The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,187 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of James

Christina Lynch ❤️ loved this book because...

It provides a great counterpoint to Huck Finn, which we all grew up reading. It doesn't cancel that book, but it enlarges the world Twain created and shows us Jim in his full humanity as well as lending more complexity to all the other characters and making clearer sense of the world they inhabit. It takes the now archaic aspects of Twain's novel and shores them up elegantly so that, taken together, the two works form a sort of metanovel that is not only a picture of life on the brink of Civil War and all of the pain around slavery, domestic abuse and rampant cruelty, but a reflection on the power of literature itself, the role of education, family, and love, and how we perceive that time period and the literature about it. "James" felt like dialogue between Twain and Everett that Twain would have relished.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Outlook 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Percival Everett,

Why should I read it?

33 authors picked James as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024


'Truly extraordinary books are rare, and this is one of them' - Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha

James by Percival Everett is a profound and ferociously funny meditation on identity, belonging and the sacrifices we make to protect the ones we love, which reimagines The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. From the author of The Trees, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Erasure, adapted into the Oscar-winning film American Fiction.

The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Hamnet

Christina Lynch ❤️ loved this book because...

Maggie O'Farrell is so skilled in structure and pace. I felt like I was in good hands, even though I didn't always know why she was taking me where she was--it was always worth the trip. Like "James," I feel like this novel challenges our perceptions of the past and questions what we see as settled history. But above all, it was incredibly enjoyable to read.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Maggie O'Farrell,

Why should I read it?

40 authors picked Hamnet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021
'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times
'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell

TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.

On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?

Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.

Neither…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Christina Lynch ❤️ loved this book because...

This book made me think hard about how I read and teach reading. I learned a lot about how the brain processes language, and how people with dyslexia process written language. It was very moving and I think about it all the time, even months after finishing it.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Outlook
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Maryanne Wolf,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Proust and the Squid as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Everything about [this] book, which combines a healthy dose of lucid neuroscience with a dash of sensitive personal narrative, delights ... a beautifully balanced piece of popular-science writing' Boyd Tonkin, Independent
'For people interested in language, this is a must. You'll find yourself focusing on words in new ways. Read it slowly - it will take time to sink in.'William Leith, Sunday Telegraph
'An inspiring celebration of the science of reading.' P.D. Smith, Guardian

'We were never born to read', says Maryanne Wolf. 'No specific genes ever dictated reading's development. Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago.…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Pony Confidential

By Christina Lynch,

Book cover of Pony Confidential

What is my book about?

In this one-of-a-kind mystery with heart and humor, a hilariously grumpy pony must save the only human he’s ever loved after discovering she stands accused of a murder he knows she didn’t commit.

My book recommendation list

Book cover of James
Book cover of Hamnet
Book cover of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

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