YORK, Pa. — A small group of passionate books lovers with experience in the publishing industry has teamed up to create a list of the top 20 books of the year.
The Amazon editors put out several of these lists each year, but this is the pièce de résistance: the Best Books of 2023.
The novels that make up the list are independently curated; there are no algorithms or sponsorships to guide the editors in their selections. Each time a list is made, the editors come together to talk about the best books they've read recently.
"And then we literally put ourselves in a room and fight over our top 20 best books of the year," Amazon senior editor Lindsay Powers, one of the people tasked with choosing the books, laughed.
December is not the only time of the year the editors do this—they also release lists monthly and by genre, as well as a list of the Best Books so Far in June. One of the holdovers from that list to this end of the year one was Ann Napolitano's "Hello, Beautiful," which was the No. 1 pick at the time.
Now that it's December, "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride has taken that top spot on the Best Books of 2023 list. It was a unanimous leading pick among the editors.
"We really think that 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store' is the great American novel reimagined for 2023, and that is why it's on the top of our Best Books of the Year list," Powers said.
The editors say a No. 1 book makes the reader feel emotion and the desire to tell people about the story. A top pick should be undeniably captivating from beginning to end.
"You can tell that James McBride is a jazz musician by this incredible way that he spins all of these characters' stories into this compelling narrative," Powers said.
The top pick novel—and every other book on the list—should be impactful and stick with the reader long after they've turned the last page. "The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession" by Michael Finkel checked each of those boxes for Powers; it was her personal favorite book from the editors' list.
For people who may be trying to get into reading or first picking up a book again after a long break, the bookworm suggests starting with the Best Books of 2023 and choosing one in a genre that interests you. For example, history lovers may find their attention captured by David Grann's "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder."
The editors hope to make it easy for people of every origin find something to read out there in the world. Powers says they started making the lists in order to bring books closer to people.
"There's so many incredible books out there, but it can be hard to find and to know what to read," Powers said. "So we want to cut through the noise. We are like your best friend that reads the best books and then just gives you the top ones each month."
As far as December reads go, Powers recommends curling up with "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros during a blizzard. She cautions potential readers to remember that it is an adult book, but the high fantasy will transport bookworms away from the snowy chill and into a world of magic.
"The Amazon books editors have been joking that if you grew up reading 'Harry Potter' or 'The Hunger Games,' as an adult, you kind of graduate to 'Fourth Wing,'" she said.
If none of the books mentioned so far grab your attention, here is the Top 10 list:
- "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" by James McBride
- "The Berry Pickers: A Novel" by Amanda Peters
- "The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession" by Michael Finkel
- "Fourth Wing" (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros
- "King: A Life" by Jonathan Eig
- "Wellness: A Novel" by Nathan Hill
- "The Covenant of Water" by Abraham Verghese
- "Holly" by Stephen King
- "Elon Musk" by Walter Isaacson
- "Small Mercies: A Novel" by Dennis Lehane
To see the full list of the Best Books of 2023 and other top picks from the Amazon editors, click here.