As I went back and looked at the book-related blog posts and book reviews I shared 2024, I found myself remembering amazing plot lines, creative twists, beautiful writing, wonderful escape novels and thrilling excerpts that kept me reading late into the night. Below you’ll find the top 10 books I read last year and they fall across a myriad of genres — everything from suspenseful thrillers and fantasy novels to breezy reads and historical fiction. I hope a few of the books I’ve highlighted below find their way into your hands in 2025 and that you love them as much as I did last year!
Note: Two of the books below I listened to as audiobooks and I’ve noted this below, as I do think listening to a book versus reading it can change the reader/listener’s experience.
Top 10 Books I Read in 2024
Genre: Mystery/Drama
My rating: A
All the Colors of the Dark is not only one of the best books I read in 2024, it’s easily one of the best books I’ve read ever. The writing is so stunning and it’s the kind of book that makes you want to write down certain passages because they’re so beautifully poignant. It’s a mystery unlike any other mystery I’ve read with so much depth. It’s also very uniquely unpredictable and when you find yourself approaching the final third of the book, just go ahead and clear your schedule or expect to be up waaay past midnight reading because so much is revealed and you will not be able to put it down. It’s a long novel but I absolutely adored this book from start to finish and found it so immensely creative. Also, you know those books you read where you find yourself thinking the author may be some kind of genius? I think that’s the case with Chris Whitaker. The way he so expertly wove the story together over the course of decades blew me away and I loved it when a little snippet he mentioned earlier in the book resurfaced at the end in the most moving way. This is one of those long haul read that’s worth every single minute you spend curled up with this novel in your hands.
Genre: Historical Fiction
My rating: A
There is a reason everyone is recommending this novel right now. It’s beautifully written, tragic and informative and, honestly, it felt like an important read. While I am someone who admittedly loves historical fiction novels, I hadn’t read one that took place during the Vietnam War before The Women.
I was completely captivated by Frankie’s story from start to finish. I fiercely rooted for her and was heartbroken again and again both by the horrors of Vietnam and by all Frankie was forced to endure (over and over again… seriously, the woman just could not catch a break). And I also loved the way the author wove twists into the story… some I saw coming but one I definitely did not and it was the kind of twist that made me want to throw my book across the room.
I also cannot say enough good things about the author’s writing. She clearly pours immense time and effort into her research and paints the most vivid pictures with her words. She constantly references music we all know from the time period, as well as hair styles, popular fashion choices, car models and more to help transport the reader to the late 1960s and ’70s.
Synopsis
This novel begins in the mid 1960s when nursing student Frankie McGrath attends the send-off party for her brother before he leaves to fight in Vietnam. Having grown up in Coronado Island, California, Frankie is used to a country club lifestyle where the focus of most young women is on marrying well and having children. It isn’t until her brother’s best friend tells her “women can be heroes, too,” at her brother’s goodbye party that Frankie realizes she can also play a part in the war. Intrigued and inspired to make a difference, Frankie signs up to join the Army Nurse Corps.
She arrives in Vietnam overwhelmed and undertrained but she is committed and determined and soon becomes one of the most skilled surgical nurses alongside her roommates-turned-friends, Ethel and Barb. The three women see tragedy after tragedy and Frankie experiences love, heartbreak, trauma, grief, shock and hope as she continues to learn and provide the best possible care to everyone in her path.
As her time in Vietnam comes to a close, her feelings about leaving the war behind are mixed. Despite letters from home telling her how about anti-war protests, Frankie is unprepared by just how unwelcome she feels when she returns to California. No one wants to hear about her time in Vietnam and she struggles with feeling both proud of her service and, somehow, ashamed. While the war wages on, Frankie realizes she has her own battle to face at home as she tries to find her way in her old life when she’s anyone but the woman she was before the war.
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
My rating: A
WOW. This book. Phew. What a read. I’m not sure why but so much of These Silent Woods made me think of Where the Crawdad’s Sing. Perhaps the way the book emphasizes nature? If you liked Crawdads, I’d definitely give this one a try! These Silent Woods follows a father and his 8-year-old daughter living in isolation in the woods in the Appalachian Mountains. The writing is filled with the most beautiful prose about nature coupled with heart-pounding suspense. It’s different than your typical mystery novel as it’s filled with heart and depth, love and difficult decisions. It’s also written in a way that made me want to highlight or write down certain passages because they felt so raw and pure and human. I cared deeply for the characters. And the ending was unexpected in a way that ripped my heart open but felt incredibly satisfying, too.
