The Best Books We Read In 2023

You might know Ann Patchett for one of her bestselling books, like “Bel Canto” or “State of Wonder,” or perhaps you’ve seen her championing books and authors in her popular Nashville bookstore in person or on social media. But now, you’ll likely know about Patchett from her latest 2023 release, “Tom Lake” — a story about motherhood and how much of our lives we keep to ourselves or choose to share with our children. The novel focuses on Lara, the mother of three adult daughters, who, while sharing stories of her past, begins to cherry-pick details of a former romance. Having returned from their family orchard in northern Michigan, the daughters beg their mother for details about Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom Lara once happened to perform at a theater company called Tom Lake. The girls begin to reconsider their own relationships and those around them as they learn more about their mother’s past and how it might have affected them even in the present. Patchett’s book is a beautiful glimpse into how many chapters a life can hold, and the multifaceted kinds of love a person can have.

— Suggested by Marianne Taylor, bookseller at Powell's Books, and featured in HuffPost Books

From the acclaimed bestselling British author Zadie Smith comes her recent 2023 release, "The Fraud," a somewhat whimsical and historical-based novel that begins when Mrs. Eliza Touchet, the brisk Scottish housekeeper of the once famed novelist William Ainsworth, is in charge of finding someone to fix a large hole on the second floor of his estate. Mrs. Touchet has been the stalwart of William’s affairs and home for 30 years, which, at present, is crumbling just like his literary career. Eliza, however, is a woman of varied interests, and she, like many in England, becomes enthralled with the Tichborne Trial. In this actual historical event, a lower-class Australian butcher, who goes by Sir Roger Tichborne, claims to be the rightful heir to a sizable British estate and title — or he could be a fraud. You see, Roger was believed to have drowned off the Brazilian coast in 1854. Twelve years later, the trial begins, and the star witness is a formerly enslaved man from Jamaica named Andrew Bogle. Now, in a land of cream teas, Andrew is acutely aware that every lump of sugar in a teacup comes at a human cost. He knows his future depends on telling the right story while on the stand and that the rich stay rich through manipulation and deception. Shortly after the trial has ended, Eliza finds herself compelled to meet Bogle. As an abolitionist, she’s interested in learning more about his past and present life, and through their exchanges, she discovers she, like her cousin, is a writer.

— Featured in HuffPost Books newsletter, editor's pick from Lourdes Avila Uribe, senior shopping writer

An instant New York Timesbestseller and possibly the “it” book of 2023, this dark satire by R.F. Kuang takes a look at the publishing industry and its prevailing issues on inclusion and acceptance. Bitingly funny, intense and relevant, the story tells of fictional authors June Hayward and Athena Liu — two literary darlings seemingly set for success. But when June witnesses the accidental death of Athena, she sees an opportunity: steal her friend’s unfinished manuscript in order to garner literary acclaim for herself. This would be a foolproof plan except for the fact that Athena is Asian American and June is not, and the stolen manuscript is an experimental novel heavily influenced by Chinese history and culture, all of which June knows very little about. The book’s commentary on the gray areas in marketing and publicity, cultural appropriation and the terrors of social media make for a novel that is a timely, cunning and highly bingeable.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

It’s the late 1970s and a serial killer is targeting women, and although his vicious crimes tend to be confined to the Pacific Northwest, two young women in a Florida sorority have just become his latest victims. Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, might have been one of the victims, if she hadn’t stayed in for the night. She did, however, discover their mutilated bodies. In Jessica Knoll’s psychological thriller it's the women who have been left behind that are impacted by a man’s brutality and who become ravenous for truth and justice. Pamela pairs up with a woman named Tina Cannon who believes the murders behind killings in Florida were committed by the same person, someone the papers have taken to calling an “All-American Sex Killer.” Loosely based on the real murders of two sorority sisters by Ted Bundy, Knoll’s novel, which was released in September, gives a glimpse of an alternative truth, inspired by evidence that was overlooked, showing a killer that isn’t an enigmatic devil – but an average, dull man. And it's “the bright young women,” who were full of vibrant life and deserving of so much more, that dominate the narrative.

— Editor's pick from Mary Perkins, front page editor

Released earlier this year, “I Have Some Questions for You” is award-winning author’s Rebecca Makkai's latest and utterly transfixing coming-of-age crime thriller starring our protagonist Bodie Kane. She’s a successful woman — a mother, film professor and creative with a fulfilled life. Except when she’s sent a YouTube video by a former childhood friend, the past she’d much rather just gloss over begins to keep her up at night. When Bodie was a senior at a wealthy boarding school in New Hampshire, her roommate, Thalia, was murdered. Makkai stuns and keeps the reader suspended with lines like: “What’s as perfect as a girl stopped dead, midformation? Girl as blank slate. Girl as reflection of your desires, unmarred by her own. Girl sacrificed to the idea of girl.”

