The new year has already brought with it a crop of impressive, headline-driving books (see: Prince Harry’s explosive memoir Spare , and Kashana Cauley’s inventive The Survivalists ), but the rest of 2023’s library promises to be just as enthralling. Apologies in advance to your mile-high TBR list; it’s about to get a lot taller.
Ahead, you’ll find 65 hand-picked titles, many of which ELLE has already had the chance to flip through and assess. These recently published and soon-to-be-released books come from a broad range of categories, including fantasy novels, historical nonfiction, celebrity memoirs, essay collections, romance, and literary fiction. (The only thing you won’t find here is young-adult books and series, which we reserve for other, more specific lists . )
Narrowing down the most anticipated game titles from a list of thousands is never not a daunting task, and so to make up for any gems we’ve missed, you can check back on this page as we update it throughout the year with the true best of the best. Better prepare your pre-orders, and happy reading.
Soft Skull
The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley
Riverhead Books
The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise by Pico Iyer
Random House
Spare by Prince Harry
Harper
Vintage Contemporaries by Dan Kois
William Morrow & Company
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Henry Holt & Company
The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen
Ballantine Books
Central Places by Delia Cai
Riverhead Books
What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro
Catapult
Brutes by Dizz Tate
Random House
Victory City by Salman Rushdie
Hogarth Press
Our Share associated with Night simply by Mariana Enriquez and translated by Megan McDowell
William Morrow & Company
Venco by Cherie Dimaline
W. W. Norton & Organization
Culture: The Story of Us, from Cave Art to K-Pop by Martin Puchner
Viking
I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Harper
Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman
Soft Skull
Users by Colin Winnette
Bloomsbury Publishing
A Day of Fallen Night simply by Samantha Shannon
Zando
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Simon & Schuster
Confidence by Rafael Frumkin
Random House
Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Pamela Dorman Books
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Grand Central Publishing
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez
William Morrow & Business
Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal
Viking
Take What You Need by Idra Novey
Dial Press
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Crown Publishing Group
Poverty, simply by America by Matthew Desmond
Astra House
Y/N by Esther Yi
Little, Brown and Firm
Above Ground by Clint Smith
Catapult
The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer
Scribner Book Company
Hang the Moon simply by Jeannette Walls
Ecco Press
A Living Remedy: A Memoir by Nicole Chung
Arbitrary House
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Mariner Books
Homecoming by Kate Morton
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
The One by Julia Argy
Doubleday Books
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
Berkley Books
Happy Place simply by Emily Henry
Harper
Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst
Pantheon Books
Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Counterpoint
You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg
Viking
Oh My Mother!: A Memoir in Nine Adventures by Connie Wang
Random House
The particular Guest simply by Emma Cline
Vintage
Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby
William Morrow & Company
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Ballantine Books
A Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel E. Cargle
One World
Dances by Nicole Cuffy
Riverhead Books
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
Flatiron Books
Pageboy: A Memoir simply by Elliot Page
Scribner/Marysue Rucci Publications
The Mythmakers by Keziah Weir
HarperOne
Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me by Aisha Harris
Hanover Square Press
Adult Drama: And Other Essays by Natalie Beach
Viking
Watch Us Dance by Leila Slimani plus translated by Sam Taylor
Gillian Flynn Books
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The Vegan by Andrew Lipstein
Doubleday Books
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
Scribner Book Company
Onlookers: Stories by Ann Beattie
Hanover Square Press
Bellies simply by Nicola Dinan
Crooked Media Reads
Mobility by Lydia Kiesling
Henry Holt & Company
The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones
Ecco Press
Family Lore simply by Elizabeth Acevedo
Ballantine Books
Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays by R. Eric Thomas
Gallery Books
Under the Influence by Noelle Crooks
Little Brown and Corporation
Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
If you fell in love with How Much of These Hills Is Gold , then you, like I, are surely waiting with bated breath for C Pam Zhang’s next book, Land of Milk and Honey . We don’t know much about the story yet, but Zhang described it on Twitter as “a novel about food, female appetite, class, culinary hierarchy, & the sticky-sensual necessity of finding one’s own pleasure in a world gone to shit. ” Sounds delicious.
Release date: TBA 2023.
TBA by Jessica Roy
Alright, another disclaimer: I’m biased about this one. Our beloved site director, Jessica Roy, is releasing her first book later this year, one that expands on an ELLE. com story she published in 2019. (You might recall the title: “ Two Sisters and the Terrorist Who Came Between Them . ”) We’re still waiting for all the details, including the name and release date, yet given the level of reporting and nuance in Roy’s feature, I expect the subsequent guide to be nothing short of breathtaking.
Release date: TBA 2023.
Lauren Puckett-Pope
Associate Editor Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers film, TV, books plus fashion.
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