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 You

Vicki Olsen Why did I love this book?

This is the most original book I have read in years. I can hardly wait to read the sequels. I will confess that after reading You I watched the television adaptation and all the sequels. I was just not ready to say goodbye to Joe in much the same way he was reluctant to say goodbye to his girlfriend, Beck.

Joe Goldberg is the most likeable manipulative, homicidal stalker you will never want to meet. He makes Dexter Morgan look like an ordinary well-adjusted fellow.

The writing is brilliantly clever, and Joe comes alive on the page as we crawl inside his delusional psyche.

By Caroline Kepnes,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

*** NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES ***
'Thriller of the Year' Daily Mail
'Hypnotic and scary' Stephen King
'Examines the fine line between seduction and stalking . . . Ludicrously readable' Guardian

When aspiring writer Guinevere Beck strides into the bookstore where Joe works, he is instantly smitten.

But there's more to Joe than Beck realises and much more to Beck than her perfect facade. And the obsessive relationship quickly spirals into a whirlwind of deadly consequences...

A chilling account of unrelenting, terrifying deceit, Caroline Kepnes' You is a thriller more perversely clever and dangerously twisted than any YOU have…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

Vicki Olsen Why did I love this book?

I generally don’t read biographies (yet I have two on my top 3 for this year.)

I came to read Red Comet by happenstance. I had mentioned to my daughter that I was pleased to finally cross The Bell Jar off my TBR list. It had lingered there for five decades. I lamented that I had waited so long.

For my birthday I received a 1154-page door stop from my daughter. I had never heard of the book and felt I knew all I wanted to know of Sylvia Plath from reading her famous autobiographical novel. I laid it aside with little hope of reading it. As guilt over not appreciating my daughter’s thoughtfulness took hold, I thumbed through the book. I was amused that a 1154-page book was subtitled The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath.

Before I knew it, I was engrossed in the most beautiful biography I have ever read. It covers minute details of Plath’s life including the names of dinner guests, with never a boring moment. I still marvel at how Ms. Clark managed to make all the minutia interesting and kept me turning the pages.

Not just for fans of Sylvia Plath or lovers of biographies, this book is worthy of the praise that has been heaped on it as well as its status as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Do yourself a favor and read the opening chapter. Chances are you will be hooked.

By Heather Clark,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Red Comet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first biography of this great and tragic poet that takes advantage of a wealth of new material, this is an unusually balanced, comprehensive and definitive life of Sylvia Plath.

'Surely the final, the definitive, biography of Sylvia Plath' Ali Smith

*WINNER OF THE SLIGHTLY FOXED PRIZE 2021*
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH AND THE TIMES*
*FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY 2021*

Drawing on a wealth of new material, Heather Clark brings to life the great and tragic poet, Sylvia Plath. Refusing to read Plath's work as if her every act was a harbinger…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler: Volume I - The Anointed

Vicki Olsen Why did I love this book?

I read this book as part of the research I did for my WIP, a WW2 novel. Hitler does not play a significant role in my novel, but it is impossible to study the modern history of Europe without wondering what turned a talented young Austrian artist into  the most hated man of the 20th Century.

The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler, Volume 1: The Anointed is Part One of a two-part biography. Presented as a personal journal, this  well researched expertly written revelation  follows the formative years of Hitler’s life. This exploration seeks to help the reader  understand the desperate journey that turned an ordinary child into a charismatic madman, who after more than seven decades, still remains one of the greatest enigmas of all time.

An insightful must- read for any 20th Century History Junkie.

By A. G. Mogan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book has been banned in Europe.


What happenings and environments wrought the most hated manin history? How does a child become a young man who evolved into a self-proclaimed messiah? Why did this oneman become a psychotic who was responsible for the deaths of more than 50 million people?

This book follows the first, formative years of Adolf Hitler's life. Presented as a personal journal, this is a fact-supported re-telling of a desperate existence, as viewed by Hitler, and tracks the points of pain that forged his beliefs. From a childhood of abuse and cheating death to an agonizing…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

A Sparrow Falls

By Vicki Olsen,

Book cover of A Sparrow Falls

What is my book about?

A coming-of-age story about abuse, loss, and the power of forgiveness, A Sparrow Falls takes the reader to the small community of Tolerance, Arkansas as the innocence of the 1950s moves toward the turbulent 1960s. Sarah is unaware that her life amid poverty and violence is not the norm. When she finds herself at the center of a series of life-changing events that get in the way of her happiness, she struggles to reclaim her self-esteem. Can she find peace within herself and learn how to forgive those who hurt her?

Disturbing. Powerful. In every way a gripping story.

Book cover of You
Book cover of Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath
Book cover of The Secret Journals of Adolf Hitler: Volume I - The Anointed

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