— Editor's pick from Perkins

"'Wellness' [published in the fall of 2023] focuses almost solely on two characters, Jack and Elizabeth, a married couple in Chicago struggling to stay connected to one another after 20 years together. These are the broadest strokes of the story and the home base that Hill frequently revisits. Yet between the 600+ pages is a cornucopia of anecdotes and social commentaries melded into the most interesting and entertaining book I’ve read this year. Jack and Elizabeth are given near equal page time, and through flashbacks and reflection, we learn the depth of their challenges and how desperately they want to resolve them. The story is so immersive that I felt like a voyeur spying on the most personal moments of two strangers. Hill's storytelling doesn’t follow a straight line. There’s a plot, sure, but how the novel ends is far less interesting than the journey he takes us on. And this journey will take you everywhere, from the Flint Hills of Kansas to the forests of Western Connecticut and a swingers’ club in Chicago. "Wellness" is full of Hill’s subtle and sarcastic humor, balanced by moments of true emotion. Everything feels organic to the core narrative, even when he throws in a few outlandish plot elements and a handful of quirky characters that orbit Jack and Elizabeth."

— Suggested and quoted by HuffPost Books reader Andy Pollen of Please Read It to Me

One of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020, “Luster” by Raven Leilani is a gut-punch of a psychological and social satire that drives through issues of race, sexuality and class in a way that is utterly absorbing. The protagonist is Edie, a sharp-witted 20-something living in New York and tolerating an administration job as the only the Black woman in an all-white office. She’s disenchanted with her sexual experiences, frequently choosing the wrong men at the wrong time, and using sex as a salve for bigger issues. Her routine is disrupted the day she meets Eric, a white digital archivist twice her age who is in an open marriage with his autopsist wife, Rebecca. When the couple invite Edie to stay in their family home in New Jersey, the timing feels perfect, since Edie has recently been evicted from her mouse-infested apartment in Bushwick. Rebecca is the instigator of Edie’s stay, and her insistence on bringing her husband’s new girlfriend to live with them is more than an act of kindness — she wants Edie to act as a ward of sorts and become the “Trusty Black Spirit Guide” to the couple’s adopted preteen daughter, Akila. At times a jarring read peppered with romance, “Luster” is a work of literary fiction sustained by Leilani’s blunt, beautiful and fiercely smart prose.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

It’s impossible to not feel pulled into Sarah Rose Etter’s “Ripe,” a beautifully paced 2023 novel featuring an intimate inner voice and a surreal, sinister plot. Cassie is a year into her dream job at a cutthroat Silicon Valley startup. Amid the grueling hours (she stays awake with an occasional bump of cocaine), toxic bosses and unethical projects, Cassie struggles with the realities of what it takes to attain success, especially given the suffering that surrounds her. And although Cassie lives a mostly solitary life, she’s never truly alone. Since childhood, she’s had a miniature black hole as her constant companion, which feeds on her depression and anxiety. At times darkly funny, this is a razor-sharp and honest portrayal of late-stage capitalism in the tech sphere, where beautiful homes are juxtaposed with abject poverty and greed, incompetence and exuberance.

— Suggested by Charlotte Starling, bookseller at Powell's Books, and featured in HuffPost Books

This wild and inventive new 2023 novel from author Jen Beagin follows a female protagonist’s complicated romance. Middle-aged Greta is a former pharmaceutical tech who lives in Hudson, New York, and works as a transcriptionist for a sex coach. The sex coach, who goes by the name “Om,” is a new-agey type of therapist, and while going through hours of recordings, Greta finds herself completely bewitched by one of his clients — a married Swiss woman she calls “Big Swiss.” When Greta one day recognizes the woman’s voice at a dog park, she panics and gives a fake name, launching an explosive affair between the two. Beagin’s book is funny, dark and dives into the messiness of infidelity, desires and sexual stereotypes, all told through her two tortured protagonists.

— Suggested byDan Graham, promotional director with Book Soup in Los Angeles and featured on HuffPost

Antoine Wilson’s psychological and slow-burn suspense novel begins in a priority lounge at the JFK airport where two former classmates randomly reconnect. Jeff Cook is a successful art dealer and begins to tell his old classmate, the narrator, how his life has led up to this point. And how one event years ago completely altered his life — he saved a drowning man. The man Jeff rescued is iconic within the art world, a dealer of worldwide esteem named Francis Arsenault. And Jeff, believing their lives are somehow entwined, became a protégé of sorts to Francis. Described as a “dizzying novel,” according to the publisher, Wilson’s “Mouth to Mouth” is as enticing as it is suspenseful. A test in delusions and narratives, all told in a swift 179 pages begging the reader to determine the difference between fate versus autonomy.

