sunday times book reviews 2023

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From fiction and memoir to politics and science, browse the best books of 2023, chosen by critics from The Times and The Sunday Times

Books of the year, as advertised in the times and sunday times, biography and memoirs, page-turning memoirs and incisive biographies, handpicked by the times and sunday times critics.

Food, drink and cookery

2023's finest books for foodies, as picked by the times and sunday times critics.

From Ann Patchett to Zadie Smith, the best fiction of 2023 as chosen by the Times and Sunday Times critics

History, politics and current affairs

The times and sunday times editors pick of 2023's best books to help us understand the world, past and present.

Children's and young adult

Dive into a great story with our selection of children's books, chosen by critics from the times and sunday times.

Something extra…?

The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023

The fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that entertained and enlightened us

A Day in the Life of Abed Salama

A living remedy, above ground, after sappho, after the funeral, all the sinners bleed, anansi's gold, august blue, the bee sting, biography of x, birnam wood, chrome valley, the covenant of water, crook manifesto, the deadline, doppelganger, dyscalculia, the end of drum-time, family lore, fire weather, ghost music, the good life, the great reclamation, the great white bard, greek lessons, the half known life, the heaven & earth grocery store, hello beautiful, the hive and the honey, holding pattern, holler, child, how not to kill yourself, how to say babylon, i am still with you, i do everything i'm told, i have some questions for you, i love russia, king: a life, let us descend, let's go let's go let's go, liliana’s invincible summer, the male gazed, master slave husband wife, mott street, my name is barbra, none of the above, north woods, nothing special, our migrant souls, our share of night, owner of a lonely heart, pineapple street, the postcard, poverty, by america, the rachel incident, river sing me home, some people need killing, temple folk, terrace story, this other eden, the three of us, thunderclap, to free the captives, the vaster wilds, vengeance is mine, victory city, waiting to be arrested at night, wandering souls, what happened to ruthy ramirez, what you are looking for is in the library, when crack was king, the wren, the wren, you could make this place beautiful, the young man.

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by Paul Yoon

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by Maggie Smith

by Annie Ernaux

This project is led by Lucy Feldman and Annabel Gutterman, with writing by Judy Berman, Shannon Carlin, Eliana Dockterman, Mahita Gajanan, Cady Lang, Megan McCluskey, Rachel Sonis, Karl Vick, Olivia B. Waxman, Lucas Wittmann, Laura Zornosa, and Meg Zukin; photography editing by Eli Cohen; art direction by Victor Williams; video by Andrew Johnson and Sam McPeak; and production by  Juwayriah   Wright .

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Sunday Times Bestsellers 2023: Here are the 11 books that sold most copies in the UK this year

Writer-at-large

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.

Led by a controversial royal memoir, all these successful books sold at least 215,000 copies.

It's the label that every author dreams of having on the front of their book: "Sunday Times Bestseller".

The newspaper produces weekly sales charts for hardback and softback book sales in the UK.

And they recently announced which books sold the most in 2023.

Here are the top 11. You can see the full list here .

1 . Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex

The book that everybody was talking about in 2023 inevitable tops the charts with an amazing 700,962 copies sold in hardback. "For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief." | Contributed

2 . Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Assisted by a major Apple TV series starring Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry was the best selling work of fiction in 2023, thanks to shifting 466,628 paperbacks. "Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, she would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Forced to leave her job at the institute, she soon finds herself the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six." | Contributed

3 . The Last Devil To Die: The Thursday Murder Club 4 by Richard Osman

The popularity of television host Richard Osman's series of crime novels set in a retirement village shows no sign of letting up anytime soon. The fourth book was another hit, with 419,456 hardbacks sold. "Shocking news reaches the Thursday Murder Club. An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing. As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home." | Contributed

4 . The Bullet That Missed: The Thursday Murder Club 3 by Richard Osman

A total of 387,181 paperback sales gives Pointless host Richard Osman a second entry in the top five with the third in his fun series of crime novels. "It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then, a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill...or be killed." | Contributed

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24 books by Times and Sunday Times writers in 2023

Our journalists are a diverse and busy bunch … this year they have offered up powerful memoirs, novels, lifestyle tips and history for children.

M ost journalists are sprinters. Skilled at turning out 800 words (elegant and polished, we hope) at speed, a quick blast of energy to meet unforgiving daily deadlines. But what happens when they test their endurance by running the marathon of writing a book? See for yourself …

The Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein did not just have one remarkable wartime survivor for a parent, he had two. His mother, Mirjam Wiener, a classmate of Anne Frank’s, survived Belsen and his father, Ludwik Finkelstein, a Polish Jew, did hard labour on a farm in Siberia. With grace, Finkelstein tells this story not as a tragedy but as a tale of love, hope and resilience. There’s a punchier message too: since 1945 the similarities between Hitler and Stalin

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Book Review

Can americans have democracy, freedom and other nice things.

