{"id":231102,"date":"2023-12-23T04:55:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-23T09:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=231102"},"modified":"2024-01-16T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T15:40:12","slug":"the-ultimate-best-books-of-2023-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-ultimate-best-books-of-2023-list\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Best Books of 2023 List"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of the year is approaching, the universe is expanding, and the internet is updating\u2014right now, it is mostly updating its Best Of lists. Therefore, per Literary Hub tradition<\/a>, I will now present to you the Ultimate List, otherwise known as the List of Lists\u2014in which I read all the Best Of lists and count which books are recommended most.<\/p>\n

This year, I sorted through 62 lists from 48 publications, which yielded a total of 1,132 books. (I can only say: yikes.) 94 of those books made it onto 5 or more lists, and I have collated these for you here, in descending order of frequency.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

20 lists:
\n<\/strong>James McBride, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

19 lists:
\n<\/strong>Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars<\/a><\/em>
\nDavid Grann, The Wager<\/a><\/em>
\nZadie Smith, The Fraud<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

16 lists:
\n<\/strong>Jonathan Eig, King: A Life<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

15 lists:
\n<\/strong>Eleanor Catton, Birnam Wood<\/a><\/em>
\nR.F. Kuang, Yellowface<\/a><\/em>
\nRebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions For You<\/a><\/em>
\nAnn Patchett, Tom Lake<\/a><\/em>
\nSafiya Sinclair, How to Say Babylon<\/a><\/em>
\nJesmyn Ward, Let Us Descend<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

14 lists:
\n<\/strong>Mariana Enriquez, tr. Megan McDowell, Our Share of Night<\/a><\/em>
\nPaul Murray, The Bee Sting<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

13 lists:
\n<\/strong>S.A. Cosby, All the Sinners Bleed<\/a><\/em>
\nNaomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World<\/a><\/em>
\nCatherine Lacey, Biography of X<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

12 lists:
\n<\/strong>Claire Dederer, Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma<\/a><\/em>
\nDeepti Kapoor, Age of Vice<\/a><\/em>
\nVictor LaValle, Lone Women<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

11 lists:
\n<\/strong>Emma Cline, The Guest<\/a><\/em>
\nDaniel Mason, North Woods<\/a><\/em>
\nJustin Torres, Blackouts<\/a><\/em>
\nAbraham Verghese, The Covenant of Water<\/a><\/em>
\nColson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

10 lists:
\n<\/strong>Matthew Desmond, Poverty, By America<\/a><\/em>
\nLauren Groff, The Vaster Wilds<\/a><\/em>
\nKelly Link, White Cat, Black Dog: Stories<\/a><\/em>
\nJonathan Rosen, The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions<\/a><\/em>
\nC Pam Zhang, Land of Milk and Honey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

9 lists:
\n<\/strong>Darrin Bell, The Talk<\/a><\/em>
\nTimothy Egan, A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them<\/a><\/em>
\nAlice McDermott, Absolution<\/a><\/em>
\nAnn Napolitano, Hello Beautiful<\/a><\/em>
\nJohn Valliant, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

8 lists:
\n<\/strong>Jen Beagin, Big Swiss<\/a><\/em>
\nJamel Brinkley, Witness<\/a><\/em>
\nNicole Chung, A Living Remedy: A Memoir<\/a><\/em>
\nAnne Enright, The Wren, The Wren<\/a><\/em>
\nJenny Erpenbeck, tr. Michael Hofmann, Kairos<\/a><\/em>
\nTania James, Loot<\/a><\/em>
\nJessica Knoll, Bright Young Women<\/a><\/em>
\nHilary Leichter, Terrace Story<\/a><\/em>
\nChristina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes<\/a><\/em>
\nMaggie Smith, You Could Make This Place Beautiful<\/a><\/em>
\nH\u00e9ctor Tobar, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”<\/a><\/em>
\nIlyon Woo, Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

7 lists:
\n<\/strong>Daniel Clowes, Monica<\/a><\/em>
\nMichael Finkel, The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession<\/a><\/em>
\nHomer, tr. Emily Wilson, The Iliad<\/a><\/em>
\nBenjamin Labatut, The MANIAC<\/a><\/em>
\nDennis Lehane, Small Mercies<\/a><\/em>
\nElliot Page, Pageboy: A Memoir<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

6 lists:
\n<\/strong>Sebastian Barry, Old God’s Time<\/a><\/em>
\nGary J. Bass, Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia<\/a><\/em>
\nNed Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History<\/a><\/em>
\nTania Branigan, Red Memory: The Afterlives of China’s Cultural Revolution<\/a><\/em>
\nTananarive Due, The Reformatory<\/a><\/em>
\nTeju Cole, Tremor<\/a><\/em>
\nTessa Hadley, After the Funeral and Other Stories<\/a><\/em>
\nIsabella Hammad, Enter Ghost<\/a><\/em>
\nRachel Heng, The Great Reclamation<\/a><\/em>
\nTahir Hamut Izgil, Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide<\/a><\/em>
\nAngie Kim, Happiness Falls<\/a><\/em>
\nDeborah Levy, August Blue<\/a><\/em>
\nYiyun Li, Wednesday’s Child: Stories<\/a><\/em>
\nLorrie Moore, I Am Homeless If This is Not My Home<\/a><\/em>
\nDonovan X. Ramsey, When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era<\/a><\/em>
\nBritney Spears, The Woman in Me<\/a><\/em>
\nBarbra Streisand, My Name is Barbra<\/a><\/em>
\nAlice Winn, In Memoriam<\/a><\/em>
\nYepoka Yeebo, Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