Synopsis
Cooper and his daughter Finch ran off to the woods of the Appalachian Mountains when Finch was a baby where they have lived off the grid for eight years. With so much to hide, Cooper is determined to keep them unseen, something that is becoming increasingly hard as Finch gets older, more curious, and more independent. Other than Cooper, in the eight years Finch has lived in a remote cabin with her father, she’s only met two people: Her mysterious neighbor Scotland and Jake, her father’s best friend and the man responsible for outfitting them with necessary supplies once a year. When the usual date of Jake’s visit comes and goes and he doesn’t show, everything starts to change, putting the simple life Cooper has worked so hard to create for his daughter into jeopardy.
Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult Thriller
My rating: A
The Grace Year came highly recommended to me by my friend Macie who claimed the book was her favorite read 0f 2023. Macie is an avid reader like myself. So when she said it was the best book she read last year, I knew I had to dive in. When it became available through my local library, I began reading it. And I pretty much didn’t stop until I was finished.
It is a dark dystopian novel that roped me in immediately and kept me reading late into the night. I read it in two sittings, staying up hours past my typical bedtime. Because I could not put it down. It’s thought-provoking, immensely creative and completely enthralling. It’s also horrifying and maddening. And The Grace Year takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of hope and hopelessness, heartbreak and love. I found myself fiercely rooting for the main character in the novel.
Synopsis
The Grace Year is a period of time when the young women of Garner County are banished from the town during their 16th year of life. It is believed this time in their lives that they come into their magic and have the ability emit a power that lures the men of their town into their beds. It is only through the time they spend banished in the woods during the grace year that they are able to rid themselves of their magical powers and return purified and ready for marriage. Only not everyone returns. What happens during the grace year is never talked about again.
As the grace year approaches for 16-year-old Tierney James, she has her own plans for her life. Determined to never marry and live her life on her own terms, Tierney is shocked when her grace year begins with an unexpected reveal. As she heads into the woods with the other grace year girls, Tierney quickly realizes the dangers they face alone in the woods may not come only from the poachers determined to hunt the girls for their youthful powers. It may come from the very women she must lean on to make it to the other side of the grace year alive.
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Humor
My rating: A
What a gem of a book! I majorly lucked into this one. When I was looking for a new novel to read and sorted my Libby app by “available reads,” this one caught my eye. So I downloaded it to my Kindle knowing nothing about it and dove in. Don’t Forget to Write instantly charmed me and made me laugh. I’d file it under the “fun beach reads” category and loved it from start to finish. The book is a lighthearted novel set in the 1960s that centers around two likable characters.
Synopsis
Don’t Forget to Write begins when Marilyn Kleinman sneaks off and is caught kissing a rabbi’s son in the middle of service. Her parents are mortified and, not knowing what to do with their rebellious daughter, send her to her great aunt Ada’s house in Philadelphia for the summer. When Marilyn arrives, she isn’t sure what to make of the strict woman known to most as the premier matchmaker in the area. Ada is smart and confident and doesn’t seem to miss a thing. She has an attention to detail that makes Marilyn wonder if she’ll be able to get away with anything during their time together.
Ada soon informs Marilyn they will be spending most of their summer at the Jersey Shore. And Marilyn will help Ada in her work as a matchmaker. Though Marilyn can help find matches for Ava’s clients, finding a match for herself is strictly off limits. Will Marilyn be able to resist the temptation around her and fall in line with her parents’ and society’s expectations? How will she handle Ada and her many rules? Is there more to Ada than meets the eye?
Genre: Sci-Fi Mystery, Thriller
My rating: A
Dark Matter is one of those books you want everyone around you to read so you can talk about it non-stop. It’s immensely creative and twisty with depth and enough intrigue keep you thoroughly gripped to the pages the entire time. It’s a sci-fi thriller so there’s a hefty dose of science sprinkled in. And you’ll be suspending your belief a lot but not in an eye-roll inducing way. It’s dark and thought provoking and one of the most unique novels I’ve read.
