Apple Says These Are Most Popular Books and Podcasts of 2023

Apple has shared what have been the most popular books and podcasts of 2023 across its platforms. It has also introduced a Year in Review tool for book lovers wanting to reflect on what tjey have read that year.

The Year in Review feature within Apple Books helps readers track the titles, authors, and genres that defined their year. It provides interesting information about books and audiobooks consumed, including their total time spent reading, the longest book or audiobook they read, the series they completed, their most-read author and genre, and their highest-rated book.

It is available to Apple Books users in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.

How to get to Year in Review on Apple Books

Year in Review is available on iPhone and iPad within the Read Now tab under Top Picks to users with at least three titles marked as finished. Readers gain an overview of their year in Books, featuring the total books read and total minutes spent reading, with an accompanying grid of book covers they’ve finished.

Also read: What is Apple Books for Authors?

There are a few tools to ensure the data is correct.

• To add books or audiobooks, readers can tap and hold on any book in the app and choose Mark as Finished.
• To change the finished date shown, users can hold down on the book and select Edit Finished Date.
• For titles read elsewhere, such as in hardcover or paperback, users can search for them in Apple Books and select Mark as Finished to add them to their Year in Review.

Apple says its system uses anonymized reader insights to determine a personal reading type. At present it has defined six categories of readers, including The Contemporary for readers of trendy titles; The Completist for readers of multiple books in a series; The Seeker for nonfiction readers; The Wanderer for multigenre readers; The Deep Diver for single-genre readers; or The Free Spirit for readers with wide-ranging interests across the book world.

Best Books and Audiobooks of 2023

Topping the charts in many countries were two prominent celebrity memoirs that bookended 2023: Prince Harry’s Spare in January and Britney Spears’s The Woman in Me, narrated by actor Michelle Williams, in October. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros was also a must-read. You can check the most popular books and audiobooks of 2023 and browse the top charts for all titles on Apple Books.

Top Nonfiction Books of 2023

1. Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
2. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
3. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
4. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
5. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

Top Fiction Books of 2023

1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
2. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
3. Happy Place by Emily Henry
4. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
5. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

Top Nonfiction Audiobooks of 2023

1. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
2. Spare by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex
3. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
4. The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
5. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

Top Fiction Audiobooks of 2023

1. Only the Dead by Jack Carr
2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
3. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
4. Happy Place by Emily Henry
5. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Here are the most popular podcasts of 2023 in the U.S.: 

Top Shows

1. Crime Junkie
2. The Daily
3. Dateline NBC
4. SmartLess
5. This American Life
6. Morbid
7. Up First
8. Huberman Lab
9. Hidden Brain
10. Stuff You Should Know

Top New Shows

1. Scamanda
2. The Retrievals
3. The Deck Investigates
4. Murder & Magnolias
5. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
6. The Girl in the Blue Mustang
7. The Coldest Case in Laramie
8. Murder in Apartment 12
9. The Girlfriends
10. Undetermined

Most Followed Shows

1. Huberman Lab
2. SmartLess
3. New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce
4. Scamanda
5. The Mel Robbins Podcast
6. Crime Junkie
7. The Retrievals
8. The Deck Investigates
9. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
10. On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Most Shared Shows

1. Scamanda
2. Sold a Story
3. The Retrievals
4. Huberman Lab
5. SmartLess
6. The Witch Trials of J.K Rowling
7. Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra
8. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis Dreyfus
9. The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
10. True Sunlight

Most Shared Episodes

1. Huberman Lab: “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain & Health”
2. Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus: “Julia Gets Wise with Jane Fonda”
3. The Daily: “The Fight Over Phonics”
4. Hidden Brain: “The Paradox of Pleasure”
5. Sold a Story: “The Problem”
6. The Mel Robbins Podcast: “The ‘Let Them Theory’: A Life Changing Mindset Hack That 15 Million People Can’t Stop Talking About”
7. The Retrievals: “The Patients”
8. We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle: “Why We Love the Way We Love: Attachment Styles with Dr. Becky Kennedy”
9. Just B with Bethenny Frankel: “Reality Reckoning: Rachel Leviss (Part One)”
10. Serial: “The Alibi”

Top Free Channels

1. iHeartPodcasts
2. audiochuck
3. The New York Times
4. Dear Media
5. Serial Productions
6. Barstool Sports
7. ABC News
8. The Daily Wire
9. Scicomm Media
10. Cumulus Podcast Network

Top Subscriber Channels

1. Wondery
2. Dateline NBC
3. Pushkin
4. iHeart True Crime
5. Lemonada
6. Tenderfoot TV
7. TED Audio Collective
8. Freakonomics Radio
9. Radiolab
10. BBC Podcasts