Best Books Read in 2023

As always, I will first share some stats and fun facts about my reading year, then my Top Picks in different categories, and finally, my Top 10 (or whatever) Lists in each category. It was an outstanding reading year, so I had some tough choices to make! With adult fiction in particular, my first cut of best novels of the year included 15 books, and whittling that down to just 10 was painful!

You can see a complete list, with links to reviews and favorites indicated, of all the books I have read since 2015 at my Book Reviews tab.

You can also watch a video version of my 2023 Reading Wrap-Up.
 

Stats and Facts

My stats were very similar to the year before :

Total Books Read in 2023 = 76 (75 in 2022)

Adult Fiction = 46 (59%)

Adult Nonfiction = 6 (8%)

Teen/YA = 12 (16%)

Middle-Grade = 12 (16%)

 

Of Those:

(note that some categories overlap) 

Total Nonfiction = 12 (16%)

Audio Books = 29 (38%)

Graphic Novels/Memoirs = 7

Classics = 6

Poetry = 0

Short Story Collections = 0

 

Fun Facts:

Women Authors: 48 books (63%) - more than last year

Diverse Books: 40 (53%) - a little less than last year

From My Own Shelves: 30 (39%) - note that I only counted physical books, not audios or e-books, so I may change that this year

Re-reads: 0

Authors Read More Than Once in 2023: Matty Dalrymple (2), Annie Hartnet (2),  Lisa McMann (2), and Anne Tyler (2)

Shortest Book: Dreamer by Akim Aliu  (128 pages)

Longest Book:  Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (870 pages)

Average Book Length: 344 pages

Total Pages Read: 26,173 pages 

Top Picks - Best of the Best!

Note that several of my picks fit for multiple categories, but I tried to choose something different for each one. Links are to my reviews.

Best Adult Fiction

  The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

(also see Best Audio Book)

 

Best Nonfiction

The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

 

Best Memoir

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew

 

 

 

Best Audio Book

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (also a #1 fiction pick)

Best Teen/YA Book

This Is Our Place by Vitor Martins 

 

  

Best Middle-Grade Book

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat 

 

 

 Best Graphic Novel/Nonfiction

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet 

 

Best Classic

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

 

Top 10 (or whatever) Lists  

These were incredibly hard choices to make! I read so many great books last year, and it was tough to leave some out. Many of the top audio picks were also top fiction picks, but I tried to give everything a fair chance! Lists are alphabetical.

Top 10 Adult Novels

Check out my Top 10 Novels of 2023 video, for discussion of why I picked each of these. 

Billy Summers by Stephen King

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

 

Top 6 Nonfiction Books (all ages)

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew

Layers by Pénélope Bagieu

The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

 

Top 3 Classics

The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Top 6 Teen/YA 

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Crash by Lisa McMann

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Layers by Pénélope Bagieu

Scythe by Neal Schusterman

This Is Our Place by Vitor Martins

 

Top 6 Middle-Grade

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet

Can You See Me? By Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar

Lines of Courage by Jennifer Nielsen

 

Top 3 Graphic Novel/Memoir

Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith and Boulet

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Layers by Pénélope Bagieu

 

Top 10 Audio Books 

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Lines of Courage by Jennifer Nielsen

The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar

This Is Our Place by Vitor Martins

Wow, what a reading year!

What were YOUR favorite books read last year? 

It's Monday 1/8! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

What a difference a week makes! As I mentioned last week, I made a drastic change to my diet for my immune disorder and felt better by the holidays. Starting January 2, I went "whole hog" (so to speak, since it's a Carnivore Diet) and since then, I have felt great! The past three years have been a series of bad relapses and even my "good" periods in between weren't all that good, with the least bit of exertion sending me back to the couch. This past week was the best I have felt since 2019. I had lots of energy, was up and about and quite active, able to begin taking walks again and doing some strength training (slowly and carefully on both counts, to work my stamina back up), and it was just a joyful, productive week!

So good to be out in the world again & able to take walks!

Last year, I did a project called #sky365, to post a photo of the sky every day on social media, as extra incentive to get outside every day (which was very helpful during those very sick periods). This year, I have launched #nature365! The idea is simply to get outside (or even just look out your window), and notice and appreciate nature. 

Join the fun! 

