The Ultimate Summer 2023 Reading List via LitHub

Back in December, I had this post about  my favorite end of the year Best List-- LitHubs's Ultimate Best Books List. 

Author Emily Temple read 35 lists and crunched the numbers. This is THE summer reading list you need for your patrons because it is comprised of all the lists.

Below I have reprinted the intro but you can click here to read The Ultimate Summer 2023 Reading List. 

Of course, many of these books will be checked out all summer, but many of these authors have older books you can suggest to readers while they wait. Most obviously, Colson Whitehead's newest is a sequel to Harlem Shuffle and for Father's Day I bought my Dad S.A. Cosby's previous two titles in paperback.

Post this list online and in your libraries as the "Best of the Summer Reading Lists." Out up a sign and then fill the display with Summer Reading titles that are on the shelf. From previous years (use my Summer Reading tag for help with that), with previous titles by these authors, and with readalike titles for all of the authors. 

I feel like a broken record, but it bares repeating. Books do not have to be from this exact summer to be great summer reads. Any book can be on that list. There is no summer reading police, just like there isn't a library jail. Get creative but use the marketing of "Summer Reading" to your advantage and draw readers to you.

Side note: appears Temple did this list back in 2021 as well. You can read it here. All of those books are awesome suggestions still, including some popular BookTok authors. And they were Ultimate Summer Reads once, not that long ago, themselves. 

Here's the intro and a link to the full list.

The Ultimate Summer 2023 Reading List
Or, the Count of Melty Crispo
By Emily Temple 

This summer’s Official Online Brand may be up in the air (may I suggest “Long Nap Summer”?), but one thing is for sure: there are many, many books coming out. Which one deserves space in your beach bag or air-conditioned brain? We at Literary Hub have ouropinions, but perhaps you simply want to make sure you’re in the know about the biggest books of the season—or maybe you truly believe in the power of consensus to point you in the right direction. For you, I present: the list of lists. 

If you’re new here, here’s how it works: 

1. I read all of the Most Anticipated Books of Summer and Best Summer Reading lists that flood the internet this time of year (or at least as many as I can find).

2. I count how many times each individual book is mentioned.

3. I collate that information for you in this handy list. This year, I read 35 lists, which recommended a total of 548 books. 

Like last year, I found the recommendations to be relatively diffuse, with a lot of old books in the mix and a wide range of opinions on what constitutes “summer.” But I am not here to argue about the nature of summer; I am merely the bean counter. Of the 548 books I tracked, 73 were recommended in at least three lists. I have organized all of these for you in order of popularity here, beginning with a perennial hero of the Ultimate List series, Mr. Colson Whitehead: 

 Click here to read the list