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 Dead Ground

Wray Vamplew Why did I love this book?

I picked this up cheaply in a second-hand bookstore. What a bargain it was. It introduced me to Detective Sergeant Washington (there is a subplot here) Poe of the National Crime Agency’s Serious Crime Analysis Section and his offsider Matilda ‘Tilly’ Bradshaw, a brilliant mathematician and programmer extraordinaire.

I immediately spent much more per copy (see homo economicus in my third choice entry) buying all of Craven’s books: and consuming (I am an economist at heart) them avidly.

I appreciated the anti-authority stance of Detective Poe but fell in love with the socially naïve Tilly: it was good to see a role-model female geek taking center stage.

The writing is outstanding: the darkest crimes are lightened by humor, and clever solutions are thrown by unexpected twists.

By M.W. Craven,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dead Ground as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the prestigious CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022

Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022

'Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, Dead Ground is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril.' Chris Whitaker

'Dark and entertaining, this is top rank crime fiction.' Vaseem Khan, Author of the Malabar House series and the Baby Ganesh Agency series

'M. W. Craven is one of the best crime writers working today. Dead Ground is a cracking puzzle, beautifully written, with characters you'll be behind every step of the way. It's…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics

Wray Vamplew Why did I love this book?

Again, this is a book that I picked up second-hand. I missed it the first time around when preparing a paper on the commercialization of sport in Ancient Greece and Rome. An earlier reading would have improved my work.

Classicists, who study ancient Greece and Rome, actually come from a branch of history that embraced sport as a subject long before sports history became an accepted academic sub-discipline.

Here Neil Faulkner presents a synoptic history of Ancient Greece within a discussion of the first Olympics in the form of a travelogue. The scholarship is sound, the knowledge imparted often an eye-opener, and the presentation unique.

By Neil Faulkner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An essential book for the 21st-century citizen who seeks a lively guided tour of the ancient Greek Olympics

What was it like to attend the Olympics in 388 B.C.? Would the experience resemble Olympic festivals as we celebrate them today? This remarkable book transports us back to the heyday of the city-state and classical Greek civilization. It invites us to enter this distant, alien, but still familiar culture and discover what the Greeks did and didn't do during five thrilling days in August 2,400 years ago.

In the Olympic Stadium there were no stands, no shade-and no women allowed. Visitors…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Behavioral Economics: The Basics

Wray Vamplew Why did I love this book?

What grabbed my attention was a section comparing homo economicus with Homer Simpson, rational economic thinking versus the impulsive American comedic icon.

Most economics is based on individuals exercising rational decision-making to achieve maximum personal utility, be this in terms of financial or psychic income.

Their collective response allows statements to be made about aggregated economic behaviour. Such a view is being challenged by behavioural economists who integrate lessons from psychology with the 'laws' of economics.

They believe behaviour is not always driven by a conscious cost-benefit approach but can be influenced by emotional and cultural factors, which can lead to decisions which contradict economic theory, are irrational and inconsistent, and may not be in the individual's best interests.

By Philip Corr, Anke Plagnol,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Behavioral Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The second edition of Behavioral Economics: The Basics summarizes behavioral economics, which uses insights from the social sciences, especially psychology, to explain real-world economic behavior. Behavioral economic insights are routinely used not only to understand the choices people make but also to influence them, whether the aim is to enable citizens to lead healthier and wealthier lives, or to turn browsers into buyers.

Revised and updated throughout with fresh current-event examples, Behavioral Economics: The Basics provides a rigorous yet accessible overview of the field that attempts to uncover the psychological processes which mediate all the economic judgements and decisions we…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Games People Played: A Global History of Sports

By Wray Vamplew,

Book cover of Games People Played: A Global History of Sports

What is my book about?

Games People Played is, surprisingly, the first global history of the sport. Wray Vamplew shows how sport has been practiced, experienced, and made meaningful by players and fans and assesses how sports have developed and diffused across the globe.

He examines not only how the sport is sociable and health-giving but also how economics has turned the sport into a huge consumer industry.

Sport’s dark side – its environmental impact, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, discrimination, and match-fixing – is explored in detail. Covering everything from curling to baseball, boxing to motor racing, this book, now in paperback, will appeal to anyone who plays, watches, or enjoys sport.

Book cover of Dead Ground
Book cover of A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics
Book cover of Behavioral Economics: The Basics

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