Authors share their favorite reads of 2023 and most anticipated books of 2024 (Pt. 1 of 4)

As I was putting together my Top 10 Reads of 2023, I wondered what the writers of those books enjoyed reading last year. And I thought the readers of this blog would probably be interested to learn that too. So I contacted a few dozen writers and asked them if they would share up to five favorite books from 2023 and five books they’re looking forward to reading this year (preferably those being published this year). I received so many responses that I’ve decided to share them in two posts, one today and another later this week. Some authors wrote a sentence (or a few) about their choices, while others chose to go with a list.

Part 1 features Corie Adjmi, Mary Camarillo, Lauren Grodstein, Elizabeth Gonzalez James, Caroline Leavitt, Mary Morris, Barbara Ridley, Roxana Robinson, Christine Sneed, Gina Sorell, Barbara Stark-Nemon, and Hilary Zaid.

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Mary Morris is the author of The Jazz Palace, Gateway to the Moon, the travel memoirs Nothing to Declare and All the Way to the Tigers, and several other books.

A lot of my reading in 2023 involved World War II as I’m doing research for that period. But the book that overlapped both research and pleasure, The Postcard by Anne Berest, was definitely my favorite book of 2023. This melding of memoir and fiction, the depth of her dive into the Holocaust, and the mystery of it all really held me.  

In 2024 I am very psyched to read Caroline Leavitt’s new novel, Days of Wonder. The early blurbs and descriptions sound incredible, and I think this will be a big book for her. I’m also excited to read North Woods by Daniel Mason if I can get it away from my husband and, I believe, next my daughter. Apparently, I have to stand in line. It was, after all, one of the NYT’s top ten books for 2023.  

I’m enjoying galleys of Russell Banks’ posthumous novellas, American Spirits (coming out in March), and Valerie Martin’s very entertaining Mrs. Gulliver, about a blind prostitute.  

Lauren Grodstein is the author of We Must Not Think of Ourselves (the Today Show/Read with Jenna pick for December 2023), Our Short History, The Explanation for Everything, and three other books.

A few books I loved in 2023 included Aaron Hamburger’s lively historical novel Hotel Cuba, Jimin Han’s delightful and witty The Apology, and An Immense World by Ed Yong, which was published in 2022 but which I finished, with great pleasure, over the summer of 2023. 

Next year I can’t wait to read Laurie Frankel’s Family, Family, Sarah Seltzer’s The Singer Sisters, and my brilliant former student Michael Deagler’s Early Sobrieties.

Gina Sorell is the author of The Wise Women and Mothers and Other Strangers.

It’s impossible to narrow this down. I read so many great books, so I’m going to recommend the books that I talked about the most this year.

Hurricane Girl – Marcy Dermansky: I told everyone about this book. It is wildly original and I loved the unreliable narrator. I couldn’t put it down.

Yellowface – R.F. Kuang: I loved all the publishing stuff. The novel is an engaging read, terrifying at times, and darkly hilarious.

Better Luck Next Time – Kate Hilton: This book came out during COVID, so I missed it. But it’s wonderful! A smart, hilarious family drama.

Books I’m looking forward to:

Days of Wonder – Caroline Leavitt: I adore Caroline’s work and must admit I’ve read a galley of Days of Wonder, and it’s terrific! A sweeping, heartbreaking, juicy page-turner. I can’t wait to hold the finished copy and recommend it to everyone.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last – Xochitl Gonzalez: I loved Xochitl’s debut, Olga Dies Dreaming, and I can’t wait to read her next book. It sounds like a smart, compulsively engaging read!

Blank – Zibby Owens: Zibby is a massive supporter of writers, and I look forward to supporting her! Her adult fiction debut sounds witty, wise, and utterly delectable.

Roxana Robinson is the author of Sparta, Dawson’s Fall, Cost, and seven other books, including a biography of Georgia O’Keeffe. Her new book, Leaving, will be published on February 13.

My favorite books from 2023 were Anne Enright’s The Wren, The Wren and Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses. Lovely, pellucid writing, both stories set in complicated, contemporary Ireland.

Elizabeth Gonzalez James is the author of The Bullet Swallower (out Jan. 23) and Mona at Sea.

Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy: I am very new to gardening, as was Ms. Dungy at the beginning of this book. I love her patient approach with her garden and herself as she learns how to work with her environment, and to reject notions of what is desirable and undesirable in a landscape. 

How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy and Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell: I read these two books back to back this year and immediately want to read them again. Odell has such a fascinatingly slant way of looking at the world. Her calls for rejecting the various paradigms we all live in and suffer under are nothing short of revolutionary. 

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: This should be required reading for the human race. Kimmerer’s expertise as a biologist and her grace as a human being are an antidote for the callous way we treat the natural world. Reading her gives me hope. 

