Curated by our librarians, this ‘Best of 2023’ list includes some of the worthiest books published this past year. Included are well-known favorites, yet we also strived to include some surprises, both locally and internationally.
We considered a variety of factors, including our staff’s favorite books of the year as well as titles that have met with critical acclaim and literary awards. We also looked to bookstores, book clubs, podcasts and magazines for recommendations.
Our sources include: New York Times, National Book Awards, NPR, Kirkus Reviews, Barnes & Noble, Library Journal, Lit Hub, The Economist, Booker Prize, Pacific Northwest Book Awards, Publisher’s Weekly, Reader’s Corner and others.
Fiction
Absolution by Alice McDermott | FICTION McDermott
American Mermaid by Jenifer Langbein | FICTION Langbein
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray | FICTION Murray
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters | FICTION Peters
The Better Half by Alli Frank | FICTION Frank
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwane Adjei-Brenyah | FICTION Adjei-Brenyah
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese | FICTION Verghese
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead | FICTION Whitehead
Cross-Stitch by Jazmina Barrera | FICTION Barrera
The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie | FICTION McKenzie
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal | FICTION Kerangal
Family Lore | Sabiduría Familiar by Elizabeth Acevedo [English | Español]
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea | FICTION Urrea
The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng | FICTION Heng
Happy Place by Emily Henry | FICTION Henry
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride | FICTION McBride
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano | FICTION Napolitano
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang | FICTION Zhang
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward | FICTION Ward
North Woods by Daniel Mason | FICTION Mason
This Other Eden by Paul Harding | FICTION Harding
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch | FICTION Lynch
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue | FICTION O’Donoghue
Rouge by Mona Awad | FICTION Awad
Sam by Allegra Goodman | FICTION Goodman
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel | FICTION Nettel
Temple Folk by Aaliya Bilal | FICTION Bilal
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett | FICTION Patchett
The Wildest Sun by Asha Lemmie | FICTION Lemmie
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang | FICTION Kuang
Nonfiction
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel | 364.162 FIN
The Best Minds by Jonathan Rosen | 616.898 ROS
The Best Strangers in the World by Ari Shapiro | 070.43 SHA
Bottoms Up and The Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley | 352.379 HOW
The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland | 323.41 LEL
Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg | 791.44 TOT
Doppelganger by Naomi Kline | 302.23 KLE
A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan | 322.42 EGA
Fire Weather by John Vaillant | 363.379 VAI
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy | 731.45 MCC
In Sardinia by Jeff Biggers | TRAVEL 914.59 BIG
El Invencible Verano de Liliana by Cristina Rivera Garza [Español] | SPA 364.15 RIV
King: A Life by Johathan Eig | BIOGRAPHY 920 King
The Last Honest Man by James Risen | 973.92 RIS
Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo | 3063362 WOO
My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand | BIOGRAPHY 920 Streisand
Ordinary Notes by Christina Elizabeth Sharpe | 305.896 SHA
Places We Left Behind by Jennifer Lang | 306.81 LAN
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond | 362.509 DES
The Quickening by Elizabeth A. Rush | 998.9 RUS
Red Memory by Tania Branigan | 951.056 BRA
The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk | 970.004 BLA
Right Kind of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson | 158.1 EDM
Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista | 364.409 EVA
Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford | 792.7 BAM
The Talk by Darrin Bell | GRAPHIC NOVEL 920 Bell
True West by Betsy Gaines Quammen | 973.933 QUA
Unruly by David Mitchell | 941 MIT
The Wager by David Grann | 910.916 GRA
Wolfish by Erica Berry | 152.46 BER
Women We Buried, Women We Burned by Rachel Louise Snyder | BIOGRAPHY 920 Snyder
