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 Tender Is the Flesh

Stephen Amidon Why did I love this book?

Very rarely does a novel truly shock and surprise me – in a good way. This one sure did. 

Argentinian Bazterrica has created a dystopian world in which cannibalism has been normalized after a deadly virus depletes the world’s food sources. Out of this horror, a love story of surprising tenderness emerges between a worker in a human abattoir and one of his intended victims. 

It is a work of true originality that makes you question what it means to live in a world where our humanity is becoming increasingly degraded and commodified.

By Agustina Bazterrica, Sarah Moses (translator),

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Tender Is the Flesh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' - human meat - is legal.

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans - only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later.

But she haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, and watchful gaze, seem to understand. And soon, he becomes…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Heat 2

Stephen Amidon Why did I love this book?

This genre-crossing sequel to celebrated director Michael Mann’s underrated 1995 film masterpiece Heat tracks.

It is about the fate of Chris Sheherlis (who was played by Val Kilmer in the movie) and his wife Charlene (played by Ashley Judd) as they escape the bloody aftermath of the film’s final confrontations. 

Ably assisted by veteran thriller writer Gardiner, first-time novelist Mann creates in Heat 2 a complex tale of revenge, betrayal, and redemption set in a netherworld of transnational crime. This is no mere novelization but rather a full-blooded, utterly gripping crime novel that could easily soar on its own merits.

By Michael Mann, Meg Gardiner,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Heat 2 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW A NO.1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Michael Mann, Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat and Miami Vice, teams up with Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann's first crime novel, an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat - an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the film.

A Times Book of the Year 2022

'Michael Mann's HEAT is one of my all-time favourite movies. HEAT 2 is now one of my favourite suspense novels' JAMES PATTERSON

Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Bad Marie

Stephen Amidon Why did I love this book?

Dermansky is a veteran novelist who deserves a wider readership. Bad Marie may be her best book - a darkly funny, oddly affecting tale of a feckless young woman who takes a job as a nanny for a Manhattan power couple, only to abduct the young girl she’s charged with looking after and abscond with her to Paris, the South of France and, finally, Mexico.

Even though Marie is undoubtedly "bad," Kermansky pulls off the impressive feat of making her lovable as she searches for a place in a world that has no use for her. 

It is a unique, daring, and deeply rewarding novel.

By Marcy Dermansky,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Bad Marie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Bad Marie" is the story of Marie, tall, voluptuous, beautiful, thirty years old, and fresh from six years in prison for being an accessory to murder and armed robbery. The only job Marie can get on the outside is as a nanny for her childhood friend Ellen Kendall, an upwardly mobile Manhattan executive whose mother employed Marie's mother as a housekeeper. After Marie moves in with Ellen, Ellen's angelic baby Caitlin, and Ellen's husband, a very attractive French novelist named Benoit Doniel, things get complicated, and almost before she knows what she's doing, Marie has absconded to Paris with both…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Locust Lane: A Novel

By Stephen Amidon,

Book cover of Locust Lane: A Novel

What is my book about?

On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history. Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak. Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in. Their parents, each with motivations of their own, only complicate the picture: they will do anything to protect their children, even at the others’ expense.