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As we speed toward the end of 2024, authors, publishers and readers alike anxiously await year-end lists touting the best books of 2024. These lists shout out the most well-received, exciting and innovative reads of the year.
And because many of them can overlap, we combed through two of the largest — TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 and Amazon’s Best Books of 2024 to pinpoint which great reads made it onto TIME, Amazon and PEOPLE’s lists of the hottest books of the year.
Whether you’re looking for a good book to give — or get— this holiday season or want to see which of the critics’ choice books you have in your own TBR pile, read on.
‘Be Ready When the Luck Happens’ by Ina Garten
Celebrity cook Ina Garten’s long-anticipated memoir reveals a new side to the Food Network star. Writing of her difficult and “very lonely childhood,” meeting her husband Jeffrey and the journey that led her to becoming the beloved TV personality and cookbook author she is today, Garten shares her life story with genuine warmth and heart.
‘Tell Me Everything’ by Elizabeth Strout
Amazon
A murder mystery set in Maine is the backdrop for Pulitzer winner Strout’s latest, a stunner that unites beloved characters from her previous books. Attorney Bob Burgess defends the suspect, a loner accused of killing his mother. Meanwhile, Burgess’ friendship with writer Lucy Barton enters a deeper phase and Lucy strikes up a bond with the storied Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement home. Strout’s reflections on life and the significance of storytelling are downright profound. — Claire Martin
‘The God of the Woods’ by Liz Moore
Riverhead Books
In 1961, the disappearance of the Van Laar’s 8-year-old son left their wealthy family devastated. Now, 14 years later, their teenage daughter has gone missing from a summer camp near the family’s Adirondack estate. Intersecting past and present, Moore keeps the suspense at a fever pitch amid nuanced portraits of the out-of-touch Van Laars, their hangers-on and the locals who both depend on and resent them. A winner. — Kim Hubbard
‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach
Henry Holt and Co.
When the distraught Phoebe checks into the exclusive Cornwall Inn in Newport, R.I., everyone mistakes her for part of the newly-arrived wedding party. Her plans to end it all are flipped upside down when she meets the über-controlling bride who has planned everything meticulously — and soon conscripts Phoebe into her service. As the two become unlikely confidants, both of their plans slowly shift. A funny, heartwarming paean to the magic of coincidental meetings.
‘Catalina’ by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
One World
In this original coming-of-age story, Harvard student Catalina navigates a complicated senior year filled with new relationships and elite circles. She must also consider what graduation will look like for her and her undocumented family.
‘The Coin’ by Yasmin Zaher
When a wealthy, eccentric Palestinian woman moves to New York City, starts teaching at a middle school and gets caught up in a bag-selling scheme, she starts to slowly unravel. Watching her get embroiled in fraud and all that follows is a page-turning delight.
‘The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir’ by Griffin Dunne
Amazon
Actor and director Griffin Dunne grew up surrounded by celebrity as the son of journalist Dominick Dunne, and the nephew of writers John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. In his new memoir, the TV and film veteran looks back on his famed family’s history and tragedy, balancing heartbreak with humor.
‘Long Island’ by Colm Tóibín
Tóibín revisits the Brooklyn heroine, Eilis Lacey, a complicated Irish wife and mother with a hard choice to make, after almost two decades. A riveting novel about love, loneliness and loss.
‘Shanghailanders’ by Juli Min
courtesy
This time-traveling novel follows the Yang family from 2040 back to 2014 and across three continents. The novel introduces the wealthy Shanghai real estate investor Leo Yang, his posh Japanese-French wife, Eko, and their children Yumi, Yoko and Kiko as they deal with a climate disaster, quibbles that come to feel monumental and much more. This gorgeous, resonant novel balances a peek into the future with the present moment.
‘Funny Story’ by Emily Henry
Penguin Random House
In what may be Henry’s coziest romance to date, a reserved librarian falls for her new roommate — who’s also her ex’s best friend’s ex. During a coastal Michigan summer, captivating Miles helps Daphne let her guard down, and readers learn it’s never too late to live the life you thought was out of reach. — McKenzie Jean-Phillipe
‘Knife’ by Salman Rushdie
Following the 2022 violent attack on Salman Rushdie that almost took his life comes a thoughtful, intimate meditation on the power of art and finding the courage to face adversity.
‘James’ by Percival Everett
MacMillan
From the author who wrote American Fiction comes a creative riff on Huckleberry Finn as told by Jim, the enslaved man who rafts with Huck down the Mississippi. James talks like a professor — dat good ole dialect is a put-on. Plus, Dominic Hoffman’s audio version is perfection. — Marion Winik
‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt
Haidt, a social psychologist, dissects the effects of the “great rewiring of childhood” — looking at how technology has shaped today’s youth, the ways it interferes with neurological and social development, and actions society can take moving forward.
‘Get the Picture’ by Bianca Bosker
The Cork Dork author dives deep into the reasons art-lovers and artists alike are so passionate and what we can learn from them. The journey will impact the way you perceive the world.
‘Wandering Stars’ by Tommy Orange
This in-depth exploration of generational trauma starts with Star, a survivor of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, who’s forced by the man who goes on to found the notoriously cruel Carlisle Indian Industrial School to learn English and practice Christianity. One generation later, his son, Charles, is sent to the same school, where the man who abused his father abuses him. However, Charles finds hope through a peer Opal Viola, clinging to dreams of a better, safer future.
‘Grief Is For People’ by Sloane Crosley
MCD
The day veteran book publicist Russell Perreault took his own life, he posted an admiring photo of wildflowers on Instagram. It’s just one of countless puzzles that haunt his friend Crosley. Her memoir charts her personal journey of grief while honoring a complicated man. — Kim Hubbard
‘Martyr!’ by Kaveh Akbar
In 1988, the U.S. gunned down an Iranian plane carrying 290 civilians. There were no survivors. Spinning dervish-like around this fact, Akbar’s debut is full of love, fury, humor and wisdom. Protagonist Cyrus Shams — poet, recovering alcoholic and son of one of the passengers — will pull your heart strings. — Marion Winik