5 lists:
\n<\/strong>Naomi Alderman, The Future<\/a><\/em>
\nAnne Berest, tr. Tina Kover, The Postcard<\/a><\/em>
\nCat Bohannon, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution<\/a><\/em>
\nTom Crewe, The New Life<\/a><\/em>
\nPatricia Engel, The Faraway World<\/a><\/em>
\nPatricia Evangelista, Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country<\/a><\/em>
\nAnna Funder, Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life<\/a><\/em>
\nCristina Rivera Garza, Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice<\/a><\/em>
\nPaul Harding, This Other Eden<\/a><\/em>
\nMick Herron, The Secret Hours<\/a><\/em>
\nNathan Hill, Wellness<\/a><\/em>
\nLydia Kiesling, Mobility<\/a><\/em>
\nJhumpa Lahiri, tr. Jhumpa Lahiri and Todd Portnowitz, Roman Stories<\/a><\/em>
\nAndrew Leland, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight<\/a><\/em>
\nAyana Mathis, The Unsettled<\/a><\/em>
\nMarie NDiaye, tr. Jordan Stump, Vengeance Is Mine<\/a><\/em>
\nMark O’Connell, A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder<\/a><\/em>
\nCaroline O’Donoghue, The Rachel Incident<\/a><\/em>
\nEd Park, Same Bed Different Dreams<\/a><\/em>
\nSalman Rushdie, Victory City<\/a><\/em>
\nJillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, Roaming<\/a><\/em>
\nBrandon Taylor, The Late Americans<\/a><\/em>
\nPaul Yoon, The Hive and the Honey<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

List of Lists Surveyed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New Yorker’s<\/em> The Best Books of 2023 (The Essentials)<\/a> \u2022 The New York Times’s<\/em> 100 Notable Books of 2023<\/a> and 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 TIME’s<\/em> The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Atlantic’s <\/em>The Books That Made Us Think the Most This Year<\/a> \u2022 Publishers Weekly’s<\/em> Best Books 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Wall Street Journal’s <\/em>The 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0The Los Angeles Times’s<\/em> 13 Best Novels (And 2 Best Short Story Collections) of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Washington Post<\/em>‘s 50 Notable Works of Fiction<\/a> and 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction<\/a> and 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Vulture’s The Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Slate’s The 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> (Laura Miller) and The 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> (Dan Kois) \u2022 Electric Literature’s Best Novels of 2023<\/a>, Best Nonfiction of 2023<\/a>, and Best Short Story Collections of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0The Economist’s\u00a0<\/em>Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Vanity Fair’s<\/em> 20 Favorite Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Esquire’s <\/em>The 20 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Oprah Daily’s The Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Den of Geek’s Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Amazon’s Top 20 Books of the Year<\/a> \u2022 Book Riot’s Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0Chicago Tribune’s\u00a0<\/em>10 Best Books for 2023<\/a> \u2022 Inside Hook’s The 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Guardian’s <\/em>Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Powell’s Books’ Best Books of 2023: Fiction<\/a> and Best Books of 2023: Nonfiction<\/a> \u2022\u00a0Real Simple’s\u00a0<\/em>60 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0Good Housekeeping’s\u00a0<\/em>The Must-Read Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 AIR MAIL’s 12 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The New York Public Library’s Best Books for Adults 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0The Boston Globe’s\u00a0<\/em>55 Books We Loved in 2023<\/a> \u2022 Book Soup’s Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Chicago Review of Books’ Best Books We Read in 2023<\/a> \u2022 The California Review of Books’ 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Globe and Mail’s<\/em> The Globe 100: The Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Tattered Cover’s Books of the Year 2023<\/a> \u2022 ELLE’s<\/em> Editors Share the Books They Loved Best in 2023<\/a> \u2022 The New Statesman’s 20 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0Harper’s Bazaar’s\u00a0<\/em>The 45 Best New Books of 2023 You Won’t Put Down<\/a> \u2022 The Chicago Public Library’s Favorite Books of 2023<\/a> and Top 10 Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 BookPage’s Best Fiction of 2023<\/a> and Best Nonfiction of 2023<\/a> and Best Mystery & Suspense of 2023<\/a> and Best Romance of 2023<\/a> and Best SFF & Horror of 2023<\/a> and 10 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Shelf Awareness’s Best Adult Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction Books of the Year<\/a> and Best Nonfiction Books of the Year<\/a> \u2022 Library Journal’s Best Books 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0The Telegraph’s\u00a0<\/em>50 Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Conversation’s Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022\u00a0The New York Post’s <\/em>Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 PEOPLE’s<\/em> Top 10 Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 Foreign Affairs’<\/em> The Best of Books 2023<\/a> \u2022 Town & Country’s<\/em> The Best Books of 2023<\/a> \u2022 The Independent’s <\/em>25 Best Books of the Year<\/a> \u2022 and of course, Literary Hub’s The 38 Best Books We Read in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The end of the year is approaching, the universe is expanding, and the internet is updating\u2014right now, it is mostly updating its Best Of lists. Therefore, per Literary Hub tradition, I will now present to you the Ultimate List, otherwise known as the List of Lists\u2014in which I read all the Best Of lists and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1210,"featured_media":231140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43069,6,43070,43135],"tags":[90002,10284,13926,31182,39885,68670,41602,6614],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ultimate2023.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-Y7s","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}