My Favorite Books of 2024

A brief round up

I read 118 books in 2024. Not too shabby, considering I also finished a couple of manuscripts and continued to do my day job and parent.

For some reason, finding my top books seemed especially fraught this year. There were just so many good ones. A rough problem to have, I know.

So, without further ado, my top ten books of 2024:

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

None of these are in any particular order, except I think that The Wedding People might have been my favorite. The book follows Phoebe as she checks into a posh hotel on the Rhode Island coast and discovers she’s the only guest that isn’t there for a wedding.

The voice? Immaculate.

The characters? Hilarious and relatable.

The setting? Lush.

I’ve recommended this book to so many people, and everyone who reads it loves it. If you haven’t read it yet, I’m begging you to pick it up.

Dreambound by Dan Frey

This book is a trip, and I mean that in the best way. It’s about a man whose daughter goes missing, and he suspects she’s following the lore of her favorite fantasy series to the magical land he thought existed only in the books. He heads to Los Angeles to find her and bring her back. It reminded me of the Magicians, if the parents had wondered what happened when they went to Fillory.

It’s gritty, dark, and some parts are very wtf, but I was obsessed with everything about this book. Told through emails, interviews, and notes, Dreambound mixes the speculative with the folkloric in a stunning read.

My Favorite Terrible Thing by Madeleine Henry

When a bestselling author goes missing on her wedding day, the theories are plentiful. But only one person—a detective—thinks she knows where Claire Ross has disappeared to.

Hired by Claire’s mother, Nina Travers thinks that the clues for Claire’s disappearance are woven into her novel.

The pacing in this book was incredible, and the tension ramped up perfectly. It was suspenseful and kept me guessing the entire time, everything a good mystery novel should do.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

If you’re looking for a laugh-out-loud read that’s funny as well as sweet, look no further.

Jolene works at an office at a job all of us have had before. Boring, with the usual characters, but good enough that the effort to leave seems too great.

One day, after she gets in trouble for sending secret snarky replies in her emails (sent in white font) Jolene accidentally gets access to all of her colleagues emails.

All of a sudden, she has the world of her co-workers at her fingertips. But soon enough, after learning their darkest secrets, Jolene starts to develop empathy for them.

It’s a book that ties together humor, identity, and workplace politics, and I really loved reading it.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

I love love love Lev Grossman (The Magicians series is one of my favorite ever), I love fantasy, and I love retellings.

Collum is a lowly but gifted knight who has overcome a troubled background and is off to find his dream--to join the famed King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot. The only problem? When he arrives, he learns that Arthur is dead and so are most of the Knights of the Round Table.

This Camelot retelling pulled me in from page one and I was completely immersed in the world he created. I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other, and the setting was pure Grossman. If you loved The Magicians or Game of Thrones, you'll want to put this epic fantasy on your list.

Heavy Hitter by Katie Cotugno

If you haven’t read any of Katie Cotugno’s books, what are you waiting for? She always weaves together pop culture, humor, and romance in the very best of ways, and Heavy Hitter is no exception.

This book was so fun. It follows the antics of an international pop superstar and an MLB baseball player who is at the end of his career.

If you like Taylor Swift, I’m begging you to read this and try and find all the Easter eggs/references. I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch them all, but it was a ride to read this knowing Katie is as big of a Swiftie as I am.

Babylonia by Costanza Cosati

Costanza Cosati wrote one of my favorite books from last year, Clytemnestra, so it’s no surprise that her next book would knock it out of the park for me.

Babylonia is a historical, feminist retelling of Semiramis, a poor villager who, by the power of her own sheer will and determination, raises herself up to the highest position in the empire. It's got it all--war, love triangles, morally grey characters that you can't help but root for--and it keeps you reading the entire time.

It’s perfect for those who loved Song of Achilles or any other historical feminist retelling.

Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff

Sweet Fury was a late addition to my top ten list, and I’m so glad I didn’t make the list prematurely.

It has all of my favorite things: commentary on fame, unguessable twists and turns, and Fitzgerald.

Lila is a famous actress filming a re-write of Tender is the Night with her boyfriend, an acclaimed director. She decides to go to therapy to deal with some latent trauma, and from there, a whole new saga unwinds, bringing up betrayal, desperation, and deception.

The prose was beautiful, and there were all sorts of Easter eggs for the F. Scott Fitzgerald fans out there. At the end, I thought I had guessed the twist, but nope, there was still one more. The characters were all complex and compelling, and the pacing was divine--I read it in only a couple of days.

Sweet Fury will be out on January 7, 2025

Saltwater by Katy Hays

In 1992, playwright Sarah Lingate goes missing from the island of Capri. 30 years later, her daughter Helen Lingate returns for vacation and to discover the truth about what happened to her mother.

Succession meets White Lotus, which happen to be two of my favorite shows. I was transported to the island of Capri, where Helen is trying to figure out what actually happened when her mother died when she was three. The web she's trying to unravel gets even bigger and more complicated the more she discovers, and she can't figure out who she can trust, both family and friends.

I love love love books about messed up rich people in fancy locations, so this one hit the nail on the head for me.

Saltwater will be out March 25, 2025.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle

The Compound is pitched as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, and it lives up to that name. As someone who loves reality television, I tore through this book.

In the not-so-distant-future, THE COMPOUND follows a Love Island-esque reality TV show. The challenge? Stay as long as you can while completing challenges with your housemates as well as personal tasks, where they receive rewards for completing them. Contestants must be coupled up or else they're removed from the compound.

Sounds easy enough, right?

Lily is determined to make it to the end, using whatever means necessary. But the unseen producers are also willing to do whatever it takes to create compelling television, including withholding food, pitting contestants against each other, and literally burning things to the ground.

The Compound comes out May 27, 2025