Best Books To Read In 2024
Not only does the lovely month of January come with a renewed vigour and zest in life — let me guess, you’ve already chosen a wildly ambitious reading goal that tops even last year’s reads? — but there’s also a whole bunch of exciting new book releases to bless us in the coming weeks.
There’s a bumper crop of great new books coming out in 2024, with fabulous releases from authors who have become reliable hit-makers and exciting newcomers to the literary landscape. No matter what you like to read — from memoirs to suspenseful thrillers and everything in between — there’s a new favourite waiting for you on this list.
Many of these books won’t be out yet by the time you’re reading this list, which is why I’ve included the release dates so you know when to expect them to hit shelves. But smash that preorder button anyway: Not only does that mean you’ll have a great new read headed your way as soon as it's ready, but preorders help books get the attention of bestseller lists and awards committees, so they’re a boost for the authors as well.
I’ll keep this list updated throughout the year, so keep checking back to discover the best new books of 2024.
1. Miss Austen Investigates by Jessica Bull
Release Date: 25 January 2024
Yes, that Miss Austen! Twenty-year-old Jane hopes to become engaged to the charming Tom Lefroy at a ball but her plans are derailed by the discovery of a body. When her beloved brother Georgy becomes the prime suspect for the murder of an unfortunate milliner, Jane must turn detective in order to find the true culprit and save him from the hangman’s noose. A note-perfect crime caper that has much of the wit and empathy of an Austen novel.
2. Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
Release Date: 30 January 2024
If you haven’t yet read Kiley Reid’s exceptional 2019 debut, Such a Fun Age, then bookmark this list for another day and read that first. If you have, then you’ll be pleased to know she’s got a new release arriving in early 2024.
Not to be confused with the Selena Gomez track of the same name, this upcoming novel is about a senior resident assistant, Millie Cousins, who “wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie’s starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardised by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.” Kiley’s first book was wry, smart and very of the moment, so hopefully expect more of the same.
3. House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas
Release Date: 30 January 2024
No one is doing Literary Multi-Verse quite like Sarah J. Mass! The Crescent City series is an epic urban-fantasy abundant with magic, murder, and snarky flirting.
House of Flame and Shadow follows the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, and picks up after a devastating cliffhanger that left fans (including this reader) screaming and eager for more. Bryce Quinlain enters a whole new world unlike one she’s ever known, and Hunt Athalar will do anything to find her. Surrounded by enemies and strangers, there’s no telling who they can trust until they find their way back to each other.
4. Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Release Date: 6 February 2024
While we might be familiar with Ali Hazelwood’s cute-as-a-button steamy STEM romances, her new book is set to be a big change. Bride is instead a paranormal romance, following a vampire outcast, Misery Lark, who forges an alliance with werewolf Lowe Moreland. It’s giving an even hotter version of Twilight (if Bella ended up choosing Jacob).
5. Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison
Release Date: 20 February
From a writer who’s been compared to greats like Joan Didion and Susan Sontag, Leslie Jamison’s first memoir is sure to be a worthwhile and thought-provoking read. In Splinters, Jamison covers the story of her life after divorce alongside her experience with motherhood, art, and new love.
6. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Release Date: 27 February 2024
Tommy Orange is a Pulitzer Prize-finalist and author of There There, his bestselling first novel. Wandering Stars offers a follow-up to his beloved debut, meeting the characters where they left off and tracing their stories back to the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
The novel winds readers through the interconnected stories of three generations of a Native American family, highlighting the institutional violence that follows their bloodlines.
7. Parasol Against The Axe by Helen Oyeyemi
Release Date: 5 March 2024
‘Original’ is a word thrown around too much when talking about fiction, but in the case of Parasol Against The Axe, it’s an entirely appropriate description. Oyayemi’s vision is vast and enigmatic, carried by sentences so crisp and lithe, this is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
You do need all your wits about you for this ‘weird in a good way’ tale that centres on a hen party in Prague, where the city is a living thing and not merely a location; a living thing prone to trickery, a thing that delights in getting people lost and helping them find their way again. As the women at the heart of the tale gather to celebrate, their individual versions of the past converge too and readers are reminded that stories can have many meanings and of the power of interpretation.
8. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
Release Date: 5 March 2024
In 1985, Anita de Monte, a rising star in the New York art world, is found dead. By 1998, her story is mostly forgotten when Raquel, a third-year art student, stumbles across her work.
Told from the two women’s perspectives, Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez is an examination of who gets to be remembered and who is left behind.
9. Victim by Andrew Boryga
Release Date: 12 March 2024
Victim, the debut novel by Andrew Boryga out in March, is a satire about a hustler from the Bronx who uses his on story of hardships to cash in on identity politics and get closer to his dream of becoming a famous writer.
Xochitl Gonzalez, reviewed the book, saying:
“You will burn through Victim and find your hands scalded when you are done. It’s not just because of the tight, engaging prose and pitch perfect voice of our narrator, Javier — but because no one is innocent in this stinging satire that turns everything about meritocracy and success on its head. Boryga pulls no punches, and leaves you alternating rolling with laughter and cringing as a result.”
10. There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib
Release Date: 26 March 2024
Basketball is at the center of this memoir from Hanif Abdurraqib, who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s — the golden era of the game. There’s Always This Year weaves together personal storytelling and reflections on success, what it means to make it, and the notion of role models. Abdurraqib is also the author of the National Book Award finalist A Little Devil in America.
11. Like Love by Maggie Nelson
Release Date: 2 April 2024
Poet and author Maggie Nelson (Bluets, The Argonauts) returns with Like Love, which will chart her progression as a writer. The book features a series of critical essays, interviews, reviews, and more that explore 20 years of Nelson’s body of work, from writing before the publication of “Bluets” to her most recent pieces.
12. Just For The Summer by Abby Jimenez
Release Date: 2 April 2024
Justin has a curse — every woman he dates meets their soulmate the second they break up.
When Emma hears about Justin’s curse on Reddit, she decides to give it a go. But what was supposed to be just a summer fling soon turns into something far more complicated.
13. You Like It Darker by Stephen King
Release Date: 21 May 2024
Classic horror fans will want to add this new Stephen King release, coming out in May, to their list. You Like It Darker is a collection of 12 stories, including tales that follow a psychic flash that upends lives, a grieving widower who receives an unexpected inheritance with strings attached, and a Vietnam vet who answers a job ad that leads to some dark twists.
14. The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
Release Date: 21 May 2024
This book isn’t just about any old murder. It’s about the last murder at the end of the world. In a novel set in the End Times (on earth there’s only one idyllic island left; the rest of it was destroyed in a killer fog that still lingers outside the island’s protected confines), bestselling author Stuart Turton presents us with a high concept murder mystery that gets more interesting the more you read about it. There are 122 villagers, three scientists and one brutal stabbing. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until May to find out what happens next.
15. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Release Date: 11 June 2024
This June 2024 release has already been picked up for an A24 film adaptation by both Nicole Kidman as well as Elle and Dakota Fanning’s production companies. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe, follows the story of Margo Millet who, after enrolling in junior college has an affair with her English professor, gets pregnant, and develops a plan to get cash by starting an OnlyFans account.
16. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Release Date: 3 September 2024
From the international bestselling author of The Midnight Library comes a wild adventure that proves that someone or something can enter your life at any moment and change everything.
