My Top 24 Books of 2024

I've read over 250 books this year and these are as good as it gets.

I know, I know. I popped back in here on July 23 with a sob story about how I was gonna get more consistent with this platform and then never returned. One of my biggest 2025 goals (We’ll chat more about ‘em all next week, pinky promise) is to completely revamp my Substack, so here’s to fresh starts. 🥂

What better way to make my triumphant return to your inboxes than with a comprehensive list of the BEST books I read in 2024? As of today, I’ve moved onto 2025 books (so if any of them somehow become a new fave, they’ll be included in the list I’ll be posting in t-minus 365 days), so this is IT.

While I usually can pick one ABSOLUTE favorite for the year, there were so many goodies in 2024 that I actually had to just stick to a good old alphabetical list. Tbh, 2024 was a weird reading year for me. I had a lot of stretches where I didn’t feel like reading or creating content (hence, the Substack hiatus) but I kind of forced myself to be present on Instagram anyway (Beholden to the algorithm I suppose). These (and the titles I put in my Honorable Mentions) were the ones that rose above the funk and truly made my reading year.

Before we get into the books, a few housekeeping notes. I’m linking out to my full review for each of these titles (a few are still to come, so keep your eyes on my IG to see ‘em posted in real-time!). I’m also including affiliate links to both Amazon and Bookshop. I prefer not to purchase books from Amazon, but I’m also in the business of trying to make some money from the content I spend hours (trust me, it takes HOURS) creating, so the Amazon links are here because I know a lot of y’all do buy books there out of convenience. As always, I’m incredibly grateful for anyone who chooses to buy books through my links. Love ya, mean it!

Without further ado, here are my top 24 books of 2024. A banger of a reading year.

A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE by Tia Williams: SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE is one of the best romance books of all time, but Williams has outdone herself with this one. A woman opens a flower shop in Harlem, where she runs into the same man over and over, only to learn that he’s from the 1920s. Magical realism and historical perfection. (Amazon//Bookshop)

BLUE SISTERS by Coco Mellors: I’ve always loved sister stories and with BLUE SISTERS, Mellors has delivered one of the best in recent memory. It feels raw and vulnerable and emotional and Mellors perfectly captures what it’s like to love your sister, hate your sister, want to wring your sister’s neck. Warning: you’ll cry when reading this. (Amazon//Bookshop)

CLEOPATRA AND FRANKENSTEIN by Coco Mellors: Not me getting exposed as a massive Coco Mellors fangirl rn! C&F would be compelling as a portrait of a couple in flux, dealing with everything from addiction to depression, but instead, Mellors kicks it up a notch by telling this story in rotating POVs, alternating between different players in their lives. (Amazon//Bookshop)

COLORED TELEVISION by Danny Senna: Might this go down as my favorite reading experience of 2024? I read this in two fast and furious sittings, marveling at Senna’s pitch-perfect satire of a novelist who decides she’s going to solve her financial woes by writing the next big sitcom about a biracial family. Hilarious and unputdownable. (Amazon//Bookshop)

COME AND GET IT by Kiley Reid: It’s no secret that I have a thing for campus novels (books set in academic settings), but Reid kicks it up a notch with this gossipy, insider-y novel set in a University of Arkansas dorm as a journalist infiltrates to write a story about their financial habits. The last 100 pages are incredibly wild. (Amazon//Bookshop)

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver: As a certified Charles Dickens hater (thanks, A TALE OF TWO CITIES), I didn’t know how I’d feel about a DAVID COPPERFIELD retelling set in Appalachia. Turns out I loved this deeply emotional and very voice-y tale of a boy who grows up in a town affected by the opioid crisis. Linking out to this gorgeous rainbow version from Barnes and Noble as well! (Amazon//Bookshop)

FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry: When I say this is Emily Henry’s most rom-commy book yet, that’s a COMPLIMENT. Sometimes you just wanna read a funny, steamy, heartwarming romance and that’s exactly what EmHen delivered with this tale of forced roommates who end up fake dating who (naturally) fall in love. (Amazon//Bookshop)

GOOD MATERIAL by Dolly Alderton: There are few people on this earth who can so perfectly depict every human emotion on the map and I’m convinced Dolly Alderton is one of ‘em. Like many books, GOOD MATERIAL explores a break-up. Unlike many books, it’s told from the male POV—and it’s cringy and truly excellent. (Amazon//Bookshop)

HOW TO END A LOVE STORY by Yulin Kuang: Don’t tell all of the other romances I’ve read this year, but this is my favorite, a forbidden romance in the best way. A novelist moves to LA to work in the writers’ room for her book’s show, only to find that her former classmate—who killed her sister in a car accident—is technically her new boss. (Amazon//Bookshop)

