For months, I’ve been reading as many new book releases as I can in search of the best books of 2024. Find out which popular releases are the best new books of 2024.
What are the best books of 2024?
For months, I’ve been reading as many new releases as I can get my hands on so that I can give an informed opinion on the best books of the year.
With the year almost over, I wanted to consider the top books from 2024 so far. You’ll find plenty of beloved authors and some new ones on my best-of-the-year book list.
Remember, this is just my opinion, and I’d love to hear what books you think are the best-of-the-best in the comments below!
The Best Books of 2024
The Women
Kristin Hannah
It’s no surprise that Kristin Hannah is appearing at the top of my list of the best books of 2024. When her brother ships off to Vietnam, nursing student Frankie McGrath impulsively decides to leave her sheltered life on Coronado Island and join the Army Nurse Corps. In Vietnam, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos of war. Yet, even more unsettling is the shock of coming home to a country that has been divided by war and disillusioned by politics. War is a messy, traumatizing business even when veterans are fully-supported. And Vietnam was messier than any other war in American history, leaving unheard of struggles for returning soldiers, especially for the women who were often overlooked and forgotten.
The Anxious Generation
Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt explains why moving from a play-based childhood to a screen-based childhood has changed the neurological development children, making them more anxious, along with other mental health problems. Haidt shows why this causes them to withdraw further into a digital world, and then proposes a solution that he says will reduce the incidence of mental illness in the rising generations.
The God of the Woods
Liz Moore
In August 1975, Barbara Van Laar is discovered missing from her summer camp bed. A tragedy for any child, but Barbara is the daughter of the wealthy owner of the camp and the nearby estate. Fourteen years ago, Barbara’s older brother also went missing without a trace. Tying together the wealthy Van Laar family with the working class community that supports the camp and estate, The God of the Woods is a multi-layered drama about secrets that refuse to be forgotten.
All the Colors of the Dark
Chris Whitaker
From the author of We Begin at the End comes a decades-spanning love story filled with mystery. In 1975, girls are disappearing from a small Missouri town. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, she is saved by Patch, a one-eyed local boy. But when Patch disappears, his best friend searches for him and the missing girls.
Blue Sisters
Coco Mellors
The three Blue sisters are each exceptional in her own way: Avery, a former heroin addict turned London lawyer; Bonnie, a former boxer turned bouncer in LA; Lucky, a former party girl turned model in Paris. But the death of their sister Nicky left the family reeling. A year after Nicky’s death, the estranged sisters gather to stop the sale of the apartment they grew up in and are forced to reckon with their childhood disappointments, their addictive tendencies, and their grief.
James
Percival Everett
In a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett rewrites the story from Jim’s perspective. When he finds out he will be sold away from his family, Jim hides out on Jackson Island. There he meets Huckleberry Finn who has faked his death to avoid his violent father. Together, Jim and Huck take a raft down the Mississippi River where their adventures are shown in a new light.
The Husbands
Holly Gramazio
One night when Lauren returns home to her London flat, she is greeted by her adoring husband Michael. Except Lauren isn’t married. But her house and her friends seem to indicate that Lauren and Michael have been together for years. Then Michael goes into the attic and out emerges a new husband and a new life. With this magical ability to swap out husbands and lives, Lauren must now decide what she wants her life to be and when to stop trying for something perfect. The Husbands is a a thoughtful contemporary fiction novel that takes a clever premise and plays out an extremely realistic character study.
Best Books of 2024 for Book Clubs
By Any Other Name
Jodi Picoult
In 1581, Emilia Bassano feels trapped by the societal expectations for women. As Lord Chamberlain’s mistress, she has access to all of England’s theatrical productions. Desperate to see her own work come to life, Emilia pays William Shakespeare to use his name, writing herself out of history. A century later, Melina Green has written a play based on Emilia’s life and is faced with the same question: should she give up her credit as the author just to see her work performed?
Supercommunicators
Charles Duhigg
We all know that person who is able to connect deeply with anyone they meet. All conversations can be categorized as practical, emotional, or social. Charles Duhigg argues that these supercommunicators can identify and match each type of conversation while also hearing complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and understanding possible biases. Using the power of storytelling, Duhigg promises to help you become more adept at recognizing and navigating any conversation you find yourself in. Not a quick-fix self-help book, Supercommunicators begs to be read and reread as you contemplate and analyze conversations in your life to become a better communicator.
The Wedding People
Alison Espach
When Phoebe Stone turns up at the grand Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, everyone just assumes she is another wedding guest. Yet, Phoebe just happened to book the long-anticipated trip she always dreamed of taking with her husband on the same weekend. Quickly, Phoebe and the bride find themselves confiding in each other, helping Phoebe to start anew.
