The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,355 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Goldilocks Genome: A Medical Thriller

Sheri T. Joseph ❤️ loved this book because...

This novel had that magic combination of exciting page-turner mystery, plus the authentic explanations and explorations of a real elite scientist. The characters were compelling and believable, I cared about them, and I knew I was truly learning about one of the most pressing issues in the real world today - the use of genetic science in society. It was the most entertaining way to learn, both thought provoking and great fun!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Elizabeth Reed Aden,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Goldilocks Genome as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When San Francisco-based FDA epidemiologist Dr. Carrie Hediger uncovers a rash of unexplained deaths while investigating the suspiciously convenient death of her best friend, she becomes determined to find answers-even if it leads her to a murderer, and even if confronting authority, using her wiles, and bending the rules to get justice risks her future in the FDA.

To unravel the puzzle, Carrie assembles a team: some talented post-doctoral fellows, a quirky pharmacologist, an unctuous chemist, and a skeptical FBI agent that she can't help her attraction for. Together, they follow the data through the twists and turns, eventually uncovering…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us

Sheri T. Joseph ❤️ loved this book because...

Poetic level writing about a whole new world I never thought of before - how animals perceive the world, explained in a way that changed how I see the world.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Teach 🥈 Outlook
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Ed Yong,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked An Immense World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Wonderful, mind-broadening... a journey to alternative realities as extraordinary as any you'll find in science fiction' The Times, Book of the Week

'Magnificent' Guardian

Enter a new dimension - the world as it is truly perceived by other animals.

The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving only a tiny sliver of an immense world. This book welcomes us into previously unfathomable dimensions - the world as it is truly perceived by other animals.

We encounter beetles that are…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Afterword

Sheri T. Joseph ❤️ loved this book because...

Gorgeous writing and a brave and profound look at the place where human longing and emotions meet advancing technology. The author really knows the AI world, and history, and spins a story of loss and connection that will transcend the inevitable tech advances.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Nina Schuyler,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A pioneer of artificial intelligence rebuilds the love of her life, but when she discovers he's been feeding incriminating civilian information to the Chinese government, she'll have to decide whether to keep or kill him.

When approached by a Chinese tech company, Virginia Samson is moved to give them her beloved's algorithm so they can create an AI companion for the aging population. Soon her digital lost love starts spying on Chinese citizens, funneling the information to the Chinese government. When Virginia frantically tries to rebuild him, she uncovers his terrible secret, forcing her to relive their beautiful and tragic…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Book cover of Edge of the Known World

What is my book about?

Edge of the Known World was released Sept. 2024, published by SparkPress, distributed by Simon & Schuster. It’s a near-future love and adventure story about a brilliant young refugee caught in era when genetic screening tests – like 23AndMe – make it impossible to hide a secret identity.
The novel won the 2024 American Fiction Awards in multiple categories:
Winner in Best New Fiction
Winner in Science Fiction: General
Winner in Thriller: Political

Alexandra Tashen is a brilliant student, adoring daughter, merry wit, and exuberant prankster. She is also hiding in the open.
After a blissful childhood on a Texas ranch, Alex learns the truth: She is a refusé from a brutal regime, smuggled into the Allied Nations as an infant. Everyone from her birthplace carries a harmless but detectable bit of viral DNA from a regional vaccine. If detected by the rapid genetic testing now standard at security ID screens, Alex will be returned to the Federation and a likely death. Her adoptive father developed a gene therapy to mask her g-marker, but it is not fully effective. Every g-screen presents a nerve-racking one-in-ten chance of getting caught.
When her father goes missing, Alex abandons her cloistered academic life in San Francisco for a globe-trotting Commission in a desperate race to warn him of a trap. As Alex dodges g-screens on her precarious and often-hilarious adventure, a love triangle develops between her and two men: Eric Burton, a commanding and disgraced intelligence officer, and his sworn brother, Strav Beki, a charismatic and dangerously unhinged diplomat. Betrayals mount and secrets unravel, building to the most confounding choices that people can face—choices between love, family loyalty, and moral obligation.

More information at https://www.authorsheritjoseph.com/

Book cover of The Goldilocks Genome: A Medical Thriller
Book cover of An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Book cover of Afterword

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