The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,707 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Sunburst

Rebecca Hartt I ❤️ loved this book because...

Once I started this book, it was impossible to put down. I thought the setting would turn me off—not everybody wants to read about Africa. But Susan May Warren proved me wrong. As always, her characters draw you in immediately.

Former Navy SEAL Ranger Kingston is the strong, silent type who’s determined not to fall in love because he’s dedicated to the Teams. Warren puts you so convincingly in the hero’s head that you fall as desperately in love with Noemi as Ranger does, all within a flashback.

Walking away from the magic he and Noemi experience in Key West is as painful for the reader as it is for Ranger. So, when Ranger realizes it’s Neomi he’s rescuing from African terrorists, the reader is a hundred percent invested. “Save her, Ranger!” And that’s where the adventure starts and never stops, until the very last chapter! 

By Susan May Warren,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When former Navy SEAL and lifelong bachelor Ranger Kingston is called upon to take part in a rescue mission to save his brother Colt, who has been kidnapped by terrorists in Nigeria, he is shocked to find among the hostages a woman he knows and could never forget.

Noemi Sutton was attempting to return a young girl to her family in Boko Haram territory when she and the girl found themselves taken hostage, along with several others.

And while Ranger Kingston may be able to get the hostages away from their captors, he'll need Noemi's help if he ever hopes…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Midnight Library

Rebecca Hartt I ❤️ loved this book because...

A chapter into this book and I thought, This book is a downer. But I could so relate to the main character, a depressed mid-30s female with a lifetime of regrets.

I thought to myself, Man, if I could do what Nora did and have the chance to go back and make different decisions (like not marrying the man who cheated on me and abused my kids) how much happier I would be? But Nora’s visits to parallel lives opened my eyes to the message of the story: That we are exactly where we are meant to be in our lives.

Moreover, countless possibilities still exist, so long as we remain open to them. The Midnight Library truly inspired me to love the life I am living and to believe that my best years are yet to come. 

By Matt Haig,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."-The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of…


Want my future book recommendations?

My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of A Man Called Ove

Rebecca Hartt I ❤️ loved this book because...

As with The Midnight Library, this book features a miserable protagonist. But Ove is more than a grumpy stick-in-the-mud. The more you learn about what shaped him, the more endearing he becomes.

When you realize he’s grieving over the recent death of his dear wife, your empathy swells, and you start to root for him, especially when you glimpse a little goodness in him. I love this book (and the movie) because it conveys a truth about the human condition: We are not meant to live in isolation.

If Ove can become a treasured part of his community and forge bonds of love and friendship after such a low point in his life, then all of us can do the same. Thanks to this book, I’m inspired to make new friendships and to find joy in life, regardless of the setbacks I have faced and will face. 

By Fredrik Backman,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked A Man Called Ove as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'THE PERFECT HOLIDAY READ' Evening Standard

'A JOY FROM START TO FINISH' - Gavin Extence, author of THE UNIVERSE VERSUS ALEX WOODS

There is something about Ove.

At first sight, he is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn't it rare, these days, to find…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Rising From Ashes

By Rebecca Hartt,

Book cover of Rising From Ashes

What is my book about?

Lt. Commander “Monty” Monteague has lived a charmed life. Suddenly, the accomplished, golden-haired SEAL is the only survivor of a rescue mission gone wrong. His men are dead; his handsome face is badly scarred. Monty seeks solace in all the wrong places, until his do-gooder neighbor intrudes on his isolation, heals him, and teaches him to rely on faith, not a bottle.

What Monty soon discovers is Opal is the target of the Ricin Killer, wanted by the FBI for targeting members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Why would the killer come for Opal? It isn’t until the one constant in Monty’s life vanishes that he realizes how desperately he’s fallen for her.