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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today I wanted to highlight the book that got the most love on the list: In Memoriam, a debut novel from Alice Winn. Just like we did with Five Book Friday: Annihilation Five Times a couple years ago, we’re flipping the script on this week’s Five Book Friday.

Please enjoy our enthusiastic appreciation for In Memoriam, a book that we loved so much, we’re recommending it five times.

In Memomoriam

I have been pressing In Memoriam into all of my coworkers’ hands since it first came out, and now I’ll do my best to press it into yours. More a bayonet wound than a book: In Memoriam disemboweled me, left me glassy-eyed and in shock, indelibly marked me when I was done. The story of Ellwood and Gaunt — two boys, really — trying to survive WWI while maintaining their humanity and their love for each other — is so incredibly devastating and lyrical, it won’t leave you unscathed either. I cried 5 separate times. I loved — loved — loved it. — Nicole S.

In Memomoriam

This book laid me flat like Stanley, y’all. Everything from the prose to the phenomenal character work is so intentional, so vivid, and never once pulls a punch. Ouch! Ooch! goes my heart, broken and pieced carefully back together by Alice Winn’s debut(!) novel, in an act of storytelling so memorable and intricate, it rocketed to the top of my list before I even finished it. Truly superb. — Sophie C.

In Memomoriam

This novel shattered me. A truly remarkable debut from Alice Winn, this literary romance set during World War I is perfectly paced. Let yourself be cradled by poetry and tenderness, and kicked in the teeth with every spread of the Preshutian. — Anna B.

In Memomoriam

I sat down to start In Memoriam and didn’t move until four hours later, when I had turned the last page and was ugly crying for the millionth time. I have barely stopped thinking about the characters and their painful, hopeful, horrific, and beautiful journeys since. This story of queer love during World War I will similarly carve out a space for itself in your heart, grab tight, and refuse to let go. — Eloise B.

In Memomoriam

I picked up In Memoriam because of my coworkers’ enthusiastic reviews of it, and I was (of course) not disappointed. I’m a sucker for any story set during/after WWI (an incredibly unruly, violent, senseless war that unraveled society and, also, serves as perfect backdrop for stories that share an unruly, unraveling ethos). This book is as lovely, as tender, and as deeply felt as promised — I’ll be hanging onto Ellwood and Gaunt for a long time. — Kelsey F.