Our 5⭐️ Books of 2023
See ALL of the books we've called 5 stars this year.
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And now, please enjoy this list of every single book that we rated 5 stars in 2023!
5⭐️ BOOKS WE BOTH LOVED
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson - a quirky novel about former friends who are brought back together when Madison asks Lillian to be the caretaker for her stepchildren - twins who just so happen to burst into flames when facing heightened emotions. We both thought this one was funny and quirky and unexpected. Can you believe this is the only book we both read and gave 5 stars to?!
5⭐️ HISTORICAL FICTION
M: Brooklyn ‘76 by Anthony Ausiello (Feb. 2024) - In the heart of Bensonhurst, an Italian American family struggles to survive one explosive day—the nation’s Bicentennial. A string of public missteps drives the Agnello family apart, forcing each member to face their own insecurities and regrets. At nightfall, the fireworks extravaganza draws the scattered family back together—but celebration soon turns into tragedy. This book was a movie for my brain! Such a beautiful debut.
5⭐️ CONTEMPORARY FICTION
S: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano - the story of how William grew up without the love of his parents and is transformed by love from Julia and her band of sisters. It’s moving, heartbreaking, and so well written.
S: No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister - these interconnected short stories begin with a book and expand with all of those whose lives the book comes in contact with, in both big and small ways. It’s about the way a book can change lives.
S: The Wedding People by Alison Espach - this book doesn’t come out until July 2024 but I loved it so much, it needs a chance to shine. Phoebe has just gotten to the Cornwall Inn with one goal - to kill herself. Lila, who has rented out the hotel for the week for her wedding, tries to talk her out of it and in their talks, they begin sharing pieces of themselves they’ve never told anyone else.
M: Aloha Vietnam by Elizabeth Nguyen - Anh is 17 years old when she experiences her first manic episode. She is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, put on medications, and she and her Vietnamese-American family are suddenly thrown into the world of mental health treatment and recovery. Oof. As someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, I could relate to this book in many ways.
M: Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee - A gripping and powerful novel of healing, redemption, and love, following a queer Black woman, Ranita, who works to stay clean, pull her life together, and heal after being released from prison. This one was traumatic, but also empowering. I was rooting for Ranita the whole way.
M: Out of Esau by Michelle Webster Hein - When a woman, questioning her marriage, encounters the kind and steadfast pastor of her small town, they are both forced to reconsider their pasts, their faith, and their future. I’d consider this a modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter. I couldn’t put it down.
M: A Little Hope by Ethan Joella - A life-affirming novel following the residents of an idyllic Connecticut town over the course of a year, and explores the intertwining lives of a dozen neighbors as they confront everyday desires and fears. Joella is now a favorite author of mine after reading this.
M: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley - The story of a solitary green notebook that brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love. My heart was happy after reading this one. Strangers becoming friends, even family. Swoon.
5⭐️ LITERARY FICTION
S: I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin - a slow-moving, heartbreaking story about how far we are willing to go for love, what we’re willing to overlook, and how our addictions get the best of us.
S: Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors - a character study in how lives are upended when one couple impulsively decides to get married.
S: Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly - based in the pandemic, this novel is about the slow demise of a marriage between Pete and Alice and about how you sometimes grow apart without realizing it.
S: Talking at Night by Claire Daverley - a simple, but complex, novel about Will and Rosie who meet as teenagers, endure unthinkable tragedy together, and find that life keeps bringing them back together over and over again as they grow up.
S: The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn - an older bookseller who still hand delivers books to a handful of customers has just been informed he’s lost his job, but his customers aren’t willing to accept this fact and are determined to make sure he keeps the job that he loves so much.
5⭐️ CLASSICS
S: The Road by Cormac McCarthy - a father and son are on a journey of survival, walking along after some sort of apocalyptic event. It’s beautifully sparse, and also will leave you with scenes you can’t unsee.
5⭐️ MYSTERY/THRILLER
M: Light Reclaimed: Billie Knight by Teja Rhae Watson - Billie, a fifty-year-old muralist and art teacher, sets out to solve the mystery of her trauma, with her long-lost bestie, Randall, as her partner. Between stakeouts, suspect-snatchings, witness interviews, and flashbacks, Billie and Randall must also confront the conflicts that kept them apart for so many years.
