Great Reads For 2023

by Ipshita Sharma

Turn the page this new year and check out the very best books that shook 2022 and those that are going to rock 2023

Now that Spare has officially hit the market and touched almost all our electronic devices with its raw testimony about a totally disconnected family; we can now look at the best of the best books that hit shores last year and what we have to look forward to.

Best fiction in 2022: Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

Elizabeth is a chemist in the 1960s who falls in love but then is left being a single mother. As she becomes the star of a cooking show, she slowly starts taking the chance to start teaching women that they are more than ready to be the stars of their lives. Fantastically written, we were left wishing this wasn’t a fictional story.

Best fiction in 2023: The Villa – Rachel Hawkins

This book had all publishers up in a tizzy when it was sold. This book is set in an Italian holiday home but it isn’t all prosecco and pasta because there is a very interesting past hiding just around the corner.

Best thriller in 2022: The Maid – Nita Prose

A very unique locked room mystery, The Maid has a reliable yet eccentric narrator at its heart but still manages to be incredibly twisted in the best way possible. Check it out for a mind-bending finale!

Best thriller in 2023: Something Bad Wrong – Eryk Pruitt

Following up on the huge success of true crime podcasts, this book is about a true crime podcaster who gets up to all kinds of trouble while investigating a cold case that was last investigated by her own grandfather. This promises to be all kinds of juicy!

Best biography in 2022: I’m Glad my Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy

Part hilarious, part heart-breaking, this memoir by an American child actor takes a no-holds-barred look at her off-screen struggles with her mother. Her eating disorder is documented in such a matter-of-fact way that is quite unprecedented.

Best biography in 2023: Data Baby – Susannah Breslin

When her parents submitted her to a 30-year-old laboratory psychological experiment, they had no idea how much it could have affected her life, her relationships and her life trajectory. Hotly anticipated, this book is already making a lot of waves.

Best non-fiction in 2022: The Song of the Cell – Siddhartha Mukherjee

While a book on Biology might not sound like a barrel of laughs, this well-researched book talks about the discovery of atoms and how they contribute to our lives. It is a book about the history and the people behind the science and is truly unmissable.

Best non-fiction in 2023: The Transcendent Brain – Alan Lightman

Complex human experiences and how they are influenced by a mix of spirituality and science is the background of the research carried out by this writer. Read on for inputs from psychologists, scientists, philosophers and yogis.

Best self-help book in 2022: Bittersweet – Susan Cain

My favourite author since she spoke about the power of introverts in Quiet, in this book Susan talks about the power of having a bittersweet life. Handling sorrow, loss, poignancy and knowing that wanting something desperately is not always enough is a strong and profound look at life.

Best self-help book in 2023: Sorry Sorry Sorry – Marjorie Ingall, Susan McCarthy

This book is such a well-researched look at the importance of apologies in life, not only for those making them but also for those who are meant to accept them. Sometimes the fundamentals of relationships can be built upon the bedrock of a real apology.

Best romance in 2022: The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston

A romance with a boss that is now a ghost? If that doesn’t pique your interest, this romance is completely heart-warming and wonderfully written.

Best romance in 2023: Sorry, Bro – Taleen Voskuni

Wonderfully and wittily written, this book is part romance, a part travelogue about Armenia. There is food and fun galore and a beautiful little love story to boot!

There is also the biography by Pamela Anderson, the book about the rise and fall of J Crew and the new book by Bret Easton Ellis but we would love to know what you think of this list. Have you read any of the books mentioned here? Or Spare by Prince Harry? Tag us in the comments and drop in your recommendations as well.