In “On Freedom,” Timothy Snyder looks at what kinds of societies help people thrive.

  By Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Gillian Anderson Never Got Bored Reading Other Women’s Sexual Fantasies

Her own is among the anonymous tales included in “Want,” a new collection she has edited: “It only felt right, given I was requesting courage from everyone else.”

Why Is the Far Right Gaining Support Among Latino Americans?

In “Defectors,” the journalist Paola Ramos interviews MAGA supporters, Proud Boys and others to investigate a constituency long thought reliably Democratic.

  By Jennifer Szalai

Sex, Grief and Psychoanalysis on the Rue de Belleville

Lauren Elkin’s first novel, “Scaffolding,” traces the multiple infidelities of two Parisian couples a generation apart.

  By Lauren Christensen

Why Has ‘The Power Broker’ Had Such a Long Life?

In his biography of a city bureaucrat, Robert Caro created a lasting portrait of American corruption by turning the craft of journalism into a pursuit of high art.

  By Sam Tanenhaus

Takeaways From Hillary Clinton’s New Book, ‘Something Lost, Something Gained’

In her latest memoir, Clinton takes on student protests, foreign policy and even clown school.

  By Sadie Stein

Connie Chung Signed Off, but She Isn’t Done Talking

In a frank and entertaining new memoir, the TV newscaster recounts how sexism, and Dan Rather, sidelined her groundbreaking career.

  By Margaret Sullivan

The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

As voted on by 503 book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

  By The New York Times Books Staff

Best-Seller Lists: Sept. 29, 2024

All the lists: print, e-books, fiction, nonfiction, children’s books and more.

Books of The Times

How a Behind-the-Scenes ‘Kingmaker’ Developed a Talent for Diplomacy

Sonia Purnell’s biography of Pamela Harriman argues that the Democratic stalwart and former ambassador was more than the men she cultivated.

  By Alexandra Jacobs

Sex, Drugs, Raves and Heartbreak

In a new memoir, the journalist Emily Witt delivers a coolly precise chronicle of Brooklyn’s underground party scene and her romance with a fellow partygoer.

The Endless Drama, and Tedium, of a Medical Mystery

Garth Greenwell takes on pain and illness in his new novel, “Small Rain.”

  By Dwight Garner

In ‘Lovely One,’ Ketanji Brown Jackson Credits the Mentors Who Lifted Her Up

The Supreme Court justice’s memoir is deeply personal and full of hope, and highlights a fairy-tale marriage to her college boyfriend.

A Smart, Sinuous Espionage Thriller Brimming With Heat

Already longlisted for the Booker Prize, Rachel Kushner’s “Creation Lake” — set in rural France — stars a ruthless American secret agent.

The Author of ‘Impossible Creatures’ Tucks Big Ideas in Tales of Wonder

Katherine Rundell said children can handle hefty themes, but finds it “bad manners to offer a child a story and give them just a moral.”

By Sarah Lyall

A Trip to the Many Worlds of Hellboy’s Creator

Skeletons, ghosts and more: Mike Mignola has a show at a Chelsea gallery, and it might not be what fans expect.

By George Gene Gustines

Frederick Schauer, Scholar Who Scrutinized Free Speech, Dies at 78

In more than a dozen books and several hundred articles, he devoted himself, as he once said, to “questioning the unquestionable or thinking the unthinkable.”

By Michael S. Rosenwald

Elias Khoury, Master of the Modern Arabic Novel, Dies at 76

In his fiction and journalism, he sought to illustrate the story of the contemporary Middle East and his native Lebanon.

By Clay Risen

Finding London’s Most Distinctive Shops

Sure, you can hit Harrods. But the British capital also has small specialized shops, some centuries old and still crafting items by hand. Here, a selection of singular shopping experiences.

By Alexander Wooley

Making ‘The Wild Robot’ Even Wilder

Roz, the beloved protagonist of Peter Brown’s popular children’s book, gets a glow-up for the big-screen adaptation.

By Robert Ito

How Donald Trump Learned to Pass the Buck

In “Lucky Loser,” two investigative reporters illuminate the financial chicanery and media excesses that gave us the 45th president of the United States.

By Alexander Nazaryan

Beautiful Drawings of Bodies in Crisis Fill September’s Graphic Novels

An exciting book with no words, a murder mystery, an author mocking their own pain and a poetic masterpiece highlight this month’s offerings.

By Sam Thielman

In Paris, a Riverboat Sojourn on the Banks of the Seine

For a week, the novelist Joyce Maynard said good night to Paris from the deck of a péniche, within full view of the Eiffel Tower. Who cared if it rained the whole time?

By Joyce Maynard

11 Notable Fashion Books Out This Fall

Iris Apfel, Diane Keaton and Henri Bendel are just some of the style icons featured in the pages of this season’s most fashionable titles.

By Rachel Sherman