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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.

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My favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Killers Of A Certain Age

Cara Bristol Why did I love this book?

Killers of a Certain Age is about four 60-year-old female assassins. Just as they’re retiring from “the biz,” they discover the organization they’ve worked for 40 years has sent an assassin after them. Using the skills they’ve honed over the years, they set out to find who ordered the hit and why.

Books about female assassins are not unique. What makes Killers of a Certain Age special is that the main characters are active, vibrant, 60-year-olds who kick some serious ass. It’s witty, funny, and full of heart. As I get older (ahem), I appreciate reading about mature characters in exciting, action-oriented stories.

Not only is this my favorite book this year, it is one of my all-time favorite books. This is a book that I will reread!

By Deanna Raybourn,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Killers Of A Certain Age as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that's their secret weapon.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. But now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates their real-world resourcefulness in an age of technology.

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses-paid trip to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realise they've been marked for death.

To get out alive they…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Last Flight

Cara Bristol Why did I love this book?

When Claire’s abusive, powerful politician husband sends her out of town, she intends to use the opportunity to leave him and disappear. But a last-minute itinerary change foils her plans and alerts her husband that she intends to leave him.

In a chance encounter, she meets Eva, who is also looking to escape. Thinking they can solve each other’s problem, the two women swap identities and tickets and board the other’s plane. But Eva’s plane crashes, leaving no survivors. Claire realizes the tragedy might be her true ticket to freedom —until she discovers the secrets Eva left behind.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. Everything about The Last Flight is top-notch: the plot, the twists, the characters, the pacing, the setting details, and the writing. I was sorry when I finished reading it.

By Julie Clark,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Last Flight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY BESTSELLER, & INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!
"The Last Flight is thoroughly absorbing-not only because of its tantalizing plot and deft pacing, but also because of its unexpected poignancy and its satisfying, if bittersweet, resolution. The characters get under your skin."-The New York Times Book Review
Two women. Two flights. One last chance to disappear.
Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Cara Bristol Why did I love this book?

Vera Wong is an outspoken, opinionated, but lonely lady. Her adult son has no time for her. Her once thriving tea shop is frequented only by a single regular customer. The 60-year-old widow is looking at life in the rear view mirror until she finds a dead man on the floor of her shop.

The sexagenarian now has an exciting mystery to solve, and she believes she’ll be much better at it than the police. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders is more than a cozy mystery, it’s a story about friendship and family dynamics.

It’s a witty, fun, and often poignant story. It hooked me from the beginning and held my interest throughout. I hated saying goodbye to the characters when I finished the book.

By Jesse Q. Sutanto,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to.

Then one morning, Vera trudges…


Plus, check out my book…

Alien With Benefits

By Cara Bristol,

Book cover of Alien With Benefits

What is my book about?

A space cruise seems like the vacation of a lifetime until Holly Winter gets abducted by aliens and ends up on a slave ship. She manages to escape, only to be kidnapped again by a huge horned and furry alien who claims to be a prince.

At odds at first, Holly and Aeon quickly discover that being friends and working together offers more benefits than fighting on a hostile, dangerous planet. But can two lovers from different worlds defeat the forces against them and find happiness together?

Alien With Benefits is a forbidden love, alien abduction romance. It’s the first book in the Forbidden Bonds sci-fi romance series.