The Best Books of 2023 (So Far)

As we approach the midpoint of the year, now is the time to finally put aside those 2022 books you never got around to and turn your focus on the excellent titles entering your local bookstores and libraries. While the conversation in early 2023 was dominated by a certain prince turned memoirist, readers who looked beyond the big displays could be rewarded with a nonfiction narrative that refuses to be confined by genre; a searing debut novel with a fragmented lens on family tragedy; and an exhilarating romance told in verse. We still have many books to look forward to this year, but for now, here are the best, picked by our critics.