The Best Books I Read in 2023
2023 was an AMAZING year for me in terms of reading (honestly it was a pretty damn good year in general). I had so many books that I thought were pretty great, but if you want to know what the best books I read in 2023 are, then check out my post below 😉. They are in no particular order because I can’t even imagine trying to pick out of these books to decide on which was the best of the best!
The Best of the Best in 2023 🫶🏻
Mallory hates chess. Loathes it actually. She refuses to ever use a chess board again. The thing is, though, she really doesn’t hate chess. She just hates how guilty it makes her feel….
Until her best friend convinces her to play in a tournament where Mallory beats the number one top ranking chess player in the world. Now, Mallory is thrust back into the world of chess with a guy that she can’t stop thinking about. The only thing truly holding her back is what her family will think about her playing chess again, and she’s scared that they’ll never forgive her.
Aza Holmes is a lot of things. Normal is not one of them. She has anxiety and another crippling mental health disorder called OCD. She knows that her thoughts are irrational. She knows that she will not die. Well, most likely not die. Maybe won’t die. No, she won’t die as long as she gives into her thoughts. As long as she changes the Band-Aid and puts the hand sanitizer in the wound on her finger that she never lets close. She won’t die from her intrusive thoughts. She won’t….
Violet Sorrengail was never supposed to be a rider. She’s small, fragile, and everything that a dragon rider is not. She loves books and the Archives and everything that her father loved. But with her father dead and her mother forcing her into the death sentence that is training to be a rider, Violet has two options: ride or die. The odds are against her as she has to face other potential riders, the tasks that prove if they’re worthy, and, worst of all, the dragons who decide who is the strongest and which weak humans must be weeded out. Death is most likely her fate.
Eden—a freshman in high school—doesn’t have everything she ever wanted, but at least she is happy. That is, until her brother’s best friend sneaks into her room one night and rapes her.
Now, Eden doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know who she wants to be. There is nothing: no past, no present, no future. Just an ever-present need to fill that hole inside her and rid herself of all the emotions that make her feel broken every day. That need to fill that void that came after her rape only gets bigger and bigger no matter what she does, and she’s thinking that it might never go away.
Lucy wants nothing more than to be Christopher’s mother. But without stable income and living arrangements, she has no hope to qualify to foster him. The thing is, she knows how Christopher feels. She knows what it’s like to want a family who loves you more than anything. Her own family never loved her, so she found solace in reading books by her favorite author. So, when she gets invited by that author to compete for the only copy of his last book, she knows this is her chance to finally get enough money to foster to adopt Christopher. What she doesn’t realize, though, is how much she’ll have to take to win.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Check out my book review here.
Demon is born to a drug-addicted mother in Lee County (the poorest of the poor), and he must figure out the living part on his own. As he grows, learning the hardships and disappointments of life, Demon must decide how he’s going to live and if he’ll let life get the best of him.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Check out my book review here.
Tova is used to solitude. After losing her son, Erik, decades ago under mysterious circumstances, and her husband, Will, after a long battle with cancer, Tova wants nothing more than to just work and keep her mind off things. That’s how she ended up at the Sowell Bay Aquarium as their cleaning lady. This is where she meets Marcellus, a grumpy giant Pacific octopus who knows more about her son’s death. When they form an unlikely friendship, Marcellus knows that his last days on earth need to be used to show Tova the truth no matter what it takes.
The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros
Check out my book review here.
Told in alternating timeframes from present day to the World War II era, this novel tells the story of Scarlett Stanton, a world renowned romance novelist who just passed away leaving her great granddaughter, Georgia Stanton to fend for herself. Georgia always knew love existed because of the love her Gran had. But Georgia isn’t sure it will ever exist for her. Until she meets the man hired to finish her Gran’s last novel….
Harriet only has one happy place and that’s the beach house that her friend Sabrina’s dad owns with all of her best friends there. She finally gets to take some time off from her residency and meet them at her happy place. The only problem is that her ex-fiancé is going as well, and none of their friends know that they broke up.
When Harriet sees Wyn, it’s like her heart is breaking all over again, but she has to pretend to still be with him for the sake of their last trip to her happy place and for Sabrina’s wedding. One more perfect friend vacation. If she can hold on for that long.
Adelaide feels too much. She’s too loud, too goofy, too much in general. But she loves wholly and fiercely. She gives herself to other people and never says no. Adelaide, however, discovers that this often leads her to people who abuse her selflessness. People like Rory. And Rory is someone that Adelaide will never forget.
Lily has to do everything right. She has to hold her family together. She has to get the scholarship she needs to pay for college. She has to be okay. Because her older sister, Alice, is not. Alice has already been to the hospital for her bipolar disorder, and Lily knows her dad has been through enough. Even though Lily can’t stop the voices in her head telling her she’s not good enough. Even though Lily feels like she’s falling apart faster than she could ever piece herself back together.
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Check out my book review here.
Daisy Jones has always known she wants to be a songwriter. Billy Dunne has always known that he wants to be in a rock band. Told in a format of transcribed interviews, you get to learn the full history behind the whirlwind of a band and worldwide sensation, Daisy Jones and The Six.
The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Check out my book review here.
Kira doesn’t feel human sometimes. Most times, she feels more connected to the dogs she and her adoptive family train for search and rescue than she does to people. Maybe it’s because she was found in the woods, surviving on her own for weeks, as a young girl. Maybe it’s because she had to become more animal than human to survive.
Now, her adoptive mother gets a call that a young girl has gone missing in the woods. Kira knows this is her chance to get rid of her demons and save this little girl even though Kira herself couldn’t be saved. But with secrets that her mother is keeping, Kira feels like she might become less human than she already feels.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Check out my book review for this novel on my blog soon!
Rill Foss is princess of the Arcadia and the river. Or, at least, she was. That was before those people took her from her parents. Before they lied to everyone and said that she and her siblings were orphans.
Now, Rill must try her best to keep her family together, but with the countless horrible things happening to her and her siblings at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, she isn’t even sure they’ll make it out alive.
And there you have it, the best books I read in 2023! While a lot of them were new releases, many were also books that were published a while back. Needless to say, I seriously enjoyed each one!
