Welcome to the running list of my "Best Books of 2024". I'll slot each book I finish into the list, and while it may diminish the drama at the end of the year, it will be a handy way to track how each book stacks up to others finished throughout the year.
#1 - All the Colors of the Dark
by Chris Whitaker ★★★★★
Whitaker delivers another masterpiece of character development while tackling several tough topics -- a challenging but uplifting read.
#2 - The Mayor of Maxwell Street
by Avery Cunningham ★★★★★
Skillful dialogue and prose adorn this debut that combines a love story with the search for a mysterious gangster in 1920s Chicago.
#3 - The Will of the Many
by James Islington ★★★★★
A truly excellent start to a trilogy about an orphan who infiltrates an Academy for societal elites in order to uncover a conspiracy.
#4 - The Year of the Locust
by Terry Hayes ★★★★★
Another great spy thriller from Hayes after 10 long years. Despite some questionable supernatural plot choices, it's still a winner.
#5 - First Lie Wins
by Ashley Elston ★★★★★
A twisty plot-driven novel about a woman who manufactures a relationship, only to find she might be the one being played.
#6 - The Frozen River
by Ariel Lawhon ★★★★★
Inspired by historical events, a midwife in 1789 finds herself in the middle of both a murder and a rape investigation in her small town.
#7 - The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
by Robert Dugoni ★★★★☆
A book club darling of a novel about a boy born with ocular albinism (red eyes), whose life I found less extraordinary than expected.
#8 - The Hunter
by Tana French ★★★★☆
French's sequel to The Searcher again slowly builds up the plot -- and the tension -- until a murder mystery dominates the second half.
#9 - The True Love Experiment
by Christina Lauren ★★★★☆
A funny and heartwarming romance novel in the style of Emily Henry about a woman who is cast as the lead on a reality dating show.
#10 - The Guncle
by Steven Rowley ★★★★☆
Equal parts funny, heartwarming, and sad, the story of a gay uncle pressed into temporary custody of his niece and nephew for a summer.
#11 - The Eyes and the Impossible
by Dave Eggers ★★★★☆
The 2024 Newberry Medal winner is the story of Johannes, a free dog who monitors the activities of a large woodland park as "The Eyes".
#12 - Bright Young Women
by Jessica Knoll ★★★★☆
A reimagining of the events leading up to and surrounding the crimes of Ted Bundy, with a focus on the victims rather than the killer.
#13 - The Book of Doors
by Gareth Brown ★★★★☆
An inventive concept suffers a bit when the inevitable potential plot holes that come with time travel emerge. Entertaining but flawed.
#14 - The Familiar
by Leigh Bardugo ★★★☆☆
A rare ho-hum effort from an author I enjoy, Bardugo's novel of 16th century Spain struggles to blend history, fantasy, and romance.
#15 - Faebound
by Saara El-Arifi ★★★☆☆
A new set of characters and worlds from El-Arifi, but a book that is far more in the "romantasy" category than her previous novels.
#16 - City in Ruins
by Don Winslow ★★★☆☆
The Danny Ryan trilogy coasts to a conclusion, wrapping up open plot points but mostly just checking the box in this mailed-in effort.
#17 - The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley ★★★☆☆
An alternative take on Stranger in a Strange Land; social commentary abounds as an 1847 explorer tries to acclimate to modern society.
#18 - The Fury
by Alex Michaelides ★★★☆☆
A whodunit about a murder on a private Greek island, recounted by a conversational narrator who had me wishing for a second murder.
#19 - Womb City
by Tlotlo Tsamaase ★★☆☆☆
An unfocused debut that combines elements of Minority Report with a grisly ghost story, an all-powerful being, and more. It's a mess.
#20 - Fifty Beasts To Break Your Heart
by GennaRose Nethercott ★☆☆☆☆
By the author of the excellent Thistlefoot, a collection of short stories written six years ago that should have remained unpublished.