Wondering what books to add to your reading list this year? Here are 23 books to read in 2023!
If, like me, one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read more, you are probably on the lookout for books that’ll be easy to get into and hard to put down.
As an avid reader, I love collecting book recommendations (and buying stacks of books from used bookstores) so my current reading list seems like it’s a mile-long. It includes mystery, historical fiction, classics, sci-fi, fantasy, and biographies. I don’t really discriminate based on genre. I love all fiction and the occasional non-fiction.
For this post, I’ve narrowed down my to-read list to the books I’m most excited about. I’m betting they will all be well worth the read!
Read on for 23 books you need to read this year.
Best Books to Read in 2023
Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
Frankie and Zeke are two teenage misfits that put their respective creative genius together one summer to hang unsigned posters around their town. Rumours start to circulate throughout the town as everyone wonders about the mysterious posters covered in the phrase “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” The mystery takes on a life of its own, inspiring rebellion and chaos that spreads far beyond the two young artists in a small town.
The Winners by Fredrik Backman
This is the third book in an incredible series. If you haven’t already, go read Beartown and Us Against Them, then read this conclusion to the series. These books take place in a small town in Sweden, where people are always more than they seem. Fredrik Backman writes about hockey, but mostly he writes about humanity. The first two books sucked me in, made me cry, and made me think. They center on conflicts and relationships between townspeople, including rival hockey teams, and explore distinct family dynamics. While the characters are what stand out most to me, Fredrik Backman’s plot developments do take intriguing turns in other ways too, and often keep me guessing. I can’t wait to return to Beartown and the intensely interesting people that call it home. I hope you’ll join me there!
These Infinite Threads by Tahereh Mafi
Set to come out in February 2023, this will be the second installment in a romantic fantasy trilogy. The first book, This Woven Kingdom, fully captivated me. Based on Persian folklore, the series centers on Alizeh, a secret queen and destined heir to the magical Jinn kingdom. With the Jinn hated and hunted, Alizeh is alone. She lives as a servant, hiding the things that mark her for her destiny. Things get more dangerous, but somewhat less hopeless, after a run in with the crown prince, Kamran. A forbidden romance and a race toward destiny, with hidden foes and surprising allies, ensues.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Inspired by Chinese mythology, this book is the first in a duology centered on Xingyin, who grew up on the moon in hiding from the Celestial Emperor with her mother. The story starts when Xingyin is discovered and forced to flee on her own. She disguises herself and faces legendary foes (and the emperor’s son) on a quest to save her mother.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
This one made it onto my must-read list after I heard an interview with the actress-turned-author Jennette McCurdy. Described as “heartbreaking and hilarious,” this memoir reveals the struggles that Jennette faced as a child actor under the thumb of her abusive mother. She bravely shares her side of the story, from eating disorders and addiction to healing and finally getting to make her own path.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
In this memoir, Patti Smith writes about her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. She gives readers a glimpse into her life in the sixties and seventies in New York City and how her devotion to and expression of art deepens and changes in that time.
Still Life by Louise Penny
After hearing great reviews of Louise Penny’s latest Chief Inspector Armand Gamache book that came out last year, I decided it was time to start at the beginning of the long mystery series. In Three Pines, a small town in Quebec, a woman is discovered dead. Inspector Gamache is brought in from Montreal to investigate and unearth the dark secrets that the kind townspeople may or may not be hiding.
The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker
A writer (the author himself, written into the book as a character) dealing with writer’s block, a bad break-up, and the loss of his long-time publisher, retreats to a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps. While there, he attempts to write his next great mystery book. Meanwhile, he starts investigating an unsolved murder that happened at his hotel years before.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Four elderly retirees meet together once a week to investigate cold cases. Their fascination with solving old police murder files leads them to take on a current case after a murder takes place in their very own little retirement community. With mystery, humour, and charm, I anticipate this will be a very enjoyable read!
