A year of literary ambition — long books that demanded patience and rewarded it, genre fiction at its peak, and some of the finest debuts in years.
A long novel — 650 pages — about an Irish family in crisis after the 2008 financial collapse. Four POVs, each devastating in their own way. Murray writes with ferocious intelligence and compassion. The Booker win was broadly celebrated as the right call.
A multigenerational family saga set in Chicago, spanning most of the 20th century. Napolitano traces the ripple effects of a single act of abandonment across four generations. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2023.
Yes, technically 2022 — but it dominated 2023 in paperback and readership. A novel about two game designers whose creative partnership spans decades. Zevin writes about ambition, love, and art with unusual intelligence. One of the decade's best.
Emily Henry's most emotionally resonant novel. A couple who secretly broke up must pretend to still be together at their annual friend group vacation in Maine. Funny, warm, and more melancholy than expected. Henry at her best.
The fantasy romance phenomenon of 2023. War college for dragon riders, a forbidden love, and a plot that moves at pace. Sold millions of copies, launched a series that became one of the biggest in the genre. Love it or debate it — you can't ignore it.
A sprawling multigenerational saga set in South India, following a family across 75 years and three generations. Verghese is a physician as well as a novelist, and his understanding of bodies, medicine, and mortality gives the book an unusual texture.
King returns to Holly Gibney — introduced in Mr Mercedes — in a standalone thriller set during Covid. A serial killer in a university town. King at full throttle, with the character depth that the Bill Hodges trilogy started to build.
A cozy mystery set on a luxury space cruiser — Nick and Nora Charles in space. Kowal writes with wit and craft. Light, clever, and exactly what it promises to be.
Technically a 2022 Pulitzer winner, but many readers found it in 2023. A retelling of David Copperfield set in Appalachia during the opioid crisis. Devastating, necessary, and extraordinary — one of the decade's most important American novels.
Two women who have been best friends for 70 years must confront a threat to the Maine land their families have shared for generations. A quiet, novelistic examination of friendship, legacy, and the end of things.
Smith's Victorian novel — a departure from her usual contemporary settings. Based on the real Tichborne Claimant case, narrated by a woman who served as housekeeper to a Victorian novelist. Meticulously researched and characteristically intelligent.
Nesta and Cassian — the most anticipated ACOTAR spinoff. Maas at full romance intensity, with a more antagonistic lead than Feyre. The enemies-to-lovers arc here is the sharpest in the series. A wildly satisfying read for fans.