NYPL's Best Books of 2023: Accessible Versions with BARD & Bookshare Links
The New York Public Library is pleased to announce its Best Books of 2023 for kids, teens, and adults! Most of the Best Books of 2023 books are available in one or more accessible formats. Find links to them below.
If you find it hard to read standard print, the Andrew Heiskell Library provides free access to talking books, talking book players, braille, a talking book download website, and a free talking book and e-braille app for mobile devices. Learn more and apply.
DB = available on BARD in talkingbook format and as a mailable talking book, available via the link or by mail (call us at 212-206-5400 to order a physical copy).
BK = available through Bookshare via the link. All Heiskell members can gain access to Bookshare for free.
BR = available on BARD in braille format and as mailable physical braille, available via the link or by mail (call us at 212-206-5400 to order a physical copy).
Books for Adults | Books for Teens | Books for Kids
Adults
Above Ground by Clint Smith DB, BK, BR
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S. A. Chakraborty DB, BK
Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews BK
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor DB, BK
All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley DB, BK
Bad Kids by Zijin Chen; translated by Michelle Deeter BK
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray BK
Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian and Black in White America by Julia Lee BK
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah DB, BK
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei DB, BK
Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon BK
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson BK
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan DB, BK
The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore BK
The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle BK
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride DB, BK
The Hive and the Honey: Stories by Paul Yoon BK
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera BK
The Kingdom of Surfaces by Sally Wen Mao BK
Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang BK
The Last One by Will Dean BK
Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century by Adrian Matejka BK
The Maniac by Benjamin Labatut BK
Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman BK
The Mis-Arrangement of Sana Saeed by Noreen Mughees BK
Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler BK
My Murder by Katie Williams DB, BK
No Sweet Without Brine by Cynthia Manick BK
The Nigerwife by Vanessa Walters BK
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez DB, BK
Promises of Gold by José Olivarez DB, BK
Prophet by Helen Macdonald & Sin Blaché BK
Quiet: Poems by Victoria Adukwei Bulley BK
The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon BK
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado DB, BK
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due BK
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston DB, BK
Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed BK
Side Notes from the Archivist: Poems by Anastacia-Reneé BK
Starter Villain by John Scalzi BK
Start Here: Instructions For Becoming a Better Cook by Sohla El-Waylly BK
Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz BK
Thin Skin: Essays by Jenn Shapland BK
This is Salvaged: Stories by Vauhini Vara BK
Translation State by Ann Leckie BK
Vengeance is Mine by Marie Ndiaye BK
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto DB, BK
We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian BK
When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey BK
White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link BK
Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation by Tiya Miles BK
With Love, from Cold World by Alicia Thompson BK
Teens
Alondra by Gina Femia BK
America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History by Ariel Aberg-Riger BK
Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans DB, BK
Brooms by Jasmine Walls BK
Buzzing by Samuel Sattin BK
Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto DB, BK
A Crooked Mark by Linda Kao BK
Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole DB, BK
The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado BK
For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome DB, BK
Forgive Me Not by Jennifer Baker BK
From Here by Luma Mufleh BK
Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino BK
Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler BK
Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day by Dan Knott BK
I'd Rather Burn than Bloom by Shannon C.F. Rogers BK
In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee BK
Lion's Legacy by L.C. Rosen DB
Made of Stars by Jenna Voris DB, BK
Magic Has No Borders edited by: Sona Charaipotra and Samira Ahmed DB, BK
Money Out Loud: All the Financial Stuff No One Taught Us by Berna Anat BK
Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story by Sarah Myer BK
The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy BK
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi BK
Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian BK
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks DB, BK
The Queens of New York by E.L. Shen BK
Rez Ball by Byron Graves BK
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison DB, BK, BR
Something More by Jackie Khalilieh BK
Stars in Their Eyes: A Graphic Novel by Jessica Walton and Aśka BK
The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change by Elizabeth Rusch BK
Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington BK
Those Who Saw the Sun: African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South by Jaha Nailah Avery BK
What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell BK
Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest BK
Young Queer America: Real Stories and Faces of LGBTQ+ Youth by Maxwell Poth BK
Kids
9 Kilometers by Claudio Aguilera BK
An American Story by Kwame Alexander DB, BK
Aniana Del Mar Jumps In by Jasminne Mendez DB, BK
Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day by Astrid Kamalyan BK
Big by Vashti Harrison BK
Big Tune: Rise of the Dancehall Prince by Alliah L. Agostini DB, BK
Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories from BIPOC Authors edited by Aida Salazar, Yamile Saied Mendez DB
Cape by Kevin Johnson BK
Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods by Grace Lin BK
Cross My Heart and Never Lie by Nora Dåsnes BK
Curlfriends: New in Town by Sharee Miller BK
Deephaven by Ethan M. Aldridge BK
Do You Remember by Sydney Smith BK
Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable BK
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers BK
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla BK
Ghost Girl by Brooke Carter BK
Glitter Everywhere!: Where It Came From, Where It's Found & Where It's Going by Chris Barton BK
Great Carrier Reef by Jessica Stremer BK
Greenwild by Pari Thomson BK
Hands by Torrey Maldonado DB, BK
Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N. Todd DB, BK
How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures in It by Jennifer Berne BK
The House That Whispers by Lin Thompson BK
I'm From by Gary R. Gray Jr BK
Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan BK
Kicks in the Sky by C. G. Esperanza BK
Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O'Shaughnessy DB, BK
Mama Shamsi at the Bazaar by Mojdeh Hassani and Samira Iravani DB
The Many Masks of Andy Zhou by Jack Cheng BK
Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell BK
The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity by Nicholas Day BK
The Monkey Trial: John Scopes and the Battle over Teaching Evolution by Anita Sanchez DB, BK
My Baba's Garden by Jordan Scott BK
Nothing Else but Miracles by Kate Albus BK
Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang BK
The Party Diaries: Awesome Orange Birthday by Mitali Banerjee Ruths BK
Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson BK
Ruby Lost and Found by Christina Li BK
Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan BK
Search for a Giant Squid: Pick Your Path by Amy Seto Forrester BK
The Sky Is Not the Limit by Jérémie Decalf BK
Sisters of the Lost Marsh by Lucy Strange DB, BK
Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport by Caren Stelson DB
The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln DB, BK
Thank a Farmer by Maria Gianferrari BK
Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke BK
To the Other Side by Erika Meza BK
Total Garbage: A Messy Dive into Trash, Waste, and Our World by Rebecca Donnelly DB, BK
Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen BK
The Umbrella Maker's Son by Katrina Leno BK
The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain BK
Whale Fall: Exploring an Ocean-Floor Ecosystem by Melissa Stewart BK
What Happened to Rachel Riley? by Claire Swinarski BK
When You Can Swim by Jack Wong DB, BK
Where the Lockwood Grows by Olivia A. Cole BK
Will on the Inside by Andrew Eliopulos BK
Window Fishing by DK Dyson BK
A Work in Progress by Jarrett Lerner BK
The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow BK
You Are Here: Connecting Flights edited by Ellen Oh DB, BK, BR