Jen's Top Ten Books of 2023

I’m excited to bring you my list of my top ten favorite books of 2023.  Making top ten book lists is a tradition of mine dating all the way back to 1999!  In the early years, I just e-mailed my list to a small group of friends and family - then added more and more recipients over the years, then started posting to Facebook, then on this blog, and then a few years ago I started a bookstagram account and started posting my list on there too!  So clearly more and more people have seen my list as the years went on.

And it’s not just the audience that has increased - so has the amount of books I read a year.  Back in 1999, I read just 53 books, which means my top 10 represented almost 20% of books I read that year.  In 2023, I read a record 244 books, which means my top ten represents less than 5% of the books I read this year!  No wonder this list was so hard to narrow down!  I had only one book this year which I gave 5 stars to, so that was an automatic selection for this list.  But I also had 18 books which I awarded 4.5 stars.  So to choose between those, it was a combination of how the books affected me, how much they have stayed with me, and how much I have recommended them to other people, and a little dash of gut feeling.  And it was really hard to narrow down!

As a reminder, these are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books which were published that year - though nine of these were in fact published in 2023. 

Without further ado, my ten most favorite of the year, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:

No Two Persons - Erica Bauermeister
The Ferryman - Justin Cronin
Shark Heart - Emily Habeck
Exiles - Jane Harper
The Quiet Tenant - Clemence Michallon
Homecoming - Kate Morton 
We All Want Impossible Things - Catherine Newman
Charm City Rocks - Matthew Norman 
Tom Lake - Ann Patchett 
Romantic Comedy - Curtis Sittenfeld

Read on for a little more about each book:

Jen's Top Books of 2022

I’m excited to bring you my list of my top ten favorite books of 2022.  Making top ten book lists is a tradition of mine dating all the way back to 1999!  In the early years, I just e-mailed my list to a small group of friends and family - then added more and more recipients over the years, then started posting to facebook, then on this blog, and a few years ago I started a bookstagram account and started posting my list on there too!  So clearly more and more people have seen my list as the years went on.

And it’s not just the audience that has increased - so has the amount of books I read a year.  Back in 1999, I read just 53 books, which means my top 10 represented almost 20% of books I read that year.  Well, this year I read an astounding 217 books, which means my top ten represents less than 5% of the books I read this year!  No wonder this list was so darn hard to narrow down!  I had three books this year which I gave 5 stars to, so those were automatic selections for this list.  But I also had 20 books which I awarded 4.5 stars.  So to choose between those, it was a combination of how the books affected me, how much they have stayed with me, and how much I have recommended them to other people, and a little dash of gut feeling.  And just like last year, choosing the final book was the most painful part!

As a reminder, these are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books which were published that year - though most of these were in fact published in 2022. 

Without further ado, my ten most favorite of the year, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:

When Women Were Dragons - Kelly Barnhill
The Light Pirate - Lily Brooks- Dalton
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
A Little Hope - Ethan Joella
Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka
The Matchmaker’s Gift - Lynda Cohen Loigman
Count the Ways - Joyce Maynard
Nora Goes Off Script - Annabel Monaghan
This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin

Read on for a little more about each book:

Jen's Top 10 Books of 2021

 Super-excited to bring you my top 10 favorite books I read in 2021!  And boy, did I agonize over this list!  I’ve been making top 10 lists since all the way back in 1999 (back when I used to just share my list with a few friends), but somehow it never gets easier!  In fact if anything, maybe it gets harder as I read more and more books over the years.  

As a reminder, these are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books which were published that year - though as it turns out, all but one of this year’s list was published in 2021.  For the first time ever, I only had one 5 star book for the year!  I try to reserve 5 stars for the most amazing books that I know will be all time favorites, and this year even though I read 173 books, there was only one book that felt like it deserved 5 stars - Project Hail Mary.  However, I had 21 books which I gave 4.5 stars to, which is what made narrowing down my top 10 so hard, so perhaps I’ll also be sharing with you a “best of the rest” or a best of various genres.