Synopsis
Dark Matter begins when Jason Dessen is knocked unconscious and kidnapped. He awakes to find himself in a world he doesn’t know, speaking with a smiling scientist welcoming him back and talking to Jason as though he’s known him for years. In this new world, Jason’s life is not his life and everything he’s ever known and loved — his wife, his son, even his job as a college professor — cease to exist. In this new life, he’s a world-renowned scientist and a genius who achieved everything he ever possibly could’ve imagined achieving. But is it real? Is is a dream? And if it’s not real, how will Jason ever find his way back to reality?
Genre: Mystery
Wrong Place Wrong Time was an audiobook listen for me and you know an audiobook is good when you find yourself looking forward to end-of-the-day household chores so you can pop in an earbud and get lost in the story. You immediately have to suspend your sense of disbelief as the premise of the novel involves a main character who finds herself waking up the day after she witnesses a horrible crime. She’s confused and overwhelmed and also relieved. Did the crime not really happen? Is this some kind of a do-over? When Jen continues to wake up further and further back in time, she’s not sure what to do but slowly begins to uncover information about the victim of the crime and the involvement of those closest to her.
It’s so rare for me to find a book that includes a twist I did not see coming, but in this case, I was shocked and surprised in the best way. It’s a twisty novel and immensely creative and one I wanted to listen to non-stop, especially as I found myself further and further invested in figuring out the whos and the whys behind the mystery.
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
My rating: A
This book! The ending! What a ride. I waited months for Iron Flame to become available at my local library (I always have a million books on hold and typically just read whatever becomes available first) and dove in when the audiobook version became available first. I listened like crazy during any available moment. And was all-in for all 28+ hours of this audiobook. Iron Flame is a rollercoaster of a novel and just as intense and gripping as Fourth Wing, the first book in the series.
Synopsis
Rebecca Yarros has a talent for writing novels with no downtime or boring pages, that’s for sure. I also adore her secondary characters (honestly, I like them more than her main character) and the way she throws in unexpected twists throughout the novel. (The biggest one came at the very end for me!) I don’t want to share too much in terms of a plot summary about this novel since it is the second in a series. And anything I write here would spoil the first book. But if you’re at all intrigued by a fantasy novel that will have you speed-reading like crazy, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame need to make it on your must-read list.
Genre: Fantasy
My rating: A
After loving the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Mass, I had a couple of the additional series written by the author on my radar. I was immediately hooked by Throne of Glass and absolutely flew through the first book. (I honestly liked the first book in this series more than the first book in ACOTAR, though books 2 and 3 in ACOTAR where where I really fell in love with that series.) The book is filled with action, relationship intrigue, twists, assassins, warriors, secrets and a competition to become the King’s Champion that kept me flying through the pages.
Synopsis:
The book follows assassin Celaena Sardothien after she’s captured and spends a year in a prison death camp. She’s released upon the orders of the Crown Prince who desires her to compete as his champion in a competition organized by his father, an evil king who desires a “King’s Champion” to serve him and kill anyone he wishes. Celaena agrees to compete, knowing it’s her only chance at ever leaving prison and regaining freedom, and embarks on a series of challenges meant to test her and the other 23 champions to their limits. As some of her competitors are found dead before the various competitions, Celaena begins to wonder if the real danger she faces might be lurking inside the castle.
With the Crown Prince insisting she win and rooting fiercely for her and the Captain of the Guard assigned to protect her, Celaena should feel safe, but her work as the top assassin has taught her to never let her guard down, something that becomes increasingly challenging as she grows closer to the two men and the princess she befriends who is as intriguing as she is mysterious.
Genre: Fiction / Science Fiction
My rating: A-
One of you highly recommended The Measure, touting it as one of the best books you read in 2024, so my hopes were high when I began reading. When I tell you this book consumed my thoughts, I mean it. I read it in two nights because I was so invested in the characters, the plot and the outcome.
The Measure begins when boxes are delivered all over the world to every single person. Everyone awakes to find a string within their box, a string they quickly realize is supposed to tell them the length of their life. The book follows a handful of characters with different string lengths and different approaches to their strings and the way they choose to live their lives. The Measure wasn’t suspenseful or mysterious or anything like that but it was gripping in the way it made me think about how I would handle the situation the characters found themselves in throughout the novel. It was the kind of book I found myself wanting to talk about non-stop!
Additional Book-Related Blog Posts
Question of the Day
What was the best book (or a few of your favorite books) you read in 2024?
