As we enter 2025, it’s a good time to reflect on the books that captivated you, sparked conversations, and lingered in our minds long after the final page.
From gripping thrillers to inspiring non-fiction, 2024 had something for everyone. I asked you to weigh in on Instagram and here’s a complete roundup of the best books that deserve a spot on your must-read list (according to you 🙂
- The Women by Kristin Hannah: It’s a compelling and emotional book about the Vietnam War through the eyes of Frankie McGrath, a young female nurse who experiences lots of challenges from societal norms and often-overlooked sacrifices of women in war. Hannah captures the era’s political turbulence and cultural shifts. A powerful, heart-wrenching story that stays with readers long after the final page.
- The Frozen River: Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
- When the Jasmine Grow: Donna Everhart From the author of The Saints of Swallow Hill, an evocative, morally complex novel set in rural 19th century North Carolina, as one woman fights to keep her family united, her farm running, and her convictions whole during the most devastating and divisive period in American history, perfect for readers of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles.
- The Wedding People: Alison Espach A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick: A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew. - Hidden Pictures: Jason Rekulak From Edgar Award-finalist Jason Rekulak comes a wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, for fans of Stranger Things and Riley Sager, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.
- The Great Believers: Rebecca Makkai: A dazzling novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris
- Wrong Place Wrong Time: Gillian McAllister New York Times bestselling author Gillian McAllister has created a thriller unlike any other in this endlessly clever, twisty story of a mother who must move backward through time to prevent tragedy from striking at the heart of her family.
- The Things We Leave Unfinished: Rebecca Yarros A heart-wrenching new novel from best-selling author Rebecca Yarros that examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can’t bring ourselves to see coming.
- First Lie Wins: Ashley Elston Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
- Evicted: In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they each struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Hailed as “wrenching and revelatory” (The Nation), “vivid and unsettling” (New York Review of Books), Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of twenty-first-century America’s most devastating problems
- Verity: Colleen Hoover Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us.
- Far from the Tree: Robin Benway Perfect for fans of This Is Us, Robin Benway’s beautiful interweaving story of three very different teenagers connected by blood explores the meaning of family in all its forms—how to find it, how to keep it, and how to love it.
- Where the Butterflies Wander: Suzanne Redfearn From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes the moving story of a family grappling with grief and a woman with the power to help them through it—or stand in their way.
- A Man’s Search for Meaning: Viktor E. Frankl This seminal book, which has been called “one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought” by Carl Rogers and “one of the great books of our time” by Harold Kushner, has been translated into more than fifty languages and sold over sixteen million copies.
- The Beach at Summerly: Beatriz Williams A ravishing summer read from New York Times bestseller Beatriz Williams, sweeping readers back to a mid-century New England rich with secrets and Cold War intrigue.
- Demon Copperhead: Barbara Kingsolver From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity
- The Shack: William P. Young Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness.
Whether you’re looking to escape into a fictional world, gain fresh perspectives, or learn something new, 2024’s literary gems have you covered.
Which of these books have you read or plan to read? Share your thoughts in the comments!