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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 Still Life With Crows

M. S. Spencer Why did I love this book?

While technically a horror story, Still Life with Crows — Book 4 of the Pendergast series — is more a thriller and mystery. A small Kansas town has turned into a killing ground. Is it a serial killer, or the curse of a past massacre coming back to haunt them? Either way, FBI Agent Pendergast—a more eccentric version of the eccentric Sherlock Holmes—must discover where the killer is hiding before he kills again.

Preston and Child never fail to draw me in almost immediately. Whenever I’m bored, at loose ends, or waiting for a galley proof, I can be immediately distracted by one of their books. Still Life with Crows is no exception. It is quite literally an edge-of-your-seat story.

By Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Still Life With Crows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Medicine Creek, Kansas, an old-fashioned small town where nothing ever changes, the community is terrified after a series of grisly murders takes place. Even more alarming, the bodies are displayed in bizarre tableaus. FBI Agent Pendergast arrives from New Orleans to investigate.


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Quantum

M. S. Spencer Why did I love this book?

The United States faces a catastrophe, and Jacob Savich and his clandestine team of warriors hand-picked by the President are the only ones capable of stopping it. Out of China comes a powerful device that is already embedded in cities throughout the civilized world. When activated, billions could die.

T. Milton Mayer’s Quantum was riveting. Mayer has created a unique and fascinating cast of characters. In the tradition of my favorite thriller writer, James Rollins, the plot is just crazy enough to be intriguing and believable enough to feel authentic.

Of course, the fact that part of the story takes place in my beloved Paris is the cherry on top of the banana split.

By T. Milton Mayer,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The United States faces a catastrophe far worse than the Wuhan pandemic of 2020. Like before, the threat originates in China, but this time it's not just another virus. It is a powerful device that is already embedded in cities throughout the civilized world. When activated, billions could die.


Jacob Savich is the only man capable of stopping whatever is planned. Though plagued by his own personal demons, he is commissioned by the President to assemble a clandestine team of warriors with the necessary backbone and moral flexibility to protect the country. Until now, they have been successful, but this…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Atlas Shrugged

M. S. Spencer Why did I love this book?

I first read Ayn Rand’s seminal work Atlas Shrugged when I was a teenager, and it opened my eyes to the dangers of totalitarianism. I re-read it this year because the events I remember so vividly from the book are terrifyingly prescient of what is happening today.

The heroine, Dagny Taggart, runs a railroad, and society is crumbling under the weight of simultaneous government oppression of productive citizens and the laissez-faire attitude toward crime and corruption. She battles the huge, restrictive bureaucracy while around her, brilliant scientists, engineers, etc., are disappearing.

She hears rumors of a secret place where the best and brightest have gone, led by a mysterious man named John Galt. Atlas Shrugged is a mind-blowing book…as well as—to my surprise—a terrific love story.

By Ayn Rand,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex. Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who…


Plus, check out my book…

The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island

By M. S. Spencer,

Book cover of The Wishing Tree: Love, Lies, and Spies on Chincoteague Island

What is my book about?

Will the wind whip her token from the Wishing Tree and make her wish come true?

Addison Steele dreams of the day her husband—lost at sea—returns to her. Instead, she meets Nick Savage, whose every word may be a lie. She is soon embroiled in mystery, all related to the top secret science station at Wallops Island, Virginia.

After a Belarusian scientist at Wallops is murdered, the questions multiply. Was it because he caught the person stealing classified documents or because he wanted to defect? Is Nick the spy—or is it his brother? How can she trust the man who is slowly claiming her heart when his story keeps shifting?