The New York Public Library released its lists of the best books of 2023, chosen by committees of the system’s librarians.
Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the Booker Prize this year, was among the top 10 books for adults, alongside C Pam Zhang’s Land of Milk and Honey, Sarah MacLean’s Knockout, and When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey.
The list of top 10 books for teens includes Ariel Aberg-Riger’s Kirkus Prize–winning America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History, Crystal Maldonado’s The Fall of Whit Rivera, Linda Cheng’s Gorgeous Gruesome Faces, Lorraine Avila’s The Making of Yolanda La Bruja, and Olivia A. Cole’s Dear Medusa.
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen, another Kirkus Prize finalist, was among the top 10 books for children, as was Cape, written by Kevin Johnson and illustrated by Kitt Thomas; The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels written by Beth Lincoln and illustrated by Claire Powell; and Doodles From the Boogie Down by Stephanie Rodriguez.
Books on the top 10 children’s books in Spanish list include Wepa by J de la Vega; ¿Me ayudas a dibujar un pato?, written by Jose Carlos Andrés and illustrated by Pupé; Nuestro techo es azul, written by Sara E. Echenique and illustrated by Ashley Vargas; and Juego de libertad: Mestre Bimba y el arte de la capoeira by Duncan Tonatiuh.
The full lists are available on the NYPL website, as is a larger roundup of 240 other recommended titles.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
