books

My Favorite Books of 2023

It was a good reading year. I finished 83 books, up 17 from 2022. This is a list of the best, most memorable, or most impactful books.

Andrew Berkowitz

30 Dec 2023 — 3 min read

Photo by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

It was a good reading year. I finished 83 books, up 17 from 2022. This is a list of the best, most memorable, or most impactful books.

(You can also read my favorites from 2022, 2021 and 2020, view the 2023 favorites list at Amazon or peruse all of my 2023 books on Goodreads.)

The Top 10

In rough order of favoriteness:

The Impossible Us
by Sarah Lotz

I read this one way back in mid-February and I was pretty sure it was going to be my favorite of the year (it was). Like lots of books on my list, the less you know the better. It’s a romance with a twist. Enjoy!

What’s Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies
by Tim Urban

The author of the awesome Wait But Why blog finally publishes his magnum opus, diagnosing what’s gone wrong with politics and discourse in the USA (and a lot of other countries).

Remarkably Bright Creatures
by Shelby Van Pelt

This one’s gonna be on a lot of people’s best-of-the year lists. It’s an absolutely delightful story where the hero (and narrator) is … an octopus. Deserving of all the accolades it has received.

Romantic Comedy
by Curtis Sittenfeld

Romantic comedy? Check! Set at a thinly-disguised Saturday Night Live? Sign me up! Right in my wheelhouse and an unusual structure. P.S. Curtis is not a guy.

Yellowface
by R.F. Kuang

Dark, delicious, and thought-provoking. This novel is a take on racism, yes, but not at all what I was expecting and much more morally ambiguous than some readers will probably like. Recommended!

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
by Christie Tate

An absolutely brutal and riveting account of the author’s many years in group therapy. That may not sound like an entertaining read, but it’s surprisingly gripping.

Cassandra in Reverse
by Holly Smale

I am a fan of the protagonist-who-is-maybe-on-the-spectrum genre (see The Maid or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine). I am also a fan of time travel and time loop stories. Put those together and … voila!

True Biz: A Novel
by Sara Novic

Ever since I saw the movie Coda last year, I’ve been interested in learning more about the Deaf community. This is powerful novel that takes you inside that community.

Mad Honey: A Novel
by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Another one where the less you know going in, the better. (It’s a mystery; I’ll tell you that much.) You’ll learn a lot, not even counting everything you’ll learn about beekeeping.

Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier
by Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly is the founder of Wired magazine, a futurist (see his excellent book The Inevitable) and a bit of an avuncular philosopher. This tiny volume summarizes wisdom from the first 71 years of his life.