Still looking for a gift for someone special?
KCLS recently released their top 125 books list for 2023, which includes 25 titles from fiction, non-fiction, teen, children, and audio books, which is a new category this year.
The Best Books list is comprised of nominations made by KCLS staff and librarians that “read thousands of books each year”, a press release reads. A selection committee then takes those nominations and whittles them down to the list it is now.
For a full list in all categories, and to see if they’re available to check out at your local library, head to kcls.org/best-books.
BEST FICTION
* “I Have Some Questions for You”, by Rebecca Makkai
* “The Covenant of Water”, by Abraham Verghese
* “Ghost Music”, by An Yu
* “Tress of the Emerald Sea”, by Brandon Sanderson
* “The September House”, by Carissa Orlando
* “Biography of X”, by Catherine Lacey
* “Happy Place”, by Emily Henry
* “Ink Blood Sister Scribe”, by Emma Torzs
* “How to Sell A Haunted House”, by Grady Hendrix
* “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries”, Heather Fawcett
* “The Wind Knows My Name,” by Isabel Allende
* “Big Swiss”, by Jen Beagin
* “Summer Reading,” by Jenn McKinlay
* “Maame”, by Jessica George
* “Bad Cree”, by Jessica Johns
* “Good Night, Irene”, by Luis Alberto Ussea
* “The Spare Man”, by Mary Robinette Kowal
* “What You Are Looking For Is in the Library”, by Michiko Aoyama
* “To Shape A Dragon’s Breath”, by Moniquill Blackgoose
* “The Shamshine Blind”, by Paz Pardo
* “Yellowface”, by R. F. Kuang
* “Fourth Wing”, by Rebecca Yarros
* “Mr. Nash’s Ashes”, by Sarah Adler
* “Lone Women”, by Victor LaValle
* “The Passenger”, by Cormac McCarthy
* “Stella Maris”, by Cormac McCarthy
BEST TEEN
* “Imogen, Obviously”, by Becky Albertalli
* “A First Time for Everything”, by Dan Santat
* “The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich”, by Deya Muniz
* “A Stolen Heir”, by Holly Black
* “Darkhearts”, by James Sutter
* “Lion’s Legacy”, by Lev EC Rosen
* “Different for Boys”, by Patrick Ness
* “The New Next Syrian Girl”, by Ream Shukairy
* Ander & Santi Were Here”, by Jonny Garza Villa
* “Those Who Helped Us”, by Ken Mockizuki
* “Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejanda Kim”, by Patrica Park
* “Family Style”, by Thien Pham
* “Blood Debts”, by Terry J. Benton-Walker
* “Spice Road”, by Maiya Ibrahim
* “Accountable:, by Dashka Slater
* “Brooms”, by Jasmine Walls
* “The Davenports”, by Krystal Marquis
* “An Echo in the City”, by K. X. Song
* “She Is A Haunting”, by Trang Thanh Tran
* “That Self-same Metal”, by Brittany N. Williams
* “Those Who Saw the Sun”, by Jaha Nailah Avery
* “Your Freedom, your Power”, by Allison Matulli
* “¡Ay, Mija!” by Christine Suggs
* “Simon Sort of Says”, by Erin Bow
* “Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling”, by Elise Bryant
BEST KIDS
* “Global”, by Eoin Global
* “Just Jerry”, by Jerry Pikney
* “Remember”, by Joy Harjo
* “An American Story”, by Kwame Alexander
* “Spanish Is The Language of My Family”, by Michael Genhart
* “The Dark Lord’s Daughter”, by Patricia C. Wrede
* “Mexikid”, by Pedro Martin
* “Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great!”, by Sandra Boynton
* “A Land of Books”, by Duncan Tonatiuh
* “Bea Wolf”, by Zach Weinersmith
* “I’m From”, by Gary Gray
* “Stickler Loves the World”, by Lane Smith
* “In The Night Garden”, by Carin Berger
* “My Powerful Hair”, by Carole Lindstrom
* “My Baba’s Garden”, by Jordan Scott
* “One Upon A Book”, by Lin Grace
* “Nell Plants A Tree”, by Anne Wynter
* “The Universe in You”, by Jason Chin
* “Simon and the Better Bone”, by Corey R. Tabor
* “The Yellow Handkerchief”, by Donna Barba Higuera
* “Slowly, Slowly”, by Toni Yuly
* “The Manifestor Prophecy”, by Angie Thomas
* “We Still Belong”, by Christine Day
* “The Lost Year”, by Katherine Marsh
* “Parachute Kids”, by Betty C. Tang
