The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,079 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory

Susan E. Wadds ❤️ loved this book because...

I found Sarah Polley's unflinching honesty and vulnerability very moving.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Thoughts
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Sarah Polley,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Run Towards the Danger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A visceral and incisive collection of six propulsive personal essays.” – Vanity Fair

*A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice*Named a Most-Anticipated Book of 2022 by Entertainment Weekly, Lit Hub, and AV Club*

Oscar-nominated screenwriter, director, and actor Sarah Polley’s Run Towards the Danger explores memory and the dialogue between her past and her present

These are the most dangerous stories of my life. The ones I have avoided, the ones I haven’t told, the ones that have kept me awake on countless nights. As these stories found echoes in my adult life, and then went another, better way…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Morning Bell Brings the Broken Hearted

Susan E. Wadds ❤️ loved this book because...

I loved the risk the author took in the current climate of fear of cultural appropriation. Here she tells a moving story about a non-Indigenous teacher navigating the challenges of living and working in an Indigenous community.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Jennifer Manuel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Morning Bell Brings the Broken Hearted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Exploring the intricacies of power, culture and emotion when a non-Indigenous person moves to an Indigenous community as an educator, Jennifer Manuel casts a spell as captivating and perceptive as in her bestselling novel The Heaviness of Things That Float.

When new teacher Molleigh Royston moves to Tawakin―a remote Nuu-chah-nulth community in the Pacific Northwest―she arrives with good intentions. However, as she struggles to understand and help her students, doubts begin to accumulate―including doubts about her own motivations. Things escalate when three students start behaving strangely and Molleigh makes a serious cultural transgression, triggering a series of disturbing events in…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of If You Want to Make God Laugh

Susan E. Wadds ❤️ loved this book because...

It immersed me in a world I know little about with well-drawn diverse characters. It gave me a glimpse into post-Apartheid South Africa when AIDS is rampant, and how it affect(ed) those in different socio-economic situations.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Bianca Marais,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked If You Want to Make God Laugh as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.

In a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg, seventeen-year-old Zodwa lives in desperate poverty, under the shadowy threat of a civil war and a growing AIDS epidemic. Eight months pregnant, Zodwa carefully guards secrets that jeopardize her life.

Across the country, wealthy socialite Ruth appears to have everything her heart desires, but it's…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Book cover of What the Living Do

What is my book about?

Sex and death consume much of thirty-seven-year-old Brett Catlin’ s life. Cole, ten years her junior, takes care of the former while her job disposing of roadkill addresses the latter. A cancer diagnosis causes her to question her worth, suspecting the illness is payback for the deaths of her father and sister. Thus begins a challenging journey of alternative healing that she doubts she deserves. Just as Brett surrenders to the prescribed cure, a startling discovery sends her on a more profound exploration of cause and effect. Encounters with animals, both living and dead, help her answer the question: who is worth saving?

"A novel of beauty and bracing nuance." - Foreword Reviews
“...intellectually vigorous, and emotionally robust…” “...easily devoured in one sitting…” The Masters Review
“...a disturbing, haunting book…” Cheryl, Goodreads review
“...a book to savour for its language and to remember for the raw, flawed humanity of its characters.” K.R. Wilson, Goodreads review
“...a profound story that punches above its page length…” B.L Lendrum, Amazon Review