— Editor's pick from Perkins

Author of "These Violent Delights,” Chloe Gong has a particular flair for crafting elaborate and addictive stories. Her latest 2023 release, “Immortal Longings,” reads as if Shakespeare lived in 1990s Hong Kong and was inspired by “The Hunger Games.”Gong’s debut into adult fantasy is loosely based on the ill-fated couple Antony and Cleopatra and follows the beautiful Princess Calla, who went into hiding following the massacre of her parents. Years later, Calla plans to kill her uncle King Kasa, but he’s a reclusive ruler, and her only hope to gain proximity is to enter into the palace’s yearly “games” in the capital twin cities of San-Er, where competitors risk their lives for wealth. The king is known to meet with the final victor of the games, and so Calla is determined to win. Except, so is Anton (who gives off serious Finnick à la “The Hunger Games” vibes), an exiled aristocrat. Calla and Anton form an alliance, along with help from the king’s adopted son, August. With each competitor fueled by their own agendas, their loyalties become a tangled mess of confusion and attraction.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by author Rebecca Yarros

Naomi Alderman’s newest novel, “The Future,” is about a group of friends who dare to take on the tech giants whose greed threatens to destroy the entire world. It’s a world that doesn’t feel too far off from the one in which we currently reside — one where technology is created to do things like control the weather, make covert and frightening new weapons and predictive analytics, all under the guise of bettering society. It’s the sort of propaganda that Martha, one of the main characters, thinks is highly similar to what she experienced during a time when she was forced to live in a cult. “The Future” has that same swift and heart-racing pacing as Alderman’s previous work, with enough humor and humanity to make for yet another un-put-downable book.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

This exhilarating and unique debut novel by Jinwoo Chong is surprisingly funny and haunting at the same time. Published in March, Chong’s mind-bender of a novel is full of grief, trauma, relationships, humor and identity — all while being Asian in America. Chong’s novel also bends narratives through time and is both neo-noir and speculative fiction, so it’s a bit of a complicated read. “Flux” follows the lives of three characters at different ages in their lives and how they intersect as they discover conspiracy secrets and an experimental technology that threatens to upend life itself. Juggling multiple points of view and timelines is an ambitious endeavor but one Chong accomplishes with artistry and undeniable talent.

— Featured on HuffPost

Fantastical elements creep in slowly in this highly lauded and bewitching novel that tells of loss, madness and mystery. Apollo has recurring nightmares that have haunted him since childhood. And after the birth of his first child, he suspects the exhaustion of being a new father is to blame when the dreams come back. But when his wife’s erratic behavior seems to be more than a postpartum period, Apollo’s world begins to fall apart. There are many twists in LaValle’s thrilling book that feel like reading old Germanic folklore or Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” where the characters are unraveled by their fears, while making a much bigger statement about modern life. Without giving away any spoilers, this is a haunting read with plenty of twists.

— Featured on HuffPost

“The Year of the Flood,” the second installment of Atwood’s “Maddaddam” trilogy, is set in a visionary and dystopian world where a great flood has just eradicated nearly all human life. Two of the remaining survivors must escape their current confines and navigate new dangers. Focusing on themes of climate change, class relations and political corruption, this book would be enjoyed by fans of fellow dystopian writers George Orwell and Aldous Huxley.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by drag performer Muffy Fishbasket

“Crescent City” is a modern-fantasy-romance-meets-thriller with intricate world-building and a crossover that connects Maas’ work in the most epic way. The series is centered on Bryce Quinlan, a half-fae party girl whose life of debauchery is upended after a demon murders her best friend. She becomes a central suspect in the investigation, but in order to prove her innocence, she's forced to work with a notorious fallen angel in charge of finding the true killer and monitoring Bryce.

— Featured in HuffPost Books as an editor's pick

In Marisa Crane’s queer novel, we see a near-distant future where a shady government agency, the Department of Balance, marks citizens in an attempt to ostracize and shame them for nonconformity that’s deemed subversive to the status quo. Our main character, Kris, living in an extreme police state, is grieving the loss of her partner, who died in childbirth, leaving Kris to raise their only child. The baby is punished for the death of her mother, given an additional “shadow marker” by the Department of Balance. Kris has also been given a shadow, marking them both as social pariahs. Crane’s debut is like a macabre yet endearing “1984” for the modern age, supplemented by the author’s disarming humor in what is otherwise a heavy book.

