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The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2024

The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2024 names 50 books across 2 categories. 23 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thankisource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertinosource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicenciosource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushnersource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Great Expectations by Vinson Cunninghamsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenbergsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Hum by Helen Phillipssource (opens in a new tab)
  8. James by Percival Everettsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpesource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbarsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. My Friends by Hisham Matarsource (opens in a new tab)
  12. My Parents' Marriage by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammondsource (opens in a new tab)
  13. Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliversource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Obligations to the Wounded by Mubanga Kalimamukwentosource (opens in a new tab)
  15. Scaffolding by Lauren Elkinsource (opens in a new tab)
  16. Swift River by Essie Chamberssource (opens in a new tab)
  17. The Fetishist by Katherine Minsource (opens in a new tab)
  18. The Hypocrite by Jo Hamyasource (opens in a new tab)
  19. The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obiomasource (opens in a new tab)
  20. This Great Hemisphere by Mateo Askaripoursource (opens in a new tab)
  21. This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messudsource (opens in a new tab)
  22. Untethered by Angela Jackson-Brownsource (opens in a new tab)
  23. Us Fools by Nora Langesource (opens in a new tab)
  24. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orangesource (opens in a new tab)
  25. Who Will Bury You?: And Other Short Stories by Chido Muchemwasource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool by James Kaplansource (opens in a new tab)
  2. A Termination by Honor Mooresource (opens in a new tab)
  3. American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond by Jeremy Daubersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real about the End by Alua Arthursource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbothamsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church by Eliza Griswoldsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaumsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. God and the Devil: The Life and Work of Ingmar Bergman by Peter Cowiesource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosleysource (opens in a new tab)
  10. I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays by Nell Irvin Paintersource (opens in a new tab)
  11. I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying: A Memoir by Youngmi Mayersource (opens in a new tab)
  12. Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjaminsource (opens in a new tab)
  13. Missing Persons: Or, My Grandmother's Secrets by Clair Willssource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance by Ramie Targoffsource (opens in a new tab)
  15. Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De Leónsource (opens in a new tab)
  16. Stranger Than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth-Century Novel by Edwin Franksource (opens in a new tab)
  17. The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  18. The Black Box: Writing the Race by Henry Louis Gates Jr.source (opens in a new tab)
  19. The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America by Aaron Robertsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  20. The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlangersource (opens in a new tab)
  21. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City by Kevin Bakersource (opens in a new tab)
  22. The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at the New Yorker by Amy Readingsource (opens in a new tab)
  23. There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqibsource (opens in a new tab)
  24. When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s by John Ganzsource (opens in a new tab)
  25. Whiskey Tender: A Memoir by Deborah Jackson Taffasource (opens in a new tab)

About the The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year

The Globe's year-end Fiction and Nonfiction critics' picks. Picks from the same year-end package for mystery, poetry, sports, graphic novels, science, New England, children's, middle grade, and young adult books are left out. 2006-2009 lists are the boxed title lists that ran with the year-end fiction and nonfiction essays on boston.com. In 2011 and 2014 each section was the combined picks of two or three critics; books picked by more than one critic appear once. Missing years: no 2010 adult list could be found in the Wayback Machine (only a children's list was archived). No list is ranked. bostonglobe.com robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, so no Globe page was fetched directly: Globe pages were read through Wayback Machine captures, and the 2022-2024 lists were read from the Flourish card embeds the Globe pages load. Secondary sources: yearendlists.com copies of the 2020-2025 lists were used to cross-check counts and to correct three page typos (Walter Mosley, Natasha Trethewey, and the title Loved and Missed). Other page typos were corrected against existing catalog entries (Tenth of December, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jodi Kantor) and against the publisher listing for Helon Habila's Travelers. The 2016 list files Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time under Fiction, as the Globe did.

Organization: The Boston Globe. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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