Without further ado, my ten most favorite of the year, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:

Mary Jane - Jessica Anya Blau
Trophy Son - Douglas Brunt
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
Early Morning Riser - Katherine Heiny
Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
True Crime Story - Joseph Knox
Once There Were Wolves - Charlotte McConaghy
Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters
West With Giraffes - Lynda Rutledge
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

Read on for a little more about each book:

Jen's Top 10 Books of 2020

So excited to share my top 10 favorite books I read in 2020 with all of you!  Once again I read a ton of books, which means this is really the cream of the crop - basically the top 5-6% of what I read - and was super, super hard to narrow down to 10.  This year there were 4 books which I gave a 5 star rating to, and 17 books which I gave 4.5 stars to.  And that doesn't even include the tremendous amount of books which I gave 4 stars to and would still heartily recommend to you.

For anyone who isn't already familiar with my lists, I've been creating top 10 lists of books I read at year's end all the way back to 1999, long before I had a blog, and sharing them with my friends.  These are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books published that year, though most of these books were in fact published in 2020.

Here's my list for 2020, in alphabetical order by author's last name.

Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

The Searcher by Tana French

The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing by Allison Winn Scotch

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

Read on for more about these books!

Jen's Top 10 Books of 2019

I'm very excited to share with you my ten favorite books that I read in 2019!  I read an absolutely insane amount of books in 2019, totally blowing away the record amount of books I read in 2018, so this list really is high quality - and was extremely hard to narrow down!  Just to put things in perspective, while I had only three books over the course of the year that I rated as 5 stars, there were a whopping 19 books which I gave a 4.5 star rating.  So just to narrow that down to 10 books, I had to leave a lot of favorites on the cutting room floor - and that doesn't even begin to cover all the 4 star books I read this year which I would highly recommend as well!

For anyone who isn't already familiar with my lists, I've been creating top 10 lists of books at year's end all the way back to 1999, long before I had a blog, and sharing them with my friends.  These are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books published that year, though this year I think all but one of the books was in fact published in 2019.

Here's my list for 2019, in alphabetical order by author's last name.

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood
Things You Save in a Fire - Katherine Center
One Night at the Lake - Bethany Chase
The Last Book Party - Karen Dukess
Evvie Drake Starts Over - Linda Holmes
Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly
Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Grammarians - Cathleen Schine
The Lager Queen of Minnesota - J. Ryan Stradal
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill - Abbi Waxman

Read on for more about these books!

Top 20 Books of 20 Years - The Best of the Best!

Since I started the blog, I've been periodically looking back at my ten favorite books which I read in each year since I started making top 10 lists.  I finally caught up to the present - and it just so happens that those lists cover 20 years of my reading - my top 10 lists so far stretch from 1999-2018!  So, I thought it would be fun to try to figure out my 20 favorite books of those 20 years of lists!  And yes, it's been a little while since I've posted anything - but part of the reason is that it has taken me a long time to narrow down the selections and then write this long post!

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2016

Ever since I began this blog, I have been periodically looking back at one of my old top 10 favorite book lists.  As a reminder, these are lists I made contemporaneously at the end of the respective years, made up of books I read in that particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  And with today's post looking back at my favorite books of 2016, I've now got all my top 10 lists on this blog in some form, since one of my very first posts on this blog was my ten favorite books of 2017.  Stay tuned for a future post with a special look back at 20 years of my lists!

Here's my list from 2016, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

Black Rabbit Hall - Eve Chase
The City of Mirrors - Justin Cronin
The Trespasser - Tana French
Monsters - Liz Kay
The Expatriates - Janice Y.K. Lee
The Last One - Alexandra Oliva
Harmony - Carolyn Parkhurst
Missing, Presumed - Susie Steiner
Kitchens of the Great Midwest - J. Ryan Stradal
Modern Lovers - Emma Straub


For more random details about these books, keep reading!

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2015

Since I started this blog, I've been periodically looking back at my old top 10 favorite book lists, starting with 1999 when I first started compiling a list each year and working my way up towards the present.   If you don't remember the details, these are lists I made contemporaneously at the end of the respective years, made up of books I read in that particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  I started out sharing these lists with just a small group of people, and over the years started sharing with more and more people, and through more and more different means, including this blog!  One of my first posts on the blog was my top 10 books of 2017, so after today's post that means I have just one more to go!  (Unless I keep this blog going for so many more years that enough time goes by that I want to look back on 2017 and after, ha ha.)

