The Best Books I Read in 2024

For the past four years I’ve read over one hundred books a year. You might guess that 2024 was filled with reading for me, given I was not working and sick in bed much of the time, but I often found reading or listening to audiobooks nausea inducing and sometimes found it too hard to concentrate. Despite it all, I finished my 100th book on December 30.

I always like seeing a photograph of a stacked pile of books on these types of posts but I only own three of these books and my mom is borrowing one right now.

Here’s the breakdown of how I read and found my top ten:

• I borrowed one from my cousin.
• I bought one on Amazon.
• I downloaded one on my Kindle.
• Two were sent to me from TBR (Tailored Book Recommendations).
• I listened to two audiobooks via Libby and Spotify.
• The remaining three I checked out at my local library.

Without further ado, below are my favorite fiction and non-fiction reads of 2024.

Top five fiction

The Golden Spoon by Jess Maxwell

This was the first book I finished in 2024 and I couldn’t put it down. It was a unique and fun plot that combined my love for mysteries and food. The story centers around Bake Week, a cooking competition reality hosted by a celebrity chef and taking place at a historical mansion. The strong character work and vivid description of the setting pulled me in right away.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors, due to her strong female leads and character driven narratives often as historical fiction. This time the story follows Frankie McGarth who realizes women can be heroes and enlists as a combat nurse in the Vietnam War. The book explored complex topics from that era such as feminism, patriotism and friendship.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

I read Whitaker’s novel We Begin At the End in 2023 and really enjoyed it so I was eagerly anticipating the release of his latest novel. The first chapter or two took a while to get into because the main character, Patch, is a bit eccentric to say the least. However, once you get past the first few pages this book really takes off. I tend to think the ‘missing girls’ or ‘teen girl abduction’ thrillers are overdone and predictable, but this one was completely different and I read it in just a few days. Whitaker is gifted at character development, he could be the male Kristin Hannah. I’m excited to see what he does next.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

I picked out this book because I enjoy reading stories about indigenous communities and characters, especially since moving to the southwest. This one is set in Nova Scotia so it was a bit different than my typical reads by Tommy Orange (Wandering Stars is on my honorable mention list for 2024) or Louise Eldrich. The majority of the story is told from Joe’s point of view, who was the last person to see his then four-year-old sister before she disappeared. This was a powerful story about love, trauma and the search for truth.

The Big Door Prize by M.O. Walsh

I picked this book up because my husband enjoyed the series on Apple TV. It’s not something I would normally select, so I enjoyed trying something new and thought the characters were well written and interesting. I always like stories about communities and interpersonal relationships in a small town so this was a fun read. After finishing the book I started watching the series on Apple TV and was surprised by some of the differences in the character relationships and backgrounds.

Top five non-fiction

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

I generally listen to memoirs and this was a great audiobook. Tucci is a great storyteller and narrator. The meals he described in this book made me hungry. I enjoyed the stories about his family and the humorous anecdotes throughout, but I was especially moved by the way he shared his story of his own cancer diagnosis and how that impacted his relationship with food.

Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon

Another memoir told through food, Slow Noodles was incredibly moving. I love Cambodia and Khmer food, so it would be shocking if I ever gave a Cambodia related book anything less than five stars — the country has such a big piece of my heart. That being said, I continue to be emotionally wrecked learning about the stories of the Khmer people. For a country and people that lost so much it is beautiful to see how Nguon and others are renewing their hope and finding their culture by reclaiming recipes from past generations. Her story reminded me of some of the restaurants we’ve visited in Siem Reap where inspiring chefs like Chef Kethana of The Sugar Palm are doing the same thing. Nguon’s story also helped me keep a lot of my personal struggles battling cancer in perspective this year. I am hoping to make one of the recipes featured in Slow Noodles this year.

Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer

Another great audiobook, Paul Scheer is hilarious. Some of the stories in this memoir are absurd, sad and almost horrifying but I really admire how Scheer kept his humor through it all. Despite this being a very vulnerable memoir it was a very fun listen.

Radical Remission by Kelly A. Turner

I devoured this book in less than twenty-four hours. Even though I read this after going through conventional cancer treatment, I was very inspired by the case studies and stories of individuals that cured themselves of cancer. Reading about the nine key factors Turner observed as common amongst survivors was empowering and encouraging. I recommend this book to anyone that is personally dealing with or knows someone dealing with a cancer diagnosis. For those curious the nine factors are: (1) Taking control of your health, (2) Radically changing your diet, (3) Following your intuition, (4) Using herbs and supplements, (5) Releasing suppressed emotions, (6) Increasing positive emotions, (7) Embracing social support, (8) Deepening your spiritual connection and (9) Having a strong reason for living.

The Crisis of Narration by Byung-Hul Chan

This was the last book I finished in 2024, it’s a quick easy that was a thought-provoking read to finish the year. The author explains the difference between narratives and narration, story-telling versus story-selling and how in the age of social media we are constantly narrating our own lives posting ‘stories’ for likes and subscribers without really telling a story at all. With all the obvious benefits from story-telling, e.g. community building, healing, passing wisdom down to generations I am still thinking about how I want to cultivate those benefits in today’s information age.

Honorable Mentions

Here are some of the other five star books I enjoyed this year:

• Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
• Sandwich by Catherine Newman
• None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
• The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
• You Know What You Did by K.T. Nyugen
• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
• Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
• Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
• The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic El-Rayess