The Best Books I Read in 2023

[@becausereadingis]

I love that you are splitting these by age range. I am the book gift mom/aunt, so your all range recs help me find books for me, my kid, and my niblings 😁😁😁

[@BookishRealm]

Yay! I’m glad it helps!

[@owlsreads]

I have We Deserve Monuments in my 2024 TBR! I also loved Delicious Monsters and am really looking forward to Tender Beasts by Sambury this year.

[@BookishRealm]

Me too! I’m so excited to read it!

[@natcatsbookishcafe3799]

So excited to read The Spirit Bares its Teeth, chose it for a book club in April, but wish I could read it sooner!

[@BookishRealm]

It’s soooo good! I hope you enjoy it!

[@WildeBookGarden]

YES That Flag is easily one of the best picture books I've read! and yep, Michaela Goade is officially in my top 5 illustrators oh gosh, Simon Sort of Says was incredibly difficult but so excellent. I don't think I would have read it if it weren't for the Goodreads projects, but I'm glad I did

[@natcatsbookishcafe3799]

I reread the first Warriors series that last year (or at least started to , hoping to read book 5 & 6 this month) and was so surprised by how much I was loving them! Praying my library has the rest of the series, cause I definitely want to keep reading from this author :)

[@BookishRealm]

I’m hoping to dive more into them this year as well!

[@heabooktubes]

Warriors had a chokehold on me. I might be starting Badlands. 😅

[@BookishRealm]

Yes do it!!! lol they’re so good.

[@NerdyNatReads]

Omg this just makes me so much more excited to pick up Spirit Bares its Teeth bc I loved AJW’s first book.

[@leabhairagustae7279]

So many new books added to my TBR now! Another great video Ashley

[@BookishRealm]

Yay! Thank you!

[@MichelleK.B.]

New fan of your channel. I worked in my middle school library years ago and never outgrew middle grade and YA books so I love the variety of books you cover. Two of my favorite reads of 2023 were The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar and the YA Nsibidi Scripts series by Nnedi Okorafor. I was a little late to the game with The Map of Salt and Stars since it came out in 2018 but I loved the characters, the fantasy elements, the history, and the insight into the Syrian refugee crisis. I had bought the third book in the Nsibidi Scripts series, Akata Woman, not realizing it was part of a series so then I bought the first two Akata Witch and Akata Warrior. I had wanted to read Okarafor’s adult books but found them daunting and there was so much I loved about this YA series. The characters and their relationships with each other and their families and the magic... I really recommend them. Other books I enjoyed were the first in the Thursday Murder Club series that others have mentioned. I look forward to reading the others. In a similar vein plus a little romance was Sophie Go’s Lonely Hearts Club by Roselle Lim that I found at the library. Two other library finds I liked were This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith and the poetry book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay. In 2024 I look forward to some books sitting on my TBR: We Deserve Monuments, Zeyn Joukhadar’s The Thirty Names of Night, and Clint Smith’s poetry book Above Ground.

[@BookishRealm]

I hope you love We Deserve Monuments!

[@maiasita]

Thanks! Amazing list, I so appreciate everything you do!

[@RaspberryDevil]

I liked that you structured your video by age categories, this was easier to follow, thank you 🐢✨️ I didn't get to Hell followed with us last year but I hope to get to it by the end of the month. Also I need to read Yellowface just to see what all the reviews talk about :')

[@BookishRealm]

Thanks for watching love! ❤️

[@mlet-q9g]

I like your top reads, especially the last end with the adult section. My best read for 2023 was If You Tell by Gregg Olsen. Powerful but true story. I am now reading his other book The Last Thing She Ever Did.

[@BookishRealm]

❤️❤️❤️

[@amyelevens]

I love all of your book videos but I especially look forward to your middle grade recs! Also what a coincidence, I'm about to start Delicious Monsters.

[@BookishRealm]

Yessss! I hope you love it!

[@emroyka]

Loved to hear you talk about all these best books of 2023, so many that I still need to try out!✨💖📚

[@BookishRealm]

I hope you enjoy them!

[@carterfrvr]

Have you read "Big Tree" by Brian Selznick? It's an MG novel that Selznick wrote based on ideas for a film that he wanted to do. I never thought I would get emotional over plants. And the illustrations are obviously amazing, but bringing human feelings to the smallest aspects of nature is just amazing.

[@BookishRealm]

I haven’t but I’ve heard good things!

[@greysonkeller5418]

All but one of your YA favs and all your picture book favs were some of my favs i read this year! And now going to try the middle grade books you recommended!

[@BookishRealm]

Yay! I hope you enjoy.

[@becausereadingis]

We Deserve Monuments jumped straight to a favorite of all time after I read it. 26:56

[@BookishRealm]

It’s so good!!!

[@devonmunn5728]

Added Simon Sort of Says to my TBR. Also your locs look really good

[@BookishRealm]

Aww thank you love ❤️

[@hollylawson5833]

Great Best of video! Fav books for me were: Slowly, Slowly by Toni Yuly (picture book), Iveliz Explains It All (middle grade) and Throwback by Maurene Goo (YA)

[@BookishRealm]

I still need to read all of those!

[@jessicafalkner9785]

I just got We Deserve Monuments delivered today and can't wait to read it. God of Good Looks was one of my favorites of 2023 also.

[@BookishRealm]

Yes it was such a good read!!

[@Tamya999]

I lovedddddd we deserve monuments! I listened to it on audio from Libby and immediately bought a physical copy as soon as i finished

[@BookishRealm]

Me too!!!

