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The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

We've asked 1,639 authors and super readers for their 3 favorite reads of the year.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

John Oller Why did I love this book?

I’m a big fan of Old Hollywood, and I previously published a biography of the iconoclastic and classic film actress Jean Arthur. So, I naturally gravitated to this novel about a 79-year-old Hollywood star looking back over her colorful and controversial life and career. I found more substance and character development in this fictional tale than you’ll find in most “true” movie star memoirs.

The book is narrated alternatively through the eyes of the book’s subject, Evelyn Hugo, and her youthful journalist-interviewer. Neither of them shies from exposing Evelyn’s flaws and miscues over many decades (and seven husbands), yet in this poignant telling, the faded star ends up shining brightly. 

By Taylor Jenkins Reid,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"If you're looking for a book to take on holiday this summer, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has got all the glitz and glamour to make it a perfect beach read." -Bustle

From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six-an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America

John Oller Why did I love this book?

I've read probably twenty books on Abraham Lincoln. Just when I thought there could hardly be another comes this excellent book by the host of NPR's Morning Edition.

It's not terribly long and is divided into 16 chapters, one for each individual Lincoln encountered with whom he had his differences to greater and lesser extents.

They run the gamut from the famous (Frederick Douglass, General George McClellan) to the obscure (Lincoln's African-American barber). As well as any recent Lincoln book, it demonstrates our greatest president's capacity for empathy, humanity, and wisdom coupled with a steely determination to pursue the twin goals of saving the Union and freeing the slaves.

By Steve Inskeep,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Differ We Must as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

A compelling and nuanced exploration of Abraham Lincoln’s political acumen, illuminating a great politician’s strategy in a country divided—and lessons for our own disorderly present

In 1855, with the United States at odds over slavery, the lawyerAbraham Lincoln wrote a note to his best friend, the son of a Kentucky slaveowner. Lincoln rebuked his friend for failing to oppose slavery. But he added: “If for this you and I must differ, differ we must,” and said they would be friends forever. Throughout his life and political career, Lincoln often agreed to disagree. Democracy demanded…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

John Oller Why did I love this book?

Both hilarious and, at times, heartbreaking, this autobiographical account of a young British doctor’s life on the hospital front lines is the best book in years about what it’s really like to tend to patients truly in need as well as those who merely think they are sick.

It was subsequently made into a BBC and AMC television series and written by a real doctor who is now a comedian and television writer.

The format is a series of diary entries that make you laugh, cry, and feel as if you’re right there with the author in the emergency room during his frequent, nearly 24-hour shifts.

By Adam Kay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked This is Going to Hurt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Major BBC Series Starring Ben Whishaw. The multi-million copy bestseller and Book of the Year at The National Book Awards.

'Painfully funny. The pain and the funniness somehow add up to something entirely good, entirely noble and entirely loveable.' - Stephen Fry

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS…


Plus, check out my book…

American Queen: The Rise and Fall of Kate Chase Sprague, Civil War "Belle of the North" and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal

By John Oller,

Book cover of American Queen: The Rise and Fall of Kate Chase Sprague, Civil War "Belle of the North" and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal

What is my book about?

The charismatic daughter of Abraham Lincoln’s treasury secretary, Kate Chase, enjoyed unprecedented political power for a woman. 

As her widowed father’s hostess, she set up a rival “court” against Mary Lincoln in hopes of making her father president and herself his First Lady. She moved easily between the worlds of high fashion, adorning herself in the most regal Parisian gowns and politics, managing her father’s presidential campaigns.

Kate Chase’s dramatic story is one of ambition and tragedy, set against the seductive allure of the Civil War and Gilded Age and involving some of the most famous personalities in American history.