How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz: This is one of the best examples of narrative voice in a novel that I’ve seen in recent memory. Cruz’s heroine is trying to stay afloat during the Great Recession, and though statisticians may brand her an “unskilled laborer,” her expertise in generosity and survival is on ample display in this delightful story. 

And for 2024 I’m looking forward to reading The Sons of El Rey by Alex Espinoza and Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima. 

Barbara Ridley is the author of When It’s Over and the forthcoming Unswerving (out March 26.)

My favorite reads of 2023:

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: This novel blew me away with its wonderful prose, fascinating setting, and great plot twists; as soon as I finished its 700 pages I started again and re-read the whole thing because I didn’t want to leave the characters.

The Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins: A family saga infused with the landscape of the Eastern Sierras and its water wars, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, and gourmet French cuisine.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingslover: As a long time Kingsolver fan who’s been disappointed with some of her recent novels, I was thrilled to delve into this story with its wonderful characters and powerful indictment of the forces behind the opioid epidemic in rural America. 

We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian: A gut-wrenching look at the hidden story of the birth families of the children killed in a sensational murder-suicide, and an indictment of the foster care system that failed them so disastrously.

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett: I love anything by Patchett but especially her personal essays.

What I am looking forward to reading in 2024 

The Postcard by Anne Berest: Highly recommended by Bill, I believe.

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai: I love her other novels.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang: Sounds intriguing

The Fraud by Zadie Smith: One of my favorite authors 

Knife by Salman Rushdie: His memoir about his life in hiding when he was under the Fatwa was compelling, and I’m looking forward to reading his reflections on the brutal attack he suffered in 2022.

Christine Sneed is the author of the novels Little Known Facts and Paris He Said, the story collections Direct Sunlight and The Virginity of Famous Men, and most recently, Please Be Advised: A Novel in Memos.

Here are 3 books I really enjoyed last year:

Love & Trouble by Claire Dederer

The Children of This Madness by Gemini Wahhaj

The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez

I’m looking forward to reading these books in 2024:

Twilight of the Gods by Kurt Baumeister

The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell

The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers by Sarah Tomlinson

Corie Adjmi is the author of The Marriage Box and Life and Other Shortcomings: Stories.

Favorites of 2023:

The Guest by Emma Cline
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Israel by Noa Tishby
Accountable by Dashka Slater
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

TBR in 2024:

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman, Illustrated by David Polonsky

Mary Camarillo is the author of Those People Behind Us and The Lockhart Women.

My Favorite Books of 2023

Now You Are a Missing Person: A Memoir in Poems, Stories, & Fragments by Susan Hayden: Stories, essays, poems and fragments are woven together in this uniquely structured scrapbook of author Susan Hayden’s fascinating life, her devastating losses, and her joy at the unexpected return of love.

The Heart of It All by Christian Kiefer: Set in a failing small town in Ohio during the Trump presidency, three families are rocked by grief, unbearable loss, and financial worries as they search for home and community across divides that are real and imagined.

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal: Stradal’s latest novel tracks three generations of Bear Jaw, Minnesota families from 1934 to the present as they work hard, fall in love, make terrible decisions, are burdened by family obligations and expectations, and still manage to find hope.

What I’m Looking Forward to Reading This Year

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas: I loved Cañas’s “Vampires of El Norte” and I’m looking forward to her latest novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, evoking “Mexican Gothic” meets “Rebecca.”

The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James: One of my favorite novels of 2021 was James’ “Mona at Sea” and I can’t wait to dive into her forthcoming release, described as a “dazzling magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez.”

The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories by Ursula Le Guin: In my opinion, everyone needs more LeGuin in their lives, so I’ve signed up for a short course on the works of Ursula LeGuin. This collection of eight stories that “probe the essence of humanity” is part of the syllabus.

Barbara Stark-Nemon is the author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider.

Favorite Books of 2023

Go as a River by Shelley Read: A coming of age story at different ages, a story of motherhood, and a story of growing peaches and love of land.

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: This family saga, following one woman and three generations in South India, brings the mysteries of medicine, spirituality, and culture to life with brilliant storytelling. Verghese narrates the audiobook and it’s brilliant.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett: Full disclosure: I love Ann Patchett, but in addition, this book is set in Northern Michigan and involves fruit growing, so since my second novel has the same setting and similar themes, I knew I would love this book.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver: A Pulitzer Prize winner, the best Kingsolver yet. 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng: Ng’s skill in portraying lost children and the way they find love mixes with her incredible plotting in this poignant novel. Librarians, poets, and politics, too.

Books I’m looking forward to reading in 2024 

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo: Set in the time of my work in progress (Golden Age of Spain) with a female protagonist and a touch of magical realism, this historical novel should be fun!

James by Percival Everett: A reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as told by the enslaved character Jim.

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson: I’ve been reading a lot of fiction by and about native Americans, and this 2021 novel combines a strong woman protagonist with family and hardship and the legacy of seed keeping among the Dakota.  

