The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,388 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Falling Rocket: James Whistler, John Ruskin, and the Battle for Modern Art

Patrick Dean ❤️ loved this book because...

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Paul Thomas Murphy,

Why should I read it?

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


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Patrick Dean ❤️ loved this book because...

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Teach
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked American Prometheus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Physicist and polymath, 'father of the atom bomb' J. Robert Oppenheimer was the most famous scientist of his generation. Already a notable young physicist before WWII, during the race to split the atom, 'Oppie' galvanized an extraordinary team of international scientists while keeping the FBI at bay. As the man who more than any other inaugurated the atomic age, he became one of the iconic figures of the last century, the embodiment of his own observation that 'physicists have known sin'.

Years later, haunted by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer became a staunch opponent of plans to develop the hydrogen bomb.…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Bright Sword

Patrick Dean ❤️ loved this book because...

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Nature's Messenger: Mark Catesby and His Adventures in a New World

By Patrick Dean,

Book cover of Nature's Messenger: Mark Catesby and His Adventures in a New World

What is my book about?

In 1722, Mark Catesby stepped ashore in Charles Town in the Carolina colony. Over the next four years, this young naturalist made history as he explored deep into America's natural wonders, collecting and drawing plants and animals that had never been seen in the Old World.

Nine years later, Catesby produced his magnificent and groundbreaking book, The Natural History of Carolina, the first-ever illustrated account of American flora and fauna.

In Nature's Messenger, acclaimed writer Patrick Dean follows Catesby from his youth as a landed gentleman in rural England to his early work as a naturalist and his adventurous travels.

Book cover of Falling Rocket: James Whistler, John Ruskin, and the Battle for Modern Art
Book cover of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Book cover of The Bright Sword

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