Beyond the Shelves - Best of 2023

Beyond the Shelves: A Podcast from the Des Moines Public Library

On the latest episode of the DMPL Podcast, hosts Jess and Sarah talk about their favorite books of 2023, as well as some of the most common books on the best of 2023 lists across the book media sphere.

Show Notes

What They're Reading

• Bookshops & Bonedust, by Travis Baldree
• Calamity, by Constance Fay
• Assistant to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
• The Quiet Tenant, by Clemence Michallon

Best Of Lists

• The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, by Ned Blackhawk
• The Wren, by Anne Enright
• Loot, by Tania James
• The MANIAC, by Benjamin Labatut
• The Biography of X, by Catherine Lacey
• Terrace Story, by Hillary Leichter
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
• The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
• How to Say Babylon, by Safiya Sinclair
• Land of Milk and Honey, by C Pam Zhang

Jess' Five (plus one)

• Chang Gang All-Stars, by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Death Valley, by Melissa Broder
• I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, by Marisa Crade
• I Who Have Never Known Men, by Jacqueline Harpman
• Iris Kelly Doesn't Date, by Ashley Herring Blake
• A Council of Dolls, by Mona Susan Power

Sarah's Five

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty
• Yours Truly, by Abby Jimenez
• True Love Experiment, by Cristina Lauren
• Knockout, by Sarah MacLean
• Eating to Extinction, by Dan Saladino