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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 Other Bennet Sister

Kara O'Neal Why did I love this book?

My daughter bought this book for me for my birthday. (It was the first present she’d bought on her own as a twenty-year-old with money.) We both adore Pride and Prejudice, and Jane Austen is my favorite author.

The Other Bennet Sister is about Mary Bennet, and it’s beautiful. Ms. Hadlow does a wonderful job revealing Mary to the world. She becomes as complex a character as Lizzie. I loved learning more about her and being with her as she got her happy beginning!

By Janice Hadlow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Other Bennet Sister as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice fans everywhere, this is Mary Bennet's story . . .

'Will delight Pride and Prejudice fans' - Independent
'It's difficult not to race through those final pages' - Jo Baker, author of Longbourn

In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? Prim and pious, with no redeeming features, she is unloved and seemingly unlovable.

The Other Bennet Sister, though, shows another side to Mary. An introvert in a family of extroverts; a constant disappointment…


My 2nd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of The Girl in His Shadow

Kara O'Neal Why did I love this book?

Nora Beady is a great heroine. Even though she is living in the “shadow” of a doctor – women weren’t allowed to practice medicine in 1845 in England – she’s not cynical about it.

She just does the job Dr. Croft asks her to, and she cares a great deal about improving the health of others. Along the way, she falls in love, and her love interest is refreshingly supportive. I don’t usually care for stories where the characters are cynical and everyone is mean. Which is probably why I write romance!

I turned the pages in this book so quickly, because I couldn’t wait for when the medical world found out Nora was an amazing doctor!

By Audrey Blake,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Girl in His Shadow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER!
"An exquisitely detailed journey through the harrowing field of medicine in mid-19th century London."-Tracey Enerson Wood, USA Today bestselling author of The Engineer's Wife and The War Nurse
An unforgettable historical fiction novel about one woman who believed in scientific medicine before the world believed in her.
London, 1845: Raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft after losing her parents to a deadly pandemic, the orphan Nora Beady knows little about conventional life. While other young ladies were raised to busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora was trained to perfect her suturing and anatomical…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023…

Book cover of Deathbed Conversions: Finding Faith at the Finish Line

Kara O'Neal Why did I love this book?

This book is a collection of stories about famous people, some who appeared very far from “believers” to the outside world, who converted to Catholicism right before their death. For some, it was in the last few minutes.

The journey to faith is one that’s personal but when shared can help others. Learning what calls people to Jesus can teach you and also affirm what you already know. It’s amazing what God does in people’s lives, and, to be honest, I needed that reminder that He is all-powerful, and that it’s never too late.

By Karen Edmisten,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In the stories of famous people like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Dutch Shultz, Patricia Neal, Oscar Wilde, and more -- we come to learn that a deathbed conversion is not a loophole, or an unfair advantage. It is the mercy of God at work.


Plus, check out my book…

The Princess's Knight

By Kara O'Neal,

Book cover of The Princess's Knight

What is my book about?

In The Princess’s Knight, a villain is redeemed. Madeline Talbut goes on a journey to reform her ways and to soothe the people she’s hurt over the span of a decade. She’s a top level “mean girl”, if a comparison is needed, but her past cruelty is much more than that. Alongside her is Carl Dawson, one of the few people who had the courage to fight her. Now he’s helping her, and what enfolds is a beautiful story of forgiveness and love.