The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 2,007 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Small Things Like These

John Haskell ā¤ļø loved this book because...

The soft lilt of the voice and the mysterious melancholy the surrounds the main character, his own knowing and not knowing what he thinks he feels.

  • Loved Most

    šŸ„‡ Emotions šŸ„ˆ Writing
  • Writing style

    ā¤ļø Loved it
  • Pace

    šŸ• Good, steady pace

By Claire Keegan,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked Small Things Like These as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." ā€”Lily King, New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers

Small Things Like These is award-winning author Claire Keegan's landmark new novel, a tale of one man's courage and a remarkable portrait of love and family

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces himā€¦


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Riddley Walker

John Haskell ā¤ļø loved this book because...

After putting down the book the tone and sound of it stayed with me.

  • Loved Most

    šŸ„‡ Originality šŸ„ˆ Writing
  • Writing style

    ā¤ļø Loved it
  • Pace

    šŸ• Good, steady pace

By Russell Hoban,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Riddley Walker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A hero with Huck Finn's heart and charm, lighting by El Greco and jokes by Punch and Judy...Riddley Walker is haunting and fiercely imagined and-this matters most-intensely ponderable." -Benjamin DeMott, The New York Times Book Review "This is what literature is meant to be." -Anthony Burgess "Russell Hoban has brought off an extraordinary feat of imagination and style...The conviction and consistency are total. Funny, terrible, haunting and unsettling, this book is a masterpiece." -Anthony Thwaite, Observer "Extraordinary...Suffused with melancholy and wonder, beautifully written, Riddley Walker is a novel that people will be reading for a long, long time." -Michael Dirda,ā€¦


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

John Haskell ā¤ļø loved this book because...

The evident love of writing, and the insights into how others have done it, plus a palpable kindness behind the writing made this seem (not in a bad way) almost healthy.

  • Loved Most

    šŸ„‡ Originality šŸ„ˆ Thoughts
  • Writing style

    ā¤ļø Loved it
  • Pace

    šŸ• Good, steady pace

By George Saunders,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked A Swim in a Pond in the Rain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ā€¢ From the Booker Prizeā€“winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselvesā€”and our world today.

LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD ā€¢ ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Time, San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Town & Country, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Thrillist, BookPage ā€¢ ā€œ[A] worship song to writers and readers.ā€ā€”Oprah Daily

For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russianā€¦


Donā€˜t forget about my book šŸ˜€

The Complete Ballet: A Fictional Essay in Five Acts

By John Haskell,

Book cover of The Complete Ballet: A Fictional Essay in Five Acts

What is my book about?

An intricate pas de deux in which five romantic ballets are threaded with a story about memory and fallibility set in a lost Technicolor Los Angeles. The novel inhabits the mythic stories of classic balletā€”Nijinsky and Pavlova, George Balanchine and Joseph Cornellā€”while simultaneously entering into the life of a narrator who resembles the film director John Cassavetes.

Book cover of Small Things Like These
Book cover of Riddley Walker
Book cover of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life

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