Here's my list from 2015, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Visitors - Sally Beauman
The One That Got Away - Bethany Chase
The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
The Last Camellia - Sarah Jio
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
The Lake House - Kate Morton
The Children's Crusade - Ann Packer
The Midnight Rose - Lucinda Riley
Who Do You Love? - Jennifer Weiner
Walking on Trampolines - Frances Whiting

For more random details about these books, keep reading!

From the Top 10 Archives- Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2014

Ever since I started this blog, I've been occasionally (and chronologically) looking back at my old top 10 favorite book lists, starting with 1999 when I first started compiling my lists and working my way up towards the present.   If you don't remember the details, these are lists I made contemporaneously at the end of the respective years, made up of books I read in that particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  I started out sharing these lists with just a small group of people, and over the years started sharing with more and more people, and through more and more different means, including this blog!

Here's my list from 2014, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Smart One - Jennifer Close
The Secret Place - Tana French
Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
The Rise and Fall of Great Powers - Tom Rachman
Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
Counting by 7s - Holly Goldberg Sloan
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
The Martian - Andy Weir
The Interestings - Meg Wolitzer
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin


For more random details about these books, keep reading!

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2013

Since I started this blog, I've been periodically looking back at my old top 10 lists from years past and seeing how I feel about them today and other random things about them - and I'm getting close to catching up!  If you don't remember the details, I've kept lists each year of my ten favorite books all the way back to 1999.  In the early days I only shared the list with a small group, but over the years the distribution list got larger, plus I started sharing first on Facebook and then on this blog.  The lists comprise books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books published that year.

Here's my list from 2013, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Bitterblue - Kristen Cashore
Wonder - R.J. Palacio
Night Film - Marisha Pessl
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
The Song Remains the Same - Allison Winn Scotch
The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
The Lotus Eaters - Tatjana Soli
The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker
The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

For more about these books, read on!

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2012

Continuing my look back at my old top 10 lists, today I'm going to re-visit my ten favorite books of 2012.  If you haven't followed all of my other posts, for many years I've been making lists at the end of each year of the ten favorite books I read that year - not necessarily published that year - and sharing them with my friends.  Since I started the blog, I've been periodically looking back at my old top 10 lists and seeing what I think of them today!

Here's my list from 2012, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Twelve - Justin Cronin
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom
When She Woke - Hilary Jordan
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
State of Wonder - Ann Patchett
The Lost Wife - Alyson Richman
Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walters


For more about these books, read on!

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2011

If you've been following this blog for a while, then you'll know that I contemporaneously made a top 10 list of my favorite books I read each year for many years, all the way back to 1999 when the internet barely existed!  But since I started this blog, I've been slowly re-visiting my top 10 ten lists from years past, both to share them with those who weren't original recipients of those lists, and out of curiosity to see how the lists hold up over time.   Today I'll be looking at 2011.  As a reminder, these are books that I read in 2011, not necessarily books that were published in 2011.

Here is my 2011 list, listed in alphabetical order by author's last name.

A Dog's Purpose - W. Bruce Cameron
America, America - Ethan Canin
The Passage - Justin Cronin
Room - Emma Donoghue
A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
Faithful Place - Tana French
The Wrong Mother - Sophie Hannah
Roses - Leila Meacham
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
The Help - Kathryn Stockett

From the Top 10 Archives: Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2010

Since I started this blog, I've been periodically looking back at my top 10 favorites lists of years past.  Each list consists of my favorite books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  Today, I'll look at my list from 2010.  Full disclosure, I actually cheated in 2010 and put 11 books on the list!  😉 It's often a challenge to narrow my lists down to 10, but this is the only year I did it - made an exception because I read two books by the same author that I loved so much I just decided to list them as one entry!

Here's my list from 2010, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

When Will There Be Good News? - Kate Atkinson
After You - Julie Buxbaum
Little Bee - Chris Cleave
The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
In the Woods - Tana French AND The Likeness - Tana French
The Host - Stephenie Meyer
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
One Day - David Nicholls
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Lottery - Patricia Wood

For more about these books, read on!