— Editor's pick from Emily Bond, HuffPost contributor

Emily Henry’s “Happy Place” drops readers in coastal Maine, replete with salty ocean air and all the makings of a happy weeklong getaway among a close-knit group of friends — with some complications, of course. Harriet and Wyn, a seemingly perfect couple, actually called it quits five months ago and have kept it secret from everyone close to them. They decide to spend the week pretending things are business as usual for the sake of their friends’ happiness while also grappling with the fact that they both still desperately want each other. This second-chance love story, published in April, is full of humor, with meaningful musings on life and adult relationships, all told with a snapping wit true to Henry’s writing style.

— Featured on HuffPost and HuffPost Books

Tia Williams’ swoon-worthy book “Seven Days in June” is about the once-couple Eva Mercy, a single mom and bestselling author of erotica novels, and Shane Hall, a reclusive award-winning novelist. When Shane surprisingly shows up in New York City for a literary event attended by Eva, with whom he had a fling 15 years earlier, sparks fly. And a hidden truth lies between them: Eva and Shane have both been secretly writing to one another within their written work for years. They can’t deny their chemistry — and over the next seven days, during a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect. The book was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick and an instant New York Times bestseller, and it was named one of the best romance novels of 2021 by The Washington Post.

— Featured on HuffPost and HuffPost Books

A romp of a contemporary romance, Curtis Sittenfeld’s 2023 “Romantic Comedy” is perfect for anyone who binges “30 Rock” but craves a little more heat. Bitingly funny writer Sally Milz, who is a sketch writer for a late-night “SNL”-esque comedy show dubbed “The Night Owls,” is a cynic when it comes to love — and why wouldn’t she be, when she daily witnesses a string of celebrity glamazons falling for the dumpy male comedy writers on her team? The pairings baffle and irritate her, so she writes a script mocking one of her writers and his recent romance with a beautiful actor. But when Noah Brewster, a mainstream musician and known modelizer, is the guest for the week’s show, Sally finds herself possibly in the very same situation she mocked — with an attractive A-lister who might be falling for her.

— Suggested by Emilie Sommer, book buyer at East City Books in Washington, D.C., and featured on HuffPost

“Fourth Wing'' is an addictive 2023 fantasy with deadly high stakes, a resilient heroine, complicated politics, a deliciously angsty love story and delightfully sharp-tongued dragons. When 20-year-old Violent Sorrengail is forced into the competition to join the elite Basgiath War College of dragon riders by her powerful mother (the commanding general of the Navarre army), she’s thrust into a series of brutal and physically challenging tests in order to become a rider — many of which are deadly. And it’s not only dragons she has to fear but also her fellow competitors and classmates, who all seem to want the daughter of Commander Sorrengail dead — like Xaden Riorson, the orphaned child of a rebel and one of the most powerful wing leaders in the Riders Quadrant. Except, from the beginning, Violent and Xaden’s relationship is a complicated and lusty mix of enemies and possible lovers set against a backdrop of constant generational war.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

“Red, White & Royal Blue,” the delightful romantic comedy from author Casey McQuiston, quickly became a bestseller and then had its movie rights snatched up. The rom-com is a mix of American brashness and British quirks, with a dollop of scandal. When Alex, the son of the U.S. president, and his sister June attend a royal wedding in the United Kingdom, he clumsily pushes Prince Henry into a wedding cake, igniting a media uproar. The incident forces the prince and the first son into a series of damage-control-orchestrated events and then into an unlikely friendship — turned attraction.

— Featured on HuffPost and HuffPost Books

“Queen Charlotte” is the glorious result of a circuitous journey: a story inspired by a script, which was inspired by a Netflix series, which was inspired by a book and, of course, was inspired by a very real historical couple. Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes wrote the 2023 companion book to the television series based off of their popular romance series, “Bridgerton,” and from scripts written by creator Rhimes. Avon Books, the publisher of the series, said the book “centered on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power.” Quinn and Rhimes took a complicated love story about a newcomer queen shattering social norms to wed a king known for being mentally unstable and gave us, her “dearest readers,” a beautiful romance with humanity and substance.

— Featured on HuffPost

The most recent book in the “Myths of Airren” series by Jenny Hickman, “Prince of Deception,” which was released in 2023, is told from the point of view of the “wicked” Prince Rian, a half-fae with a penchant for swearing, debauchery, fine clothes and strawberry tarts. He’s also got a dungeon. Favorites aside, the characters in Hickman’s latest series are a motley crew of dysfunctional, hilarious and at times terrifying companions. The Gancanagh, an Irish folk legend with a lethal kiss, is Rian’s half-brother and is more than happy to use his special talents to assist his brother in a “Midsummer Night’s Dream”-meets-“Romeo and Juliet” scheme to achieve multiple ends. Rian is the epitome of the morally gray love interest: a self-confessed murderer with an entire castle worth of emotional issues. He’s also funny "as feck," and his devotion, which completely baffles and irks him, for his human Aveen might just be the death of him.