M: Las Cruces by Bart Hopkins - Kane Montgomery is an ex-Army Ranger following the highway west with his trusty guitar, when coincidence, or perhaps something more sinister, compels him to stop in Las Cruces. He finds himself in the middle of a decades-old mystery, one involving love, deceit ... and murder.
M: These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant - The story of a father and daughter trying to survive in the wilderness and isolation, plus the secrets that kept them there. I’m a daddy’s girl for life, so this book has a special place in my heart.
M: Holly by Stephen King - Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. The villains in this book were so bad - in the best way.
5⭐️ SCI-FI/FANTASY
M: Books in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton: The Laughing Corpse (#2); Circus of the Damned (#3); The Lunatic Cafe (#4), Slay (#30) - The novels follow Anita's ongoing conflicts with the supernatural as she attempts to solve a variety of supernatural mysteries, come to terms with her own abilities, and navigate an increasingly complex series of romantic and political relationships.
M: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus - A scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out, all while dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death. I know it sounds weird, but the scenes inside the whale are my favorite.
M: The Possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love - A new mother ventures into parallel worlds to find her missing child in this mind-bending novel that turns the joys and anxieties of parenthood into an epic quest. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but it was the perfect blend of sci-fi and motherhood tale.
M: Strange Weather by Joe Hill - A chilling collection of 4 short stories that have something to do with weather: a Polaroid camera and a storm; a solid cloud; rainfall made of sharp crystal spikes; and a mass shooting and a fire.
M: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. This was so cozy and heartwarming and made me want to eat cinnamon buns all day.
M: The Lover by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - During a brutal winter, a young woman longing for love finds more than she expected in the woods, in this wickedly sensuous short story. Lots of Little Red Riding Hood vibes with this one, but in a much darker fashion.
5⭐️ CLIMATE FICTION
M: The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger - To all appearances, the Larsen-Hall family has everything and their deluxe new Miami life has just clicked into place when Luna—the world’s first category 6 hurricane—upends everything they have taken for granted. This book kept my attention and I couldn’t put it down. A riches-to-rags kind of story. Also, I’m in Florida, so no hurricanes, please.
M: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia awakens to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer; gravity is affected; the birds, the tides, human behavior, and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. I’m still thinking about this book. If I had shelves in my RV, I’d buy a copy of this to keep forever.
M: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton - Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast and has a big impact on a little girl named Wanda. I love the magical realism mixed into this book. It was unexpected, but not heavy handed at all.
5⭐️ MAGICAL REALISM
S: Shark Heart by Emily Habeck - in one of the strangest plots of a book I’ve ever come across, we follow a marriage as the man is (literally) turning into a great white shark. The prose is stunning, the chapters are short, and though it sounds nuts, this will be a book you won’t soon forget.
5⭐️ ROMANCE/LOVE STORIES
S: Ready or Not by Cara Bastone - Eve is pregnant after a one night stand with bartender, Ethan. It’s complicated when she tells her best friend Willa who has been trying to get pregnant for years. The only one that seems to be there for Eve is Willa’s brother (and Eve’s childhood friend), Shep. Has what she’s been looking for been there all along?
S: Off the Hook by Julie Olivia - Loosely based on Peter Pan (but with a romance between Wendy and Captain Hook!), Wendy had her heartbroken by her fiance Peter when she goes to nanny for Peter’s brother Jasper. Below his gruff demeanor, Jasper begins to open up to Wendy - but they can never be more than friends, because of both of their ties to Peter… right?
S: Out of Love by Hazel Hayes - A love story, told in reverse. When we open the book a couple has just called it quits. We spend the rest of the book uncovering the small ways in which their relationship imploded, ending at the beginning. It’s one of the most unique romance novels I’ve ever read.
S: Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren - After Macy’s mother dies, Macy and her father start going to a summer house outside of San Francisco. On their first day there, she meets Elliot and from there these two bond summer after summer over their love of books and words. Told in alternating timelines - that of Macy now after Elliot has broken her heart and they’ve been apart for a decade, and before when they were childhood best friends, growing into more.
S: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld - A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Set in an SNL type show, seeing the behind the scenes of what makes these shows tick was also a fascinating.
S: Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan - Yasmen and Josiah have been delivered blow after blow, and they were finally torn apart. But, they’re still co-parents and co-owners of a restaurant. Can they find a way to come back together again?
S: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - In this heartbreaking look at grief, Kate has lost her soulmate, Cam, and now she has to figure out how to go on without him. Enter Hugh, her boss, and someone who cares about deeply. As they go away on a work trip together, Hugh understands her more than she’ll ever know. While this is a romance, it is more of a love story. It is NOT light and fluffy, despite what the blurb and the cover might tell you.
M: The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams - Distraught and desperate about his crumbling marriage, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. So sweet and funny and one of the few romances this year that I truly loved!
5⭐️ MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY
S: Scenes From My Life by Michael K. Williams - I loved watching him on The Wire and had no idea he had a memoir out. Sadly this was released after his death, but it follows his incredible life from childhood to being a star, and most importantly talks about his experiences as a gay black man.
S: Spare by Prince Harry - As a royal enthusiast, there was no way I WASN’T going to read this - I got both the audio and physical copy and loved listening to his story in his voice. I was a bit bored in the middle but was fascinated by his early life and his life now with Meghan.
M: Who Was Jesus? by Ellen Morgan - A biography for young readers that covers what is known historically about Jesus and places in his life in the context of his world when Jerusalem was part of the Roman Empire.
M: The Travel Bog Diaries by Liz Deacle - Meet Liz. Mother of two teenage kids and wife of Brian. Faced with midlife and realizing that unless she gets on with it, she'll never get to live out her fantasy of traveling the world with her family. So, Liz plans a year-long globetrotting trip. Annoyingly, things don't quite go as expected. And you will laugh the whole time you read this.
M: Love Without Borders by Angela Braniff - Angela opens her heart and her home to share her story, offering a relatable and honest view of motherhood, love, secondary infertility, adoption, and homeschooling.
5⭐️ HORROR
M: In the Land of Dead Horses by Bruce McCandless III - Tells the story of Texas Ranger Jewel T. Lightfoot’s pursuit of a resurrected horror from another age —a manifestation of the Mayan god of darkness, unearthed from its subterranean crypt in the wastelands of the Chihuahuan Desert and set loose on an unsuspecting world. Super interesting mix of western, horror, and historical fiction.
M: The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias - A thriller about a father desperate to salvage what’s left of his family, even if it means a descent into crime and violence--both supernatural and of our own terrifying world. I eyeballed many a shadow in my room with terrified eyes while reading this.
M: The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher - A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping tale. Also, lots of creepy taxidermy animals in this one… for the vibes.
5⭐️ NON-FICTION
S: Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski - This book is for all women who have ever felt uncomfortable in their bodies, especially around the concept of sex. It will leave you feeling beautiful, seen, and never judged.
S: Already Enough by Lisa Olivera - I read this when I was deep in working on self-worth my coaching clients. So much of what I practice, and tell my clients, is rooted in this book and I found myself highlighting sentence after sentence. It’s the perfect companion if you’re struggling to see the worth in yourself.
M: A Rip in Heaven by Jeanine Cummins - The true story of a night in April 1991, when Cummins’s two cousins, Julie and Robin, and her brother, Tom, were assaulted on a bridge just outside of St. Louis. The audiobook is especially good and narrated by Cummins.
M: Twenty-One Steps by Jeff Gottesfeld - Keeping vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery are the sentinel guards, whose every step, every turn, honors and remembers America’s fallen. This is their story. My dad was a part of The Old Guard and I loved reading more about this part of his life.
M: Write for Life by Julia Cameron - With the learned experience of a lifetime of writing, Cameron gives readers practical tools to start, pursue, and finish their writing project in her 6-week guide. I wanted to highlight every page!
M: Leaving Well for the Organization by Naomi Hattaway - Many leaders focus on hiring, attracting diverse talent pools, and onboarding, yet do not address or highlight systemic and underlying problems that exist when employees leave. I wish I could give this book to every boss and HR department I’ve ever worked for.
M: Women in Politics by Mary Chung Hayashi - Offers a riveting exploration of the strides made by women in government. This essential analysis bridges the gap between past and present, blending Mary’s personal journey as an Asian American immigrant and former California State Assemblymember with the inspiring stories of trailblazing women in political leadership.
That wraps up our 5 star books for 2023! What a wide mix of books, right? We hope you enjoyed this list and that you find something RTL-5-star-approved to read!
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