BostonPL_BPL Staff Picks: Best Reads of 2023Like this list

42 items

• Lone Women

  A Novel

  LaValle, Victor

  Add Lone Women to your for later shelf

  Fiction. An African American homesteader with a mysterious heavy trunk must survive bleak conditions and deal with family secrets. I got fully immersed in the harshness of Montana in 1915, and loved the women characters. The horror element…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• You Don't Have a Shot

  Marie, Racquel

  Add You Don't Have a Shot to your for later shelf

  Teen Fiction. After a rough end to her soccer season, Vale escapes to soccer camp only to discover that her rival Leticia is also attending...and will be her co-captain for the summer. Racquel Marie is one of the best YA authors out there…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Cloud Cuckoo Land

  A Novel

  Doerr, Anthony

  Add Cloud Cuckoo Land to your for later shelf

  Historical Fantasy. Cloud Cuckoo Land spans three timelines—the 1453 siege of Constantinople, present-day Idaho in a library, and a future space voyage to an exoplanet—where characters are unknowingly shaped by a pivotal ancient text.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

  Chambers, Becky

  Add A Prayer for the Crown-Shy to your for later shelf

  Science Fiction. In the second book of the Monk and Robot series, Tea Monk Dex and robot Mosscap continue to explore their own relations to themselves and other humans and robots. This series is exactly what we need right now: a prediction…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• My Government Means to Kill Me

  A Novel

  Newson, Rasheed

  Add My Government Means to Kill Me to your for later shelf

  Fiction. Newson creates a fictional memoir about a young gay Black man navigating 1980s New York City. Trey becomes involved in the AIDS movement and has to navigate the struggles of LGBT+ people of color. The reader forgets this book is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything

  Winans, Justine Pucella

  Add Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything to your for later shelf

  Teen Mystery. To cope with their anxiety disorder and burgeoning gender identity crisis, 16-year-old closeted lesbian Bianca takes up birdwatching and accidentally witnesses a neighbor's murder. Authorities believe it was a suicide, so…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Braiding Sweetgrass

  Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

  Kimmerer, Robin Wall,

  Add Braiding Sweetgrass to your for later shelf

  Memoir/Nonfiction. Kimmerer is both a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Here, she combines her knowledge of plants and personal stories into one beautiful and heartbreaking memoir. This is a book that needs to be…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

  Fawcett, Heather (Heather M.),

  Add Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries to your for later shelf

  Fantasy. Heather Fawcett's "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries" is a delightful blend of fantasy and romance that immerses readers in a charming tale of academic rivalry, hidden secrets, and the enchanting realm of faeries. Emily…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Vampires of El Norte

  Cañas, Isabel,

  Add Vampires of El Norte to your for later shelf

  Fiction. Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda. I loved this gothic western which had just enough horror and just enough romance. Highly recommend if you’re…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Blight

  Fungi and the Coming Pandemic

  Monosson, Emily

  Add Blight to your for later shelf

  Nonfiction. Books about fungi are always fascinating and this one delved into how they are adapting to warming climates and may soon be able to survive inside warm bodies. It also covered how entire plant species can be destroyed by fungi…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Simon Sort of Says

  Bow, Erin

  Add Simon Sort of Says to your for later shelf

  Children's Fiction. Simon and his parents move to a town with no internet after a Very Bad Thing happens to him. The sole survivor of a school shooting, Simon begins to make new sense of his life with the help of friends, family, and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Ellie Engle Saves Herself

  Johnson, Leah

  Add Ellie Engle Saves Herself to your for later shelf

  Children's Fiction. When a freak accident gives Ellie the power to bring things back to life, she has to learn how to navigate the world not only as someone with superpowers, but someone who isn't quite sure who she's meant to be yet. -…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Thornhedge

  Kingfisher, T.

  Add Thornhedge to your for later shelf

  Fantasy. Re-imaging of the classic Sleeping Beauty story. I enjoyed variation on the story and the twist ending. - Shane J., Charlestown Branch Library

• The Thursday Murder Club

  Osman, Richard

  Add The Thursday Murder Club to your for later shelf

  Mystery. A fun read about a retirement community that solves crimes. This unlikely gang of sleuths had me laughing out loud, and anticipating the next installment! - Jane S., Central Library

• The Light Pirate

  Brooks-Dalton, Lily, 1987-

  Add The Light Pirate to your for later shelf

  Science Fiction/Fantasy. As Hurricane Wanda begins drenching Florida, Kirby Lowe heads into the storm to find his two missing sons, while his wife gives birth at home to a daughter named after the storm. Brooks-Dalton then unfolds a story…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• All the Dead Shall Weep

  Harris, Charlaine

  Add All the Dead Shall Weep to your for later shelf

  Fantasy. Book 5 of the Gunnie Rose series, exploring how magic winds it's way through the politically fractured North American continent. I love reading about what might have been and this series keeps me on my toes. - Maija MH., Central…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Heaven

  Kawakami, Mieko, 1976-

  Add Heaven to your for later shelf

  Fiction. "Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami's novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Vernon Subutex. 1

  Despentes, Virginie, 1969-

  Add Vernon Subutex. 1 to your for later shelf

  Fiction. I've been a big fan of Despentes' work since "Baise-moi", but her writing's really hit another level with "Vernon Subutex". It's centered around the titular Vernon Subutex, an agoraphobic 50-something former record shop owner…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• When the Angels Left the Old Country

  Lamb, Sacha

  Add When the Angels Left the Old Country to your for later shelf

  Teen Fantasy. An angel and a demon emigrate from a nameless shtetl in the Pale of Settlement to New York City, following the trail of a girl from their shtetl whose letters home have gone missing. On their journey, they face the horrors of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wilds of the United States

  the Animals' Survival Field Guide

  Vidal, Alexander,

  Add Wilds of the United States to your for later shelf

  Children's Nonfiction. We read this book every night, and my little guy delighted in learning about new animals every night. - Maija MH., Central