— Featured on HuffPost

Jonathan Eig’s 2023 biography of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is touted as an “exhaustively researched” new work by its publisher, which says it is also "the first to include recently declassified FBI files.”

Eig, a journalist and New York Times bestselling author, had already taken on several other modern legends, including Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson. In “King: A Life,” the author provides an engrossing and humanizing narrative that reads like something akin to a thriller. Quickly paced and filled with compelling reflections and extraordinary new details into King’s life, this work will give more insight into the man, including his relationship with his wife, Coretta Scott King.

— Suggested byDan Graham, promotional director with Book Soup in Los Angeles and featured on HuffPost

Britney Spears’ highly anticipated 2023 memoir reveals, in the pop star’s own words, the story behind her decades of fame and, most recently, her very public battle with a conservatorship and her fight for autonomy. As was described in HuffPost’s coverage of Spears’ debut, “the book will surprise you with horrors about her father’s control and her family’s complicity. Spears conveys the humiliation of being told what to eat, where to go, what to do with her body, when to see her children. One of the most chilling parts of the book is her account of a forced stay at a psychiatric facility in 2019, where she was put on lithium.” At the end of her story, readers will hopefully understand Spears’ efforts to dismantle the public’s perception of her and gain insight of her struggle.

— Featured on HuffPost and HuffPost Books

Have you ever wondered where the word “assassin” came from? Did you know the word is related to the word "hashish,” which is in reference to a medieval cult of hitmen so renowned for their abilities that people assumed they were drug-addled super-killers? No? Well, you will if you read this delightfully fascinating book from Mark Forsyth. A study of words, their meanings, evolution and connections, "The Illustrated Etymologicon” is more of a witty jaunt through language than it is a tedious lesson in etymology. Springing from Forsyth's quirky "Inky Fool" blog, his debut book serves as an "erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language," according to its publisher, and is complete with pen-and-ink illustrations from the author.

— Suggested by Consuelo Wilder, buying and inventory director at Book People in Austin, Texas, and featured on HuffPost

Birthed from Kate Zambreno’s popular blog, "Frances Farmer Is My Sister," a space for new feminist discourse and an appreciation for female modernists, comes her blazing memoir, “Heroines.” In this book, Zambreno reclaims the outdated and often misogynistic biographies of women she felt deeply invested in, like Vivienne Eliot, Jane Bowles, Jean Rhys and Zelda Fitzgerald — women who, although they were writers and artists themselves, have been largely relegated to the “muses” of the male writers they were associated with. The neglect of these women’s personal stories and the continuation of their legacies reflected predominantly through the male gaze are the driving forces behind Zambreno’s crafting of this manifesto for all of the women ever deemed “toxic," now finally given the recognition they deserve.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by BookToker Tim Blackett

Referred to by the Los Angeles Times as “required reading,” this powerfully written debut by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez works to arm all women of color with insight, knowledge and community in order to find success on their own terms while defying a white-centric worldview. A call to action of sorts, Rodríguez's book is meant to unify and ignite women of color to decolonize enforced white narratives and sexism through reclaiming their voices, cultural history and experiences. Written in hyper-aware and declarative prose, "For Brown Girls With Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts” also encourages white readers to not fall into the safety and security of their privilege at the expense of others.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by video producerVanessa Sirias for Latine Heritage Month

M.K. Lobb’s spectacular 2023 debut, “Seven Faceless Saints,” is followed by an equally engrossing sequel in “Disciples of Chaos,” out in February 2024. The story follows the bold and gutsy Rossana Lacertosa and her complicated love interest, Damian Venturi, as they navigate a dark and ominous existence in the city of Ombrazai. The city is dominated by a class system broken into the revered godlike saints, disciples and then everyone else. But a revolution bent on dismantling the status quo is coming. Rossana was gifted by the saint Patience, but despite this her life has been a series of brutalities and misfortune. From the violent political murder of her father to her mother’s madness and an unending war that daily encroaches on her life, it’s easy to see how Roz could turn rebel. But her dissent will come at a price, specifically in regards to her relationship with Damian, a high-ranking guard who protects influential disciples within the capital. And when a disciple of the Saint of Death is murdered, Damian finds unlikely help in Rossana.

