2023 was an incredible year for reading for me filled with so many memorable books that I keep recommending to friends and family right & left! I read 105 books throughout this past year — which makes 200 books I’ve read in the last two years, since I read 94 in 2022 (and 108 in 2021!). My goal was to read 72 books, and I am pleased to have far surpassed that goal. As many books as I was able to devour this year, though, it’s so much less about the number and surpassing a goal for me. Reading is and always has been one of the great loves of my life, and it’s something that has brought me deep happiness my entire life. Reading is a pure delight and joy for me, and I personally never want reading to be a chore or simply something to check off the list. There are SO MANY incredible books to be read, and my to-be-read book stack is constantly growing. I read quickly and often, but I barely feel like I can keep up with all of the books that I want to read and all of the knowledge I want to learn!

A few fun book stats for 2023:

105 books read

38,060 pages read

82 fiction + 23 non-fiction books

48 library visits

I love when dear friends recommend books to me, and those are the ones that instantly go to the top of my reading queue. Truly, one of the happiest gifts I could ever give someone is a book that he or she loves and connects with, and the same is true when I am given an excellent book recommendation, too. I have shared annual book and reading recaps at the end of every year for quite a while now (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, my 2022 non-fiction book list, my 2021 non-fiction book list, and my all time favorite books), and here is my 2023 recap of all of the very best books that I read this year! I hope some on this list inspire you to read them and love them, too.

My top 7 fiction books of 2023 include:

• Go as a River by Shelley Read
• The Armor of Light by Ken Follett
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
• The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
• A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon

My top 7 (new) non-fiction books of 2023 include:

• Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? by Timothy Keller
• Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley
• It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway by Elizabeth Passarella
• Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Collin Hansen
• Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ by Timothy Keller
• Made for People by Justin Whitmel Earley
• The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Earley

Amazing books that I’ve read many times before that don’t count for my top new reads of 2023 but are the best of the best:

the Mitford series by Jan Karon (I re-read 7 Mitford books this year!), South of Broad, Beach Music, The Giver of Stars

5/5 rankings:

Go as a River

The Armor of Light

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Hello Beautiful

Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (non-fiction)

Habits of the Household (non-fiction)

Made for People (non-fiction)

The Common Rule (non-fiction)

It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway (non-fiction)

Hidden Christmas (non-fiction)

Tim Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation (non-fiction)

4.75/5 rankings:

The Wishing Game

Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting

A Girl Called Samson

Fourth Wing

The Book Woman’s Daughter

The Prodigal Prophet (non-fiction)

Life Together (non-fiction)

4.5/5 rankings:

Where the Lost Wander

Take My Hand

The Anthropocene Reviewed (non-fiction)

The Keeper of Happy Endings

The Marriage Portrait

The Island of Sea Women

All My Knotted Up Life (non-fiction)

Dear Edward

The Authenticity Project

The Personal Librarian

The Mystery Guest

4.25/5 rankings:

Demon Copperhead

Maame

Solito (non-fiction)

Greenglass House

Someone Else’s Shoes

The Light We Carry (non-fiction)

Piranesi

Woman on Fire

Liturgy of the Ordinary (non-fiction)

Weyward

Happy Place

The Secret Life of Flora Lea

Romantic Comedy

Pineapple Street

Hang the Moon
Beyond That, the Sea

The Covenant of Water

I Think You’re Wrong (non-fiction)

Tom Lake

The First Ladies

The Wind Knows My Name

All the Beauty in the World

The Last Devil to Die

The Last Carolina Girl

The Spectacular

4/5 rankings:

Murder on the Orient Express

Hamnet

The Thursday Murder Club

The Man Who Died Twice

The Bullet That Missed

Hadley and Grace

The Fountain of Silence

Home Front

The Identicals

Two Truths and A Lie

Tell Me a Story (non-fiction)

The Perfumist of Paris

The Death of Santini

In the Lives of Puppets

Horse

Congratulations, the Best is Over (non-fiction)

3.75/5 or below rankings:

Across the River and Into the Trees (3.75), The Whalebone Theater (3.75), Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club (3.75), It Goes So Fast (3.75; non-fiction), The Trackers (3.75), Bomb Shelter (3.75; non-fiction), The Winners (3.75), Winter in Paradise (3.75), Meet Me at the Lake (3.75), The Five Star Weekend (3.75), Iron Flame (3.5), The Celebrants (3.5), Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (3.5), Yellowface (3.5), Island Beneath the Sea (3.5), Her Last Flight (3.5), The Beach at Summerly (3.5), I Have Some Questions for You (3.5), I Feel Bad About My Neck (3.5; non-fiction), The Baddest Girl on the Planet (3.25), Amazing Grace Adams (3), Troubles in Paradise (2.75), The Half Moon (2.75), Hotel Portofino (2.75), The Cloisters (2.5), Tastes Like War (2.5)

I also had a goal to read 25 non-fiction books over the course of 2023, and I am very pleased that I read 23 non-fiction books this past year! I didn’t check every single book off my pre-set non-fiction book list for 2022 that I shared a year ago, but I did read many of them – plus many more. I love, love, love non-fiction books (fiction, too!) covering a wide range of topics and written by a wide range of authors. There is SO MUCH to learn, so much wisdom to soak up, so many unique perspectives to listen to and immerse myself in, and an incredible array of topics to discover and deepen my thinking and knowledge base. Many of my non-fiction reads cover topics that are deeply important to me, like faith, personal growth and development, and business – plus topics I just love reading about, like food and travel and interesting people. It’s so important to me to constantly be learning and to read the works of people I admire or look up to… and some who just entertain me! I’ll be sharing my 2024 non-fiction book selections very shortly.

Whew! It’s always hard – in a good way! – to narrow down my favorite books of the year, and what a fun year of reading it was. I am a little in awe that I managed to read 105 books this year (over 38,000 pages!). I would highly, highly recommend all of the books that I shared above in the 4/5 rankings or higher, and obviously my favorite books and most recommended ones have the highest ratings and reviews. My library queue is already overflowing with books that I can’t wait to read in the new year.

Now it’s your turn! What is THE best book you’ve read in the last year? What’s your most recommended book to your own family or friends? I would absolutely love to hear from you and add to my queue, and I hope you enjoyed this roundup of my recent reads, as well!

I always share what I’m reading in real time over on Instagram (#stephaniereads), along with Goodreads – so find me on one or both of those! I share very detailed, longer reviews and recommendations on Instagram Stories as I finish every book, so all of my reviews and recaps are on there. You can read a ton more previous blog posts of mine about books: my 2021 non-fiction book list, my favorite books of 2020, my favorite books of 2019, my favorite books ever, all things books, let’s talk about books, best books of 2014, best books of 2013, the South’s best books and authors, and plenty more in my blog’s archives!

Affiliate links are used in this post – but I can’t sing the praises of shopping from smaller, independent bookstores (or supporting the library!) enough!