Best Books Read in 2023

Book By Book

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 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? 

Source: https://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-books-read-in-2023.html