— Featured on HuffPost and HuffPost Books

This 2023 debut novel from Sara Hashem, full of intrigue and high stakes, is an Egyptian-inspired fantasy that follows fugitive heir to the throne Sylvia, whose magic and past threaten to upend her future. The Nizahl’s armies destroyed Sylvia’s Kingdom of Jasad, massacred her family and banned magic across the four remaining kingdoms. Since childhood, she has been hiding, fearing for her life if her abilities and her right to the throne are discovered. But when Arin, the Nizahl heir, tracks a group of rebels to Sylvia’s village, the quiet life she’s crafted quickly unravels. In a moment of anger, her magic unleashes itself, and the meticulous and cold Arin sees an opportunity. He offers her a deal: Compete as Nizahl’s Champion in the Alcalah tournament or die. And in order to win, she’ll need to work with Arin — all while hiding her true identity as Jasad’s heir — and a growing attraction to Arin.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

New York Times bestseller Tracy Deonn’s young adult contemporary fantasy “Legendborn” series is full of twists and magic. For fans of Maas’ “Crescent City” hoping for something less adult, “Legendborn” is a wonderful duology filled with mystery, a contemporary setting and an intense magic system. At only 16, Bree Matthews’ mother dies in an accident, causing her to emotionally detach from everyone around her. She decides to join a residential program at UNC-Chapel Hill for bright young students, but on the very first night of the program, she witnesses a terrifying attack by a flying demon succubus. A secret society named the Legendborn, which hunts magical sinister creatures, arrives to stop the demon. Noticing Bree, a member of the society attempts to erase Bree’s memory of the event — except it backfires. The attempted mental wipe-out instead unlocks memories of her own magical abilities and past. Bree then finds herself tied to the group and teams up with former Legendborn member Nick to discover secrets about the society and Bree’s past. Expect plenty of ties to King Arthur’s court and a brewing magical war between demons and the order. In Book Two, “Bloodmarked,” the action ramps up, as does a love triangle — especially once Selwyn, the dark, curly-haired mage with complicated ties to Nick, spends more time with Bree.

—Featured on HuffPost

As a passionate advocate of African mythology, Zai Sylla recommends Tomi Adeyemi’s popular young adult series, “Children of Blood and Bone." According to Sylla, the world-building is incredible, and it follows a rebellious protagonist who’s set on an impossible task to bring magic back to her kingdom. It’s filled with African mythology from Nigeria, and it’s getting a movie adaptation. This epic and heavily awarded trilogy follows Zélie Adebola, a young girl whose land’s magic was taken after a cruel leader orders the death of all the majis in Orïsha, including her mother. Zélie, alongside a rogue princess, must stealthily navigate the new dangers of the kingdom in order to restore it.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by BookToker Zai Sylla

Rebecca Ross’ 2023 rivals-to-lovers fantasy romance is set against the backdrop of a war between awakening gods bent on using two budding journalists for their bidding. Roman Carver Kitt is the quiet, brooding and conflicted love interest to the plucky, quick-witted and beautiful Iris Winnow. Both are competing for the same columnist role at the Oath Gazette, but when Roman wins after Iris’ personal life takes a harrowing loss, she finds herself at a competing paper, risking her life as a war correspondent. And when rivaling gods toy with the pair to push their own propaganda in the war, Roman and Iris find themselves incapable of being apart. When Roman follows Iris into the war, his typewriter at hand, the pair continue to compete for headlines while their attraction and admiration deepens.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

The second book in this cozy fantasy series by Travis Baldree has quickly become a bestseller with its Dungeons and Dragons vibes and themes of found family. The sword-wielding orc Vivian lost her sense of meaning after dealing with a devastating injury working as a notorious mercenary for the company Rackam's Raven, and she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk. Nursing her wounds, the restless Viv spends her time in a beleaguered bookshop and in the company of its bitingly foul-mouthed proprietor — a life she definitely did not foresee. But adventure finds its way back to her when the town of Murk proves to be a lot less tranquil than expected. With its mysterious encounters, summer flings and a growing number of skeletons, Baldree’s fantastical novel is the perfect winter indulgence.

— Suggested by Christine Longmuir, owner of Two Rivers Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, and featured on HuffPost

“Monstrilio” is a literary horror and queer novel from 2023 that defiantly blends love, terrors and despair. This ambitious debut by Gerardo Sámano Córdova is broken into four parts and four alternating perspectives. Córdova’s writing is at times horrifically graphic and then, inversely, paced slowly and quietly, allowing the reader to catch a breath from the more intense parts of the story. It’s considered an exercise in the limits of love, the frightening undoing of loss and the autonomy of identity.