Real Americans
Rachel Khong
At the turn of the century, unpaid intern Lily Chen meets Matthew, and the two fall in love. Growing up the daughter of scientists in Tampa, Lily couldn’t be more different than East Coast Matthew, heir to a behemoth pharmaceutical company. Twenty years later, Lily’s teenage son feels trapped on their isolated Washington State island and starts searching for information on his biological father. A story of class, race, and family inheritance, Real Americans ponders how much we can shape our own destiny.
Society of Lies
Lauren Ling Brown
Maya is excited to return to Princeton University for her 10th college reunion and visit with her sister Naomi, who is currently enrolled there. When Naomi is killed in what police deem an accident, Maya suspects foul play. Maya learns Naomi had joined the Sterling Club and was probably initiated into its secret society. As Maya digs into Naomi’s life, she is haunted by her own experiences at Princeton and the secrets she’s been keeping for a decade.
Best Thriller Books of 2024
Listen for the Lie
Amy Tintera
For Lucy, the night five years ago still remains a blank though their entire Texas town knows that Lucy killed her best friend Savvy. When a popular true crime podcaster chooses to investigate Savvy’s murder, Lucy finally returns home at her grandmother’s insistence. Now Lucy must face her ex-husband and her distrust family while trying to find out the truth about Savvy’s death, even if it ends up pointing to herself. Although Lucy’s cynical personality was the highlight of the book for me, I also found myself fully invested in the mystery, obsessed with the audiobook’s podcast feel, and was satisfied with Tintera’s many twists.
First Lie Wins
Ashley Elston
Every time an assignment comes in from the mysterious Mr. Smith, Evie takes a new identity and learns everything she can about the town and its people. Her newest mark: Ryan Sumner. But Evie connects with Ryan in a way she hasn’t in a long time. When a shadow from her past turns up, Evie must do everything she can to stay one step ahead and complete her mission. Especially after what happened last time. With relatable characters and plenty of twists, First Lie Wins keeps you on your toes from the very first page to its clever ending.
Daughter of Mine
Megan Miranda
After her father dies, Hazel Sharp returns to her hometown and is shocked to discover that she, and not her brothers, has inherited their family home. With a drought plaguing the region, the low water level reveals two cars long hidden in the lake – one belonging to her mother who ran away when she was a teenager. As Hazel starts questioning what happened to her mother, her childhood best friend (who is now her brother’s wife) also disappears. With long buried secrets coming to light, Hazel isn’t sure who she can trust anymore. An atmospheric thriller with a complicated family dynamic, Daughter of Mine hooks with the slow constant tension that builds throughout the novel.
One Perfect Couple
Ruth Ware
With her post-doc research going nowhere, Lyla agrees to go on a new reality tv show with her boyfriend Nico, an aspiring actor. On One Perfect Couple, Lyla and Nico must compete against four other couples on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. After the first challenge leaves everyone angry, a storm cuts off the contestants. At first, everyone is grateful when a leader emerges, but they quickly begin to wonder if they made the right choice. Lyla’s levelheadedness, realistic plot twists, and page-turning pace keep you glued to the page in one of the best thriller books of 2024.
Eruption
Michael Crichton and James Patterson
At the time of his death, bestselling author Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain) was working on a passion project that he never got to finish. Waiting for the right co-author, his wife eventually gave the unfinished manuscript to legendary mystery author James Patterson to finish. In what might be one of the summer’s biggest thrillers, a deadly volcanic eruption is about to burst on the Big Island of Hawaii forcing a terrifying military secret to come to light.
Best Historical Fiction 2024
The Storm We Made
Vanessa Chan
In 1945 in Malaya, Cecily Alcantara’s family is trying to survive until the end of World War II. Cecily’s son has disappeared, her youngest daughter must stay hidden so she isn’t forced to work in the comfort houses, and her oldest daughter hates serving drunken Japanese soldiers in the teahouse. Cecily knows it’s all her fault; for a decade ago, Cecily was drawn into a campaign to keep “Asia for Asians.” Tired of being a housewife, Cecily became a spy who unwittingly ushered in the Japanese invasion. Now Cecily must face what she has done in order to save her family.
The Sicilian Inheritance
Jo Piazza
Sara Marsala feels completely lost after the failure of her business and her marriage. When her beloved great-aunt Rosie dies, Sara is left the deed to a potentially valuable plot of land in Sicily. Traveling to Italy, Sara must solve the mystery of her fierce great-grandmother Serafina who served as a healer for her town before being murdered. Alternating between Sara and Serafina, The Sicilian Inheritance is a multigenerational story of the heroism of everyday women that will have you craving to visit Sicily.
