Best Books to Read in 2024

Wow, this was an excellent novel. The story follows two young Russians during WWII who are set on the task of finding a dozen eggs. While this might seem like a simple task, it is a life threatening mission during this time in Russia.

I feel in love with the characters, appreciated learning about a period of history and a place I don’t often think about, and the writing was superb. I was completely captured by this story and highly recommend for the equal parts tragedy and humor.

I loved “All the Light We Cannot See,” so I had high expectations for this novel and it did not disappoint! It is a unique read as you move back and forth in time, including well into the future. I love story lines that are interconnected and Doerr’s writing kept me completely hooked.

This is my third time reading “Jane Eyre” and I find myself appreciating new elements of it each time.

When I first read it, I viewed the novel as a terribly romantic love story.

When I read it a second time, I found it to be a feminist encouragement for women maintaining self respect in all circumstances (especially romantic ones).

When I read it this third time around, I found it to be an exploration of independence and principle, with flawed characters and exquisite prose.

I can’t wait to read it a fourth time a few years from now to see how it changes again!

I loved this book! It combines my interest in history and art, and was the perfect read ahead of a trip coming up to Florence and Rome. This historical novel tells the story of Artemisia, a female painter in Italy, and her father, a renowned artist, as they go through challenges to their dynamic and propriety.

I learned about how Italians viewed crime in the 1600s, how a woman made her way in a completely male field, and how artists were not valued only for their work but also for their ability to cross class and national divides.

This is the second Maggie O’Farrell book I’ve read (“Hamnet” was the other) and it was just as fantastic. “The Marriage Portrait” is set in Italy in the 1500s and tells the story of a young woman, the daughter of Cosimo de’Medici, who is married off at 15 and is dead by 16. It was suspenseful and entertaining and heartbreaking.

I was especially interested to read this book because of an upcoming trip to Florence, and it also was a good companion book to “Artemisia” by Alexandra Lapierre that I recently read.

This is another excellent book from James McBride. Set in Pennsylvania in the 1900s, you focus on a town’s Jewish and black populations and how they interact with one another and relate to being Americans. There are so many rich characters and story lines that it’s hard to summarize it well. If you enjoy getting a look at different cultures (including dialects, which I personally love) through relationships and the ways that people help and harm one another, you’ll like this book.

This story follows a young woman who is forced by emotion and circumstance to explore the North of India and it may as well be a completely different country from where she comes from in Bangalore. After her mother’s death, Shalini decides to travel to Kashmir to seek out an old friend of her mother’s and finds herself getting caught up in the lives and politics and fight for a better life of the people she encounters.

I thought the writing was compelling, the plot continued to become more layered with each passing chapter, and I looked forward to picking the book up each time. This is a good read if you’re interested in the dynamics of a large country like India and the various experiences that can make up the lives of countrymen.

This book was a wild ride. There were so many story lines and intersecting characters and strange occurrences. I never knew what to expect next and found myself equally invested in all of the story lines (which is not an easy feat for an author). Murakami is known for his out there tales and this one is definitely worth a read.

You get to learn about a marriage breaking apart, the horrors of Japan’s campaign in Manchuria during World War II, people with special abilities and powers, and each storyline is rich with character development.

I loved “Pachinko” by the same author, so I was excited to dig into this novel. It’s set in the 1990s in NYC and follows a number of Korean Americans as they experience the city. There are themes of culture, morality, and class that are all fascinating to read about, and the characters themselves are captivating.

My only criticism is that by the end of the novel one of the key characters doesn’t seem to have had much growth or made substantial progress in her life. The ending felt abrupt and like there was more that should have happened – but I guess it isn’t bad to leave them wanting more!

This is a book where absolutely everything goes wrong, but those are the kinds of books I tend to love best. The novel goes back and forth in time, as well as changes narrators much later on to a memoir of the main narrator’s grandfather. You follow identical twin boys through life – one is “normal”, the other is mentally ill.

There are a lot of upsetting, horrifying storylines, but it is all told with such empathy and realness that it didn’t turn me off. I would not recommend this book if you’re looking for an uplifting read. I would recommend it if you want to be completely immersed in a life that is likely very different from your own, yet somehow you find yourself relating to the characters.

This was an excellent, different, captivating story of work and friendship and love. It follows two characters, a boy and a girl, from childhood to middle age. What starts as a friendship out of obligation turns into a partnership that both fulfills and tortures them throughout their lives.

I loved that so many themes were covered (identity, disability, work, education, love, sex, motherhood, friendship, personal fulfillment), but it never felt like too much. I highly recommend this book and especially enjoyed learning about gaming culture.

I loved getting to see The Met through the eyes of Patrick Bringley, a long time guard at the museum. This book is a combination of a love letter to the museum, its staff, and its patrons, as well as a story of a man’s journey through grief and maturing. I think this is a great read even if you aren’t as obsessed with The Met as I am, and if you already love the place you’ll enjoy getting a behind the scenes look at its operations and the people who guard it.

I LOVED this book. It helps that I am fascinated by Elon Musk’s companies, and this book made me even more interested in him as a person and what it takes to drive progress the way he does. Isaacson does a masterful job of weaving together the personal element’s of Musk’s story and making inferences and suggestions of how that contributes to his work today without going overboard or drawing conclusions.

I have even more respect for all that Musk has accomplished (and learned a lot I didn’t know about his SpaceX ventures) and there are lessons that I’ll be applying to my own business and life. Even if you don’t want to commit to reading this entire book, I recommend looking up Musk’s “algorithm” for simplification.