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 Scorched Grace: A Sister Holiday Mystery

Lucy Jane Santos Why did I love this book?

I have never read anything like this before or encountered a main character as intriguing as Sister Holiday.

The mystery is tightly plotted and satisfying and the characters full of suspicion and secrets. The descriptions of New Orleans give a really immersive experience to the book. But mostly I love Sister Holiday – and being a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed queer nun turned amateur detective – how could you not?

By Margot Douaihy,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).

When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.

Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of How to Be a Renaissance Woman: The Untold History of Beauty and Female Creativity

Lucy Jane Santos Why did I love this book?

Whilst I have been writing about the history of radioactive elements for the last few years I am actually a beauty historian (and there is lots of cross-over with radium and thorium, being used as an ingredient in cosmetics) so this book was always going to appeal.

But even though I was already interested in the topic what Jill Burke has done is absolutely masterful combining recipes, female artists, artisans, businesswomen, and at the same time unpicking those ideas around beauty that are still with us today. It’s a really important take on a really important subject and well worth a read. 

By Jill Burke,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked How to Be a Renaissance Woman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour*
*A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, October 2023*

'A total eye-opener, I loved it' Nuala McGovern

'Lively and intriguing ... You'll never look at Renaissance portraits in the same way' Maggie O'Farrell

'Terrific ... that rare thing, a serious history that is both accessible and entertaining' Literary Review

Plunge into the intimate history of cosmetics, and discover how, for centuries, women have turned to make up as a rich source of creativity, community and resistance

The Renaissance was an era obsessed with appearances. And beauty culture from the time has…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of At Home

Lucy Jane Santos Why did I love this book?

This is an oldie (well 2010) but re-reading it made me remember how much I just love this book.

It is, of course, well written and Bryson has such an engaging way about him. Again like Jill Burkes book it’s a topic that some people might think wouldn’t hold much of an interest to them – but they would be wrong. Home is everything – our sense of place in the world and our security.

Reading about the history of the home and the household is to read about the history of the world and it is just fascinating. 

By Bill Bryson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In "At Home", Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made "A Short History of Nearly Everything" one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live. Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping and…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium

By Lucy Jane Santos,

Book cover of Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium

What is my book about?

Half Lives delves into the stories of radioactive consumer products and details the gradual downfall and discredit of the radium industry through the eyes of the people who bought, sold, and eventually came to fear the once-fetishized substance.

My 6-year-old's favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Plague-Busters! Medicine's Battles with History's Deadliest Diseases

Lucy Jane Santos Why did they love this book?

My niece loves this book because it’s gruesome (but not too gruesome – this is an author who knows their audience!) but also full of fascinating facts.

I love this book because it allows me to share an aspect of history that I am fascinated about in an easily digestible way. It is also impeccably researched and pitched perfectly

By Lindsey Fitzharris, Adrian Teal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Plague-Busters! Medicine's Battles with History's Deadliest Diseases as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Smallpox! Rabies! Black Death! Throughout history humankind has been plagued by . . . well, by plagues. The symptoms of these diseases were gruesome-but the remedies were even worse.

Get to know the ickiest illnesses that have infected humans and affected civilizations through the ages. Each chapter explores the story of a disease, including the scary symptoms, kooky cures, and brilliant breakthroughs that it spawned. Medical historian and bestselling author Lindsey Fitzharris lays out the facts with her trademark wit, and Adrian Teal adds humor with cartoons and caricatures drawn in pitch black and blood red. Diseases covered in this…


Explore all books for 6-year-olds

Book cover of Scorched Grace: A Sister Holiday Mystery
Book cover of How to Be a Renaissance Woman: The Untold History of Beauty and Female Creativity
Book cover of At Home

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