Best of 2023: Fiction

 One of my favorite things to do each year is look back at the books I've read.  They aren't all winners, but in general, there are always a lot of really great books.  I felt like 2023 brought an embarrassment of riches in terms of good reading.  Out of the 229 books I read, I have shared 10 middle grade and YA, 11 nonfiction books, and have whittled down my fiction books so that I am sharing my favorite fifteen.  I could easily have included more and each time I look over the book covers from 2023, I find one (or two) that I can't believe I didn't share.  But here are the fifteen I think are amazing:

1. Mother Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon- this is a fun little murder mystery set in a small coastal town; Lana (the grandmother) has a high-powered job and jet-setting life in LA, but during her cancer treatment finds herself convalescing with her daughter and granddaughter.  When Jack (the granddaughter) finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation, Lana can't help but carry out an investigation of her own.

2.  Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano - if I were forced to pick one favorite of the year, this may very well be the one.  Although there are some Little Women similarities, this story about the four Padavano sisters actually focuses on William Waters, the boyfriend and then husband of Julia, one of the sisters.  I loved every single word of this one, the heartbreak, the family relationships, the flawed characters.  

3.  Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas- Dallas has been one of my must-read authors for years, and her latest book was devastating to me.  I didn't see the heartbreak coming, and couldn't stop thinking about it after I turned the last page.  Set in 1916 in Wyoming, Ellen moves to this desolate and unforgiving land where she meets and falls in love with Charlie Bacon.  Life for these pioneers is hard, yet their love endures.

4.  The House is On Fire by Rachel Beanland - set in Richmond, Virginia in 1811, this story is based on the true story of the Richmond theater fire that killed seventy two people.  Told from a few perspectives, this event was devastating- more women and slaves were killed than men (who were able to save themselves).  Reading this fictional account piqued my interest to learn more about this.

5.  Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum - this is the perfect beach read and I loved reading this one while on vacation.  Several families summer on Fire Island each year. They seem to live perfect lives, but there is deceit, betrayal, and even a murder.  

6.  Stealing by Margaret Verble - set in the 1950s, Kit is being raised by her grief stricken dad after the death of his wife (Kit's mother). Kit makes friends with a neighbor, Bella, as she often walks by her house.  But after a tragedy occurs, Kit, who is Cherokee, is sent away where she is indoctrinated with what the White people want her to know, and suffers greatly.  She documents this all in her jouranl.

7.  Zero Days by Ruth Ware- if you're looking for a suspenseful read you can't put down, this is the book.  Jack and her husband Gabe are hired by companies to hack into their security systems to test their efficacy.  A routine assignment goes horribly wrong and Jack returns home to find her husband murdered.  She is the only suspect, and must go into hiding and clear her name. Lots of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages.

8.Yellowface by R F Kuang- set in the world of publishing, this one is interesting and would be perfect for a book club selection.  Two authors, Athena and June, are frenemies of sorts as Athena finds her star rising and June struggles for each small success.  When Athena dies suddenly June takes Athena's work and passes it off as her own - and passes herself off as Asian.  

9. Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft - a twisted story; Bea grew up watching her mother swindle men.  Now she's about to marry a man from a well-off family and things seem to be working out for Bea - except her fiance's best friend, Gale, seems to be on to Bea and her schemes.  A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.

10.  Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier- set in the glamorous world of showjumping, the Parkers, who have newly acquired money, move to a new community where Heather becomes a barn mom as she signs her daughters up for lessons and decides that she will give them the childhood and advantages she never had.  But there are lots of secrets and even a suspicious death in the small community they have enmeshed themselves in.

11.  The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - in 1962 Ruthie, a four year Mi'qmak girl goes missing one day while she and her family are picking berries in Maine.  Although the family searches, they are never able to find her and return to Nova Scotia.  June was adopted by a well-to-do family as a small girl, and has strange dreams that seem more like memories. Jack is nearing the end of his life, unable to forget the younger sister he lost years ago, something he has always blamed himself for. 

12.  Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - Set in 1789, I wasn't sure this was going to be the book for me, but I'm so glad I was wrong.  This is a fictional account of Martha Ballard, a midwife, as well as a murder mystery.  I thoroughly enjoyed the suspense, but also Lawhon's writing - the way she depicted Ballard's marriage, and the clever way in which Ballard thought.  I am wanting to know more about this remarkable woman.

13.  Moloka'i by Alan Brennert- this back list book has been sitting on my shelves for years.  Finally I picked it up - and loved it.  Rachel is growing up in beautiful Hawaii in the late 1800s with her family, but when she has some sores that her parents know is leprosy, she exiled to Kalaupapa, an isolatd place for lepers on the island of Moloka'i.  Despite the tragedy in her life, Rachel grows up, finds friends and makes a family with the other lepers on the island.  Although it would seem that her life was a tragedy, instead it felt like one of joy.

14.  Beyond That, The Sea by Laura Spence-Ash - set in 1940, Beatrix is sent by her parents from their working class home in England to the United States so she can be safe from the bombs falling during WWII.  She is welcomed by the Gregory family - parents and sons William and Gerald and feels a part of their family almost right away. Although she misses her parents, and they write letters, her stay with the Gregorys ends up lasting much longer than was ever intended, and moving back home her parents realize how much she has changed.  This connection is life-long as the two families find themselves intertwined even after the war ends.

15.  Go As A River by Shelley Read - set in Iola, Colorado, a town that was intentionally flooded in the 1960s, Victoria a teenage girl who is taking care of her father and brother after her mother's death, meets Wil, a young man unlike any she has ever known.  Their relationship isn't one that can ever happen, and after Victoria finds herself pregnant she moves to the woods and lives by herself until she delivers a baby.  This story spans decades as the infant is placed in the car of a family who is picnicking in these mountains one day, and eventually comes full circle.  This one has received a lot of attention and after I read it early in 2023, I knew instantly it would be on my list of best books, if not at the very top of the list.

I've started my 2024 reading, and can't wait to have another year full of good books.