Bledsoe Why did I love this book?

I fell in love with the way this novel shows the humanity of its historical characters. There is so much juice and intrigue in the family story of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abe Lincoln.

I also love the way this novel sheds so much light on America today and how it shows the crazy ways the personal choices and disasters of this random family contribute to an ongoing schism in our country.

Booth is both a juicy, beautifully written family story and also a historical revelation.

By Karen Joy Fowler,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Best Book of the Year
Real Simple • AARP • USA Today • NPR • Virginia Living

Longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

From the Man Booker finalist and bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves comes an epic and intimate novel about the family behind one of the most infamous figures in American history: John Wilkes Booth.

In 1822, a secret family moves into a secret cabin some thirty miles northeast of Baltimore, to farm, to hide, and to bear ten children over the course of the next sixteen years. Junius Booth—breadwinner, celebrated Shakespearean actor, and master…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Tell the Rest

By Lucy Jane Bledsoe,

Book cover of Tell the Rest

What is my book about?

Twenty-five years ago, Delia Barnes and Ernest Wrangham escaped together from Celebration Camp, a church-supported conversion therapy program—the dubious, unscientific, Christian practice meant to change a person’s sexuality.

They have no idea how each has fared over the years. Delia is a college basketball coach who prides herself on being an empowering and self-possessed role model for her players. Ernest is an award-winning poet whose work turns Christian faith on its head.

But now their lives bring them both back to the state of Oregon, just a few miles from Celebration Camp, and back into each other’s orbit, until they finally meet again.

My book recommendation list

Book cover of Lone Women
Book cover of The Boys
Book cover of Booth

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