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Tova Sullivan starts working the night shift at an aquarium after her husband dies. Her son disappeared thirty years previously on Puget Sound which means that Tova is left alone to cope with her grief by staying busy. However, at her new job, she finds a friend in Marcellus, a giant pacific Octopus living at the aquarium, who may be able to help her uncover what really happened to her son all those years ago.
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
With the clock counting down and only 12 hours left to live, Ansel Parker waits for execution on death row. The story of his life is told through the perspectives of three women, Ansel’s mother, sister-in-law, and the homicide detective that brought him to justice.
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
Billionaire Xavier Darling buys the once-great-now-abandoned Hotel Nantucket and hires local Lizbet Keaton along with a host of charming but inexperienced staff to help him rebuild it. As they attempt to restore the hotel to its former glory, they are sabotaged by the mischievous ghost of the girl killed there a century before.
Molly of the Mall by Heidi L.M. Jacobs
Molly MacGregor is something of a hopeless romantic leading an unbearably unromantic life. She is an aspiring novelist, currently in school and working at a shoe store at the Largest Mall on Earth. This is a light, funny book that explores Molly’s love for books and the characters within them as she tries to become the heroine of her own story.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
Out of work and looking for a new job during the Great Recession, Cara Romero ends up meeting with a job counselor to whom she recounts her life. From love affairs, an estranged son, and a rocky relationship with her sister to her struggles with debt and gentrification, Cara shares the depth of her life thus far even as she grasps at another new beginning.
The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Beginning in a changing Germany at the brink of World War II, this book follows Christine Bölz as she is forced to leave her job as a domestic worker for a wealthy Jewish family and endure the chaos of Hitler’s regime. Love and loss, heartbreak and hope are all central themes to a story that deals with the inhumanity of war.
Haven by Emma Donoghue
A priest and scholar in 7th-century Ireland sets off on a journey with two monks, seeking an island he saw in a dream. The three men have vowed to leave the world of sin behind them and are on their way to found a monastery on the remote, uninhabited island now known as Skellig Michael.
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
In 1929 on a cross-Canada train, Baxter is a porter saving money to go to dental school. In pursuit of this dream, he puts up with the entitled white passengers who don’t even bother to call him by the right name. When a train stalls, lengthening the train journey by two days, sleep-deprived Baxter has to navigate the demands of unruly passengers and the conflict of his identity as a queer Black man in a world of intolerance.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Set in South Carolina in 1964, this book centers on Lily Owens. Lily lost her mother when she was little and has been raised by an abusive father and her beloved “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen. Looking for an escape – and information about her mother’s past – Lily and Rosaleen run away to another town where they find refuge with three beekeeping sisters.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Set mainly during the Great Depression, this is a story about courage, motherhood, and resilience. It delves into the American Dream, what it looked like for immigrants building a better life for their children, and then what it became for the migrant workers driven out of their homes and across the country by hard times. I have it on good authority that this book will not disappoint.
Spies of No Country by Matti Friedman
The history of Israel’s first spies and their undercover intelligence work during World War II. The “Arab Section” was a group of Jews with roots in the Arab world, who could blend in, and the survivors were at the center of the founding of the Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency. This book covers a fascinating and pivotal aspect of Israeli history.
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
This is the second book in the legendary series by Frank Herbert. Obviously, please read Dune first. Then continue to be pulled into the futuristic world with this one. This series is revolutionary science fiction, you’ll read about heroes being born and transformed, worlds being destroyed, and how humanity can be shaped by greed and hope.
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Despite being convicted of and imprisoned for committing two murders, Grace Marks claims to have no memory of her crimes. In 1843, the study of mental illness is still in its beginning stages. An expert in the emerging field is asked to consult on Grace’s case by a group of people that believe she should be pardoned. So, he listens to her story in the hope of unlocking her memories.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
Nurse Ratched is a tyrannical warden over her patients in an Oregon state mental hospital, keeping everyone in line with medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. When McMurphy arrives at the hospital, there is finally someone who dares oppose her, for the sake of all the inmates trapped under her rule.
I hope you’ve found a book you can’t wait to read this year from my personal list of books to read in 2023.