YORK, Pa. — If you're still searching for that ubiquitous perfect summer read for your upcoming beach trip but aren't sure where to start, Amazon editors have your back.
The team recently released their Best Books of 2023 So Far. The list covers many styles and genres, making it a book lover's dream.
The novels on the list are picked by a team of editors who read books six to nine months before they're published, so they have no sales numbers on which to base their choices. The editors pitch their favorite books to each other to get others to read them and, eventually, decide on which 20 books they love the most.
This year's top pick is "Hello Beautiful" by Ann Napolitano.
"Al loved it first, and she just raved about it so much that everybody on the team wanted to check it out," Vannessa Cronin, Amazon editor, said.
The novel was also Oprah's 100th book club pick. Napolitano has written three other novels: "Dear Edward," "A Good Hard Look" and "Within Arm's Reach."
"I think somebody who hasn't read for a while and is wondering—they don't want to waste their time reading something they're not going to love—I think there's a really high chance that they will love 'Hello Beautiful,'" Cronin said.
Napolitano's novel stuck out against competitor novels picked by a team with over 100 years of combined experience in publishing, partly because it appeals to such a wide range of audiences. Cronin also says that it would be a good pick for someone who wants to get into reading but isn't sure how or what they would enjoy.
"Honestly, the Napolitano is a great place to start, because it's a beautiful story about family," the editor said. "Anybody who has siblings—I'm the oldest of three girls— will relate to the four girls in this story. The book is basically a new spin on 'Little Women,' and so it's a story for women, for siblings, for people who like family stories, but there's also some great male characters in it and some great male storylines, one involving mental health and the importance of male friendships."
If "Hello Beautiful" doesn't sound like your style, the team of editors also creates categorized lists of their top 20 picks by genre. Cronin, who is in charge of the mystery/thriller category, says her favorites on that list are "All the Sinners Bleed," "Small Mercies," and "City of Dreams."
"For book lovers, there's nothing better than coming up with a list of books that you want other people to read," she said. "That's just joy."
The editors utilize that joy and their own knowledge to seek out the newest books from authors they are already fans of, ones who have a highly-anticipated release coming and other sources.
Cronin's top summer pick is "Happy Place" by Emily Henry. The editor says Henry is the new "queen of the beach read" and has a talent for writing light confections with a real through line of emotionality and relatability.
The June Best Books So Far list lends itself best to beachy reads, while the updated list in November tends to bring in more serious works from the rest of the year.
"You know, when you read a book where you just can't wait to discuss it with other people? That's kind of the bar for us for getting a book onto the list," Cronin said.
Some of the June picks will hold over to the end of the year list, but it's possible to have an entirely new gathering of top picks by November. The editors say September and October are usually big months for books releases and can sweep the earlier competition away.
The rest of the books the editors couldn't stop talking about so far this year can be found on Amazon.com
"I feel like if there are people who haven't read for a while or who read one category and never go outside it, this list is full of books that people should take chances on or should just buy every single one of them and read them because there is some good, good reading in this list," Cronin said.