Reader's choice: Your top 20 books of 2023

The year is winding down, so let’s take a look back at the books that drew the most interest from BookPage.com readers in 2023.

Sprawling, passionate, tragic and comedic at turns—author Abraham Verghese upends all of our expectations again and again in his long awaited follow-up to Cutting for Stone.

Scorched Grace is an entertaining and devastating mystery that introduces Sister Holiday, a queer nun with a clever, curious mind and a fatalistic yet somehow still hopeful heart.

Historical mystery readers searching for a complex main character will admire the uncompromising storytelling of Jacqueline Winspear’s The White Lady.

One of the delights for readers of a mystery is picking up little crumbs of evidence along the way. As Homecoming gallops toward its close, you may think you know what’s coming, and the foreknowledge is both ghastly and thrilling.

This bighearted domestic novel from the author of Dear Edward reaches comforting highs and despairing lows as it sharply examines the many ways that families pull each other together and push each other apart.

Samantha Shannon’s prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree is just as sumptuous and explosive, immersing readers in a world on the brink of destruction.

This engaging cozy mystery is an homage to Agatha Christie with a trio of warmhearted friendships at its core.

Ruth Ware’s action-packed thriller Zero Days is as much an exploration of grief as it is a warning about the vagaries of technology.

William Kent Krueger’s page-turning, rewarding mystery The River We Remember is a superb exploration of the prejudices and complexities of post-World War II America.

Leonie Swann gives the “quirky older sleuths” trope a jolt of black comedy in The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp.

Lisa See’s spellbinding historical novel, inspired by the true story of a female physician, vividly depicts 15th-century China with artfully woven details, rich characters and descriptive language.

Sophie Hannah’s latest bitingly funny and meticulously plotted Hercule Poirot mystery effortlessly captures the Belgian sleuth’s essence.

Alex Hay’s debut, The Housekeepers, is mischievous, suspenseful and just plain fun as it follows a gang of female thieves in Edwardian England.

Jesse Q. Sutanto hits all the right notes in Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, a cozy mystery worth reading for its hilariously meddlesome titular character alone.

The prose in Rachel Heng’s second novel, set in 20th-century Singapore, is alive. Each character is rich with complexity and depth, each snapshot brimming with imagery.

As much as Claire Daverley’s debut novel is a love story between two people, it is also a meditation on family and the vagaries of grief when bonds are broken.

Deanna Raybourn’s masterful balance between romance and mystery makes A Sinister Revenge a standout entry in an already excellent series.

Debut novelist Laura Spence-Ash’s masterful character development enlivens the story of the Thompson and Gregory families and all of the love and tension between them.

With Return to Valetto, Dominic Smith doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but he doesn’t need to: He is a master of his trade who has executed a flawless novel that satisfies on all counts.

Bestselling author Emily Henry’s effervescent and tender Happy Place is as expertly crafted as a perfect summer playlist.

Reader’s choice list is based on BookPage.com traffic between January 1, 2023 and December 1, 2023. Titles are displayed from most viewed to least viewed.

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