Top Reads of 2023

thebookdivasreads

Dec 26

Happy Holidays and Seasons Greetings Y'all! Once again, I spent way too much time this year re-reading as well as reading. As with previous years, this year's "best of..." list will cover a variety of genres. This list includes books read with online and local book groups, a few books that I read and reviewed, and other books I've had the pleasure of reading over the year. Not all of the titles listed here were released in 2023, but all were read in 2023.

If you haven't read any of the books on this list, it is my most sincere hope that one or two will stand out and you'll want to grab a copy to read for yourself (or to gift).

For those of you who love Southern noir, crime fiction, mysteries, or thrillers, I strongly encourage you to grab a copy of every book written by S.A. Cosby, including his latest, All The Sinners Bleed.

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
ISBN: 9781250831910 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781250845641 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781250897626 (digital audiobook)
ISBN: 9781250897619 (audiobook on CD)
ASIN: B0BF1C2B2R (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0B9KWRYKP (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 341
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: June 6, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Crime Fiction | Southern Noir | Mystery | Thriller

A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust.

Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, Titus knows better than anyone that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.

Then a year to the day after Titus's election, a school teacher is killed by a former student, and the student is fatally shot by Titus's deputies. Those festering secrets are now out in the open and ready to tear the town apart.

As Titus investigates the shootings, he unearths terrible crimes and a serial killer who has been hiding in plain sight, haunting the dirt lanes and woodland clearings of Charon. With the killer's possible connections to a local church and the town's harrowing history weighing on him, Titus projects confidence about closing the case while concealing a painful secret from his own past. At the same time, he also has to contend with a far-right group that wants to hold a parade in celebration of the town's Confederate history.

2. I read and reviewed this one earlier this year (and recommended it to y'all). The subject matter touched me because I have a close family member who was a victim of identity theft and currently has a federal court case pending against the perpetrators. Identity theft causes emotional and psychological trauma and Identity by Nora Roberts touches on all of those traumas and more (romance, intrigue, and murder).

Identity by Nora Roberts
ISBN: 9781250284112 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781250284327 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781250897626 (digital audiobook)
ISBN: 9781250893345 (audiobook on CD)
ASIN: B0BH9BBTZM (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0B9KSW9JN (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: May 23, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Romantic Suspense | Suspense Thriller

A new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.

Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke" is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.

3. Horror isn't usually one of my go-to genres, but now and again there's a horror read that pulls me in. Lone Women by Victor LaValle was one such read. An intriguing mixture of horror, historical fiction, magical suspense, and the American West, this was a story that kept me enthralled from the first page through to the very last.

Lone Women by Victor LaValle
ISBN: 9780525512080 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780525512097 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780593611050 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B0B648K358 (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0B4R7NMQ7 (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 304
Publisher: One World
Release Date: March 28, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Historical Fiction | Horror | Western | Fantasy

Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret. A woman with a past, a mysterious trunk, a town on the edge of nowhere, and an "absorbing, powerful" (BuzzFeed) new vision of the American West, from the award-winning author of The Changeling.

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It's locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.

The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the "lone women" taking advantage of the government's offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn't alone. And the secret she's tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.

Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you've never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.

4. I know, I said that horror wasn't one of my go-to genres, but The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is so much more than horror, and another book you won't want to miss reading (in my not so humble opinion). This historical fiction read is part horror, part thriller, part mystery, and just a darn fine read!

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
ISBN: 9781982188344 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781982188368 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781797160139 (digital audiobook)
ISBN: 9781797160153 (audiobook on CD)
ASIN: B0BRNYV5GM (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0BHTN8L13 (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Release Date: October 31, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Historical Fiction | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he's sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie's journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it's too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.

5. One of the many pleasures I derive from reading is learning about different cultures and cultural practices. I strongly believe that books are windows and mirrors. This next book provided a glimpse into a facet of Indigenous American culture and beliefs that I hadn't previously seen. Shutter by Ramona Emerson was an amazing read that combined bits of horror with paranormal, crime fiction, and mystery. I read this one in print AND listened to the audiobook, and thoroughly enjoyed both experiences.

Shutter by Ramona Emerson
ISBN: 9781641294812 (paperback - April 25, 2023)
ISBN: 9781641293341 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781705074909 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B0B1QVRDGJ (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B09KWZG2XJ (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Soho Crime
Release Date: August 2, 2022
Genre: Fiction | Crime Fiction | Mystery | Thriller

This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico's Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook.

As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won't let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was what drove her away from the Navajo reservation, where she was raised by her grandmother. It has isolated her from friends and gotten her in trouble with the law.

And now it might be what gets her killed.