The Postcard by Anne Berest: Because it was Bill Wolfe’s favorite book of 2023!

Hilary Zaid is the author of Paper is White and Forget I Told You This.

Books I Enjoyed in 2023

Daughter by Claudia Dey: Intense, dense, interpersonal relationships woven through with the life of art. 

Foster and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: Two quiet Irish novels that remind you how much language matters.

The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan: Speaking of Irish novels, this one is a really lovely nesting doll of three generations of Irish women. The first chapter—just two pages long—is a master class on how to start a novel.

Do You Remember Being Born? by Sean Michaels: This novel is such a close cousin to my own release this year —an artist in residency at one of the world’s largest tech companies— how could I not read this? Michaels is a beautiful writer and this exploration of art in the age of AI is also a story about what it means to be a parent, and flawed. 

Books On My List for 2024

There are some exciting debuts on tap for this year.

I Make Envy on Your Disco by Eric Schnall: Eric is my book “brother” at Zero Street Fiction, and I couldn’t be more excited about his May debut, which is a novel of early 2000s Berlin.

A Good, Happy Girl by Marissa Higgins: As a book critic, Higgins is a delight. I can’t wait to see her take the reins in this lesbian love triangle.

Absolution by Alice McDermott: What can I say? I love McDermott. Someone is one of my favorite novels, and I’ve heard this one is wonderful.

Caroline Leavitt is the author of Pictures of You, Cruel Beautiful World, With and Without You, and the forthcoming Days of Wonder, which will be published on April 23.

My Life in Paper by Beth Kephart: This is a stunningly beautiful book, with author-designed end papers and cover, and a poet’s heart. Written as a series of letters to the late paper historian Dard Hunter about what being in the world truly means, Beth writes intimately and movingly on the letters we save, the announcements we tack up, the books and paper she crafts and paper’s complex history or preserving our memories while making new ones.

My Disappearing Mother: A Memoir of Magic and Loss in the Country of Dementia by Suzanne Finnamore: When Suzanne’s beloved mother was diagnosed with dementia, Suzanne began her own journey, treating the illness as if it were a different country where she might need to learn its languages and customs, even as she continues to give and get a new kind of love from her mother. Wise, compassionate, and yes–funny, this empathetic book reminds us that joy coexists with sorrow.

The Wise Women by Gina Sorell: Who doesn’t love an advice columnist (I know I did, having written one into my upcoming novel Days of Wonder!). Here is the story of Wendy Wise, struggling with problems of her own even as she’s meddling in the lives of her two adult daughters, single mother Clementine whose husband’s flailing start-up just lost them their home, and architect Barbara trying to juggle her firm and a cheating girlfriend. A romp about mothers, daughters, and how life can always surprise us.

Broadway Butterfly by Sara Divello: How often do you get to read/devour a true crime novel where the painstaking research of the author revealed the killer of a cold case? (You’ll have to read the book to find out.) Set in the 1920s, a world of jazz babies and sugar daddies, Broadway Butterfly investigates one of the most notorious crimes of the era. It’s up to reporter Julia Harpman to make sense of the clues, including dirt from a gigolo lover, a politically connected socialite, a bootlegger, and a dancer, all with secrets of their own. Absolutely gripping.

Splinters by Leslie Jamison (Feb 23): Jamison calls this “another kind of love story,” and it is exactly that—richer, deeper, more complex and unexpected. What I loved best, besides Jamison’s indelible voice, is that she shows us, through her love for her daughter, her fractured marriage, and her art, how sometimes the greatest joy is born after the greatest loss.

1974 by Francine Prose (June 20): Prose’s memoir takes us into her life in the revolutionary 70s and early 80s, when the flower power hope was morphing into the Manson family’s violence. Against a backdrop of New York City to California, we witness the young Prose struggling to be a writer even as she’s navigating love with Tony Russo, one of the men who leaked the Pentagon papers. A shattering look at art, politics, and oh yes, love, from one of our finest writers.

The Garden by Claire Beams (April 9): A motherhood-as-horror story that’s also so mesmerizingly written, you might get whiplash turning the pages. Set in 1948, it unfolds the story of Irene Willard, who’s desperate to avoid another miscarriage this pregnancy around. Her solution seems to be to go live in a home/hospital run by a husband-and-wife medical team, both searing they have a cure for her and for the other women there. But then she discovers a hidden garden, with strange powers to bring something into the world, no matter the cost. An exploration of female power—and those who would try to thwart it– a gothic heart.

Blank by Zibby Owens (March 1): Owens is a North Star for writers and readers, with her own publishing company, bookstore, podcast, essays –and books! Here in her debut novel, she tackles every author’s greatest fear—the blank page. Terrified she can’t write anymore, fortyish Pippa Jones comes up with an idea so drastic and crazy, no one believes it will ever work. But work it does, not only making her a star, but more importantly, changing everything she ever thought about family, friends, career and love.