My Favorite Books of 2024
These ten absorbing, thought-provoking, and satisfying reads are worth your time.
After much pondering and moving of titles between the Top Ten and Honorable Mention lists, here are the ten books I liked the best in 2024. They were absorbing, thought-provoking, and satisfying reads. A few flew under the radar and deserve your attention, especially The Axeman's Carnival, which was in my top three. They are listed in alphabetical order by author.
I have to add the caveat that I didn't get around to reading a couple dozen books on my TBR list, several of which might have become a favorite. So if you're surprised that a certain book is missing, I probably just haven't read it yet. My 2025 reading will be focused on the books I missed, like The Wedding People, There Are Rivers in the Sky, Real Americans, Brotherless Night, and Same As It Ever Was (along with some books by men like All the Colors of the Dark, North Woods, and Wandering Stars, which of course won't be reviewed here).
I'd love to hear what your favorite books of 2024 were. Even though I know it will make my 2025 TBR even longer!
The Ministry of Time – Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)
Kaliane Bradley made an impressive debut with a novel that I found engaging despite being overstuffed. Set in the near future, it’s a time travel story, in which a group of figures from the past have been brought through a portal for a variety of reasons, some of which remain mysterious. Who can be removed without being missed and is thus unlikely to change the course of events? The protagonist is a young British translator who is assigned to serve as a “bridge” who will guide one of the “expats” through his transition. Commander Graham Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic and is nonplussed by his unexpected “fish out of water” situation. Their relationship progresses through many misunderstandings and awkwardness, which Bradley depicts with dry humor. This is the heart of the book and mostly a pleasure to read. But The Ministry of Time also delves into the frustrations of working in the secretive bureaucracy of the Ministry and the protagonist’s own experience as the daughter of Cambodian refugees, plot strands which were not quite as engaging. The last quarter of the book turns into something of a spy thriller and becomes a little confusing. I enjoyed The Ministry of Time despite the distracting overabundance of ideas and subplots because there is a very good book at its heart. I’m looking forward to seeing what Bradley does next.
The Axeman’s Carnival – Catherine Chidgey (Europa Editions)
Marnie, a young wife on a farm in New Zealand, rescues a baby magpie and decides to raise it, against the wishes of her domineering husband, Rob. The magpie, named Tama, learns to talk. Mostly he repeats words and phrases, often to hilarious effect. But soon Tama learns about the human world and observes everything that is taking place in the house and on the farm. Oh yeah, and he narrates the story. On paper it sounds dubious, right? But in the hands of Catherine Chidgey it works brilliantly. The young couple’s farm and marriage are in trouble, but when Marnie posts some videos of Tama talking on social media, they go viral, and soon Tama is a global pop culture sensation. A social media expert advises them how to monetize Tama’s videos, which Marnie sees as a way to save the farm and take some pressure off Rob and their marriage. But Rob hates Tama and the attention for reasons that will be obvious. Through Tama’s deadpan (and occasionally foulmouthed) observations, Chidgey examines the dark side of a marriage, rural life, the brave new world of social media fame, and the impact of a wild animal being raised by humans. It all culminates in the year’s big event, the Axeman’s Carnival, for which Rob has been obsessively training to maintain his crown in the face of a threat from a young upstart. You won’t be able to put this book down. When you finish it, you’ll want to read Chidgey’s previous books, Pet and Remote Sympathy.
James – Percival Everett (Doubleday)
So many people have read this amazing book, and so much has been written about it since it was published in March (it has 34,958 reviews on Amazon and 141,231 reviews on Goodreads), that there really isn’t much I can add except my wholehearted recommendation if you haven’t read it yet. It helps to have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn but it’s not essential. Everett retells the story from the perspective of Jim, who was always the most interesting character in Twain’s book. But as with all Everett books, there is a sardonic, satirical twist that speaks volumes about the past and the present. James is the best book I read in 2024. It deserves the awards it has won (National Book Award, Kirkus Prize) and will almost certainly win (the Pulitzer Prize).
Heirlooms: Stories – Rachel Hall (BkMkPress, University of Missouri-Kansas City)
This series of interconnected stories was the best backlist book I read this year. It won the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction, selected by Marge Piercy. Heirlooms depicts the complicated lives of an extended family starting in France in 1939 and ending in the American Midwest in 1989. Piercy described it well, saying, “[The characters] define themselves in resistance, denial, and ignorance of history through four generations...In some ways the entire book is a meditation on the meaning of family and history.” In these beautifully written stories, characters struggle to survive the war and Holocaust, adapt to displacement and life as refugees and, later, immigrants to Israel and the United States. Each story packs a punch and the cumulative effect is both heartbreaking and inspirational. Highly recommended. (Heirlooms has a rating of 4.7 on Amazon and 4.5 on Goodreads.)
The Bullet Swallower – Elizabeth Gonzalez James (Simon & Schuster)
Along with The Ministry of Time, The Bullet Swallower was the fun read of the year. In the Texas-Mexico borderlands of 1895, the notorious bandit Antonio Sonoro attempts to rob a train carrying a gold shipment. When that goes wrong, he is forced to flee the Texas Rangers who are determined to find and kill him. The extended cat and mouse chase that follows is a page-turner full of violence and dark humor. Six decades later, his grandson Jaime, the most popular actor and singer in Mexico, learns there is a family curse tied to The Bullet Swallower and that he must put it to rest. The two narratives are connected in intriguing ways, including a mysterious book telling the story of the Sonoro family and its history of crimes. This impressive debut novel is a family drama, an adventure, and a mystery that takes on racism, Tex-Mex border politics, and the trauma that is passed from one generation to the next.
