The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 325 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of Demon Copperhead

Joan Fallon I ❤️ loved this book because...

Barbara Kingsolver is a fantastic writer and never shies away from difficult themes. I love the harsh reality of her work, although it makes me wish the world was a better place.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Thoughts
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Barbara Kingsolver,

Why should I read it?

64 authors picked Demon Copperhead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.

In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…


Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

My 2nd favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of All the Light We Cannot See

Joan Fallon I ❤️ loved this book because...

At first the writing style put me off but then very quickly I was being pulled along by the story and became completely immersed in it. This is the first book by Anthony Doerr that I have read.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Anthony Doerr,

Why should I read it?

45 authors picked All the Light We Cannot See as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION

A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II

Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.'

For Marie-Laure, blind since the age of six, the world is full of mazes. The miniature of a Paris neighbourhood, made by her father to teach her the way home. The microscopic…


Want my future book recommendations?

My 3rd favorite read in 2024…

Book cover of The Wire in the Blood

Joan Fallon I ❤️ loved this book because...

It was recommended to me as being one of the best crime books available and it is very skilfully written. I didn't like the world that I was taken into and found certain aspects too violent but the overall effect was true to life.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Val McDermid,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wire in the Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The ferociously readable, #1 bestselling crime thriller that led to the much-loved ITV show... 'Wholly satisfying' Ian Rankin

Young girls are disappearing nationwide

Dr Tony Hill sets his team a task: find a link between the cases.

Only one officer comes up with a theory, but it's too wild... that is, until one of their number is murdered and mutilated.

Tony has started a game - one where hunter and hunted can all too easily be reversed. He has baited an aggressor whose charming manner hides a warped and sick mind...

When a killer is hiding in plain sight

Who…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Spanish Lavender

By Joan Fallon,

Book cover of Spanish Lavender

What is my book about?

Spanish Lavender is a love story set in the Spanish Civil War. In January 1937, Elizabeth, a young English girl decides to remain in Spain when the rest of her family returns to the peace of England. Alone in the devastated city of Málaga, she makes friends with two young men, Juan, an idealistic Spaniard, and Alex, a pragmatic Englishman. Together they make their escape from the war-torn city along the coast to Almería. Amongst the death and carnage, she falls in love with Juan, only to lose him shortly afterward when he is badly wounded. Believing he is dead she returns to England.