The Great Divide
Cristina Henríquez
Cristina Henríquez, the author of The Book of Unknown Americans, tells a tale of the building of the Panama Canal from the perspective of fishmongers, laborers, doctors, and journalists. Local fisherman Francisco isn’t happy about the foreigners wanting to carve a canal through Panama but his son Omar sees it as a means for escape. When Omar collapses after a grueling shift, Ada, a teenage immigrant from Barbados, rushes to his aid. Moved by her act, John Oswald, a researcher studying malaria, hires Ada to care for his sick wife, an action that will set into motion a sweeping tale of loyalty and ambition.
The Lion Women of Tehran
Marjan Kamali
When her father unexpectedly dies, seven-year-old Ellie and her mother are thrust from the 1950s upper class in Tehran to live in a tiny home downtown. Ellie soon befriends Homa and the two girls are inseparable, sharing dreams of becoming “lion women” someday. After her family fortunes change, Ellie rejoins the wealthy ranks of society, becoming the most popular girl at her elite high school. Just as Iran is reaching a political breaking point, Homa reappears in Ellie’s life causing a disruption that will change them both forever in this haunting coming-of-age story.
The Briar Club
Kate Quinn
In 1950, the Briarwood serves as a women’s boardinghouse in Washington, D.C. When Grace March moves to Briarwood, the mysterious widow creates strong female friendships between the residents with her weekly dinner parties and tea. With the fear of McCarthy’s Red Scare spreading through town, a shocking act of violence divides the house and forces the women to ponder who truly is their enemy.
Best Nonfiction Books 2024
From Here to the Great Unknown
Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough
For years, Lisa Marie Presley had been working on her memoir and she finally asked her daughter, Riley Keough, for help finishing it only to die a month later. Using tapes of her mother telling stories of her life, Keough places together a memoir of a passionate conflicted woman. From the neverending grief and trauma from the death of her father, Elvis Presley, to living with her mother while constantly getting kicked out of schools, Lisa Marie shares her complicated life, her various relationships (including a marriage to Michael Jackson), and her struggles with addiction.
The Demon of Unrest
Erik Larson
Erik Larson delves into the five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the first shots fired on Fort Sumter that started the Civil War. In a period of betrayal, error, and miscommunication, Larson focuses on the stories of four individuals: Sumter’s commander caught between sympathy to the South and loyalty to the Union; a bloodthirsty radical promoting secession at every turn; the wife of a local planter who is conflicted about marriage and slavery; and in the thick of it all, is Abraham Lincoln, desperately trying to avert a war.
The Situation Room
George Stephanopoulos
Created under President Kennedy, the White House Situation Room has been the epicenter of crisis management in the United States for the last six decades. A former presidential advisor and well-known political commentator and tv host, George Stephanopoulos describes twelve high-pressure situations that were dramatic turning points in American history: including the moments after Kennedy’s assassination, the hours after planes struck the Twin Towers, the raid on Osama bin Laden, and the staff watching the unfolding events on January 6th.
Revenge of the Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell
Twenty-five years ago, Malcolm Gladwell topped the bestseller list with The Tipping Point, analyzing the science of viral trends. Now, Gladwell revisits his bestseller to reframe the lessons for the modern day. Gladwell expands his focus to look at the dark side of contagious phenomena using his trademark mix of fascinating anecdotes and social science.
Come Together
Emily Nagoski
In her bestselling book Come As You Are, Emily Nagoski discussed the science behind women’s sexuality. Now, Nagoski takes on maintaining a happy sex life in long-term relationships. Instead of focusing on desire and frequency, Nagoski proposes that what’s most important is that couples enjoy the sex they are having. Using scientific studies and personal anecdotes, Nagoski helps couples let go of what they think their sex life should look like and find how to find a happy sex life that will last.
Best Fantasy of 2024
House of Flame and Shadow
Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas’s romantic fantasies always fly off the shelves and I’d be remiss if I didn’t include her in the best books of 2024. In the third Crescent City book, Bryce Quinlan struggles to find her way back to Midgard. Stranded in a new world, she must decide who she can trust. Meanwhile, Hunt Athalar is in the Asteri’s dungeons, again, with no clue what happened to Bryce. If he wants to find her, he must first escape the Asteri’s leash.
