Every year, major publications and organizations release their “Best Books of the Year” lists. Each organization has its own ways of picking and choosing the top books in different categories, which could make you fall down the rabbit hole of book list wonderland! Instead of feeling like the Mad Hatter, use this book list guide to help navigate the choices!
Book of the Year 2024: James by Percival Everett
The recipient of this year’s National Book Award for Fiction, this title tops most of the fiction lists curated by staff and publishing experts and is also Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year. A re-imagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, the tale is told from Jim’s perspective, the enslaved man that travels with Huck down the Mississippi River.
Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook. You can also get James as a Borrow-a-Book Club Kit for your next book club read! Fill out the form to make a request and you and your club can borrow the books for up to eight weeks.
Best Books Lists by Major Media Voices
Many of the best-books lists are selected by publications and bookish media partners who diligently read, review and research books throughout the year. These books are top-tier in the publishing industry and many of them are award-winning or featured in some other way.
The New York Times released “The 10 Best Books of 2024,” which was one of the most highly anticipated lists of the year. The paper describes its selections as ones that “imprinted on our hearts and psyches, the examining of lives that deepened what we thought we already knew.” You can also hear about all of them in an episode of the Book Review podcast.
- You can read The New York Times with in-library access or off-site with your BCLS membership.
The Atlantic offers “The Atlantic 10: The Best Books of 2024” with the subtitle, “The titles that made us think the most this year.”
- The Atlantic is available to read with a BCLS membership!
Amazon’s editors generate their “Top 20 Books of the Year” and select their “#1 Book of 2024” and were pleasantly surprised by an underdog book taking their top spot. You can find their number one, The Boys of Riverside, on our shelves below.
If you enjoy non-fiction titles be sure to check out 78 Books Scientific American Recommends in 2024, Smithsonian’s Ten Best History Books of 2024 or a mix of topics from cookbooks & food to books for sports lovers from this NPR mega-list with nearly 4,000 titles!
Finally, TIME Magazine published “The 10 Best Fiction Books of 2024” in December, describing the list as “The best of this year’s fiction features characters who, like so many, feel like they don’t belong anywhere, even when they’re with people they love…Taken together, these books offer a reminder: even outsiders are never truly alone.”
Here are a few fiction and nonfiction selections from these lists that you’ll find on our shelves!
Fiction:
- Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook. - All Fours by Miranda July
Thirty minutes into her planned road trip from LA to NYC, a 45-year-old married woman, mother, and artist veers off-course, checks into a motel and ends up in a steamy love affair with a younger man. Find this title in our regular collection or digital collection.
Nonfiction:
- The Boys of Riverside by Thomas Fuller
At the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, the author follows a team of deaf athletes and their coach as they tackle their way from underdog to undefeated. Find this title in our regular collection or digital collection. - Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa
This memoir is a coming-of-age story about Deborah Taffa, a mixed tribe Native American who tries to find her own identity and overcome generational trauma. Find this title in our regular collection.
Community Selected Lists
These lists were generated by readers like you and booksellers across the country. They may have some overlap with the media-generated lists, but they tend to show what is popular in readers communities and acknowledge lesser-known authors.
The Goodreads Choice Awards (GCA) selects the most popular books on the platform, and then has the community vote for their favorites. It’s categorized by genre, so not only do you get to see the highest community rating, but you can find your next read quickly. Here are some selections from some of the most popular genres!
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach
This top GCA novel with 94,733 votes follows a woman who has hit rock bottom and ends up accidentally crashing a posh wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook. - Funny Story by Emily Henry
Emily Henry’s fourth consecutive GCA romance novel follows a heartbroken librarian “who attempts an extremely tricky maneuver: hooking up with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex.” Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook.
Barnes & Noble compiles several best book lists based on genre and age-group, noting the lists are “the culmination of a yearlong national effort where we hear from booksellers across the country with passionate, heated debate about why we should pick their favorite book.”
- Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
Topping the “Best Gift Books of 2024” list, this book by the author of The Joy Luck Club, is both an autobiography and an art book. Stressed by the pressures of the world in 2016, Amy Tan began watching the birds that visited her yard and documenting them. Through daily entries and beautiful sketches, Amy Tan paints a beautiful timeline that tracks her journey into birding and peace. Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook. - Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
Winner of 2024 B&N Children’s Book of the Year, this book brings a young boy into a world of krakens, dragons, sphinxes and more to try to save an ancient dying magic and the life of his new friend. The top of the “Best Young Reader Books of 2024,” this is an exciting romp for kids, but adults will have just as great a time reading it to their children. Find this title in our regular collection, digital collection or as an audiobook.
Put a hold on these books today: they’re in-demand and they’re well worth the wait!
