Book readers love to review book lists to see if their tastes align with a fellow reader. Here’s the list of my favorite books read in 2024 in my favorite categories of thriller/crime/suspense, historical fiction, fantasy and thought provoking reads.
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In 2023 I made a goal to reach 40 books and ended up reading 45. So in 2024 I decided to input 45 as my goal in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. This site is great to track your which books you read by which author or create your own To Be Read (or TBR) list when someone recommends a favorites. Let’s be friends on GoodReads and you can follow along on my thoughts and favorites!
During the year I keep track of my favorites as you’re bound to find a book lover no matter where you go! Here are the ones I recommend in the below categories that I read most.
THRILLER/CRIME/SUSPENSE – aka all the books I use to say “twists and turns I didn’t see coming!”
- The Inmate by Frieda McFadden – Last year I became a McFadden fan and this love for her suspenseful style continues. Sure the main character makes lots of decisions with bad logic but you still just follow along.
- Look Closer by David Ellis – Simon and Vicky are the main couple in this book that involves plans for murder, lies and plenty of deceit. As you read this book, you’ll constantly think you guessed where it’s going and do did but, but you will be wrong.
- Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney – A husband and wife take an anniversary try for a weekend away when the wife won a trip in a raffle. The story unfolds via inner monologue from several characters and has some unique twists that catch you off guard and question what you thought you knew.
- His and Hers by Alice Feeney – I guess Alice is the new thriller writing I’m enjoying this year! This book had a dark story line with lots of misdirects so if you think you guessed the outcome, you likely didn’t.
THOUGHT PROVOKING
- The Measure by Nikki Erlick – This book follows 8 people as they experience a worldwide phenomenon in which every person in the world receives a box which somehow relates to the length they are going to live. It then follows the repercussions around knowing (or not knowing) this information and how each character handles it. I was hooked within 20 pages of this book and finished it in two days. It was part of Jenna Hager’s book club with “recommended for book clubs” on the cover and I couldn’t agree more.
- Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty – If you like the Measure you’ll likely also like this book which falls along the same line of “what would you do if you knew the year and way that you were going to die.” It’s also similar in that it follows the narrative of several characters so you can understand and experience different perspectives to the same worries.
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – A story of 2 friends who meet when they’re young and how their lives intertwine in many ways through different iterations of life. They bond while playing video games and eventually this theme becomes a career and business. While over 400 pages, I literally read this in one day!
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett – This book follows the story of two black identical twin sisters in the 1950s but where one “passes as white” after they both run away at 16. You follow their lives for the next 40 years to hear about their different experiences in their perspective living situations.
- Wish You Were Here by Jodi Piccoult – This was the first book I’ve read with a Covid plot line and, like anyone who lived through it and looks back at the craziness of that time, it’s interesting to see all those nutty actions and thoughts put into words. It parallels this life altering time with a single story of a woman who’s working through growing up and discovering herself.
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelly Van Pelt – If I told you the plot was a “a very smart octopus helps bring together a family” you would shake your head but this well written story is just that, written through several character perspectives to help solve somewhat of a family mystery set in Washington state, without any gore or horror undertones.
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – It’s not a time travel book but it’s one about a multiverse and experiencing the “what if” part of life as in “what if I chose a different action” back in your life.
HISTORIC FICTION
- The Women by Kristin Hannah – It’s been a while since I’ve read a KH book, but this one did not disappoint! It follows the story of one women in the 60s who signs up to be a Vietnam nurse. It shares her experience there and once home and all the aftermath of what was happening with the war and the perspective of women and veterans of service. It’s 460 pages but I read it in less than 24 hours, it was so good!
- Four Winds – Follows the story of Elsa during the Great Depression, the dust storms and migration to the west. I had never read a story of this time period and this area of the country so I found the thought that mid-westerners being outsiders in the west very interesting.
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes – Set in 1930s Kentucky, this book follows the lives of the women who started a traveling library to remote houses in their town, all my horseback.
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I actually question if this book lives in this “historic fiction” category as though it’s written during the tumultuous time of WW2 in Germany, it’s written from the point of view of the character of Death. It’s not a newer book but one brought to my attention by a fellow book lover and was an interesting perspective on this theme I’ve read about time and time again.
- The Briar Club by Katie Quinn – While this book does revolve around a murder, the stories shared are more historical in nature all set in Washington DC in the 1950s at a women’s boarding home and shares the stories of the women in it.
- When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor – Again, this WW2 theme that I seem to enjoy for this historic fiction category, but from a very different perspective. The story is about of a school in China but of missionary children and their teachers, and how they survive being surrounded by their enemy Japan.
LIGHT BEACH READS
I had to create a new book category this year of just like, easy beach reads. That’s not to say there isn’t sadness or hard things in these novels, but the overall feel is light and good for a beach side read! Save these recommended books for next summer!
- Friend Zone By Abby Jimenez – This is an ultimate “will they/won’t they” book with 2 core characters and a few supplemental characters you can easily follow. This is book one of a continuing series so you don’t have to officially say goodbye to characters!
- The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner – I read this mostly on the plane to/from our San Francisco trip but I’d definitely label it a beach read. It is written in several point of views of a family about to host a wedding at their matriarch grandma’s Cape Cod home. Each character has a secret they’re trying to hold onto before this wedding and tries to see if they can hold onto it until the big day. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming but also a few “too coincidence” moments that weren’t believable. While I don’t agree with many of the character’s personal choices, it was a quick read I enjoyed on these flights.
- This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune – This book takes place in Prince Edward Island, which historical fiction fans will know this is also the home of all the Anne of Green Gables series (which I read the first 3 of in the past year). There are lots of hints of that book series throughout this summer friendly love story that passes through the years with the main character Lucy, and her best friend’s brother, Felix.
Favorite Books Lists from Other Years
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