Some of the most recommended books from 2024 — which of these 18 titles should be your next read?

Plenty of people love to read, but people who love to read about reading? That's real passion. This one's for them. You'd be hard pressed to find a more seasoned guide than Reed (even her name is perfect!) — she's been a lifelong book addict, a teacher and an accomplished journalist. Her focus is on fiction; the meaning she finds in the world of books is all too real. 

"An absolute must-read," said this appreciative customer. "I enjoyed the author's unique perspective on different genres, and the glimpses into her experiences teaching literature and writing. ... Her passion for literature and her ability to connect with readers on a personal level makes this book a staple for any home library."

We do love a cultural history, especially one that's practically drenched in glamour. In telling the stories of three visionaries, Hortense Odlum (Bonwit Teller), Dorothy Shaver (Lord & Taylor), Geraldine Stutz (Henri Bendel), Satow also tells a tale of proto-feminism that illuminates the social as well as stylistic importance of the golden-age department store as well as the evolution of retail. Put on your white kid gloves and tuck in!

"Trailblazers, visionaries, the original glass-ceiling breakers," said one ever-so slightly rueful reviewer of its protagonists. "I wish I had bought in hard cover vs. Kindle, as I’d love to go back and highlight some historical fun facts."

Long, long before there was Bjork or Feist or Billie or Lorde or Jewel or Avril or Olivia or, yes, Taylor, there was Joni. This "alt-bio" by veteran music journalist Ann Powers, tells the remarkable life story of a woman who's the very embodiment of the term songwriter's songwriter.  

Said this succinct shopper: "For those who don’t know Mitchell’s life and work all that well, this is the ideal introduction. For those who do, I still think it will be a good read — that it will make you think differently about Mitchell, about music and about biography."

Hopefully a little less "hidden" after this. As pop-cultural pioneers go, it's hard to top Elaine May, who helped create the art of comic improv as we know it (via her legendary work with Mike Nichols) before bringing her ascerbic, urbane wit to the (male-dominated) worlds of screenwriting and directing. A bio as overdue as it is welcome.

"Only superficially familiar with the works of Nichols and May, I came to this book with few expectations," recalled this reviewer. "Written in a deceptively conversational style, this biography is full of detailed research (almost 1,500 end notes!) and is the fascinating and appropriately cinematic story of a genius."

Our own Senior Beauty Editor Jenn Romolini wowed us with her shattering story of ambition — particularly the type-A brand that's fueled more than incidentally by trauma — and its pitfalls. 

"A sharply written memoir of childhood trauma masked by workaholism and career-escapism," summed up this reader. "An unsparingly honest appraisal of hustle culture and the humbling fall when it ultimately fails. A must-read for the many disillusioned misfits, perfectionists and high-achievers grinding to have it all. ... A gift of storytelling and empowerment."

Then there was this, perhaps the oddest, yet most flattering blurb ever: "I wish she was older so the book would have been longer." 

Aka I Can't Believe It's Not a Novel. If you've read Larson before (I'm still thinking about his gobsmacking Devil in the White City from 2004), you know that he's just about unparalleled in his ability to turn history into gripping narrative. 

Here, he turns his gaze to the fraught period between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the shelling of Fort Sumter, which set the Civil War in motion. Settle in for a suspenseful ride. 

Or to put it another way: what this guy said! "This thorough and brilliantly researched book makes the larger-than-life characters of the months leading up to the opening of hostilities human, real and believable in their emotions, beliefs, causes and hatreds. If ever anyone wonders what EXACTLY the war was about, this book answers that unequivocally, in the very words of those who said them or wrote them."

Most people know that Fleming the novelist was the creator of James Bond; what many don't know is that that was well after he distinguished himself in Britain's Naval Intelligence during World War II, lending his 007 thrillers a considerable ring of truth. Got a movie, espionage or fiction fan in your life? This bio may well leave them both shaken and stirred. 

"The famous book review blurb page-turner is rarely used to describe exhaustive bios, but in this case that description fits like a finely crafted Dents glove made of peccary leather," observed this erudite shopper. "Having read several Fleming bios as well as his remarkable “letters” volume I thought I knew it all. Wow, was I wrong."

That matter-of-fact title belies one of the richest, sauciest memoirs in recent history. After enduring 16 shut-in months courtesy of the Covid pandemic, single 46-year-old Manhattanite MacNichol took off for Paris determined to let loose, in more ways than one. What follows is a thoughtful yet rollicking, decadent yet life-affirming adventure. 

"This book excited my brain, but quietly, and was paced in a way that was compelling, yet relaxed," said this astute observer. "I am invigorated by MacNicol's sharp, informed mind and ability to pull in feminist theory amidst the memoir structure, to publish even knowing the trolls would go wild with her truth."

While we're on the subject of female odysseys of self-exploration ... This novel, from the preternaturally unique Miranda July, tells the story of a woman who impetuosly abandons a cross-country drive to check into a motel and embark on a journey of another kind entirely (we'll let its title clue you in).

