Author Absurdist Historian Futurist Humanist Wimbledonian
The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,624 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

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

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Klara and the Sun

Trevor P. Kwain Why did I love this book?

A marvelous book that is cleverly futuristic without being science fiction and deeply human with the lightest touch in writing style.

What impressed me is the pure agnosticism of the story, where no location or time is given, no background about the past and future is clearly given, and yet we know and understand what happens and why.

Ishiguro brings a fresh look at the relationship between man and AI through Klara’s innocent eyes, and the whole story becomes an ensemble of magic realism, blurring the stark reality of future human life and the blissful hope of fairy tales.

By Kazuo Ishiguro,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Klara and the Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller*
*Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021*
*A Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick*

'A delicate, haunting story' The Washington Post
'This is a novel for fans of Never Let Me Go . . . tender, touching and true.' The Times

'The Sun always has ways to reach us.'

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Rosie Project

Trevor P. Kwain Why did I love this book?

A funny, comic, and sarcastic book; one I haven’t read in years.

Meet Don Tillman, a nerdy professor of genetics with some good looks and a very strict way of life, from his schedule to his dialogues with fellow humans.

He decides one day to set up a profiling questionnaire to find the perfect woman. But when Rosie walks into his office, Don’s world of rational precision and mathematical equations starts tumbling down for good and bad reasons.

A romantic comedy like no other with a very non-linear progress that keeps you wandering what happens in between chuckles. It is a story that challenges stereotypes at every end of the spectrum and reminds us that everyone can be accepted for who they are, no matter how strange.

By Graeme Simsion,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Rosie Project as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The international bestselling romantic comedy “bursting with warmth, emotional depth, and…humor,” (Entertainment Weekly) featuring the oddly charming, socially challenged genetics professor, Don, as he seeks true love.

The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.

Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England

Trevor P. Kwain Why did I love this book?

Non-fiction history books are hardly exciting, and I don’t assume this book will be a hit with everyone. As a history buff, I’ve never been a fan of the dark era of the Anglo-Saxons, known for its lack of written evidence and relatively unknown characters that made the England we know today.

Yet, Marc Morris makes this book an over-arching narrative of what may have likely happened, spanning 500 years and combining historical, archaeological, and literary evidence. It is a great example of how to write interesting non-fiction without the tedium associated with historians and archaeologists.

For the first time in so long, I learned new historical facts that made me re-consider many assumptions about the Normans, the Romans, the Britons, and of course, the Anglo-Saxons.

By Marc Morris,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'[A] clever, lively ... splendid new book'
DAN JONES, SUNDAY TIMES

'A big gold bar of delight'
SPECTATOR

Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. In this sweeping and original history, renowned historian Marc Morris separates the truth from the legend and tells the extraordinary story of how the foundations of England were laid.

'Marc Morris is a genius of medieval narrative'
IAN MORTIMER, author of The Time Traveller's…


Plus, check out my book…

Beyond Oblivion

By Trevor P. Kwain,

Book cover of Beyond Oblivion

What is my book about?

A couple decides to buy a house in the past. A man desperately delivers a letter on the day mail is discontinued for good. A patient is unable to forget at all, and another one gets too close for comfort with her doctor for all the wrong reason.

These are just a few of the seven absurdly real short stories collected in this anthology, where I wanted to take readers to new places, to unexplored territories of the mind. They are seven stories of tomorrow, but may as well be seven stories about human traits we still recognise. From social interactions and council matters to the burden of mortgages and the changes to city life, they remind us who we are and what we take for granted.