Best Books 2024 – lists and lists

Here (in no particular order) is our compilation of some of the “Best of the Year” lists, updated for 2024:

National Public Radio provides “Books we Love,” 1000s of titles (from 2024 and earlier years) and shows their covers in a fun, very interactive way. Please do not forget to consult the Indie Next Lists - recommendations from independent booksellers – like this one for book groups.

More ideas from National Book Awards or public libraries like Chicago Public Library, Lake Travis Public Library Staff made a video featuring their favorites,  and New York Public Library published the year’s 10 most checked out books. Keep searching – these lists often lead to others with suggestions for all ages.

Best of 2023 from School LibraryJournal; Looking specifically for Young Adults, several titles are on my “to read” list, including: Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee. I have already enthusiastically reviewed others on the list like Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay; This Book Won’t Burn by Samira Ahmed offers fictionalized perspective on book banning trends. And there are state award lists to consult, too, like the Texas Lariat Reading List, its 2025 suggestions should be coming soon.

Plus professional choices from Publishers Weekly – I am excited because I am not very familiar with their Top 10 or Mystery choices (other than Osman’s We Solve Murders) so plenty of new ideas to explore. Kirkus Reviews also has a variety of lists; I won’t be forgetting the Science Fiction choice The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei.  One of the Kirkus mystery choices that I liked: Horowitz’s Close to Death, plus my 2025 TBR list is going to include the Attica Locke books; and The Unwedding by Ally Condie. A separate Kirkus list is provided for best young adult books.

And Goodreads has its Choice Awards across several categories for 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2024 This is always a “go to” list since reader votes and word of mouth have built interest. Amazon, of course, offers its own list of editor choices for 2023. LibraryReads: primarily for public libraries, this group has stopped issuing overall favorites, but  has an impressive archive with Top 10 choices by month.

Name a publication and you are likely to find a best book list. For example, The Washington Post offers several lists (including 50 notable works of fiction or non-fiction). The Wall Street Journal has a best of 2024 list for books, including The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. See 100 notable books of the year from The New York Times; there is also a top ten list on their site.

Plenty of overlap and some delightful selections on these many lists. … Ah, so many books and so little time. Once again: Happy Reading!!! Enjoy!!!  

Best Books of 2023 ...

Here (in no particular order) is our compilation of some of the “Best of the Year” lists:

National Public Radio lists 1000s of titles (from 2023and earlier years) and shows their covers in a fun, very interactive way. Please do not forget to consult the Indie Next Lists - recommendations from independent booksellers – like this one for book groups.

More ideas from National Book Awards or public libraries like Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library offer recommendations -- with suggestions for all ages.

Best of 2023 from School Library Journal; Looking specifically for Young Adults, several titles are on my “to read” list, including: Deb Caletti’s Plan A. I have already enthusiastically reviewed others on the list like Angeline Boulley’s Warrior Girl Unearthed and Isabel Ibañez’s What the River Knows.

Plus professional choices from Publishers Weekly (honestly, not wild for their Top 10, but All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby made the mystery choices) OR Kirkus Reviews. Some of the Kirkus fiction choices that I also really liked include an eclectic mix: Happiness Falls, Five-Star Weekend, and Deep Sky. A separate list is provided for non-fiction (like People’s Hospital, Democracy Awakening, and The Teachers) and a list is forthcoming for best teen books.

And Goodreads will release its Choice Awards across several categories for 2023: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2023   This is always a “go to” list since reader votes and word of mouth have built interest. Amazon, of course, offers its own list of editor choices for 2023. LibraryReads: Primarily for public libraries, listed top favorites for 2023: https://libraryreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Favorites2023.pdf   

Name a publication and you are likely to find a best book list. For example, The Washington Post offers several lists (including 10 best audiobooks). The Wall Street Journal has a best of 2023 list for books. 100 notable books of the year from The New York Times; There is also a top ten list on their site.

There is plenty of overlap and some delightful selections on these lists. Ah, so many books and so little time. Enjoy!!! Happy Reading!!

Added: STILL looking for ideas to read? The Smithsonian Magazine has compiled a set of links to the most borrowed books from public libraries in 2023. 

Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

ROUGH SLEEPERS by Tracy Kidder (Mountains Beyond Mountains) is subtitled “Dr. Jim O'Connell's urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people,” described as “a glimpse of a world hidden in plain sight.” Kidder once again provides superb narration about a selfless individual; in this case, he is telling the amazing story of a doctor who has dedicated nearly 40 years to befriending and caring for the homeless in Boston. Kidder himself spent roughly five years researching the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, at times riding along with volunteers and paid staff as they brought medical care to the streets. Writing that “a country-doctor approach for an urban population — this was the kind of doctoring that could bring in suspicious patients,” Kidder emphasizes the importance of listening to the homeless patients (for more, see his piece for the New York Times). Filled with many anecdotes, ROUGH SLEEPERS is both troubling and extremely inspiring; it received a starred review from Kirkus and was selected as an Amazon Best Book of January 2023. 

Rise Up! by Crystal M. Fleming

RISE UP! by Crystal M. Fleming is about “How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy” and has been named to School Library Journal’s best non-fiction books of 2021. This text, recommended grades 6 and up, clearly has an action orientation. It begins with a section on (Un)learning Racism, explores what white supremacy is, and moves on to chapters about the media and sports. Fleming bolsters her arguments with discussions of colonization, Indigenous genocide, capitalism and transatlantic slavery. She writes simply, offering questions for her readers to contemplate (e.g., what assumptions have you made about other people as a result of their race?) and encourages these steps: Make a lifelong commitment to antiracism; Build relationships across racial and ethnic lines; Speak up against racist ideas, images, or behaviors; Support intersectional justice (fighting other forms of discrimination); and Get political. As such, some readers may find the book to be controversial, but Fleming supports her scholarship with extensive notes (over 25% of the text) which will be of interest to students, particularly those in American Studies, American History and Civics classes. RISE UP! received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and School Library Journal.

We are adding to our collection several other recent titles which appear on the School Library Journal list, including Yoo’s From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry about discrimination against Asian Americans; Sandler’s Picturing a Nation with photographs from the Great Depression era; and Magoon’s Revolution in Our Time (a National Book Award Finalist) about the Black Panther Party. We already own Stamped by Jason Reynolds, and, in regards to climate change, we have the adult versions of Story of More by Hope Jahren and On Fire by Naomi Klein.

You're Not Listening and Make Noise

Here are a couple of new releases which deal with communication and ways we can all improve:

YOU'RE NOT LISTENING by Kate Murphy is subtitled “What You're Missing and Why It Matters.” Murphy does an excellent job of helping readers to pause and really think about the importance of listening.  She begins by saying, “If people are listening to anything, it’s likely through headphones or earbuds, where they are safe inside their own curated sound bubbles; … the result is a creeping sense of isolation and emptiness.” Murphy’s work is extremely well-researched -- she estimates that she spent close to two years examining academic research and interviewing people -- and that work is reflected in almost forty pages of notes and a helpful index.  This is a critical book to read and reflect upon.  Murphy, a journalist, points out that research shows “who we listen to shapes how we think and react … the resulting understanding and connection influences how we process subsequent information.” She devotes an entire chapter to listening to opposing views and “why it feels like being chased by a bear.” Other chapters deal with conversational sensitivity, listening to yourself, and the growing addiction to distraction. Our Psych students will find much to explore here, including her discussion of different attachment styles (with continuums from secure to insecure and anxious to avoidant). Look for this book on our shelves soon.

MAKE NOISE by Eric Nuzum is subtitled “A Creator's Guide to Podcasting and Great Audio Storytelling.”  In his introduction Nuzum notes that “many podcasts, or ideas for future podcasts, or really all forms of storytelling, could be much better than they are. That’s why I wrote this book. I wrote it to make your work better.”  I think that Nuzum has succeeded in providing a conversational and practical guide to improving podcasts.  Students (and teachers) would benefit from some time with his text which begins with a chapter titled “Story. Character. Voice.” and then explores concerns like “echo” bookings and offers suggestions for more compelling stories, engaging characters, and unique voices.  Subsequent chapters deal with topics such as asking questions and how to tell a story as well as audience appeal. This very accessible text would be a useful guide for speech and media students especially.  

ADDED RESOURCE: Five Apps Students Can Use to Make Podcasts from NPR (via KQED)