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 Pedro Paramo

Mark Ari Why did I love this book?

I first read this remarkable, surreal tale many years ago. Recently, a new translation by Douglas Weatherford came out and, to my astonishment, proved revelatory. In it, a man searches for his dead father. Time is not linear. It’s hard to tell the living from the dead. In this haunting tale, the living haunt the dead as much or more than the other way around.

The book originally deepened my understanding of what novels can do. This translation expanded the remarkable, dream-like experience.

By Juan Rulfo, Douglas J. Weatherford (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

SOON TO BE A NETFLIX FILM

"One of the best novels in Hispanic literature, and in literature as a whole.” —Jorge Luis Borges

The highly influential masterpiece of Latin American literature, now published in a new, authoritative translation, and featuring a foreword by Gabriel GarcĂ­a MĂĄrquez

A masterpiece of the surreal that influenced a generation of writers in Latin America, Pedro Páramo is the otherworldly tale of one man’s quest for his lost father. That man swears to his dying mother that he will find the father he has never met—Pedro Páramo—but when he reaches the town of Comala, he



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My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of A History of Judaism

Mark Ari Why did I love this book?

I’ve read every major history of the Jewish people, but Goodman’s A History of Judaism proved to be one of the best. I found it revelatory. The way Goodman uses the evolution of Jewish religious thought and practice as a vehicle to tell the story of a people deepened my understanding of both Jewish experience and thought.

I found it powerfully dramatic and deeply enriching. After listening, I read the book. Then I listened again. Each time, it gave me more. In this way, the history book was as generous as a work of art.

By Martin Goodman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A History of Judaism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A sweeping history of Judaism over more than three millennia

Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia. A History of Judaism provides the first truly comprehensive look in one volume at how this great religion came to be, how it has evolved from one age to the next, and how its various strains, sects, and traditions have related to each other.

In this magisterial and elegantly written book, Martin Goodman takes readers



Don‘t forget about my book 😀

The Shoemaker's Tale

By Mark Ari,

Book cover of The Shoemaker's Tale

What is my book about?

A Chagall painting brought to life, the novel traces the episodic journey of an orphaned 18th-century cobbler in search of the legendary Jewish rabbi and miracle worker, the Baal Shem Tov. Along the way, he encounters a fishmonger who will answer any question if you buy a fish, a sorrowful monster made of clay, a couple that turns into a tree, and other remarkable characters and events. 

Comical and deeply serious, The Shoemaker’s Tale bulges with imagination. It’s a true original that seems to have existed forever. Readers of Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Yann Martel, and Salman Rushdie will feel at home in this blend of folktale with the universal quest for life’s meaning.

Book cover of Pedro Paramo
Book cover of The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories
Book cover of A History of Judaism

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