What are the BEST BOOKS you've read in 2023?

[hermetic]

PLEASE NOTE: This is the new, current year post, for books you've read this year. Look for last year's books farther down the page.

This is a traditional pinned post for you to use to list the most outstanding books you read during the year of 2023. They don't have to be books that were published in 2023, just whatever books you've read in 2023 that you think are particularly noteworthy.

This post is to provide a handy place for people to find suggestions without having to search through hundreds of threads. The post for Best Books of 2022 has now been moved down thread.
Happy reading!

[Upthevibe]

1. hermetic.......Books 2023.....

Thank you! Great post.

I'm doing most of my books on audible these days because it fits my lifestyle better.

I just finished (on audible) Matthew Perry's book, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing. It was brutal how horrible addiction has/had completely been what his life's been about. I'm a recovering addict/alcoholic so I know what can happen.....

For Christmas a friend gave me Michelle Obama's book, The Light We Carry. I'm just now starting it.

[Haggard Celine]

2. I haven't finished one yet this year,

but lately I've been reading "The Warrior's Meditation," by Richard Haight, and "The Forge of God," by Greg Bear. I'm enjoying both so far.

[unc70]

3. Wise Gals

The spies who built the CIA ...

About halfway through.

Also several books in the Louise Pearlie series by Sarah Shaber. These fictions are set in the OSS during WWII and overlap with the early parts of Wise Gals.

[cbabe]

7. Wise Gals on my library list thanks to you! Reminds me

of the documentary Top Secret Rosies. Women who created computing during WWII. Including very first eniac software.

Top Secret Rosies

https://m.

[Bayard]

4. Currently reading, "Lies My Teacher Told Me,"

"Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong." James W. Loewen.

Hit a small pitstop though, when I received, "Devoted," by Dean Koontz in the mail. I already have it, and read years ago, but didn't recognize the title, and ordered it again. No matter, I'm enjoying reading it again, and only have a few chapters left.

[Drum]

5. Demon Copperhead

…by Barbara Kingsolver

[cbabe]

6. Einstein's Dreams

Thinking about the new year and time. Best fiction ever about time. Easy reading. Deep thoughts. Poetically beautiful. One of my top five ever.

https://www.goodreads.com › book › show › 14376.Einstein_s_Dreams

Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman - Goodreads

A modern classic, Einstein's Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds.

…

Author plus a bazillion translations and awards

https://cmsw.mit.edu › alan-lightman
About Alan Lightman - MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Alan Lightman is a novelist, essayist, physicist, and educator. Currently, he is Professor of the Practice of the Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Until 2003, he was senior lecturer in physics and John Burchard Professor of the Humanities at MIT. Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings Alan Lightman

[LearnedHand]

16. Great choice

I read that when it was first published. Maybe I need to reread it.

[joshdawg]

8. "Bloodless"

by Preston and Child.

Another tale of Pendergast and Coldmoon. Couldn't put it down.

[yellowdogintexas]

9. so far: The Women of Chateau Lafayette.

Outstanding.

As the year progresses, I am certain there will be more

[Paladin]

10. "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead (2016)

Astoundingly good historical fiction. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and a slew of other honors.

If I had my way, this beautiful, brutal book would be required reading for every high school senior in the nation.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

11. I can never answer questions like these

Because I don't think in one-best terms. Different books can be great to me for different reasons.

Do you mean best in literary quality or best as in what engaged my interest the most? Does it count if competing books engage me equally, but for different reasons?

If I absolutely had to settle on one, then for now, it would be The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, for its deft weaving of classical music, social justice issues, and a good old fashioned mystery. The writing is quite good--maybe not literary quality, but not far off, either. Of course the characters and sense of place are also terrific.

But I could just as easily have said that it was No Game for a Dame by M Ruth Myers, because the Depression-era heroine and how she navigated her mystery were so engaging and fun.

Or I could have said Convenience Store Woman by Murata Sakaya. It's a "literary" novel that wasn't a pain to get through, about an Asperger's woman in Tokyo who loves her job. Problem: Those around her, and even the very culture itself, tries to tell her she shouldn't like that job that fulfills her, that she should have different goals, "better" goals. Her journey of self-discovery was a thoughtful read, yet enjoyable, too.

Or I could have named any of the Brother Cadfael mysteries I've read this year, because I enjoyed the puzzles of the mysteries, the ingeniousness of the crimes committed, the immersion in the historical period when it takes place, and of course Brother Cadfael himself.

So any of those would work for me.

[hermetic]

12. Seems a nice list

I will check some of those out. Thanks for the suggestions.

As it says in the top post: This is a TRADITIONAL post, i.e. it's been at the top of this group every year for a long time. The idea is to provide a handy place for people to find suggestions for something good to read without having to search through hundreds of threads.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

13. How rude

Those are the books I've read in 2023. They aren't a best of a year list--all but one were published ages ago.

As the title and the OP requested, I listed the best I've read so far this year, that I enjoyed for different reasons. What is wrong with listing different best books so far if I liked more than one?

