What was popular in 2023? Check out what you and others discovered by viewing Caledon Public Library’s nine year-end lists. Below is a walkthrough of adult fiction and non-fiction as well as the young adult fiction categories.
In adult fiction, Colleen Hoover was by far the most popular author with five of the top ten titles. For each of the five titles we will give one fun fact about Colleen Hoover. She grew up in Saltillo, Texas which is an unincorporated community whose only historical fact in Wikipedia is a 1985 shootout between the FBI and a group of kidnappers, she is one of the bestselling authors in the United States with over 20 million books sold, she self-published her first novel as a gift to her mother, It Starts with Us is Simon & Schuster’s most preordered book of all time, she published a free ebook called Finding Cinderella that has an accompanying soundtrack.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is in the number two spot which is the story of an unknown reporter interviewing a reclusive Hollywood movie star about her life. Taylor Jenkins Reid takes advantage of a cool feature on Goodreads and has added annotations on the site if you have already read the book and would like to learn more. A World of Curiosities is a mystery thriller novel based in Canada about a hidden attic filled with puzzles and hidden messages. The Thursday Murder Club has a similar premise about a club of sleuth detectives trying to solve murders in a small retirement village. Mad Honey is a murder mystery Romance set in Boston. Looking for Jane centers around the illegal underground abortion network in Toronto and tells stories from the perspective of three women each in different times: 2017, 1980, and 1971.
Adult nonfiction was mostly made up of memoirs including Prince Harry, Jeannette McCurdy, Mathew Perry, Michelle Obama, and Sarah Polley. However, Caledon Hikes by Nicola Ross did snag the number three spot which is a guide to local hikes in the Caledon area. Other books that are not memoirs are The Myth of Normal which dissects the concept of “normal” with regards to heath, and Atomic Habits which is part-science part-self-help about forming good habits and breaking bad ones. Additionally, the 2023 Guiness Book of World Records is at number six which is always a fun read. Some records set in 2023 include the largest space telescope ever built and launched (the James Webb), the heaviest weight lifted by barbell overhead press on a unicycle (149 lbs. btw), farthest distance skied while juggling three objects (called “skuggling”), and many more!
The young adult category was an eclectic bunch with Holly Black having two titles The Cruel Prince which was the winner of the CPL battle of the books which is a program which finishes at the end of the summer where teens vote on the best book. The Stolen Heir is the first book in Black’s new series. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (prequel to The Hunger Games series) was popular this year with the release of the movie. Lightlark is similar to the Hunger Games about rulers of different realms competing in a deadly game including one realm which is cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with.
The first and third books in The Inheritance Games series made it on the list which has a similar premise to the first “Knives Out” film about a young woman who is named the heir to the fortune of a billionaire she seems to have to no connection to and must solve riddles in his mansion and navigate relationships among his dispossessed family. Five Survive is a thriller about six friends in a stranded RV fighting for their lives against a lone sniper. Ace of Spades is a high school mystery about two people who become the target of an anonymous texter who is out to expose their secrets. There are two manga series that complete the list. Wandering Witch is self-explanatory. She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man is a novel about a veteran player of an online game who gets sucked into the game but instead of becoming his avatar he is transported into the avatar of a young girl.
Other lists include Most Top Mature Games of 2023, Top DVD Movies of 2023 and Top DVD Shows of 2023. We hope you take advantage of our resources and use these lists to branch out and have new experiences.
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