Aarp’s favorite books of 2023

This year was packed with fantastic reads but these 10 managed to stand out, for different reasons: Some were engrossing, beautifully written novels; others were moving memoirs or

eye-opening explorations of lives past. My favorite book from 2023? A novel, _Wellness,_ by Nathan Hill. Read on to find out more.  Photo Collage: MOA; (Book Photo: Noah Willman) _NORTH

WOODS_ BY DANIEL MASON This novel is a must-read for fans of historical — or any kind — of fiction, who will appreciate its unique premise, wonderfully executed. It’s the story of one

farmhouse in Western Massachusetts and its various inhabitants, from the pre-Colonial era to modern times. The past ends up haunting (sometimes literally) the people who cycle through the

home, including the twin daughters of an apple farmer and a man with mental illness who can perceive the ghosts that still live in his midst. Mason also offers rich, evocative depictions of

the changing wooded landscape, which evolves along with the humans it harbors. Photo Collage: MOA; (Book Photo: Sue Tallon) _HELLO BEAUTIFUL _BY ANN NAPOLITANO__ Ann Napolitano, 52, author

of the 2020 bestseller _Dear Edward_ (now a TV series on Apple TV+), introduces us to two young people, Julia and William, who fall in love and marry. Julia and her three sisters embrace

William, but as time passes his depression creates a rift and their paths diverge. _Hello Beautiful_ is a must if you’re looking to sink into an emotionally complex family story. It received

some nice early publicity when Oprah Winfrey chose it as her 100th book club pick. (“Once you start, you won’t want it to end,” Oprah told her followers, “and be prepared for tears.”)

You’ve got to love that beautiful cover too. Photo Collage: MOA; (Book Photo: Sue Tallon) _KING: A LIFE_ BY JONATHAN EIG Jonathan Eig, 59, the author of 2017’s _Ali: A Life, _about Muhammad

Ali, dives into the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family history, childhood, accomplishments, private life and more, hoping to create “a more intimate kind of biography,” Eig told _Library

Journal_. Obviously, King’s life has been plumbed by countless historians, but _King: A Life _may rise above those other bios. In _The New York Times_, Dwight Garner offered a glowing

review, calling it “supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable.” Universal Pictures has bought the movie rights, according to_ Deadline_, with Chris Rock set to

direct and produce. Photo Collage: MOA; (Book Photo: Noah Willman) _WELLNESS_ BY NATHAN HILL This brilliant novel by the author of 2016’s also wonderful _The Nix_ features a couple, Jack and

Elizabeth, who meet in Chicago and fall wildly in love … then out of love when we revisit them as parents of a somewhat difficult child and at a point of middle-age exhaustion and

disenchantment. The novel ends up being a thoughtful, often humorous, cultural critique and exploration of why we believe the things we do, why we love who and what we love and so much more.

It’s another Oprah Book Club pick (she really does have good taste!).