Use #nature365 on whatever social media platforms you enjoy, and post a daily pic of trees, flowers, sky, birds, animals--whatever kind of nature you notice in the world around you. Here are some of my #nature365 photos from last week:

White sycamore trees against a brilliant blue sky

The unseasonably mild weather has some of our trees confused!

A local creek

Big winter storm left us only a trace of snow, quickly washed away by rain.

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On the Blog

Movie Monday: Flora and Son - we enjoyed this heartwarming, funny, uplifting movie about the power of music to connect us (plus a couple of similar movie recs at the end of the review).

Fiction Review: Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett - I finished this warm, funny, deeply moving novel about grief and family on December 30, and it made my Top 10 Novels of 2023 list!

What Do YOU Want to See in my Monthly Newsletter? - I send a monthly e-mail newsletter to my subscribers (click the Subscribe by E-Mail button at the top of this page to sign up) and wanted to check in to see which of the features people enjoy, which they skip, or if they don't read the newsletter at all (new year, fresh start!)

I'm still working on my 2023 wrap-up posts - coming soon!

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On Video

2023 Reading Wrap-Up and Top Category Picks  - an overview of my reading year, some fun facts, and my #1 picks in different categories

Friday Reads 1-5-24 - kicking off the new year with some great novels!

Top 10 Novels of 2023 - my picks for best novels read last year (note that I somehow forgot to mention Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which is on that list!)

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 What We're Reading

My first book of 2024 is (drumroll ...) Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng, a Christmas gift from my son and his girlfriend. It's excellent so far, set in a very scary dystopian near-future with elements that definitely come directly from our real world. After a serious economic event (worse than the Depression), referred to only as the Crisis, Congress passed a law that has resulted in extreme discrimination against Asian Americans, which led to protests, which led to children being removed from homes deemed "unpatriotic" or "unAmerican." In the midst of this world is a sweet 12-year-old boy named Bird, who is half-Chinese and living in a dorm room in Cambridge with his father, who works at the library. Bird's mom left suddenly and without explanation three years earlier. This novel is very immersive, especially as the reader is drawn further into its mysteries and secrets. And I love that librarians play an important role in quietly helping children and families in this novel.

 

On audio, I began listening to my neighborhood book group's January selection (our 200th book!), Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I've heard so many rave reviews of this novel and am very much enjoying it so far. It features multiple narrators, including Tova, a widow who has also lost her son and her brother and works nights cleaning at the local aquarium; Cal, a young man at loose ends whose mother left him as a child; and Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who is very smart and lives in the aquarium. He and Tova are both very isolated and lonely and begin to form an unexpected, unusual friendship. I'm loving it so far, and the audio is great!

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (my review at the link), a book I read for the Big Book Summer Challenge that is on my Top 10 list this year! He's enjoying it so far, and it's nice to be able to talk to him about it. 

 

Our son, 29, finished rereading The Written by Ben Galley, the first book in the Emaneska series, and is now reading book 2, Pale Kings (a birthday gift from us).

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week? 

What Do YOU Want in My Monthly Newsletter?

If you subscribe to my e-mail list,  then you receive each of my blog posts in your e-mail inbox, plus a monthly newsletter that I write, with exclusive content just for subscribers, usually sent on the 1st or 2nd of each month.

I've been sending out monthly newsletters to the mailing list for the past 15 months now, and to kick off the new year, I'd like to hear your feedback on what YOU want to see in the newsletter ... or if you don't read it at all. Whether you are a current subscriber who gets the newsletter or are just signing up for the e-mail list for the first time, I want to hear from you!

Currently, I usually include the following topics in the newsletter that gets emailed at the start of each new month:

• Book Quote of the Month - a quote that resonated with me, from a book I read.
  
• Blog of the Month - a link to someone else's book blog and what I like about it.
• BookTube Channel - my recommendation for a book channel on YouTube or podcast.
  
• My Reading Life - what's up in my life, what I've been reading recently, seasonal challenges or events I'm participating in.
  
• A Look Back on the Blog - an older post from my blog that is still relevant, perhaps something seasonal.
  

 

 Please let me know what you think:

Do you read the monthly newsletter at all or just delete it?

Which features do/would you enjoy?

Which features do/would you skip?

What would YOU like to see in the newsletter?

 

I spend a lot of time each month writing the newsletter, and I want it to reflect what YOU want to get in your inbox. Please tell me your thoughts!

You can leave a comment on this blog post (click on "Post a Comment") or e-mail me at sljackson@suzanjackson.com with your feedback.

You can also connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.