On average, I read about 60 books a year. My tastes vary (usually depending on what’s going on around me), but there are a few plots or tropes that I’m a sucker for—including a second-chance/enemies-to-lovers romance, dramatic fiction fueled by an ensemble cast of complicated characters, small-town nostalgia, and a heart-racing thriller. So, while gathering my list of best 2024 books, it didn’t surprise me that my top titles all belonged to one or more of these categories. Moreover, I guarantee any one of these five-star novels will satiate your imagination, whether you’re in a reading rut or looking for a book to binge on the plane.
RELATED: The 6 Best Debut Novels of the Year, According to a Major Bookworm.
1. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
Penguin Random House
This was the year I found Nora Ephron. I honestly can’t believe it took me this long, but also, I’m kinda glad it did? If you’re going through heartbreak or a mental funk, or are starting a new life chapter, turn to Ephron—any one of her books will do, but my favorite thus far is I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. Essentially, every chapter is a cathartic rant about what it means to be a woman. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Amazon
2. This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
Penguin Random House
Canadian romance queen Carley Fortune released her third novel this year and I ate it up. Told in alternating timelines, This Summer Will Be Different is a love story about a tourist and island local who vow to never get romantically involved…again. Because, as you can see, Lucy is Felix’s older sister’s best friend, meaning both of them are off-limits to one another. But when Lucy and Felix are summoned to Bridget’s rescue days before her wedding, the tension becomes too hard to ignore.
Amazon
3. Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
Penguin Random House
Intricately complex, Come & Get It is told in third person and features an ensemble cast, though readers get a more intimate look at the lives of Agatha, Millie, and Kennedy. Agatha is a prestigious guest lecturer at the University of Arkansas, where Milie is a super-senior dorm resident assistant. Kennedy is a lonely transfer student who lives on Millie’s floor. When lines begin to blur in Agatha and Millie’s professional relationship, Kennedy’s dorm situation reaches a fever pitch, and Millie finds her attention being pulled in both directions.
Amazon
4. In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros
Brilliance Publishing
If you’re looking for a book that will make you sob, here you go. Izzy and Nate’s lives are forever intertwined after their plane has a freak accident and goes down in the Missouri River. They survive and part ways, despite their palpable connection; Izzy chases a career in politics, while Nate enlists in the military. Over the years, they circle each other’s orbit but never at the right time to forge a real relationship…until a high-stakes mission overseas brings them together one last time.
Amazon
5. Right on Cue by Falon Ballard
Penguin Random House
In this second-chance romance, a former actress-turned-screenwriter is tapped to play the leading lady in her own project, only to discover that her yearslong arch nemesis will be starring as her love interest. It’s sink or swim, and Emmy and Grayson will do whatever it takes to ensure this movie isn’t a flop. Their careers depend on it.
Amazon
6. Rip Tide by Colleen McKeegan
Harper Collins Publishers
This story is told in captivating, dual timelines and truly has it all: sizzling romance, dark secrets and betrayal, nostalgia, mystery and suspense, and complicated family dynamics. All grown up and out of the house, sisters Kimmy and Erin have returned to their coastal hometown, much to their parents’ (and others’) enjoyment. But then a dead body washes ashore the morning after their homecoming party, sparking a whodunit mystery.
Amazon
7. Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanagh
Simon & Schuster
In this gripping thriller, two vengeful strangers make a murder pact: If you kill for me, I’ll kill for you. They have their agenda down pat and their alibis set straight. Now, all they have to do is kill their respective targets. With plans as foolproof as theirs, how hard can it be, right? And then there’s Ruth, a home invasion victim whose life is turned on its axis following that fateful night.
Amazon