A running tally of my "Best Books of 2023", updated each time I finish a book throughout the year.

★★★★★ Another tightly crafted Southern Noir novel from Cosby packed with social commentary and memorable characters. Possibly his best yet.

★★★★★ It's long, but it's also a brilliant tour de force, presenting a multi-generational character study spanning nearly 80 years in India.

★★★★★ Set in a near-future society that feels all too possible, prisoners fight in gladiatorial death matches for a chance at freedom.

★★★★★ A masterful book, Lehane's best since Mystic River, set against the racial tensions of Boston school busing during the summer of '74.

★★★★★ A beautifully written character study of a cast of memorable souls that spans 30 years from the end of World War II until the mid-70s.

★★★★★ Perhaps the most-hyped book of 2023 lives up to it, as we follow the journey of a young girl as she attempts to become a dragon rider.

★★★★★ A stand-alone novel unrelated to her "Divide" series, author Dewes elegantly explores immortality, AI, and what it means to be human.

★★★★★ Harrow returns to top form with a genre-blending story of a young woman trying to scrape by in a town haunted by its past and secrets.

★★★★★ A stellar offering from author Harper about a missing woman and a history of complicated relationships among friends in a small town.

★★★★★ Both entertaining and helpful, Duckworth systematically lays out a plethora of evidence for why passion + perseverance = success.

★★★★☆ Filled as much with philosophy and social commentary as with plot, Alderman envisions a near-future society rocketing toward disaster.

★★★★★ When a young woman goes missing, kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel, her mother makes it her life's mission to bring them to justice.

★★★★★ A thoroughly researched examination of the exploits of Stéphane Breitwieser, the most prolific art thief the world has ever known.

★★★☆☆ A memoir of a life lived in the public eye, but it fails to add enough depth to those public moments that we already know so well.

★★★★☆ A decent but unremarkable debut about a young girl's disappearance, its impact on her family, and ultimately their path to reuniting.

★★★★☆ Another story about retirement-age spies? You better believe it! It doesn't quite match up to Killers of a Certain Age, but it's close

★★★★☆ A 105-year-old man shares seemingly true stories of his multiple reincarnations and past lives. But is he making everything up?

★★★★☆ Set in the 1930s, an expansive cast from the Black and Jewish section of Pottstown, PA come together to rally around a common cause.

★★★☆☆ The semi-autobiographical account of the author's childhood, focused on him leaving the reservation to attend a white high school.