Bride
Ali Hazelwood
Ali Hazelwood switched from STEM Romance to paranormal with her newest February book release. Misery Lark’s days of living in obscurity among humans are over. As the daughter of the most powerful councilman of the Vampyres, she is promised in marriage to their mortal enemies, the Weres, as a peacekeeping measure. Lowe Moreland, the Weres alpha, is suspicious of Misery from the start. And he should be, because Misery has her own hidden agenda, and she will do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers.
The Games Gods Play
Abigail Owen
In a bestselling new romantic fantasy, Lyra is a cursed office clerk in the Office of Thieves just trying to keep her head down and out of the way of Zeus. To determine who will next sit on the throne in Olympus, the gods chose mortal as their champions in a deadly contest. For the first time ever, Hades enter the contest and chooses Lyra as his champion. Now Lyra must decide if she’s a pawn or a player while resisting the feelings she is developing for the God of the Underworld.
A Fate Inked in Blood
Danielle L. Jensen
Stuck in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days dreaming of becoming a warrior. When her husband betrays her, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret. Freya has a drop of goddess’ blood and the magical ability to repel any attack, an ability that was prophesied to save the kingdom. Now Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic without falling in love with the warrior set to protect her.
A Song to Drown Rivers
Ann Liang
Possessing a rare beauty, Xishi knows her only lot in life is to marry well so she jumps at the opportunity when the young military advisor Fanli offers her a mission. Fanli trains Xishi to be the perfect weapon and tasks her with seducing the neighboring king to bring his empire down from within. But if she is unmasked as a traitor, Xishi could bring both kingdoms down in this novel based on a Chinese legend.
Reckless
Lauren Roberts
In Powerless, Paedyn Gray uses her keen observation skills to pretend to be a psychic. For in Ilya, all ordinary people have been outlawed and only the Elite with their special powers may remain. Somehow Paedyn managed to survive the Purging Games and kill the King, sparking the Resistance. Now she must run from her former lover, Prince Kai whose one job is to track her down. It’s no surprise that Roberts’s sequel to her hit romance fantasy book is one of the best books of 2024 for young adults.
Best Romance Books 2024
Just for the Summer
Abby Jimenez
Justin finds himself with an unusual curse: every woman he dates finds her soulmate the minute she breaks up with Justin. Emma has the same problem, so Emma and Justin hatch a plan to spend a month together in Minnesota, hoping to break each other’s curses. Things go awry when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin assumes guardianship of his younger siblings. Yet, it seems Fate may have more in mind than a quick summer fling. With great chemistry and adorable banter, Emma and Justin are super cute together and the fake-dating trope is so well-written it doesn’t feel cliche in one of the summer’s best books of 2024.
The Rom-Commers
Katherine Center
Emma has always wanted to be a screenwriter but her dreams have taken the backseat to being a full-time caretaker for her father. When Emma gets the chance to rewrite a script for Charlie Yates, her screenwriting role model, Emma’s younger sister steps in as a caretaker so Emma won’t miss this opportunity. Yet Charlie has no interest in working with Emma or even in the script they are rewriting. Emma must convince Charlie that love stories matter, but it might end up being her heart that is on the line. Center knows all the clichés of the romance genre and expertly utilizes them to write something that feels charmingly adorable.
Better Left Unsent
Lia Louis
After a heartbreaking public breakup, Millie learned to keep to herself and never share her true feelings. Instead, she vents her thoughts into emails that never leave her drafts folder. When all her emails are accidentally sent, Millie must deal with the chaos that ensues after her colleagues, friends, and family find out her deepest confessions. An adorable and lighthearted romance with a relatable protagonist, Better Left Unsent shows the struggle for a people-pleaser to be open and vulnerable in all her relationships.
Expiration Dates
Rebecca Serle
Every time Daphne dates a new man, she receives a piece of paper telling exactly how long the relationship will last. Before a blind date at her favorite LA restaurant, Daphne’s paper just says “Jake” with no end date. As Daphne and Jake date, she begins to question whether this relationship really doesn’t have an expiration date. For Daphne knows something that, if she told Jake, it could ruin everything. Similar to In Five Years, Serle delivers a lighthearted romance with an intriguing dash of magical realism that side swipes you half way through. With a clever twist, Expiration Dates introduces more complex themes that make you feel, make you think, and make you want the story to never end.
What Would You Say are The Best Books of 2024?
What books did you enjoy most this year? Did I miss any of the Best Books of 2024 that you loved? As always, let me know in the comments!
More New Book Releases & Best of Lists:
The Most-Anticipated Upcoming Book Releases
The 2024 Summer Reading List
The New Book Releases Collection
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