The Best Books I Read in 2023

In 2023, I finished reading 164 books. (I write “finished reading” because, of course, some of the books I finished reading I’d started in the year before, and I finished the year still reading others.)

Yeah, I know. That’s… a lot of books.

As I mentioned last year, I read for pleasure and I read because, as a writer, reading helps me study the craft. I read everywhere and everywhen: Waiting in line, riding public transportation, drinking my morning tea, eating meals, brushing my teeth (eyup), and taking the opportunity of a free window to do whatever I like. (Hint: Reading.)

Never do I leave the house without reading material. I feel palpable anxiety when, for whatever reason, I have to leave my e-reader behind.

I’ll even confess to taking my book with me from one room to the next at home.

I know. I know.

My Best of the Best Reads of 2023

How to pick?

Each quarter, when I post the books I finished over the preceding three months, I bold the ones that wowed me.

This year, I bolded 34 books out of the overall total.

How to narrow down to a handful from the number already very much loved and appreciated?

I spend a lot of time reviewing the bolded subset and winnowing it down to the ones that, over time and distance, have really stuck with me.

My decision criteria:

  • the writing at the language level delighted me

  • the book gave me new perspectives, new considerations, new theses and themes to consider

  • the overall whole stuck with me—months later, my brain circles back to the book

  • the reading generated an emotional—not just intellectual—response

If a book didn’t check all four criteria, no matter how much I enjoyed it on other levels—and even if I’d still call it a favorite read from the year—I couldn’t put it on my best-of-the-best list.

As you’ll see via the list below (alphabetized by author last name, not priority), I managed to winnow my list of the favorites of the favorites from 2023 down to five:

Books that Hit Three of Four Criteria in 2023

Some books I hated not to include on the best of the best list—but they just didn’t meet all four decision criteria.

I’ve had the same challenge in previous years, so I’ve started including a list of these almost-level books that, all the same, I still loved:

Ordered, as with the best-of-the-best list, not by priority but by author last name.

The 2023 Quarterly Book Lists

Curious to see the bolded books that didn’t make the list and the books I read in general (many of which, even if not bolded, I still really enjoyed)?

Here are the links to my quarterly reading lists from 2023:

I’d call the bolded books on these lists—a full 34—my favorites of the year.

And really, really, very much really: Even if a book isn’t bolded, I mean it when I say I might still have really enjoyed it. (Not all of them, though, I confess.) If you want to read one of these and want my opinion, send me a message and I’ll share my thoughts.

Let the Reading Year Commence!

The reading for the current year has already begun!

I’m always open to ideas and suggestions, so if you have books you loved that you think I’d love, too, let me know.

And if you’d like to see my best-of-the-best books lists for previous years, click through the links below:

JournalLeslie Farnsworthbooks, literature, reading, CultureComment