"A mental buffet on marriage, aging, menopause, autonomy, authenticity and self," is how one reader put it. "Revelatory, funny, startlingly honest." They added: "It’s not just the sex (although it very much IS the sex)."

Feel like you've been seeing this on every "best" list this year? Well, you have. Everett's been plying his trade for over three decades but (deservedly) hit the critical motherlode with this speculative novel in which he (re-)tells the story of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of the enslaved Jim. A book that manages to both harken to the past and reverberate in the present. 

"Gripping tale," remarked one of over 14,000 five-star Amazon reviews. "With irony, compassion, dignity and restrained anger, this tale of his harrowing experience as a slave seeking to free his wife and young daughter was hard to put down."

Readers of Kushner's previous books The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room won't need any convincing of her greatness. Still, that may not prepare them for the deep dive of her latest. It centers on one Sadie Smith, a freelance spy of sorts, who's sent to infiltrate and subvert a commune of could-be terrorists holed up in a cave complex in southern France, but that would only hint at the intricacies and artistry of this true "novel of ideas." 

"Wonderful, surreptitious and heartfelt," said this insightful assessment. "Kushner is like an Olympic athlete whose arduous work is invisible, the reader witnesses only the immersive magic of her joyful expertise in each moment." 

Got a graphic-novel aficianado in your circle, or been hankering to explore the genre yourself? You won't do better than this hot-off-the-presses offering from the masterful Burns, whose 2008 epic, Black Hole, was a landmark achievement. Here, four young men and women venture into the woods to make a horror movie. Sound familiar? Predictable? Don't count on it.

A much, much different kind of trip to the woods! In 2016, Tan found herself in spiritual crisis and looked to the natural world — specifically, the birds — for a balm. She found it, and so much more. And the amazing avian portraits complementing these essays? She drew those too!

"A wonderful book for any bird lover, present or future!" chirped one fan. "Amy Tan's playful but astute observations of her neighborhood birds, not to mention her beautiful illustrations, are bite-sized pleasures ... comfort food for those of us who have been watching birds for years; delightful bait for others to get the birding bug. I'll be putting this book in several stockings this year."

You know what big Ina fans we are around here, so this pick was a no-brainer. Aside from that, though: Garten's story is one of a modern self-made businesswoman but also a loving if conflicted wife. You'll learn plenty about both journeys, and some others, with stops at the White House (she worked there!) and the Hamptons (the site of the first Barefoot Contessa store) along the way. It's pubbing on 10/1 ... but available for pre-order now.

You weren't the only one inspired by the Covid lockdown to explore your culinary talent. The Colberts relate their kitchen adventures along with stories of their family's fave feasts with, of course, recipes —and wit — galore. 

Said one sated shopper: "Stephen and Evie Colbert bring this beautiful book ... and I do mean Bring It! From its touching dedication to Evie's Mom, Patti, to the wonderfully warm and funny stories connected to these lovely (and largely Southern) recipes, to the delicious recipes themselves, this book is as fun to read as it is enjoyable to cook from. Perfect for gifting or just to grace your cookbook shelf!"

From home cooking to homicidal maniacs ... you didn't think we were going to forget about true crime, did you? If you, like me, have spent countless hours curled up with Conan Doyle, Christie and the like, "the Yard" has been a ubiquitous yet largely unknown presence in your reading life. Well, get ready to be filled in ... and enthralled. Reaching back to the founding of Britain's premiere investigative body in 1829, Read relays a greatest-hits of its probes, along the way chronicling the advances in forensic science that helped close the cases ... or not.

"Glorious and GORYous," marveled this murder maven. "Read is rightly hailed for the quality of his research, and he delivers the goods here, letting you soak up the details, and read the quotes from Those Who Were Really There (the newspaper stories of the era are often spectacularly garish). ... Graverobbing? It's in here. Mad slashers? Check. Darkened streets lit with flickering gas lamps? Oh, heck yes."

Warning: Dark, dark stuff ahead. Ramsland and Ullman (no, not Tracey Ullman) venture back to the 70s to tell the story of Houston teen Elmer Wayne Henley (is that a name that foretells a future in serial killing or what?), who found himself in the employ of uber-predator Dean Corll. Starting as a "mere" procurer of young boys for the deranged Corll, Henley eventually found himself an accomplice. 

"Buckle up," said one reviewer. "It is meticulously researched, and the authors handle the subject matter with the necessary rigor and respect. It is not sensationalized. Their detailed investigation offers insights into the psychological manipulation by serial predators and the tragic consequences that ensue."

How'd you like some Gilded Age immigrant history with your law-breaking? Fredericka Mandelbaum rose from the streets of New York's Lower East Side to become a neighborhood "fence" of stolen goods and, ultimately, a bonafide criminal kingpin. Trust us; you've never read a rags-to-riches tale like this one. 

"Excellent," summed up a shopper. "Who knew that the first organized crime boss was a Jewish woman?"