— Suggested by Shane Khosropour, manager and book buyer for Unabridged Bookstore in Chicago, and featured on HuffPost

Silvia Moreno-Garcias, the national bestselling author of “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” and “Mexican Gothic,” fuses Mexican horror films and Nazi occultism in her latest tale. “Silver Nitrate,” set in 1990s Mexico City, tells of the curse surrounding a legendary lost film and one woman’s hidden powers. Stubborn and meticulous sound editor Montserrat works in the film industry, and she is routinely overlooked in her male-dominated field. Her best friend, Tristán, a charming and once-famous soap opera star, seems to be the only one who notices her. When the friends meet cult horror director Abel Urueta, who happens to be Tristán’s new neighbor, the legendary auteur makes a fantastical claim: He can change their lives. Abel tells the pair he’s cursed by a magic film and believes that if Montserrat and Tristán help him shoot a missing scene, all will be righted. But for Montserrat and Tristán, it seems the curse is stalking them as well.

— Featured on HuffPost Books

Daphne du Maurier’s gothic romance is as deliciously brilliant today as it was when it was published in 1938. It tells the story of a nameless young woman who is whisked away into a romantic affair with the dashing Maxim de Winter, a wealthy heir to a grand estate in Cornwall. She becomes known only as the second Mrs. de Winter and is forever in the shadow of Maxim's late first wife, the once-dazzling Rebecca. The first wife haunts the memories of all who knew her and even those who didn’t as she’s perpetually brought back to life in the form of lingering scents, discarded letters and even by the diabolically manipulative housekeeper Ms. Danvers. The new Mrs. de Winter finds herself constantly undermined and inadequate when compared to Rebecca and her once-posh life, and she worries her husband will never be satisfied with her. It isn’t until an evening when the truth of Maxim and Rebecca’s relationship is revealed that the ghost’s overbearing presence will finally seem to fade.

— Featured on HuffPost and suggested by author R.L. Stine

Ira Levin’s classic, “Rosemary’s Baby,” brought about a new era of modern horror, one that removed mythical boogeymen from far off English moors and vampiric castles and placed them right into the New York City dwellings of the modern age. This occult-laced thriller, which became one of the bestselling books of all time, tells of Rosemary Woodhouse and her actor husband, Guy. When the beautiful couple move into the Bramford, a highly sought-after, if not notorious, Manhattan apartment building, they quickly become acquainted with their somewhat overbearing neighbors, the Castevets. Curious events and inexplicable tensions develop between Rosemary and Guy as they continue to reside at the Bramford. And when Rosemary becomes pregnant and Guy finally lands a major acting role under mysterious circumstances, the Castevets become even more involved in the Woodhouses’ lives and in Rosemary’s well-being in particular. After being tipped off to their possibly satanic intentions, Rosemary becomes increasingly suspicious of the no-longer-innocuous older couple, launching her into a psychological mind-trap of good versus evil.

— Featured on HuffPost and suggested by author R.L. Stine

LGBTQIA+ activist and prominent journalist George M. Johnson said they felt compelled to write “All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto” because it was a book they wanted to read, but it just hadn’t been written yet. A reflective series of personal essays about Johnson’s formative years, and more specifically what it meant to grow up Black and queer, this memoir is a depiction of Johnson’s efforts to navigate a society that wasn’t built for them. Their at-times difficult-to-read first-person accounts and unapologetic prose help reveal just how deeply ingrained biases can lie and how the hyper-prevalence of heteronormativity everywhere affects anyone existing outside of that rigid structure. “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” recently removed from school libraries in at least nine states, was named one of 2020’s best books by Amazon, the New York and Chicago public libraries and Kirkus Reviews. This eye-opening and even heartbreaking recollection is also at its essence a testament to Johnson’s ability to provide a lifeline for readers on how to respond and recognize abuses and how to get help when you need it.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

"The 1619 Project," created by Nikole Hannah-Jones, is an extensive catalog of essays, poems and pieces of fiction that show how the racist sentiments that informed slavery reach contemporary American society in every facet, including health care, politics and capitalism. The project, recommended for high schoolers and beyond, is a journalistic endeavor that’s become an Amazon bestseller and has been at the forefront of conservative opposition as it pertains to the history and impact of racism in America. It has also been made into a documentary series available on Hulu. You can also donate this book to be distributed to schools and community organizations across the country.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

“The Bluest Eye,'' an incredibly heavy yet vital premier novel by the late and acclaimed Toni Morrison, details the life of Pecola, an African American girl growing up as a foster child in the largely white Anglo-Saxon Protestant community of Lorain, Ohio. Told in a series of flashbacks and changing narrative perspectives, readers get a necessary look at Pecola’s existence, which has been filled with abuse and devastating betrayals at the hand of the racist social structures surrounding her. Our title comes from Pecola’s dreams of having blue eyes and achieving the white ideal of beauty — a notion that eventually leads to her racially induced self-loathing and ultimate tragic downfall. Last year’s third-most challenged book, according to the American Library Association, Morrison’s unflinching yet beautiful prose forces readers to reckon with the harshest parts of our history and the many grueling ways that racism affects those who are not white.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

