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 The Genius of Dogs: Discovering the Unique Intelligence of Man's Best Friend

Michelle Waitzman Why did I love this book?

Humans have lived with dogs for thousands of years, but we are just now beginning to understand the depth of their intelligence, emotions, and abilities.

Brian Hare leads the Duke Canine Cognition Lab and his insights into what dogs can (and can’t) do and how they think have opened my eyes as a dog parent and lifelong dog lover. This book has helped me give my dogs a more fulfilling life by understanding more about their perceptions and needs and our relationship with them.

By Brian Hare, Vanessa Woods,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The journey began with a gut reaction. When award-winning scientist Dr Brian Hare watched a chimpanzee fail to read a simple human hand gesture in an intelligence test, he blurted out, 'My dog can do that!' The psychologist running the test challenged him to prove it, sending Hare on an odyssey to unlock the cognitive and evolutionary mysteries of our four-legged friends.

Hare's research over the past two decades has yielded startling discoveries about how dogs think. He has pioneered studies that have proven that dogs exhibit a brand of genius for getting along with people that is unique in…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being

Michelle Waitzman Why did I love this book?

I did a deep dive into positive psychology when I was researching my own book, and Martin Seligman is the godfather in this field of research.

Flourish goes beyond his earlier work to look at total well-being (not only happiness) and how we can all live our best lives. This book is a bit more academic than some self-help readers might like, but I love hearing about the research that backs up the suggestions. Show me the proof! He does this and more, giving readers the opportunity to examine their own lives and how they could become more satisfying by adopting a different outlook and some new practices.

By Martin E. P. Seligman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the bestselling author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness comes “a relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness” (Kirkus Reviews).

With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten years—and the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led for fifteen years, is different—it’s about actually raising the bar for the human condition.

Flourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism,…


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My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir

Michelle Waitzman Why did I love this book?

In 2021, actor and writer Richard E. Grant lost his wife to lung cancer.

A Pocketful of Happiness is his heartbreaking memoir of the journey from her diagnosis to her funeral. Like most people, my life has been touched by cancer and I’m all too aware of the emotional turmoil that both patients and their loved ones go through. Grant openly shares the highs and lows as his wife faces a diagnosis that can only end one way. His honest insights reflect his feelings of helplessness and disbelief, with flashbacks to happier times throughout their 38-year love story.

Her final wish, that he try to find “a pocketful of happiness in every day,” has become his mission, and I am following this new part of his journey on Instagram.

By Richard E. Grant,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'A gorgeously candid account of acting and show business. And an intimate and heartfelt story of love, loss and a life spent together. It is an honour to be invited in on these diaries. I cannot remember being so moved by a book' Dolly Alderton

'Fascinating, funny and heart wrenching' Dame Julie Walters

'An emotional rollercoaster - profoundly moving and wonderfully entertaining. A brilliant memoir about living, loving and losing' Bernardine Evaristo

Richard E. Grant emigrated from Swaziland to London in 1982, with dreams of making it as an actor, when he unexpectedly met and fell in love with renowned…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Be as Happy as Your Dog: 16 Dog-Tested Ways to Be Happier Using Pawsitive Psychology

By Michelle Waitzman,

Book cover of Be as Happy as Your Dog: 16 Dog-Tested Ways to Be Happier Using Pawsitive Psychology

What is my book about?

Dogs find plenty of reasons to be happy every day. Why do we struggle to do the same? Be as Happy as Your Dog explains how you can learn to enjoy life like dogs do. After all, a dog's default position is to be happy—right here, right now. Bringing together the latest research from dog behavior experts and leaders in positive psychology, this book reveals easy changes you can make to level up your happiness today—and make it last.

Chapter by chapter, you’ll get easy-to-use advice that doesn’t require you to follow a complicated program or change your whole lifestyle. Dog lovers will immediately connect with the insights and realize that we can embrace the same joyful attitude as our dogs.