I’m back with another and final list of 2024 favorites. Earlier I curated a list of my favorite backlist reads of 2024. Now I have a list of my favorite books published in 2024. I separated the list into fiction and nonfiction favorites for easy navigation. Not all of these received five stars from me, but I either loved them or they impacted me a lot (or both).
Favorite Fiction Books Published in 2024
NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG by Julie Soto: I love when I feel drawn to a book and it ends up being something I love. This is a contemporary romance set in NYC in which Gwen earns first chair of the orchestra. But it makes the moody Xander Thorne even moodier, ratcheting up the competition. The magnetism between them is undeniable and the set up and tension are perfection. Read this if you crave a contemporary romance with a fairly unique story setting.
THE CITY OF STARDUST by Georgia Summers: The fairy tale vibes of this book are immaculate. Violet’s mother disappeared years ago to escape a family curse. Unfortunately, that means Violet is the next in line to satisfy it. She embarks on a journey to find her mother only to discover a magical underworld of scholars and other worlds. Read my full review here.
FATHOMFOLK by Eliza Chan: This book proved divisive amongst reviewers, with the main complaints being that it was confusing or too slow. However, I thought the execution was brilliant. It’s a good commentary on immigration, racism, and change set in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi. Humans live safely above the polluted waters, but the fathomfolk largely continue to live in subpar water conditions. Extremists sabotage a festival, which leads to the main characters deciding whether or how to join the cause of fathomfolk rights. Read my full review here.
DATING AND DRAGONS by Kristy Boyce: This is a Young Adult contemporary romance in which Dungeons & Dragons takes a front seat. Quinn moves and switches schools in the middle of the year, which makes it hard to find new friends after falling out with her old group. But she thankfully finds some fellow students who stream D&D campaigns online. The only rule is no one can date their group members, which proves difficult to abide by when Quinn realizes she really likes Logan. Read my full review here.
GAY THE PRAY AWAY by Natalie Naudus: This is a great story and phenomenal audiobook by Natalie Naudus. I believe she based it on some of her own personal experiences. It’s about a high school-aged girl whose family belongs to a cult. She begins to question everything she learned when she realizes she finds the new girl in town attractive.
TALES OF THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM by Sue Lynn Tan: This is a collection of short stories set in the Celestial Kingdom. I highly recommend reading DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS and HEART OF THE SUN WARRIOR. It has plenty of spoilers for the duology and also won’t make much sense otherwise. But the writing in it is just as lovely as in the duology. Read my full review here.
Favorite Nonfiction Books Published in 2024
THE BIG FREEZE by Natalie Lampert: After the author almost lost her second ovary in her twenties, she embarked on a journey to understand more about fertility. She writes from the point of view of fertility preservation rather than from an infertility POV. However, the information presented within is useful to both parties. One of the most interesting chapters discusses femtech, or technology used to track a woman’s (assigned at birth) fertility. Spoiler: the U.S. he Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) doesn’t protect that information you provide to the femtech. Read my full review here.
INVISIBLE LABOR by Rachel Somerstein: Writing this post made me realize I never posted my review of this, so look out for it this month! Anyway, this book is about the history of the cesarean section (c-section) and medical attitudes toward it. This is an enlightening and enraging read. There were many moments where I had to put the book down and cool off. In my humble opinion, I think this book is a particularly essential read for anyone thinking about birthing a child. Even those who have already had c-sections will benefit from this book.
That’s a wrap for my favorite books published in 2024! Did you read any of these, or are any on your TBR?
I haven’t read any of these, but believe it or not, Not Another Love Song calls to me the most!
I LOVED that book! I was also reminded yesterday that that author will release a romantasy later this year and I think it’s the first of a trilogy. If the tension is as great as in NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG, then I’m all in!
Not Another Love Song is on my TBR and my interest has been piqued by Boyce’s books cos I keep seeing great things about them. Great list!
I think you’ll love NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG!! ^_^
I’m reading Dating and Dragons right now and it’s definitely going to be a favorite of mine. So cute!
Excellent! Glad you’re enjoying it! 🙂
I enjoyed Fathomfolk and thought that the world building was amazing. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Me too! I wish it didn’t have such a low GR rating. I’m also looking forward to reading what happens next. Apparently it comes out very soon!
It was up as an ARC in the US on Friday apparently. Hope it appears here in the UK soon
I didn’t read any books published in 2024 last year, but I have a list of where to start now when looking for backlist books to pick up!
Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised considering just how many books are out there! Whatever was published in 2024 is a small drop in the bucket.
I have only read the first two and really enjoyed them!! I’ll put some of these others on my TBR though!
Those first two are pretty good! I think you’d like all of the fiction reads here, though I’m not sure what your preferences are for nonfiction.
Looks like this is my reminder I haven’t read Fathomfolk yet!
I’m interested in your review on the book on C-sections. I was just talking about that the other day with someone who thinks they’re being over used.
This book definitely argues they’re overused and if this books is anything to go on, I agree. There’s no one reason—it varies from the fact that hospitals get more money for a c-section, to current monitoring techniques being incredibly fallible and making nurses/doctors make a call for an emergency c-section (often times the baby is not in distress), to doctors just wanting something that works with their schedule…and probably a couple of other reasons I’m forgetting. It’s a great book. I have my review scheduled for this next Monday on 1/13.
I haven’t read any of these but there are several fiction that caught my eye. Dating with Dragons sounds like something I’d really enjoy.
Dating and Dragons was fantastic…definitely recommend it!
I haven’t read any of these but they look great!! I’ll have to add them to my list 🙂
Great…happy to have added to your TBR. 😉
Snap on City Of Stardust, that will certainly make my list of favourites when I share it too. The only other one I’ve read is Tales Of The Celestial Kingdom which I didn’t enjoy as much as the actual duology but I’m glad it was such a hit for you.
It’s exciting to see Julie Soto here given how intrigued I am by her upcoming release. Hopefully I’ll agree with you whenever I get to Fathomfolk 🤞 as you said we’ve had similar feelings with fantasy in the past. The others sound good too and I’m glad you found so many favourites.
Ooh I should have realised Invisible Labour wasn’t on your other list due to its date 🙈 I’ll watch out for your review. It isn’t my usual sort of read but having recently watched Joy, and witnessed all the IVF backlash within that, I’d be kind of curious about what surrounded C Section (and rather nervous having been recently horrified by a Call The Midwife revelation)
I really like Sue Lynn Tan’s writing in the Celestial Kingdom books, so that’s a big reason Tales of the Celestial Kingdom is on here…but I also liked the stories, too. 🙂
Yesss, Julie Soto is very close to being an auto-buy author for me. I read her short backlist (another contemporary romance), but I didn’t like it as much. We’ll see what happens with her fantasy book coming up…I hope it’s good.
I adore her writing and loved the actually duology. I just didn’t get on as well with that collection but I think I’m in the minority there and I’m glad you loved it so much 🥰
Ooh that’s very high praise indeed. How wonderful to hear. I’m sorry to hear that the other didn’t work quite as well for you. Hopefully the fantasy one will be a success for both of us. It sounds incredible after all.
This is a good reminder that I should maybe still give FATHOMFOLK a chance, haha.
Yes, you should! Again, I don’t get why it has such a low GR rating. It’s sad. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
Added both City of Stardust and Dating and Dragons to my TBR! I’ve seen Dating and Dragons recommendations floating around recently but this just convinced me. 🥰
Yay! Dating and Dragons is great! I hope you like it, too!