Justin Richardson’s children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” tells the heartwarming and true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who raised an orphaned chick together at the Central Park Zoo. The picture book was published in 2005, and, despite its truthful and real-life origins, it has been challenged for years by various ultraconservative groups that have argued the story is “unsuitable for young children” because of the “homosexual overtones.” Sweetly illustrated in soft watercolors, this uplifting story features themes of family and love as young readers follow the two dedicated and enthusiastic fathers who do a great job of hatching their funny and adorable daughter, Tango.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by banned children’s book author Todd Parr

We’re big fans of Anna Hezel’s 2023 “Tin to Table,” a culinary ode to the briny delicacies of tinned fish. The author is also a senior editor at Epicurious, and her book, with more than 50 recipes, is perfect for anyone aiming for no-fuss snacks or quick and creative meals. Taking inspiration from the shores of the “Mediterranean to the salmon smokehouses of Alaska and the deep blue coves of Spain and beyond,” this cheeky cookbook has enchanted many and was also named one of Bon Appétit’s Best Cookbooks of Spring 2023. Hezel’s simple and delicious recipes are perfect for quick meals that won’t skimp on taste. Chef Charlotte Langley, co-founder and chef of Scout, a responsibly sourced craft tinned-seafood cannery, is a fan of the book as well: “A treasure trove of tinned fish cooking secrets… As much as I love experimenting in the kitchen, there’s something about the convenience and versatility of tinned fish that has always captivated me.” One of the many standout recipes is the Vermouth hour potato chips with mussels, olives and piparras — take this and throw in a riverside view and you have the ultimate summer experience.

— Featured in HuffPost Books

There’s a reason you’ve seen the brightly colored tantalizing cover of Abi Balingit’s “Mayumu” on just about everyone’s baking “it” list of 2023: It’s like the baking revolution we all wanted but the publishing industry didn’t know it needed. Balingit’s delicious and fun debut is an ingenious reimagining of Filipino American dessert recipes with essays about the Filipino American experience by the baker and author. It comes heavily recommended by fans and the media. Jonny Sun, New York Times bestselling author of “Goodbye, Again,” gushed about the cookbook: “Every recipe and every story in ‘Mayumu’ bursts off the page with joy, love, ingenuity and personality. Abi’s work is vibrant, eclectic, comforting, funny, deeply moving, and, to me, feels like a uniquely perfect articulation of the intricacies, depths and jubilations of being Asian American. ‘Mayumu’ is a celebration of what it means to be human and alive today. I absolutely adore this book.”

— Featured on HuffPost

If you don’t have plans to be on a Mediterranean isle this summer, try immersing yourself in the recently published Greek cookbook “Salt of the Earth” from Athens-born Carolina Doriti. The chef, food stylist and culinary producer of the BBC TV series “My Greek Table,” Doriti writes about food with an expert inquisitiveness of the history of Greek gastronomy and lost recipes.Diane Kochilas, author and presenter of “My Greek Table,” praised Doriti’s 2023 “Salt of the Earth” for the author’s “obviously deep knowledge of the Greek landscape in every dish she lovingly and generously prepares. To have captured the traditional soul of the Greek table and to give it a breath of fresh air is a beautiful thing.” This treasure of Greek recipes and stories is an eruption of flavors that immerses readers with a focus on Greek local produce and ancient techniques. It’s beautiful enough to leave out on your coffee table, with photography set against the backdrop of Greece’s mainland and islands. Personal favorite dishes include the “monastery-style” aubergine salad with black olives and sun-dried tomatoes and the “melopita,” a baked honey cheesecake recipe based on an ancient version from the book “Deipnosophistae,” written by Athenaeus in 230 CE.

— Featured on HuffPost

Proving that cooking doesn’t have to be an elaborate dance in the kitchen, New York Times food contributor Ali Slagle compiled a list of recipes that are quick and flexible for the at-home chef. Named a best cookbooks of the year by many of the most prominent tastemakers, including Bon Appétit and Epicurious, “I Dream of Dinner” uses inexpensive and readily available ingredients that you’re likely to already have, like eggs, noodles, beans and chicken. Each chapter focuses on different flavor combinations and offers alternatives to recipes if substitutions are needed. With an ability to transform the mundane into magic, even the most time-crunched of cooks can whip up dishes like fish and chips or a farro carbonara using eight ingredients or less and in just 45 minutes. There’s even delicious and easy-to-make kids meals, like kid-approved enchiladas, green beans and grains with gochujang butter, and coconut-ginger rice with lentils.

— Featured in HuffPost Books and suggested by food editor Kristen Aiken