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 Bridge of Clay

Rachel Ginocchio Why did I love this book?

My heart ached as I read Bridge of Clay – a coming-of-age story about five brothers who simultaneously and desperately love each other and beat the crap out of each other.

My upbringing was very different from theirs, but as I read, I could feel the ache, guilt, sorrow, and humanity that is part of many family narratives. I loved the elusiveness of the constant time jumps - reading the book was like trying to put together a puzzle that was way over my head.

After I finished the last page and the pieces finally came together, I immediately re-read the entire book. This time, with the time sequence nailed down, I was able to relax into the beauty of the writing and the characters. 

By Markus Zusak,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bridge of Clay as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak.

Loved THE BOOK THIEF? take a look at this!

Ten years in the making the epic new novel from the acclaimed, prize-winning, bestselling author of THE BOOK THIEF

Here is a story told inside out and back to front:

The five Dunbar brothers are living - fighting, dreaming, loving - in the perfect squalor of a house without grownups. Today, the father who walked out on them long ago is about to walk right back in.

But why has he returned, and who have the boys become…


Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Lessons in Chemistry

Rachel Ginocchio Why did I love this book?

I can’t imagine anyone reading this book and not falling in love with Elizabeth Zott - the brilliant, independent, no-nonsense heroine in Lessons in Chemistry

Her life didn’t take the path she set off to forge (whose does?), but with each complication and cruelty thrown her way, she held her head high and forged head and the moral victory was always hers. If only I could be like Elizabeth! If only we could all be like Elizabeth!

I’m in awe when authors can address persistent, exhausting issues (like sexism) and fold them into uplifting narratives—well done, Bonnie Garmus.

I have recommended this delightful book to everyone I know. I recently heard that this is going to be a TV show. But when is a TV show (or movie) ever as good as a book? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

By Bonnie Garmus,

Why should I read it?

75 authors picked Lessons in Chemistry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads

"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Covenant of Water

Rachel Ginocchio Why did I love this book?

As I read The Covenant of Water, I loved every page of it – the flawed though likable/relatable characters, the beautiful writing, the plot (all three criteria have to be met for me to really enjoy a book). My only worry was that the book was going to end.

But I couldn’t really tell how long it was because I was reading it on a Kindle – and the “page” numbers and % complete stats don’t really tell me anything. But the book didn’t end. It kept going through three generations of a family afflicted with the same tragic condition. About a month after I finished the book, I saw Covenant of Water while browsing in a bookstore, and only then did I realize how thick it was! It was worth every page!

By Abraham Verghese,

Why should I read it?

35 authors picked The Covenant of Water as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SUBJECT OF A SIX-PART SUPER SOUL PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY OPRAH WINFREY

From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

“One of the best books I’ve read in my entire life. It’s epic. It’s transportive . . . It was unputdownable!”—Oprah Winfrey, OprahDaily.com

The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be

By Rachel Ginocchio,

Book cover of Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be

What is my book about?

Today, we can send sperm in the mail, freeze eggs, and donate embryos. We have traditional, single-parent, same-sex, blended, adoptive, and foster families (to name a few). So when a kid looks up and asks, “Where do babies come from?” we can no longer stammer out the answer we’ve always been telling.

Roads to Family is a comprehensive resource for middle and high schoolers, families, and classrooms about all the ways humans reproduce and form families. 

Woven into real-life experiences of individuals and families, is all the fascinating science of traditional and modern human reproduction (insemination, IVF, donor conception, and surrogacy) and an exploration of what it means to create, find, and be a family.