My Favorite Books 2023
I'm a reader and a writer, and I wanted to share my favorite books of 2023 with all of you. Some were 2023 new releases, and some were not, but these five-star-books give you a great impression of who I am as a reader, a person, and of the kind of books you can expect from me. I enjoy reading and writing stories about women of all ages, books that matter, and books with a purpose make the greatest impression on me.
Like a song, a good book sticks with you, the characters linger in your mind, and it makes you feel deeply.
I read more than 100 books in 2023. I DNFd a handful or two, and I read a lot of romances and coming-of-age novels, but the books below were the ones that stuck with me. I'm including a snippet of my thoughts from my original reviews on my Instagram book lover's account. Only my favorites make it onto Instagram, but the below is a list of my absolute favorite books.
Do we have any favorite books in common?
My Favorite Books of 2023:
My Favorite Fiction Books of 2023:
Days in Mariupol about the first 20 days of the war in Ukraine, I felt compelled to read it myself.
Publisher: Mandel Vilar Press
Release Year: 2018
Every Summer After by Carly Fortune
Nostalgia and next door impossible love, the two go hand in hand in Every Summer After.
Publisher: Penguin
Release Year: 2022
Betty is full of plant references, which brought me joy. But it is also haunting and devastating, reminding me just how dangerous it is to be a young girl in this big world, how terrifying being different can be, and how horribly indigenous people have been treated in the US and around the world.
Publisher:
Release Year: 2021
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Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Mad Honey is a riveting book that makes you go on a rollercoaster of emotions. It is an eye-opening masterpiece full of heartache, suspense, and purpose, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Year: 2022
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The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin
If you haven't gotten your hands on this recently released historical novel by Florida author Madeline Martin, I highly recommend it.
I can't wait for this bookish WW2 novel to be made into a movie.
Publisher: Hannover Square Press
Release Year: 2023
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Go as a River by Shelley Read - A touching coming-of-age, historical fiction story that pulls you in, breaks your heart, and leaves you with a feeling that you just read a classic sprinkled with diversity. A great reminder to us all about how inequality and hatred change lives and tear families and lovers apart.
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Release Year: 2023
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I've studied the Dust Bowl, but Four Winds brings humanity to this dark time in American history that puts the reader right in the middle of the devastation, hopelessness, and resilience.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Year: 2021
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Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover had my tears flowing. It's a beautiful, soul-crushing book that touches on taboo subjects. This is by far my favorite Colleen Hoover book.
Publisher: Montlake
Release Year: 2022
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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is the kind of book that leaves a lasting impression. This historical fiction novel is a five-star book but be forewarned that your heart will break a few times.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Year: 2019
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Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall is a historical fiction novel about the fight for women's rights to choose, but it is also a book about adoption and motherhood. I didn't know what to expect when I began reading Looking for Jane. It was an impulse grab at the library based solely on the book cover. Although the novel is set in Canada, Looking for Jane is terrifyingly relevant for US readers, as the rights of women are under attack, and it should serve as a reminder of how fragile our rights are if we take them for granted.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Year: 2023
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Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
This book was an emotional roller coaster for me, because just like Vanessa, my mother passed away from ALS. ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) is usually random, but it can be hereditary in very rare cases. When you lose a parent early from illness, there's always the fear of it happening to you, and "Life's Too Short" sums this up perfectly. It's a romance with a very strong message.
Publisher: Forever imprint of Hachette Book Group
Release Year: 2021
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
"Never let anyone make you feel ordinary." Emily Hugo in the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I absolutely love this quote, and Emily Hugo has won me over many times already.
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Release Year: 2018
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In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari
In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari takes you inside the culture of a Persian-American family from Iran, and it gives a glimpse of how the children try to balance their lives between American culture and their cultural heritage. It is a beautiful book, weaving culture, history, and different perspectives in a carefully crafted story with strong characters. It leaves you wanting more, and I am eager to see what Pari writes next.
Publisher: Kensington Books
Release Year: 2023
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Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston's book Their Eyes Were Watching God has made such an impression on me that it will be the summer reading I do with my kids It is truly a masterpiece that went unnoticed and unappreciated for years until Alice Walker brought attention to it Zora Neale Hurston's writing style, especially her raw and spot-on dialogue begs to be read out loud, and her story and characters sit with you lingering in between chapters and long after you finish this grabbing story about Janie.
Publisher: Original publisher J. P. Lippincott
Release Year: Originally published in 1937.
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Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
This is a multigenerational saga that takes you back and forth in time as a mother leaves behind a recording of her story to be played for her children after her death. It is a riveting and suspenseful journey that takes the reader from California to New York to Jamaica, to Great Britain, and back to the United States again. I absolutely loved this book. It's dual POV, but Wilkerson makes it work in a way that few others can, making it seem effortless and not pulling me out of the story at every switch.
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Release Year: 2022
My favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2023:
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How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi
Many things in the book surprised me, but most didn't. The most surprising thing for me was that this part memoir, part scholarly piece of writing, resonated with me as much as it did. I've always said that the best thing we can do to break down racial barriers between us is to interact with each other across racial lines...because once we do, we realize how similar we are. Fear is a dangerous thing.
Publisher: One World
Release Year: 2023
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I started Caste when it first came out but had to return it because there were so many holds at the library. Finally got my hands back on it and was thrilled to be able to finish this amazing non-fiction book. This book talks about the caste system in the US, India, and Nazi Germany. It gives a history of the concept of race, and the race hierarchy, and it draws parallels through history and between the countries.
Publisher: Random House
Release Year: 2020
Want to be book buddies? Find me on social media, I always enjoy exchanging thoughts and receiving book recommendations from other book lovers.
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