You need to do a better job of defining the word "TRADITIONAL," because every single thing I listed was a "TRADITIONAL" book.

[bif]

14. How is that rude?

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

17. Because he doesn't explain

What he means by "traditional," and why my post got his knickers in twist.

Try to keep up.

[bif]

18. Whoa! I'm staying out of this one!

[yellowdogintexas]

19. It's early in the year! My best book is bound to change

as the year progresses. What I read in January will surely be surpassed by something I read in October.

If this happens, I'll just go and reply to myself with the name of the book (also expect that one to be superceded by the end of the year)

In fact, I am about to start one that may bump down the one I posted earlier in the year.

[Number9Dream]

15. "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" by Preston & Child (as of 4/30/23)

This is the newest book by these authors, and the latest Pendergast book. "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" picks up where "Bloodless" left off. IMHO this is one of the best Pendergast books in a very long time.

[yellowdogintexas]

20. I do love Pendergast!!! nt

[Jeebo]

21. "Sea of Tranquility" by Emily St. John Mandel.

Does it have to be one that was published in 2023? It shows 2022 on the copyright page, but I read it this year, just finished it a couple weeks ago in fact. It's a very cleverly plotted and entertaining science-fiction novel that involves time travel and space colonies. It's the second novel by this author that I would include in a list of my all-time favorites. The other one is "Station Eleven".

-- Ron

[hermetic]

22. No

Just whatever book you read this year that is your favorite. Even if it was written in 1918. I have that one on my list to read. I really liked Station Eleven.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

23. Isn't this a bit early?

I still have reading to do between now and 31 December, and several of those books are my most-anticipated reads I've set aside for the end of the year.

But here are my pics, thus far:

Fiction - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Non-Fiction - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Poetry - How to Love a Country by Richard Blanco

Best surprise like - Kindred by Octavia Butler

[Native]

24. I've been fortunate to read several that I really enjoyed, starting with

Garmus's Lessons in Chemistry
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
Trust, Herman Diaz (shared the Pulitzer with Copperhead)
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin
Lord of All Things, Andreas Eschbach
The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig

[txwhitedove]

25. Best book read this year is the life story of "one woman, her

incredible fight for freedom, and the men who tried to make her disappear". The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore about Elizabeth Packard. Non-fiction reads like best psychological thriller, a page turner, or a dystopian novel that turns out to be true right here in USA and led to laws of reform. One review noted this is a book you close and say Wow, but I said Wow and OMG throughout.

Also, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Historical fiction set during the Holocaust. Beautifully written, poetic, uplifting despite the subject matter. Look forward to reading more by this author.

[Bayard]

26. Choosing just a few is tough

I read a lot of Dean Koontz, John Sandford, and Stephen King.

I just re-read, "Killers of the Flower Moon," after going to see the movie. It is enthralling.--not too many history books can say that. “38 Nooses, Lincoln, Little Crow, and the beginning of the Frontier's End,” was also very good.

I particularly enjoyed, "Devoted," (Koontz), and "Billy Summers." (King)

After seeing the movie, "The Secret of Roan Inish," and loving it, I had to order the book (Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry,), even though it is supposedly a kid's book. Read in one day, and enjoyed it.

Happy reading!

[japple]

27. I forgot to post it when I finished reading, but The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

tops my list. James McBride is one of my favorite authors, too and I would encourage anyone to read any of his books.

[japple]

28. Elizabeth Crook's book THE MADSTONE is an adventure story set in Texas in 1868. The

characters are well-developed and lovable. I couldn't put this one down.

[yellowdogintexas]

29. I judge best books by how long they "stay with me" so here is #1

Postcard from Italy by Angela Petch
This one stayed with me the most so it's the best, I think.
Italy, 1945. ‘Where am I?’ The young man wakes, bewildered. He sees olive trees against a bright blue sky. A soft voice soothes him. ‘We saw you fall from your plane. The parachute saved you.’ He remembers nothing of his life, or the war that has torn the world apart… but where does he belong?

England, present day. Antique-shop-owner Susannah wipes away a tear as she tidies her grandmother’s belongings. Elsie’s memories are fading, and every day Susannah feels further away from her only remaining family. But everything changes when she stumbles across a yellowed postcard of a beautiful Italian stone farmhouse, tucked away in Elsie’s dressing table. A message dated from World War 2 speaks of a secret love. Could her grandmother, who never talked about the past, have fallen for someone in Italy all those years ago?

Before it’s too late for her grandmother, can Susannah discover the truth behind a shocking wartime secret at the heart of her family? Or will it tear her apart?

There is a thread in The Lounge for "Best Books Read in 2023" . I responded to it, and am going to drop a huge suggestion to come on over here to Fiction.

[hermetic]

30. TY!

[flying_wahini]

31. A few of my favorites over the last couple of years

The Demon- Haunted World Carl Sagan
Horse By Geraldine Brooks
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
The Covenant of Water Abraham Verghese

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong*
* he is a lyrical and beautiful writer.