Announcing the Winners of the 2023 Stackies

Jan 30

The Stacks' annual book awards are voted on exclusively by members of The Stacks Pack, so if you want to weigh in on the best of the best, talk books all year long, and meet your new bookish besties, join us! Check out our picks for the best books of 2023 here below.

Best Debut

The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
Maame by Jessica George
We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian
When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey

Best Nonfiction Book

The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland
The People's Hospital by Ricardo Nuila
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian
When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey
"You Just Need to Lose Weight" by Aubrey Gordon

Best Novel

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Best Memoir

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
You Could Make this Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
They Called Us Exceptional by Prachi Gupta

Best Science Fiction Fantasy

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Flux by Jinwoo Chong
The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane

Best Romance

Elysium by DL White
Power Forward by Nicole Falls
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Best Thriller

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Lone Women by Victor Lavalle

Best Short Story Collection

Call and Response by Gothataone Moeng
Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele
The People Who Report More Stress by Alejandro Varela
White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
Witness by Jamel Brinkley

Best Essay Collection

Congratulations, the Best Is Over! by R. Eric Thomas
Creep by Myriam Gurba
Monsters by Claire Dederer
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

Best Young Adult Book

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
The Dos and Donuts of Love by Adiba Jaigirdar
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

The Best Graphic Book

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi & Joel Christian Gill

Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Something Is Killing the Children Vol 6 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'edera, Miguel Muerto
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi & Joel Christian Gill
Superman: The Harvests of Youth by Sina Grace
The Talk by Darrin Bell

Best Poetry Collection

Above Ground by Clint Smith
The Ferguson Report by Nicole Sealey
The Kingdom of Surfaces by Sally Wen Mao
Promises of Gold by José Olivarez
So to Speak by Terrance Hayes

Best Book in Translation

Blaze Me A Sun by Christoffer Carlsson
Dandelion Daughter by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Liliana's Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
The Postcard by Anne Berest

Best Cover

American Gun by Cameron McWhirter & Zusha Elinson
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
Monsters by Claire Dederer
Promises of Gold by José Olivarez

Best Main Character

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson
The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley

Book That Made Me Laugh

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Congratulations, the Best Is Over! by R. Eric Thomas
How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key
Is It Hot in Here? by Zach Zimmerman
Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby

Books I Hate

Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess
Monsters by Claire Dederer
Night Watch by Jayne Allen Phillips
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Raw Dog by Jamie Loftus