When Rita is sent to photograph the scene of a supposed suicide on a highway overpass, the furious, discombobulated ghost of the victim—who insists she was murdered—latches onto Rita, forcing her on a quest for revenge against her killers, and Rita finds herself in the crosshairs of one of Albuquerque's most dangerous cartels. Written in sparkling, gruesome prose, Shutter is an explosive debut from one of crime fiction's most powerful new voices.

6. I was introduced to the writings of John Scalzi a few years back when he was a guest at the West Virginia Book Festival. I can't say that I've read a ton of his books, but everything I've read thus far I've enjoyed (The Lock In Series, Kaiju Preservation Society, Redshirts, and The President's Brain is Missing). I've spent most of this year encouraging folks to read this next book. The cover for Starter Villain made me wonder what the...? Then I read the book, multiple times. I then listened to the audiobook, twice! The first audiobook listen was during a trip to an infusion appointment and my youngest brother had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Neither one of us wanted to leave his truck to go into the hospital for my treatment. (Although it isn't prohibited in most places, I find it annoying to hear videos, music, or cell phone conversations via someone else's cell phone speaker. Needless to say, I don't use this function when in public. Hey, I'm tacky but not that tacky.) My brother and I were anxious for the treatment to end just so we could get back to this book. Starter Villain combines a lot of humor with science fiction and a nod to the villains from the world of James Bond. To say this was one of my favorite reads for 2023 is a massive understatement. Seriously, I LOVED this book and will probably end up reading or listening to it again before the year is over.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi
ISBN: 9780765389220 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780765389237 (ebook)
ASIN: B0C6FR3JN1 (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0B9KVXCQ6 (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: September 19, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Science Fiction | Humor | Thriller

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place.

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It's up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world...be a cat.

7. One of my local book clubs was blessed and received a book club set of The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb earlier this year. The timing was quite fortuitous as this became our February group read and perfect as a Black History Month read. After reading my print copy I ended up purchasing a digital copy of this book and even ordered a print copy for my elderly mother to read (yes, she also enjoyed it).

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
ISBN: 9780593315422 (paperback)
ISBN: 9780593315439 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780593554968 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B09BBQTL9V (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B0988Z1VMC (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Anchor Books
Release Date: December 6, 2022 (paperback release)
Genre: Fiction | Crime Fiction | Coming-of-Age

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather's heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world.

"I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen's Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music." —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian's life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he's determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can't afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.

When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

8. The next book isn't a sequel, but it is another fascinating musical mystery by Brendan Slocumb. Symphony of Secrets interweaves the story of a renowned composer from the early 20th century with a hidden figure mystery being uncovered in the early 21st century.

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
ISBN: 9780593315446 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9780593315453 (paperback - releasing 01/23/2024)
ISBN: 9780593315460 (ebook)
ISBN: 9780593668290 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B0B9T5WWVY (Audible audiobook)
ASIN: B09ZRVSZ7B (Kindle edition)
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Anchor Books
Release Date: April 18, 2023
Genre: Fiction | Historical Fiction | Mystery | Thriller

A gripping page-turner about a professor who uncovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—that his music was stolen from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to uncover the truth and right history's wrongs, Bern Hendricks will stop at nothing to finally give Josephine the recognition she deserves.

Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime. As one of the world's preeminent experts on the famed twentieth-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern knows everything there is to know about the man behind the music. When Mallory Roberts, a board member of the distinguished Delaney Foundation and direct descendant of the man himself, asks for Bern's help authenticating a newly discovered piece, which may be his famous lost opera, RED, he jumps at the chance. With the help of his tech-savvy acquaintance Eboni, Bern soon discovers that the truth is far more complicated than history would have them believe.

In 1920s Manhattan, Josephine Reed is living on the streets and frequenting jazz clubs when she meets the struggling musician Fred Delaney. But where young Delaney struggles, Josephine soars. She's a natural prodigy who hears beautiful music in the sounds of the world around her. With Josephine as his silent partner, Delaney's career takes off—but who is the real genius here?

In the present day, Bern and Eboni begin to uncover more clues that indicate Delaney may have had help in composing his most successful work. Armed with more questions than answers and caught in the crosshairs of a powerful organization who will stop at nothing to keep their secret hidden, Bern and Eboni will move heaven and earth in their dogged quest to right history's wrongs.

I had a difficult time keeping this list short. My initial list of "top reads of 2023" had over 25 titles on it. I consider myself incredibly blessed to have read a host of great books this year. I'm grateful to the authors, publishers, publicists, virtual book tour companies, and book clubs that have afforded me the opportunity to read so many wonderful titles. I'm looking forward to all of the releases coming out in 2024 and I'm sure I'll be raving about them around this time next year.

If you have a moment, tell me a few of your favorite reads from 2023.

Happy Reading, y'all! ♦