2023 was a very good reading year for me. I certainly needed the distraction from several things and reading served me well. Reading not only distracted but comforted, made me laugh and helped me think.
I finished 116 books this year and there were a good handful of DNFs but I generally don’t count those. I tend to read much more fiction than non-fiction, but like last year, I decided to separate them out in my tops list. I will post my top non-fiction in the next few days. I did have a 2023 goals list – 24 books I hoped to read. I was able to get to 22 of them and two were DNFs. Some of them did make this top 25 list and I will be making a 2024 Goals list soon as well.
Here are my top 25 fiction books of 2023. Honestly, I would have been comfortable posting 40 – as there are many other great ones I loved. But 25 seems to be enough. I have several repeat authors that have been favorites in the past. I also want to note that there are two of Ethan Joella’s books that made the list this year – he is an excellent writer. I am excited to read his next book, which I already have an early e-copy of. This collection of 25 is a bit all over the place – there’s romance, literary fiction, historical fiction and even a few thrillers/suspense. I also want to note that two books here won’t be released for another month or two – The Women and The Heiress. Both were early copies that I could not wait for 2024 to read.
Happy Reading & Happy New Year!
- The House of Eve – Sadeqa Johnson
- Go as a River – Shelley Read
- A Quiet Life – Ethan Joella
- These Silent Woods – Kimi Cunningham Grant
- Symphony of Secrets – Brendan Slocumb
- Tom Lake – Ann Patchett
- Signal Fires – Dani Shapiro
- The Seven Year Slip – Ashley Boston
- The Women – Kristin Hannah – available 2/2024
- Exiles – Jane Harper
- The Quiet Tenant – Clemence Michallon
- Mad Honey – Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan
- A Little Hope – Ethan Joella
- The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
- All The Dangerous Things – Stacy Willingham
- None of This Is True – Lisa Jewell
- Last Summer on State Street – Toya Wolfe
- Maame – Jessica George
- The River We Remember – William Kent Kreuger
- Charm City Rocks – Matthew Norman
- The Christmas Guest – Peter Swanson
- Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
- Romantic Comedy – Curtis Sittenfeld
- The Heiress – Rachel Hawkins – available 1/2024
- For The Love of Friends – Sara Goodman Confino
