The 25 best books of 2024
The 25 highest-ranked books first published in 2024 in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 74 books of 2024 in all. How we rank
- 1
James99.0Must-Read ScoreJames
Huckleberry Finn, retold by the man on the raft.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (2025)National Book Award (Fiction) winner (2024)#1 New York Times bestseller (4 weeks at #1)52 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 2
The Women91.0Must-Read ScoreThe Women
In 1965, Frankie McGrath is a sheltered twenty-year-old nursing student in Southern California when she hears that women can be heroes too.
Why it made the listGoodreads Choice (historical fiction) winner (2024)#1 New York Times bestseller (10 weeks at #1)One of the ten best-selling books of 2024 (Publishers Weekly) - 3
The Anxious Generation87.3Must-Read ScoreThe Anxious Generation
Around 2012, rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm among teenagers began rising sharply in many countries at once.
Why it made the listGoodreads Choice (nonfiction) winner (2024)#1 New York Times bestseller (6 weeks at #1)131 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 4
Quicksilver87.1Must-Read ScoreQuicksilver
Saeris Fane is a thief and secret-keeper in a desert city ruled by an undying queen, where water is precious and powers like hers are dangerous.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)56 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (romantasy) finalist (2024) - 5
The Tainted Cup86.2Must-Read ScoreThe Tainted Cup
In an empire walled off from monstrous sea leviathans, a high officer is found dead with a tree erupting from his body.
Why it made the listHugo Award winner (2025)Edgar Award finalist (2025)Goodreads Choice (fantasy) finalist (2024) - 6
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space85.7Must-Read ScoreChallenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart seventy-three seconds after launch, killing all seven crew, including Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire teacher chosen to be the first ordinary citizen in space.
Why it made the listNBCC Award (Nonfiction) winner (2024)Goodreads Choice (history biography) finalist (2024) - 7
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America85.3Must-Read ScoreNative Nations: A Millennium in North America
Long before Europeans arrived, Indigenous Americans built diverse civilizations, and when Europeans did come, Native nations stayed powerful for centuries.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (History) winner (2025) - 8
My Friends84.0Must-Read ScoreMy Friends
In 1984, Khaled, a young Libyan studying in Edinburgh, joins a protest outside the Libyan embassy in London and is shot when gunmen inside open fire.
Why it made the listNBCC Award (Fiction) winner (2024)National Book Award (Fiction) finalist (2024)Booker Prize longlist (2024) - 9
Patriot: A Memoir83.5Must-Read ScorePatriot: A Memoir
Alexei Navalny began writing this memoir after surviving a near-fatal poisoning in 2020.
Why it made the listNBCC Award (Memoir) winner (2024) - 10
The Safekeep83.4Must-Read ScoreThe Safekeep
It's 1961 in the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, and the war is long over.
Why it made the listWomen's Prize for Fiction winner (2025)Booker Prize finalist (2024) - 11
Nuclear War: A Scenario83.2Must-Read ScoreNuclear War: A Scenario
Annie Jacobsen walks, minute by minute, through how a nuclear war could actually unfold.
Why it made the list25 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Baillie Gifford Prize finalist (2024)Goodreads Choice (nonfiction) finalist (2024) - 12
Just for the Summer82.2Must-Read ScoreJust for the Summer
Justin has a curse: every woman he dates finds her soulmate right after they break up, and the internet knows it.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)23 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (romance) finalist (2024) - 13
The God of the Woods80.0Must-Read ScoreThe God of the Woods
In August 1975, thirteen-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her bunk at a summer camp in the Adirondacks.
Why it made the listGoodreads Choice (mystery thriller) winner (2024)56 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Edgar Award finalist (2025) - 14
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s78.8Must-Read ScoreAn Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
In his last years, Doris Kearns Goodwin's husband, Richard Goodwin, a speechwriter for John F.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)17 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (memoir autobiography) finalist (2024) - 15
All the Colors of the Dark78.4Must-Read ScoreAll the Colors of the Dark
In 1975, in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
Why it made the list39 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (mystery thriller) finalist (2024) - 16
The Demon of Unrest77.9Must-Read ScoreThe Demon of Unrest
Between Abraham Lincoln's election in November 1860 and the first shots at Fort Sumter in April 1861, the country came apart.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (5 weeks at #1)51 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (history biography) finalist (2024) - 17
The Small and the Mighty77.7Must-Read ScoreThe Small and the Mighty
Sharon McMahon, a former government teacher who became known online for explaining American politics plainly, tells the stories of twelve ordinary Americans who changed the country without becoming famous for it.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)Goodreads Choice (history biography) finalist (2024) - 18
Be Ready When the Luck Happens77.7Must-Read ScoreBe Ready When the Luck Happens
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, tells the story of her life: a lonely childhood with a harsh father, marrying Jeffrey at twenty, a job in the White House budget office working on nuclear energy policy, and the day she saw a newspaper ad for a specialty food shop in the Hamptons and bought it on impulse.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)29 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (memoir autobiography) finalist (2024) - 19
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World77.5Must-Read ScoreThe Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
The serviceberry is a shrub whose berries ripen all at once, more than any one creature could eat.
Why it made the list34 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (nonfiction) finalist (2025) - 20
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions76.4Must-Read ScoreFramed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
John Grisham, the bestselling novelist, and Jim McCloskey, founder of a group that works to free innocent prisoners, tell ten true stories of people wrongfully convicted of crimes in America, and explain how flawed forensics, police misconduct and racism lead to injustice.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)22 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Goodreads Choice (nonfiction) finalist (2024) - 21
Lights Out76.2Must-Read ScoreLights Out
Aly Cappellucci is a trauma nurse with a secret fantasy: she follows masked men online and dreams of being pursued by one.
Why it made the list66 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 22
Raising Hare: A Memoir75.9Must-Read ScoreRaising Hare: A Memoir
During the pandemic lockdown, Chloe Dalton, a busy political adviser in London, was stuck at her home in the English countryside when she found a newborn hare alone on a path.
Why it made the list19 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2025Goodreads Choice (memoir autobiography) finalist (2025) - 23
Listen for the Lie75.8Must-Read ScoreListen for the Lie
Five years ago, Lucy Chase was found on a Texas road covered in her best friend Savvy's blood, with no memory of what happened.
Why it made the list23 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024Edgar Award finalist (2025)Goodreads Choice (mystery thriller) finalist (2024) - 24
The Wedding People75.7Must-Read ScoreThe Wedding People
Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand old inn in Newport, Rhode Island, with no luggage, planning for it to be the last night of her life.
Why it made the listGoodreads Choice (fiction) winner (2024)62 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 25
Red Sky Mourning75.3Must-Read ScoreRed Sky Mourning
A Chinese submarine has gone rogue and is heading toward the United States with nuclear missiles in range of the West Coast.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)