Whale Fall – Elizabeth O’Connor (Pantheon)
Elizabeth O’Connor’s debut can best be described as a cross between the thorny issues at play in Audrey Magee’s The Colony and the spare but powerful novellas of Claire Keegan. Set in 1938 on an inhospitable island off the coast of Wales, it’s the story of Manod, a smart and ambitious 18-year-old who is starting to feel restless with the restrictive lifestyle and limited opportunities on the island. When two ethnographers from Oxford arrive to study the islanders’ life, they take to Manod because she reads and speaks English so well. She is equally intrigued by Edward and Joan, who represent a link to the outside world, particularly Joan, an early feminist. A foreboding mood hangs over this triangle, which soon becomes fraught with the characters’ varied purposes and ambitions. This friendship is Manod’s first experience with outsiders and profoundly affects her. Whale Fall really impressed me with its coming-of-age story, its palpable sense of time and place, and O’Connor’s elegant prose.
The Berry Pickers – Amanda Peters (Catapult)
The young daughter of Mi’kmaw berry pickers working in Maine disappears. Weeks pass and there is no sign of her. The devastated family returns to Nova Scotia and attempts to go on with their lives. This multiple narrative examines the lives of her family, particularly her older brother, and that of Norma, the “adopted” daughter of an older couple in Maine, who knows something is amiss but can’t put her finger on it. It’s less a “who” mystery than a “why” character study. I found The Berry Pickers a completely absorbing story of separation and the struggle to reconnect.
Leaving – Roxana Robinson (Norton)
Most stories of passionate love feature young people, but Leaving is the story of two 60-year-olds who reconnect nearly 40 years after their college love affair ended due to a misunderstanding. Sarah is a widow, and Warren is married but unhappy. When he runs into Sarah at the opera, he realizes she was his true love, and their connection is instantly re-established and undeniable. Robinson expertly handles the fallout from their affair, exploring the many moral and practical consequences of their decision to proceed despite some misgivings. She has created complex, believable characters and examines their thoughts, emotions, and actions with her usual psychologically astute approach. Like the opera at which Sarah and Warren meet in the first chapter, Leaving is about passion, honor, betrayal, and choosing the life you want.
A Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust – Rachelle Unreich (Harper)
There are a lot of books about the Holocaust, so I’m selective about the novels I read that are set during that time. (The Postcard and We Must Not Think of Ourselves are must-reads.) Generally, I prefer memoirs and nonfiction like All the Frequent Troubles of Her Days by Rebecca Donner, which won or was a finalist for virtually every award. A Brilliant Life is the latest biography to impress me. Rachelle Unreich tells the remarkable story of her mother’s early life in Czechoslovakia before and during the Holocaust. Mira is a charming and optimistic young woman who endures one deprivation and form of brutality after another, yet she manages to survive thanks to her instincts and personality, as well as some fortuitous occurrences. After the war, she emigrates to Australia, where she lived until 2017. When Mira was diagnosed with cancer at age 88, Unreich interviewed her to finally get the full story of her early years and her life as an immigrant. It was then that Unreich was able to make sense of her mother’s past and its impact on her own life. A Brilliant Life explores how Mira built a life after surviving four concentration camps and a death march. It’s an indelible portrait of a mother, wife, businesswoman, and philosopher that you won’t soon forget. It’s impossible not to love Mira.
The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster)
Three books stood above all the others I read this year for the brilliance of their conception and execution. Along with James and The Axeman’s Carnival, Yael van der Wouden’s debut novel, The Safekeep, blew my mind. It's one of those books where you go around saying, "This book! Whoa! You have to read it!"
Set in the Netherlands in 1961, it’s the story of Isabel, who lives alone in her family’s country house (now owned by her brother Louis). Is she an introvert or a bitter misanthrope? When Louis brings his new girlfriend, Eva, to dinner, Isabel takes an instant dislike to her. The plot is set in motion when he asks if Eva can stay with Isabel while he’s out of the country on business for a month. The tension is palpable. Isabel resents Eva’s disruption of her quiet routine and mistrusts her. As I read, I knew the other shoe was going to drop. “Oh man,” I thought. “I don’t know what is going to happen, but it’s going to be ugly.” What was the backstory of Isabel’s protective obsession with the house and its belongings? Why was Eva seemingly a woman without a history? With this setting, did it have something to do with events during or shortly after the Holocaust? But what exactly? They are worthy foes, each full of steely determination. Yael van der Wouden's depiction of attraction and desire and the ensuing emotional complications is riveting. The Safekeep is nearly flawless in structure, characterization, plot, mood, and the quality of its prose. It’s as good a debut as I’ve read in a long time. Read it!
Honorable Mention
The Cemetery of Untold Stories – Julia Alvarez
Clear – Carys Davies
Days of Wonder – Caroline Leavitt
The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo
Forgotten on Sunday – Valerie Perrin
The God of the Woods – Liz Moore
The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann – Virginia Pye
Restless Dolly Maunder – Kate Grenville
Where the River Meets the Forest – Shannon Bowring
Will End in Fire – Nicole Bokat