Jen's Top 10 Books of 2018

I'm very excited to share with you my 10 favorite books that I read in 2018!  I read a record amount of books in 2018, so this really is the cream of the crop - and it was SO hard to narrow this list down!  The top 5 were pretty easy, but narrowing down to the remaining 5 was a real challenge.  So I'm also happy to tell you that in the coming weeks you can look for "best of the rest" post(s) highlighting some of the other books I loved in 2018!

Anyway, for many many years - dating back to a time when I barely used the internet (1999!) - I have been compiling a list of my ten favorite books read in the year just ended and sharing with my friends, first by e-mail, then by facebook, and starting last year, on this blog.  It's not necessarily books published in the year I make the list, just books I read that year.  Here's my list for 2018, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Royal We - Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
This Is How It Always Is - Laurie Frankel
Force of Nature - Jane Harper
Queen of Shadows - Sarah J. Maas
The Clockmaker's Daughter - Kate Morton
Eligible - Curtis Sittenfeld
What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw - Leah Stewart
Other People's Houses - Abbi Waxman
Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
The Female Persuasion - Meg Wolitzer


Traditionally, I used to just send around a list with no further comment on the books.  But now that I have more space, I want to tell you more about the books - first a little bit about each book itself, and then some general comments on the list as a whole.  Though if you've been reading this blog regularly, I think you have actually heard about most of these books in one post or another.  And I would love to hear what everyone else thought of these books, and what your favorite books of 2018 were!

Read on for more:

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2009

Since shortly after I started this blog about a year ago, I've been periodically looking back on my top 10 favorite books of years past, which were lists I made at the end of each year (since 1999!) and shared with a growing group of friends.  Each list consists of my favorite books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  Today, I'll look at my list from 2009.

Here's my list from 2009, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Opposite of Love - Julie Buxbaum
Belong to Me - Marisa De Los Santos
Love the One You're With - Emily Giffin
Barefoot - Elin Hildebrand
The House at Riverton - Kate Morton
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell
The Year of Fog - Michelle Richmond
Driving Sideways - Jess Riley
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2008

I've been slowly working my way through re-visiting all my past annual top 10 book lists, so today we'll take a look back at my 10 favorite books of 2008.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2008, not necessarily books published that year.

2008 was a momentous year for me personally because my second child, my son Jonah, was born in 2008!  Nonetheless I managed to hold steady by reading the exact same amount of books I had read the previous year.  (68 books, if you are curious!)

Here's my list from 2008, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

Away - Amy Bloom
March - Geraldine Brooks
London Is the Best City in America - Laura Dave
I Love You, Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle
The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Finishing Touches - Deanna Kizis
My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson
The Department of Lost and Found - Allison Winn Scotch
How to Talk to a Widower - Jonathan Tropper

From the Top 10 Archives: Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2007

Continuing my trip down memory lane of favorite books of years past, today we'll re-visit my 10 favorite books from 2007.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2007, not necessarily books published that year.

I joined Goodreads in 2007, so one of the things that should be interesting as I look back at these lists from 2007 on is that my ratings (and reviews where applicable) on Goodreads will have been made contemporaneously, giving me a better view of what I thought of these books at the time I read them.

Here's my list from 2007, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Summer Guest - Justin Cronin
Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
The Girls - Lori Lansen
The Preservationist - David Maine
Evidence of Love - Melissa McConnell
Promise Not to Tell - Jennifer McMahon
Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
Love Walked In - Marisa de los Santos

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2006

It's been a while since I did one of these posts, so thought it was about time to look again at one of my old top 10 book lists.  Today we'll re-visit my 10 favorite books from 2006.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2006, not necessarily books published that year.

Here's my list from 2006, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2005

Once again, I'm looking back at one of my old top 10 book lists - today we'll re-visit my 10 favorite books from 2005.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2005, not necessarily books published that year.

Here's my list from 2005, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2004

Continuing my series of posts looking back at my top 10 book lists from years past, today I'll re-visit my 10 favorite books from 2004.  As a reminder, that means books I read in 2004, not necessarily books published that year.  2004 was a very eventful year for me personally, in that I became a mother for the first time!  (And yes, that means Allison will be 14 next month - crazy!)  I definitely did somewhat less reading in the latter half of the year being a new mom.  But nonetheless, this is a pretty good selection of books!

Here's my list from 2004, in alphabetical order by author's last name: