What have our readers been loving this year? Stories brimming with transformation, mystery, and the kind of deep, personal journeys that tug at the heartstrings. As we roll into the holiday season, consider this list of the most popular books your go-to guide for picking out those perfect, cozy books to gift or to read yourself this season.
![Chaotic Pile of Books in a Library](https://offtheshelf.b-cdn.net/app/uploads/2023/03/BookStackChaotic_iStock-988681814-1070x270.jpg)
Best of 2023: The 10 Most Popular Books of the Year
No one immediately grounds you in a sense of place like William Kent Krueger, from THIS TENDER LAND and ORDINARY GRACE to his latest, THE RIVER WE REMEMBER—in which I could feel the wind on my face and hear the comforting din of the local diner. A memorable cast of characters propels this novel forward, and as the central mystery is unveiled, I found myself racing toward the finish. This was a perfect “Oh, just one more chapter!” read. THE RIVER WE REMEMBER is alluring, tense, and very moving. In small-town Minnesota in 1958, a powerful local figure is found murdered, and Sheriff Brody Dern, a decorated war hero, is tasked with investigating. As the town is struck by the news, long-buried questions, grievances, and emotions bubble to the surface for everyone. The themes beautifully presented by Krueger will linger long after you’ve finished.
Read more of 11 Historical Fiction Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Fall
In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the “expansive, atmospheric American saga” (Entertainment Weekly) This Tender Land.
On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.
Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.
Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of midcentury American life from an author of novels “as big-hearted as they come” (Parade), The River We Remember is an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home, a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home.
MENTIONED IN:
The past and present collide in this time-traveling reimagining of The Scarlet Letter. Mia Jacob, the daughter of a runaway teen who searched for refuge in a puritanical cult, is tired of her oppressive existence in the book-banishing Community. She nearly hurls herself into a river. But right before, she notices an inscription in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous novel. “To Mia,” it reads, a miraculous sign that convinces our protagonist to persist despite life’s woes. Alice Hoffman’s book takes readers on an enchanting journey. In the process, it proves that Hawthorne's magnum opus isn't as stuffy as its centuries-old setting suggests. Yet Hoffman’s book conveys more than the enduring relevance of Hester Prynne’s tale. It also imparts the lifesaving and life-giving powers of literature at a time when stories are under siege.
Read more of 10 Autumnal Reads to Get You Pumped for Fall
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books.
One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?
Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.
As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.”
This is the story of one woman’s dream. For a little while it came true.
MENTIONED IN:
Going against Confucius’s dictum, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” Tan Yunxian is raised to make a difference. Trained by her grandmother, one of China’s few female physicians, Yunxian learns to navigate women’s medical needs with the support of her confidante Meiling, a young midwife. However, Yunxian’s arranged marriage confines her within traditional domestic roles, barring her from contact with Meiling and threatening the important work they vowed to complete together. LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN is a tale about the power of female solidarity, exploring Yunxian’s battle against these restraints, her transformative journey serving women of all social ranks, and the lasting impact of her remedies centuries later.
Read more of Readers’ Choice: Your 10 Favorite Books of 2023 (So Far!)
The latest historical novel from New York Times bestselling author Lisa See, inspired by the true story of a woman physician from 15th-century China—perfect for fans of See’s classic Snowflower and the Secret Fan and The Island of Sea Women.
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.
From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.
But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.
How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
MENTIONED IN:
I wasn’t exactly surprised to be swept away by this book—I go into any psychological thriller well-prepared with a full day of no plans, but I wasn’t quite expecting that my love for the main character would be what propelled me through this one. Sally Diamond is different from others. She keeps to herself and has trouble relating to people. And for most of her life (she’s in her early-forties now) she’s been happy to live an isolated life with her adoptive father, a psychiatrist. But then, when her dad dies from an illness—and Sally takes his oft-repeated joke literally and throws his body out with the trash—it starts a spiraling chain of events. A police investigation ensues, and a media frenzy, and that leads the world (and Sally herself) to find out about her tragic and traumatic past. A past that Sally doesn’t remember, and which her adoptive parents kept hidden from her and the world to protect her. Now that everyone knows, she encounters odd strangers, mysterious packages, a new therapist, and far too much attention from people who had always previously avoided her in town. I loved seeing how Sally wonderfully (and peculiarly) handled every new situation—and it kept me turning the pages long into the night.
Read more of 8 Books Like A Little Life That May Forever Change You
The internationally bestselling author of the “dark, captivating psychological thriller” (People) Lying in Wait returns with a wickedly dark, twisted, and brilliantly observed new novel about an enigmatic woman confronting her unknown past.
Reclusive Sally Diamond causes outrage by trying to incinerate her dead father. Now she’s the center of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she does not remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her early childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, big decisions, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.
But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world, and why does he call her Mary? And why does her new neighbor seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged…
MENTIONED IN:
It is early spring 1960, and Hazel Linden is finishing her last day of work at Hogan’s Rare Book Shoppe in Bloomsbury, London. With a touch of sadness, Hazel reflects on the wonderful days she spent here helping customers fall in love with books and the stories that live inside them. Before Hazel leaves the shop, there is one last box of books for her to open. Inside is a book wrapped in parchment, and as Hazel unwraps it, she sees a children’s book with a cover illustrated with two girls holding hands, thick woodlands behind them; a river; and a castle. Hazel is filled with shock as she sees the title of the book. This is a story she made up long ago, a story she told her sister and only her sister—a secret story they shared between them. But how can this book exist? How can this story be written on the pages when her sister, Flora Lea, is the only other person who knows it, but Flora Lea was lost twenty years ago, in 1939. This is a story of sisters, of loss, and of grief but also hope, always hope.
Read more of 8 Historical Fiction Books Ideal for Bookworms
When a woman stumbles across a mysterious children’s book, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “transporting, heartfelt, and atmospheric” (Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.
1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.
But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.
Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years? Or is something sinister at play?
For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical” (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate” (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).
MENTIONED IN:
In a café just outside Central Park in New York City sits Ruby Henderson, alone and missing her family back in California. It is December 1938, and Christmas is around the corner. Just as Ruby is overwhelmed with sadness, into the café walks Marcel Benoit. Instantly Ruby and Marcel are attracted to each other, and within six months they are married and living in Paris. For a short time, Ruby and Marcel live the high life, dancing and going to parties, and Ruby, who always wanted to live a big life, seems happy. Everything is wonderful until it isn’t. Until Paris is invaded. Soon Marcel all but disappears from Ruby’s life, from their marriage, with no explanation. The only comfort Ruby has is teaching English to her eleven-year-old neighbor, Charlotte. When Ruby discovers Marcel’s secret, she will have to face the reality of what is happening around her. Courage will be needed, and choices must be made. Ruby’s and Charlotte’s lives will be changed forever. This is an unputdownable story of love, loss, and hope.
Read more of 8 Historical Fiction Reads I Devoured This Summer
MENTIONED IN:
“Everyone will have their own transportive experience with this book. You can either choose to read this and watch the characters descend, or you can choose to go on that journey with them. Those who choose the former may describe this book as ‘beautifully written’ or ‘heartrending.’ The rest of us will say it defied words. The entire time I felt, as a Black reader, a surreal sense of awe that I could experience the written word of this story in a way Annis, the main character, couldn’t. This book is truth, it is American, it is real, and it will stay with me forever.” —Destinee Hodge, East City Bookshop
Read more of 19 New Fall Releases Adored by Indie Booksellers
From Jesmyn Ward—the two-time National Book Award winner, youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for Fiction, and MacArthur Fellow—comes a haunting masterpiece, sure to be an instant classic, about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War.
“‘Let us descend,’ the poet now began, ‘and enter this blind world.’” —Inferno, Dante Alighieri
Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through this hellscape. As she struggles through the miles-long march, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout, she opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. While Ward leads readers through the descent, this, her fourth novel, is ultimately a story of rebirth and reclamation.
From one of the most singularly brilliant and beloved writers of her generation, this miracle of a novel inscribes Black American grief and joy into the very land—the rich but unforgiving forests, swamps, and rivers of the American South. Let Us Descend is Jesmyn Ward’s most magnificent novel yet, a masterwork for the ages.
MENTIONED IN:
There are a lot of memorable Stephen King characters, but few are as beloved as detective Holly Gibney. First appearing in MR. MERCEDES, Holly is a super-smart, unfiltered mind who is fantastic at picking up on small details and not so great at dealing with people. So for fans of this character, you’re in luck! The new novel, HOLLY, is all about our favorite PI investigating the disappearance of a girl named Bonnie. But as she digs deeper, reluctantly at first, she finds several clues pointing back to a suspicious elderly couple who are looking to live just a little longer. Especially when all clues start pointing back to a suspicious elderly couple who are looking to live just a little longer. Follow Holly as she navigates both this dark mystery and an ever-shifting world.
Read more of 8 Oddly Comforting Horror Novels to Curl Up With
Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.
“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” —BILL HODGES
Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.
When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.
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, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.
Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.
“I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her.” —STEPHEN KING
MENTIONED IN:
Ritu Mukerji’s debut novel, MURDER BY DEGREES, tells the tale of Dr. Lydia Weston, physician and teacher at a women’s medical college in 1875 Philadelphia. Unsurprisingly, Weston is the victim of abuse by her male colleagues, who deem her unfit for her profession because of her gender. But when the body of one of her patients is pulled from the river, police are forced to invite Dr. Weston into the case. The deceased, Anna Ward, was a housemaid for a wealthy family of the city (a family disinterested in helping find the murderer). While the plot itself provides readers an insight into early modern medicine and forensics, Mukerji’s talent is for weaving in a history of social class and power dynamics—especially in a city like Philadelphia. With an awe-inspiring heroine at the lead, MURDER BY DEGREES is the definition of a haunting historical novel.
Read more of 8 Haunting Historical Novels on the Scarier Side
For fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Charles Todd, Murder by Degrees is a historical mystery set in 19th century Philadelphia, following a pioneering woman doctor as she investigates the disappearance of a young patient who is presumed dead.
Philadelphia, 1875: It is the start of term at Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lydia Weston, professor and anatomist, is immersed in teaching her students in the lecture hall and hospital. When the body of a patient, Anna Ward, is dredged out of the Schuylkill River, the young chambermaid’s death is deemed a suicide. But Lydia is suspicious and she is soon brought into the police investigation.
Aided by a diary filled with cryptic passages of poetry, Lydia discovers more about the young woman she thought she knew. Through her skill at the autopsy table and her clinical acumen, Lydia draws nearer the truth. Soon a terrible secret, long hidden, will be revealed. But Lydia must act quickly, before she becomes the next target of those who wished to silence Anna.
MENTIONED IN:
“HIS FAVORITES is exactly the book for our times. That Kate Walbert has managed to write a novel that is riveting, terrifying, and yet always charmingly buoyant, speaks volumes to how well she understands women. If you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, how these things happen, read this book.”—Ann Patchett
Read more of 7 Top-Tier Reads Ann Patchett Recommends
MENTIONED IN:
Photo credit: istock / YakobchukOlena