Our 20 Favorite Books of 2023

You know what they say: The only things one can be sure of are death, taxes, and a hoard of best-of lists clamoring for eyeballs come December. And so: the best books of 2023—whether one is searching for gift ideas or something to kick-start a New Year’s resolution (“read more!”)—with all the usual caveats. First, there are many brilliant books we have adored but about which we have already recently waxed poetic, from Hilary Leichter’s Terrace Story and Zadie Smith’s The Fraud, to Brett Forrest’s Lost Son, to Aaliyah Bilal’s Temple Folk. (Dig around in our archive of monthly staff favorites for more recommendations, from 2023 and otherwise.) Also, obviously, we have not read every book published this year. We’re not AI! Ha ha… Still, here are a few of the books we loved best.