[@mariasmiles68]

The Mountains Sing is one OI would like to read. Honestly, some of the Young and MG books are ones I'm interested in checking out as well. I went to a book signing in Nov for local author Kate DiCamillo for The Puppets of Spelhorst. I love the illustrations. Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

[@BookishRealm]

I need to read more of Kate’s works!

[@nylorac1984]

One of my 2023 favorites was, "Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute." I am going to try 0utlander in 2024. Happy Reading ❤

[@BookishRealm]

Good luck with Outlander!!! ❤️❤️

[@amandabell516]

Thank you for this list. I look forward to reading delicious monsters.

[@BookishRealm]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@dobetterwithchristian4472]

I rarely see people talk about the God of Good Looks and I loved it! Only for the Week was really good too.😊

[@BookishRealm]

It's so good! 😊

[@ghanshyamsingh3653]

I was waiting for Bea Wolf...👉👈🤔 !! A wonderful video, all were already in my tbr list...totally gonna re-prioritise them asap...💙👍💙👍

[@BookishRealm]

lol it’ll be on the other channel

[@sweeteliz]

Demon Copperhead was the best book I read in 2023-- but The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club; Book 4) was right up there on its heels... and it is the only cozy mystery I have EVER given 5 stars! Looking forward to many books in 2024 but the next one to release is Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson.

[@BookishRealm]

I’m on hold for this first one in that series!!

[@Khedra]

Have you ever read Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou? If so, what is your opinion of that in comparison to Yellowface? My favorite reads for 2023 were Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson and Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. Some new releases I am looking forward to in 2024 are The Mayor of Maxwell Street, Bright Red Fruit, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, The Fox Wife, Island Witch, The American Daughters, This Could Be Us, Immortal Pleasures, A Crane Among Wolves, Mirrored Heavens, The Truth According to Ember. That is just to name a few.😂

[@BookishRealm]

Not yet! I’ll check it out. And all of those sound great! 😊

[@lusalma5404]

I enjoyed Delicious Monsters and just finished Only for the Week. I do hope we see more from the other characters. You are correct in the fact that it does well in the toxic family relationships. For what I am looking forward to... that is harder (maybe it's because we've had no sun in a couple weeks so SADS is hitting rather hard and all I want is sleep) but Silence Fallen by Patty Briggs and whatever Ilona Andrews gives me as I am a happy member of the BDH :)

[@BookishRealm]

I really want to try Ilona Andrews this year! Any recommendations on where to start?

[@lusalma5404]

@@BookishRealm Complicated :) I did see that they are doing a read along of the Kinsmen universe books which is a set of 4 novellas that are more Sci-fi romance and that may be of interest. I love them. Not sure if it was Shae or Mara. Innkeeper Chronicles is their self pub and a good adventure. It has a webtoon adaptation on Tapas that is coming to print format this year. (I did not particularly care for the changes to the original book, but overall it is a good adaptation and I know you enjoy graphic novels). The graphic audio adaptations were really well done, but the e-books have the artwork included. The Hidden Legacy Series really shows off their strengths and it is 2 trilogies currently. Kate Daniels is the most traditionally UF, however the first book is a bit rough, though you can skip to the second without losing too much. Otherwise, they have a good bit of freebies unrelated to series on their website and I do encourage a checkout to see if you like their writing style. Scroll down to the bottom for the short stories. ilona-andrews.com/free-fiction/

[@lusalma5404]

Oh I forgot the Edge books - which are more traditional romance (with magic and adventure and snark).

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Such a great list as always ❤ One book I am excited for in 2024 is probably the new Kiley Reid … Come & Get It I think it’s called.

[@BookishRealm]

Ooo I have an audio of that one. I’m nervous to read it lol.

[@caitlinlucyhenderson8417]

I focused pretty heavily on adult SFF in last year, but I'll include the best of MG/YA I read too. Adult fiction: If Found, Return to Hell; The Pomegranate Gate; The Archive Undying; Some Desperate Glory; The Saint of Bright Doors; The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi; Thistlefoot Best adult series: The Muderbot Diaries series; The Green Bone saga; The Broken Earth trilogy; The Singing Hills cycle; The Radiant Emperor duology Best adult non-fiction: The New Age of Empire; NeuroTribes Best YA: To Shape a Dragon's Breath; We Deserve Monuments Best MG: Every Bird a Prince; Unraveller

[@BookishRealm]

This is such a good list!

[@jaleesaRBTBC]

One of my top reads that I was pleasantly surprised by was The Vanquishers by Kalynn Bayron. You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight was ok, so to read one of her middle-grade books and enjoy it, I was stunned. lol My most anticipated reads of next year are Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams and Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma. I'm a sucker for vampires. Pun intended. 🧛🏽‍♀🧛🏽‍♀🧛🏽‍♀

[@BookishRealm]

I need to get to The Vanquishers too!!

[@josieann4390]

💜💜

[@EvieM1]

❤

[@BookishRealm]

❤️❤️❤️

[@annegibson6072]

There is a companion to James Baldwin called The Gospel According to James Baldwin by Greg Garrett. If you are still interested in the Trump presidency, I highly recommend the Liz Cheney book Oath and Honor. It is very well written.

[@BookishRealm]

Yesss! I have it on hold!

[@dlyn1124]

Erin Hunter has taken so much of my money over the past two years fooling around with those cats 😭I guess, we're going to the jungle now...

[@BookishRealm]

Lmao yessss do it!

[@Hiwa1105]