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 Cuddy

Stephanie Ellis Why did I love this book?

This appears to be a big book, but don’t let that put you off! The first part is very much a story in verse, and the poetry is absolutely beautiful, telling the story of St. Cuthbert (Cuddy), an early saint of the North of England.

It is not a religious story but a very human one. The story weaves from that early time to modern-day England, incorporating Cuddy’s story along the way, moving from poetry to prose in a variety of forms but, all the while, using absolutely gorgeous language. The whole book is a poem.

It is a beautiful, beautiful book.

By Benjamin Myers,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

**Shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2023** **Chosen as a book to watch out for in 2023 by The Times, Observer, Guardian, Irish TImes and Scotsman** 'An epic the north has long deserved' FINANCIAL TIMES 'A sensational piece of storytelling ... A singular and significant achievement' GUARDIAN 'Marvellous, artful, enchanted' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Cements Myers's standing as one of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers' I NEWS The triumphant new novel from the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of A Place of Greater Safety

Stephanie Ellis Why did I love this book?

I am a big historical fiction fan and, in recent years, have discovered the work of Hilary Mantel. This book focuses on The French Revolution and the drama around it. It is an epic tale in itself, and Mantel brings the frontrunners of the political upheavals – Danton, Robespierre, and Desmoulins - to the fore in a very human manner. 

Despite the darkness of that time, there are threads of humour to be found in the writing, much of which made me chuckle aloud.

The sense of atmosphere, of place, of people, it was just perfect. I didn’t want to leave the world the author had created – doorstopper size, though it is!

By Hilary Mantel,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked A Place of Greater Safety as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This novel follows the lives of three major figures in the French Revolution - Robespierre, Danton and Desmoulins - from their childhoods in Northern France through to the last terrifying moments of their execution. The book juxataposes private occasions with public events.


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Promise of Plague Wolves

Stephanie Ellis Why did I love this book?

This is a darker kind of historical fiction. Dorin Toth is a representative of the church who travels with his dog, Vinegar Tom, to investigate occult occurrences.

Taking place in Austria 1686, this story absolutely drips atmosphere; the menace and the horror are expertly layered in so that you are absolutely ‘there’. Toth also has to fight the prejudice against him because of his Romany background, and it is this, his desire to do right by folk who would rather see him dead, that makes him such a compelling character.

Utterly atmospheric, you couldn’t better this if you like historical horror.

By Coy Hall,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Promise of Plague Wolves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AUSTRIA. 1686.

Two plagues rage in the countryside. One plague is smallpox, a torturous disease that ravages the body, turning homes into tombs. The other ailment is more mysterious, a scourge of occult origin, a plague that ravages the mind and consumes the soul. Here the deepest horrors are made manifest. Here the dead walk the shadowed wood. Here a spirit and its brood of changelings emerge from the earth to feed. Into this malefic maelstrom enters Dorin Toth, famed occultist and investigator. Accompanied by his faithful greyhound, Vinegar Tom, Toth must find the source of the eldritch epidemic. Will…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

The Woodcutter

By Stephanie Ellis,

Book cover of The Woodcutter

What is my book about?

A tragic accident, shrouded in mystery, leads to a family reunion in the hidden village of Little Hatchet, located in the smothering shadow of GodBeGone Wood, the home of the mythical Woodcutter and Grandma.

Alec Eades rediscovers his bond with GodBeGone Wood and the future his father agreed to years ago as nefarious landowner Oliver Hayward schemes to raise money for the village by re-enacting part of the Woodcutter legend. Old wounds are re-opened, and ties of blood and friendship are tested to the extreme when the Woodcutter is summoned and Grandma returns.

Book cover of Cuddy
Book cover of A Place of Greater Safety
Book cover of The Promise of Plague Wolves

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