Ranking the 105 Books I Read This Year

another opportunity for a list? yes, please.

Let’s get right to it! As the title states, I’ve ranked all 105 books I read this year. I always find this fun to do because I like keeping it as an archive of what my reading taste was and how it’ll eventually change over time. What will my future self think of these rankings in one year? In five? Regardless, these are my thoughts (right now) for 2024.

Of these 105, four were re-reads, 101 were new-to-me, 23 were nonfiction (22%), 82 were fiction (78%), and my average star rating was 3.99 (including the four re-reads). When listing everything out and determining my rankings, I do take my subjective reading experience and the author’s objective writing craft into consideration. Remember, reading is ultimately subjective, so I’m sure you’re going to find titles in places you completely disagree with—that’s okay!

These are listed in descending order, including the books I DNF’d and re-read. Also, since most of these are fiction this year, assume they all are unless noted otherwise. I also specified if the book is in a unique format, such as poetry, graphic novel, short stories, etc.

Please use The StoryGraph to check Content Warnings.

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Did Not Finish (13)

Listed in reading order.

• Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, The Celestial Kingdom #1

• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

• The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy (short stories)

• The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord, Cygnus Beta #3

• A History of Burning by Janika Oza

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

• The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless, Gael Song #1

• Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

• At the Table by Claire Powell

• Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal (short stories); gifted by the National Book Foundation

• This is How You Lost the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

• Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors; paused and will revisit in 2025

• The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

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Re-Reads (4)

• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (4⭐️)

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (5⭐️)

• Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin (5⭐️)

• The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green (nonfiction; 5⭐️)

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1 Star (1)

101. Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated from the Spanish by Frances Riddle; I don’t know why a novel with such problematic ableism is so beloved. If this book has no haters, I’m dead.

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2 Stars (3)

100. Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour; ARC gifted from Knopf

99. So Happy for You by Celia Laskey

98. Good Material by Dolly Alderton; ARC gifted from Knopf

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3 Stars (19)

97. Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book of Death by Madison Reyes and Spencer Henry (nonfiction)

96. Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell (nonfiction); ARC gifted from Doubleday

95. Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (nonfiction)

94. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (nonfiction)

93. How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo (nonfiction)

92. Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft

91. Brightly Shining by Ingvild H. Rishøi, translated from the Norwegian by Caroline Waight

90. Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

89. Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

88. The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright

87. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

86. Y/N by Esther Yi

85. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, Inheritance Trilogy #1

84. Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatahil (nonfiction)

83. Exhibit by R.O. Kwon

82. Table for Two by Amor Towles (stories)

81. Emma by Jane Austen

80. Yr Dead by Sam Sax

79. The Most by Jessica Anthony

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3.5 Stars (3)

78. Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham

77. Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

76. My Friends by Hisham Matar

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4 Stars (38)

75. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett; read in January before accusations towards Gaiman came out, and I do not support this author anymore.

74. Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart: And Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott (short stories)

73. Daughter by Claudia Dey

72. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

71. The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian, London Highwaymen #2

70. Sea Change by Gina Chung

69. Loot by Tania James; gifted by Vintage

68. Coleman Hill by Kim Coleman Foote

67. I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown (nonfiction)

66. In the Form of a Question by Amy Schneider (nonfiction)

65. Terrace Story by Hillary Leichter (stories)

64. The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft

63. Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

62. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

61. Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda (short stories); gifted by the National Book Foundation

60. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab, Shades of Magic #2

59. Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire, edited by Alice Wong (nonfiction); gifted by Vintage

58. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

57. And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

56. Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

55. Let Us Descend by Jasmyn Ward

54. Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker

53. Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski

52. Jade City by Fonda Lee, The Green Bone Saga #1

51. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali; gifted by Gallery Books

50. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks (nonfiction)

49. In Memoriam by Alice Winn; gifted by Vintage

48. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

47. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

46. Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

45. Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu; gifted by the National Book Foundation

44. Oye by Melissa Mogollon

43. Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (stories)

42. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, Monk & Robot #1

41. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

40. Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks (nonfiction)

39. Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh

38. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

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4.5 Stars (23)

37. The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

36. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, The Roots of Chaos #1

35. Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (nonfiction)

34. Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist by Jasmin Graham (nonfiction); gifted by Pantheon

33. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

32. Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

31. I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel

30. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (nonfiction)

29. Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

28. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

27. Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly

26. Bellies by Nicola Dinan

25. My Husband by Maud Ventura, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan

24. All Fours by Miranda July

23. How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler (nonfiction)

22. Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, edited by Alice Wong (nonfiction)

21. A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib (nonfiction)

20. Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein (nonfiction)

19. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin; gifted by Vintage

18. There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak; gifted by Knopf

17. Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

16. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

15. Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel

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5 Stars (14)

14. Forest of Noise by Mosab Abu Toha (poetry); ARC gifted by Knopf

13. There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib (nonfiction)

12. Piglet by Lottie Hazell

11. The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Top 10

10. The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa, translated from the Arabic by Sawad Hussain and Ranya Abdelrahman; gifted by the National Book Foundation

9. Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

8. The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates

7. The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue; gifted by Vintage

6. North Woods by Daniel Mason

5. Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna; gifted by Mariner Books

4. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio; gifted by Doubleday

3. James by Percival Everett

2. They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib

1. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

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Thanks for making it all the way to the end! Here’s to another great year of reading and I’m excited for what 2025 brings. And fingers crossed that I’ll be able to have my stats newsletter find its way to you on Sunday. 🤞

ICYMI: The reviews of my Top 10 books of 2024.

-Olivia

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