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 Yellowface

Robyn Ryle Why did I love this book?

I’ve read everything by R.F. Kuang, and you should, too. I was especially excited about Yellowface for the brutal look inside the publishing world and how it treats writers of color (spoiler—not great).

As always, Kuang deals with complicated topics of race and identity while also telling a compelling and suspenseful story. June Heyward is a white author who passes the novel of her deceased friend, Athena Liu, off as her own. Wondering whether she’ll get caught will keep you turning the pages.

Along the way, Kuang raises interesting questions about art and ownership and the nature of success.

By R. F. Kuang,

Why should I read it?

32 authors picked Yellowface as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The No. 1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller from literary sensation R.F. Kuang

*A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick*

'Propulsive' SUNDAY TIMES

'Razor-sharp' TIME

'A wild ride' STYLIST

'Darkly comic' GQ

'A riot' PANDORA SYKES

'Hard to put down, harder to forget' STEPHEN KING

Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody.

White lies
When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.

Dark humour
But as evidence threatens June's stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Bandit Queens: A Novel

Robyn Ryle Why did I love this book?

One of the ways writers of color are restricted by the world of publishing is through the pressure to create only narratives of suffering and trauma. There’s little room for the idea that you can tell a story about people who are poor or marginalized or outcast, and it can still be, you know, funny.

That’s what I loved about The Bandit Queens. The main character, Geeta, may be poor and relatively powerless as a woman in rural India. But in this hilarious tale, the rest of the women in her village decide Geeta’s the one to go to if you’d like to get rid of your husband.

Turns out quite a few women are interested in Geeta’s services. I loved the combination of humor with genuinely warm-hearted moments in this novel.

By Parini Shroff,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023

A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick 2023

'Not since Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger has the rotten core of modern India been exposed in quite such blackly antic fashion as Parini Shroff manages here in this intermittently absurd, feminist revenge caper about a group of snarky, much-abused, predominantly Hindu wives...sheer gutsy verve.' The Times

'A darkly funny revenge drama rooted in the reality of rural India . . . [A] vivid, unsentimental story that succeeds in being both satirical and moving.' Guardian

'A radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Daughters of the New Year

Robyn Ryle Why did I love this book?

There’s so much to love in Daughters of the New Year. I was captivated by the way the mythology of the Vietnamese zodiac provides a frame for this story of family and immigration and the generational legacy of trauma.

In the present generation of Vietnamese women, one of the daughters is on a reality TV show, and I’m always a sucker for books about reality TV. But what really stuck out to me is the book’s structure, moving backward in time through the generations of women, the narrative becoming fuzzier and fuzzier in the distant past.

It shouldn’t work, but it does and creates a perfect picture of assimilation and resistance.

By E.M. Tran,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daughters of the New Year as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A daring debut." –New York Times Book Review

A MARIE CLAIRE BOOK CLUB PICK

A Recommended Read from: Salon * Good Morning America * People Magazine * Electric Lit * Goodreads * Buzzfeed * The Seattle Times * Deep South Magazine * Book Culture * Debutiful

A lively, spellbinding tale about the extraordinary women within a Vietnamese immigrant family—and the ancient zodiac legend that binds them together

What does the future hold for those born in the years of the Dragon, Tiger, and Goat?

In present day New Orleans, Xuan Trung, former beauty queen turned refugee after the Fall of…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Fair Game

By Robyn Ryle,

Book cover of Fair Game

What is my book about?

Amanda Harkins is fed up. She's put up with the boys' basketball team getting all the attention, money, and crowds for way too long. When the boys trick Amanda and her friends into giving up the good gym yet again, Amanda challenges the boys to a game, putting their season, their friendships, and their futures on the line.

One Game. Boys against girls. The losers agree to quit the team and give up their whole season.

Amanda and her friends will leave it all on the court to settle the question—what does it really take to be equal? Fair Game is a tale of sports triumph for lovers of Ted Lasso and She's The Man.

Book cover of Yellowface
Book cover of The Bandit Queens: A Novel
Book cover of Daughters of the New Year

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