The Must-Read Books of 2023

Three years after losing their beloved patriarch, Flores and her mother, Paula butt heads about everything: their respective jobs, romantic lives (or lack thereof) and what they're going to do about their impending eviction. This is a story about love and loss, the meaning of family and the importance of community, passion and what happens when it's misdirected or lost entirely. It's one of those books where the characters quickly feel like friends, then family. You won't be able to put it down.

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This stunning crime epic starts off with a car crash that leaves five people dead, a driver who wasn't supposed to be there and a lot of unanswered questions. More Qs emerge throughout as we come to know the wealthy Wadia family, loyal servant Ajay and journalist Neda, who all find themselves swept up in a complex, gasp-inducing drama that accelerates to an explosive ending. Block out some time: You won't be able to put this one down.

Sure, Katrina knows every detail of her coworker Kurt's life, but that doesn't make her a stalker. And yeah, she followed him to a bridge late at night where she sees him jump to his death right after he tells her it's all her fault. But she's the victim here...right? This surreal mystery is perfect for fans of Severance or anyone who wishes their own workplace had a little more spice.

The writer who brought us The Final Girl Support Group and The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires returns with the heartfelt, terrifying and yes, funny story of two siblings locked in a battle over selling their late parents' house. It just so happens that the house wants in on the wrestling match, and it's full of dolls who can't seem to stay put. Maybe put your kids' stuffies in the closet for this one.

It's 1976 and three secretive siblings have been shot in the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina. The authorities don't have a sense of urgency about the crime, but someone has a lot of questions for which she expects answers — Jo Wright, freshly back home from NYC and ready to take matters into her own hands. You'll find yourself rooting for the nosy, self-appointed detective as she uncovers far more than she bargained for in her hunt for justice.

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These 10 compelling stories follow characters that feel as real as I do, grappling with human struggles that feel both uniquely new and nearly universal. If you're looking for a collection that will touch your heart and make you look at your fellow humans more generously, this one's a can't-miss.

Freaky Friday is all grown up in this heartfelt and heartwarming tale of two women in very different circumstances who get the chance to quite literally walk in each other's shoes after a bag mix-up at the gym. From the storyteller behind Me Before You comes a story of reinvention that just might inspire you to make a change yourself — just buy your own shoes.

Kit, a young Cherokee girl, gets ripped away from what's left of her family and sent to a Christian boarding school just when she's most vulnerable. There, she suffers horrifying abuse but finds solace in her journal, where she records what happens to her and what she remembers about her past. It's a historical reckoning with a hint of mystery that keeps the plot past-your-bedtime propulsive.

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A queer feminist retelling of the 1970's film Taxi Driver, this one had me laughing loud enough to draw looks on the subway, and that takes some doing. It's a crackling social commentary on the social justice movements of our time, the gig economy, performative wokeness and who gets to speak on behalf of the disadvantaged. It's a fast-paced read that begs to be devoured.

A privileged boarding school that covered up an old murder, a former student-turned-podcast host and guest professor who can't help digging up long-buried secrets, and all the fallout thereof? This psychological thriller hits all the high notes, complete with at least a few revelations you won't see coming.

In this hilarious and heartwarming novel, the Ramirez family is still reeling after 13-year-old Ruthy disappeared 12 years ago. So when oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on a raunchy reality TV show that she swears is Ruthy, she just has to know for sure. Together with her mother Dolores and youngest sister Nina, they set off from Staten Island on a road trip that will show them just how much family means, even through some snort-inducing hijinks.

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From the dead-eyed stare of Elizabeth Holmes to the snake oil shysters of old, America loves a scam. Or at least, that's what best friends and sometimes-lovers Ezra and Orson are banking on. The two meet at a summer camp for troubled teens and are soon using Orson's Adonis-like looks as the frontman for Nulife, a company that promises bliss. But just like the wizard behind the curtain, things aren't what they seem in this delightfully suspenseful novel.

Spooky season may have passed, but the occult obeys no laws of man, calendar included. In this fierce, feminist historical fiction, a London men's club claims to communicate with the dead, but their chicanery is threatened by an indomitable spiritualist who actually does. This is a gripping story you'll want to read in broad daylight, full of delicious scandal that goes all the way to the top, then back down into the depths of darkness.

Fans of plucky heroines will find a lot to love in Sallie, the daughter of big-shot Duke and sister to the timid Eddie. When an accident leads to her banishment, everyone in their small Virginia town all but gives up on her. But Sallie returns nine years later ready to fight for her place in the family, and there's a lot of spunk in Sallie yet.

The past few years have caused a lot of us to question truths we'd previously taken for granted: Who is the "middle class?" When we say we're there for each other, what does that really mean? Who defines the "American dream," anyway? In this beautiful and thought-provoking memoir, Chung explores great depths of grief and rage as she takes a hard look at the pervasive inequality in American society and what community really means.

Based on the unsolved mystery of a mass poisoning in 1951, this wonderfully weird book sees the residents of a small town lose their collective minds. Some say it's spoiled bread, some say it's a government conspiracy, but whatever the cause, mass hysteria has everyone vibrating at a fever pitch. And then an alluring new couple arrives in town, and things escalate even further. You'll just have to read to see what I mean.

This is a memoir of a woman who recommits to herself after heartbreak, but it's also a meditation on patriarchal power dynamics, a mother's love for her children and what that means in today's world and how to bet on yourself, even and especially when we're told not to. If you expected Smith's latest to serve as a balm for the soul and a rallying cry for the heart, you won't be disappointed.

Ozro’s disappearance on his 37th birthday breaks his wife and daughter’s hearts, especially as the years go by without a trace. Shuttling from the 1970s to the 1990s and following the fraught journey of the Great Migration to Detroit and New York, this is a story of how the cords of one family’s hopes can fray over time, especially if some of its members hold secrets that test their strength.

When Gerry dies suddenly, his far-flung family returns to Georgia to mourn their patriarch. But when his best friend reveals a shocking secret during his eulogy, it throws the clan into turmoil. Suddenly, the Williams cousins are forced to confront their own secrets while grappling with a new perspective on the man they thought they knew in this heartwarming family saga.

As a baby, Olivia narrowly escaped being murdered and now that she’s a mother herself, the “dead women” that haunted her mom have begun whispering to her too. Olivia’s post-partum life isn’t the joyful time she expected, and she’s starting to suspect her baby isn’t hers at all. This harrowing tale of what it means to be a good mother will keep you up at night, whether you have kids or not.