HUSBANDS AND LOVERS by Beatriz Williams: @whatmaddieread’s Great Historical Fiction Renaissance of 2024 elicited a lot of hidden gems, but I’ve gotta give the top nod to HUSBANDS AND LOVERS, which was the perfect blend of beach read, romance, and historical intrigue across multiple timelines (and countries!). (Amazon//Bookshop)

LONG ISLAND COMPROMISE by Taffy Brodesser-Akner: The more I think about this book, the more I come to terms with the fact that I loved every bonkers moment. In 1980, a wealthy man is kidnapped from his home on Long Island. Although he returns unscathed, it creates repercussions for his children, who we visit in modern times as adults. (Amazon//Bookshop)

MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe: MARGO, I LOVE YOU. No book made me smile bigger or made my heart grow three sizes in the way this novel did. It sounds odd—a college student gets pregnant by her professor and starts an OnlyFans managed by her pro wrestler father to afford the baby—but it’s truly literary perfection. (Amazon//Bookshop)

ONE-STAR ROMANCE by Laura Hankin: I started this on an Amtrak from NYC to Baltimore early this summer. Three hours later, my eyes were misty (and not because said Amtrak was 2.5 hours delayed) but because there are so few romances that capture the raw emotion of figuring out WTF is going on in your life in your late 20s. Adored it. (Amazon//Bookshop)

PIGLET by Lottie Hazell: I love books about food—I might suck at cooking, but I decidedly do not suck at reading books loaded with decadent food descriptions. PIGLET changes the game as an engaged woman (who works as a cookbook editor!) turns to food to cope with an unexpected betrayal just before her wedding. What ensues is truly unforgettable. (Amazon//Bookshop)

REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong: I’m a fast reader, but I conquered all 400+ pages of this in a single day because I was so hooked. REAL AMERICANS has it all—it’s historical fiction, family saga, hints of sci-fi and magical realism, a campus arc, and a love story. It was my first Khong novel, but 200% not my last. Obsessed. (Amazon//Bookshop)

SAME AS IT EVER WAS by Claire Lombardo: I often talk about books that aren’t for everyone, as in, not everyone likes 500 page character-driven tomes packed with observational anecedotes. If you do, then you should certainly read SAME AS IT EVER WAS ([Psycho] Killer title!), which follows a woman as she runs into someone from her past. (Amazon//Bookshop)

SUMMER FRIDAYS by Suzanne Rindell: I know this book is polarizing but I adored it. Rindell perfectly captures 1990s New York, during a steamy summer where a publishing assistant teams up with the boyfriend of the woman she thinks is in love with her fiancé. Shades of You’ve Got Mail + When Harry Met Sally. I’m jonesing for a reread. (Amazon//Bookshop)

TALKING AT NIGHT by Claire Daverley: I’m not the biggest Sally Rooney fan in the world—I appreciate her work, but am always sneakily scoping out books that I lowkey think do it better. Enter: TALKING AT NIGHT, a novel about two people who meet as teenagers and keep entering each other’s lives, usually at the wrong time. (Amazon//Bookshop)

THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr: Tbh, I’ve been pretty disillusioned by most thrillers as of late, so this spooky season, I decided to read all of the gory long reads that have piqued my interest. The best of the best? THE ALIENIST, which follows the search for a brutal serial killer in late 1800s NYC. Dark, intense, but incredible. (Amazon//Bookshop)

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon: I’m not someone who reads comics, but I am someone who loves a loooong read, especially when it takes place in historical NYC. Although this book does sink its teeth into the world of comics and superheroes, at its heart, it’s a coming of age tale about two friends pursuing their creative dreams. (Amazon//Bookshop)

THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore: See my previous statement re: thrillers. Luckily, Liz Moore (of LONG BRIGHT RIVER fame) delivered a literary thriller set at a summer camp that not only plays with timelines and invokes interesting themes about class and wealth, but delivers a mystery worth devouring 490 pages for. (Amazon//Bookshop)

THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt: As I write this, I still have ~100 pages left, but I don’t see anything knocking this book off of my Top 24. It’s been sitting on my TBR for years and I decided that lull between Christmas and New Year’s would be the perfect time to tackle my final Donna Tartt book. Long, immersive, and beautiful. (Amazon//Bookshop)

THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach: The cover of this book might lead you to believe that this would be a frothy lil beach read, but it’s truly SO much more. A woman heads to a luxe hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, where she plans to end her life. Instead, she stumbles upon a wacky wedding party that changes her perspective on everything. (Amazon//Bookshop)

WELCOME HOME, CAROLINE KLINE by Courtney Preiss: Whoever said you can’t go home again clearly hasn’t read this book. When her dad gets injured just after her own life implodes, Caroline moves back home to her New Jersey hometown to take his place on his softball team. What ensues is a pitch-perfect ode to everything from baseball to the Boss. (Amazon//Bookshop)

WHEW! What a year in books! Let’s run it back in 2025, shall we? See ya next week where we’ll talk all things 2025, both bookish and life-related.