ELLE Editors Recommend Their Favorite Books of 2024

“One of the best books I’ve read in my life, let alone in 2024, Percival Everett’s National Book Award-winning James is a master class in retelling. Taking us inside the mind of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’s Jim, James is an adventure that deserves its own slot in the classical canon—it’s as much a testament to Everett’s enormous talent as Mark Twain’s continued relevancy. Reading James, I laughed, cried, and sat transfixed in awe. I cannot—and will not—stop talking about, thinking about, and recommending this book.”—Lauren Puckett-Pope, culture writer

“Randy Ribay tells the story of a Filipino family over four generations of men: a newly immigrated farmer in California in the 1930s, his son enduring racism at school in the ’60s, his grandson who’s curious about his family history in the ’80s, and finally, his great-grandson enduring the Covid pandemic in 2020. This National Book Award-longlisted novel might be classified as YA, but its portrayal of living, breathing immigrant experience—and how it evolves through decades—resonates at any age.”—Erica Gonzales, senior culture editor

“Before you read All Fours, strap yourself in—because it’s a wild ride. Miranda July’s lustful new novel follows a perimenopausal woman in her 40s who experiences a profound sexual awakening while driving across the country. I still think about the tampon scene.”—Claire Stern Milch, digital director

“In between adapting Emily Henry’s Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation for the screen, Yulin Kuang found the time to write a romance novel of her own. How to End a Love Story explores love, of course, but also the complexities of trauma, forgiveness, and accountability.”—Carine Lavache, senior content strategist

“In American Woman, New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers tells a fascinating and definitive history of the modern First Lady, stretching from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden. Through deep research and interviews with some of the first ladies themselves, Rogers shows how each woman has made the role her own—and left an indelible mark on the role for all future women (and men) who might fill it.”—Kayla Webley Adler, deputy editor

“Liz Moore made a lifelong fan of me with Long Bright River, so I eagerly awaited her follow-up. The God of the Woods is set at a rural summer camp and follows two missing persons cases in different timelines. It’s dark and gripping, certainly, but what made it really resonate with me was the way it examined class issues in a vacation town.”—Adrienne Gaffney, associate editor

“Casey McQuiston’s steamy new romance takes its readers around the world for a tummy-growling food and wine tour, with its two main characters—Theo Flowerday and Kit Fairfield—examining their failed relationship along the way. It’s a great addition to the McQuiston library, whose other works I love, including Red, White, & Royal Blue; One Last Stop; and I Kissed Shara Wheeler.”—Samuel Maude, associate editor

“WNBA player Brittney Griner’s memoir, Coming Home, is a powerful and raw account of her detainment in Russia and uncertain path to freedom. Filled with harrowing details, Griner opens up about the brutal reality she faced and the love for her wife and family that kept her going.”—CL

“I’ve read Grief Is for People over and over and over again now, and I don’t really know why. Crosley’s writing had never quite clicked for me until now—but suddenly, with Grief Is for People, it all came together. Here, Crosley weaves a story about losing a friend, experiencing an unsettling robbery, and getting older, in prose that’s funny and beautifully rendered. But for me, the most lovely thing about Grief Is for People is how it so simply illustrates grief itself, in the many forms it might take.”—AG

“Tennis fans past and present will enjoy Teddy Wayne’s The Winner, which takes place in a tony Massachusetts town during the pandemic and examines the brain rot that occurs when a tennis pro from humble means—gasp, Yonkers!—encounters the filthy rich.”—CSM

“After making her mark with 2019’s Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid wanted to tackle ‘young people and money’ for her second novel. Come & Get It does just that, taking us to the University of Arkansas, where the lives of a professor and three students collide in a page-turning read about consumption, social status, and race.”—CL

“TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea was a sleeper hit, but a deserving one, slowly crawling its way to mainstream success. His sequel Somewhere Beyond the Sea hit shelves this year and became a huge bestseller. In the follow-up, we head back to the world of Arthur and Linus, who now run an orphanage for their magical—and soon-to-be-adopted—children. What could possibly happen when magic radiates off the tides of the sea?”—SM

“I love just about any type of fantasy novel, but my unequivocal favorite type of fantasy novel is one that feels grounded—in which the mechanics of the magic system and the inner workings of a magical society feel like they’d actually work, if only magic were to exist. Blood Over Bright Haven is exactly that type of book, self-published by M.L. Wang in 2023 before it was traditionally acquired and published this year. Wang’s magic system is unique and clever; her society of Tiran is stomach-turning in its reflection of our own. Unflinchingly political and clear-eyed in its sense of justice, Blood Over Bright Haven had me sneaking away from dinner to turn a few more pages.”—LPP

“Kathleen Hanna’s memoir shows a different side to the defiant punk legend of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre fame, from her early days with music; to her personal and family traumas; to her love story with her husband Adam Horovitz; to embracing feminism onstage. Like her music, Hanna’s book is a middle finger to the patriarchy, which is more relevant now than ever.”—EG

“Admittedly, it took me awhile to get into Long Island Compromise, but once I did, I was hooked. Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s kidnapping saga is (very) loosely inspired by the real-life kidnapping of her family friend Jack Teich, and her ensuing fictional drama begs to be adapted for the screen in the style of her first novel, Fleishman Is in Trouble. It makes perfect sense, then, that Apple TV+ has acquired the rights for Compromise.”—CSM

“As told by former ELLE digital director Jessica Roy, American Girls is the story of how a young American woman named Sam ended up married to an ISIS fighter in ISIS-controlled Syria—and of her sister, Lori, who worked to bring Sam home. But Roy’s deeply researched account, which follows the sisters from their childhood in the Jehovah’s Witness community and includes on-the-ground reporting in Iraq, digs to the root of the trauma and ideologies that made Sam vulnerable to extremism. At its heart, this is a tale of two ordinary American girls—a story that shows how close so many young women in the U.S. walk to the edge.”—KWA

“I love, love, love Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series and was devastated to learn he was taking a pause to allow his senior citizen stars a minute to recover from solving four murders in four years. But I’m happy to say We Solve Murders is a worthy follow-up. Part of a whole new series, this story features a security guard and her retired police-officer father-in-law as protagonists, and together they’re just as endearing and funny as the Thursday group.”—AG

“When I first learned earlier this year that Danzy Senna had a new book coming out, I couldn’t get an early manuscript copy fast enough. Wickedly funny with a pitch-perfect sense of irony, Senna’s Colored Television follows protagonist Jane’s attempts to write what she calls the ‘mulatto War and Peace,’ only to wind up in Hollywood instead. Senna is such a genius.”—LPP

“There’s a reason they say you can never go home again. In Colleen McKeegan’s Rip Tide, 15 years have passed since sisters Kimmy and Erin Devine thought they’d left their seaside hometown behind—but now they find themselves back at their parents’ house in Rocky Cape. There’s a dead body, a twisty ending, and plenty of suspense to keep you turning pages, but my favorite parts of this rollercoaster ride of a novel were McKeegan’s nostalgic references to the early 2000s (AIM! Juicy Couture! Razr phones!).”—KWA

“Children of Anguish and Anarchy was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it did not disappoint. The Legacy of Orisha series finale finds Zélie fighting an enemy alongside new allies in a thrilling, absolutely edge-of-your-seat adventure.”—CL