The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,098 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Vaster Wilds

Ruth Talbot ❤️ loved this book because...

Unlike anything I've read before. Breathtaking. Heartbreaking. Beautiful writing.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Lauren Groff,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The Vaster Wilds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Exhilarating' GUARDIAN
'Her writing has a timeless quality' THE TIMES
'[Has] a visionary quality' OBSERVER

A profound and explosive novel about a spirited girl alone in the wilderness, trying to survive

A servant girl escapes from a settlement. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief of everything that her own civilization has taught her.

The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Go as a River

Ruth Talbot ❤️ loved this book because...

Beautiful writing. Doesn't get better than this.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Shelley Read,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Go as a River as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

I've come to understand how the exceptional lurks beneath the ordinary like the deep and mysterious world beneath the sea.

On a cool autumn morning, Torie Nash heads into her village pulling a rickety wagon filled with late-season peaches. As she nears an intersection, a mysterious drifter with grimy thumbs and smudged cheeks and eyes as dark as a raven's wing stops to ask her the way.

She could turn left or cross over. But she does not. 'Go as a river,' he whispers.

So begins a mezmerising story that unfolds over a tumultuous lifetime as Torie begins to absorb…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Gold Fame Citrus

Ruth Talbot ❤️ loved this book because...

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Claire Vaye Watkins,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Gold Fame Citrus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Haunting and beautifully written first novel by the award-winning author of Battleborn, set among a cult of survivors in a dystopian American desert

'A Mad Max world painted with a finer brush' Elle

'An unforgettable journey into a hauntingly imagined near-future' Ruth Ozeki

'Set in a drought-ravaged Southern California trolled by scavengers, Gold Fame Citrus burns with a dizzying, scorching genius' Vanity Fair

Desert sands have laid waste to the south-west of America. Las Vegas is buried. California - and anyone still there - is stranded. Any way out is severely restricted. But Luz and Ray are not leaving. They…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

The Raffle Baby

By Ruth Talbot,

Book cover of The Raffle Baby

What is my book about?

“Purchase a ticket for a chance to win a rosy-cheeked little one. Ladies particularly welcome.”

With precise, breathtaking prose and hints of magical realism, Ruth Talbot tells the tale of three orphans as they crisscross the country in the 1930s, riding the rails, chasing the harvests, and stealing when they must. Their destination is always the same: survival.

Teeny, Sonny Boy and Vic have been swallowed up by the desperation and devastation of the Great Depression, but the trio is buoyed by the fantastical tales Teeny weaves around campfires in hobo jungles and migrant camps, including the story of the raffle baby.

As the three navigate the ravages of poverty and prejudices, they form a family bond as strong as the forces against them. But when a solemn pact fails to protect them, their lives are forever changed. And Sonny Boy is left to tell their story, and his own.

Both heartbreaking and uplifting, The Raffle Baby examines the intersection of love, loss and resilience, and the enduring triumph of memory. This is a magical tale not soon forgotten.