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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 Montana Creeds: Logan

Lauri Robinson Why did I love this book?

This was a story of love, hope, and heroes. It excites me to open a book that I know I’ll love. For me, that includes characters that I like and root for, and stories that will keep me reading long after I should have closed the book and gone to sleep. Throw in a couple of kids, some animals, a bad guy or two, and I’m hooked until I reach the end.

The end MUST also include a happy ending for me. No cliffhangers or twists that leave me shaking my head or tossing the book on the bedside table harder than I should. This book delivered all of that.

By Linda Lael Miller,

Why should I read it?

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


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

Lauri Robinson Why did I love this book?

This book is mindful, unique, and full of surprises. I read a lot of books for research, and that’s how this one started, character research, but quickly changed to one of pure enjoyment. Who doesn’t love to try an experiment now and again? I enjoyed trying out all of the experiments in this book. I also love to be challenged, and this one did that with self-concepts, expectations, and beliefs.

This was a book that left me thinking about it long after I finished it.

By Pam Grout,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked E-Squared as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

E-Squared is a lab manual with simple experiments to prove once and for all that there really is a good, loving, totally hip force in the universe. Rather than take it on faith, you are invited to conduct ten 48-hour experiments to prove each of the principles in this book. Yes, you read that right. It says prove.

The experiments, each of which can be conducted with absolutely no money and very little time expenditure, demonstrate that spiritual principles are as dependable as gravity, as consistent as Newton's 2nd law of motion. For years, you've been hoping and praying that…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Because of Winn-Dixie

Lauri Robinson Why did I love this book?

A book about family, friends, and faith; I love a book that has me smiling, laughing, and supplies some tugs at the old heartstrings more than once. This one did all that and more.

I’d suggest that if anyone needs a reminder that no one is too old to read a middle school-aged/young adult book, this is the one to read. It also made me want to dig out my old copy of Gone with the Wind.

By Kate DiCamillo,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Because of Winn-Dixie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Funny and poignant, this 2001 Newbery Honor novel captures life in a quirky Southern town as Opal and her mangy dog, Winn-Dixie, strike up friendships among the locals.

One summer's day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries - and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that…


Plus, check out my book…

A Dance with Her Forbidden Officer

By Lauri Robinson,

Book cover of A Dance with Her Forbidden Officer

What is my book about?

Love, promises, and war.

Wendy Smith recognizes one of her hospital patients as the man she’d danced with the night before Pearl Harbor was attacked. While reading him his mail, she withholds a Dear John letter to him from his fiancé. Wendy vows to give it to him later, he’s in enough pain and she doesn’t want to be the cause of more.

K.T. McCallister is a man of his word, and holds true to his promise to return from the war and marry his hometown sweetheart, despite his admiration for Wendy. When she gives him a letter, breaking his engagement, K.T. is more relieved than hurt or mad, because the world is going through hell. War and promises, old or new ones, don’t mix.