The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,206 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Monsters We Defy

Cathy Hester Seckman ❤️ loved this book because...

I was pretty skeptical about this book - spirits who annoy a young woman in Washington, D.C.? It was easy to fall into the story, though, and soon I was reading faster and faster. It's one of those books that make you sorry to come to the end.
I also appreciated the detail of Penelope's historical research into the world of Black people in the early 20th century. It's a part of our history that I never learned in school.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Teach
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Leslye Penelope,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Monsters We Defy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"[P]itch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!" ―T.L. Huchu

NPR Best Book of 2022! Paste Best Fantasy Book of 2022!

"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.”

Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance,…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Triple Crown

Cathy Hester Seckman ❤️ loved this book because...

I own every Dick Francis book, and when he turned over his career to his son Felix, I discovered I liked him just as much. Immersion is my favorite experience when I read these books. I can get lost in the characters, the plot, and the atmosphere. I'm not a horseracing fan, but that's beside the point. The books are masterfully written, and the plots never disappoint. The intriguing main characters are all involved in the racing world, but are as diverse as a banker, an investigator, a pilot, a wine merchant, a photographer, an accountant, a physicist, a teacher, and of course a jockey, trainer, or owner.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Felix Francis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Triple Crown as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE RICHEST PRIZE IN RACING. THE PERFECT MOTIVE TO KILL.

Jeff Hinkley, a British Horseracing Authority investigator, has been seconded to the US Federal Anti-Corruption in Sports Agency (FACSA) where he has been asked to find a mole in their organisation, an informant who is passing on confidential information to fix races.

Jeff goes in search of answers, taking on an undercover role as a groom on the backstretch at Belmont Park racetrack in New York. But he discovers far more than he was bargaining for, finding himself as the meat in the sandwich between FACSA and corrupt individuals who…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of On the Beach

Cathy Hester Seckman ❤️ loved this book because...

I re-read this 1957 novel every few years. It's compelling for the quality of its writing, the courage of its characters, and the terrifying possibilities of the plot. Nevil Shute writes in what I call a minor key. If you've read it, you know what I mean. If you haven't, well, read the book and you'll understand.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Nevil Shute,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked On the Beach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Pearson English Readers bring language learning to life through the joy of reading.



Well-written stories entertain us, make us think, and keep our interest page after page. Pearson English Readers offer teenage and adult learners a huge range of titles, all featuring carefully graded language to make them accessible to learners of all abilities.



Through the imagination of some of the world's greatest authors, the English language comes to life in pages of our Readers. Students have the pleasure and satisfaction of reading these stories in English, and at the same time develop a broader vocabulary, greater comprehension and reading…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Rightside/Wrongside

By Cathy Hester Seckman,

Book cover of Rightside/Wrongside

What is my book about?

On Rightside/Wrongside, women are in charge and men live behind the Border Fence. Their only interactions are for sex, which women control with rigid laws. Mothers raise daughters, and fathers know nothing of them. Women send sons across the Fence and never know if they live or die.

Rightside President Alanna Olaffson and her countrywomen believe female empowerment is good and necessary, right up to the time it goes frighteningly wrong.

Jessie, pregnant with a boy, meets Tenosha, who recently sent her son across the Fence. Unwilling to accept Rightside’s laws, they hatch a plan that grows beyond their control. Smuggling, sabotage, kidnapping, and civil war force a cataclysmic face-to-face confrontation.

Book cover of The Monsters We Defy
Book cover of Triple Crown
Book cover of On the Beach

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