All Of My 2024 Book Recommendations

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

All year long, I’ve made a weekly book recommendation when kicking off the weekend open thread. These aren’t work-related books; they’re just books I like, mostly fiction. Sometimes they’re books that I’m in the middle of reading, and other times they’re just long-standing favorites.

Here’s the complete list of what I’ve recommended this year (maybe in time for holiday gift-shopping!). I’ve bolded my favorites of the favorites.

Master Slave Husband Wife, by Ilyon Woo. The true story of an enslaved husband and wife who escaped slavery in the American south by posing as a white man (her) and “his” slave (him). This is utterly engrossing and will keep you up all night telling yourself you’ll just read one more chapter.

The Dinner Party, by Brenda Janowitz. Taking place over the build-up to a Passover seder and its aftermath, a family’s matriarch is extremely excited about hosting the rich family of her daughter’s new boyfriend but things go differently than planned.

Wallflower at the Orgy. Hilarious essays by the brilliant Nora Ephron on everything from warring restaurant reviewers to Cosmo editor Helen Gurley Brown.

The Golem of Brooklyn, by Adam Mansbach. A golem learns English by binge-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and taking LSD and then heads out to defend the Jews. This was amazing.

Woman, Eating, by Claire Kohda. A lonely young artist, who’s also a vampire, desperately wants to find her place among humans as she struggles to come to terms with her relationship with her mother.

We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America, by Roxanna Asgarian. An infuriating, heartbreaking look at how six kids ended up removed from their families and adopted by a couple who abused and killed them. Much of the press coverage of this case focused on the adoptive couple; this book instead focuses on the kids’ original families and how the child welfare system failed them horribly.

Come and Get It, by Kiley Reid. The lives of a college RA, three dorm roommates, and a visiting writer intertwine in surprising ways. It’s about race, money, bad choices … and it’s so, so good.

Good Material, by Dolly Alderton. Reeling from a breakup with his girlfriend, a struggling stand-up comic tries to figure out why she left and how to move forward. Like everything she writes, it’s funny, relatable, and a good time.

Swanna in Love, by Jennifer Belle. A teenage girl, dragged with her little brother by their mother to an artist colony where kids aren’t welcome, becomes involved with a much older man. The subject matter is disturbing, but the writing is so good and perfectly captures the weird/heady/terrifying mix of naivete and bravado that is adolescence.

The Wife App, by Carolyn Mackler. Three friends create an app to monetize the mental load women typically carry for men.

You Only Call When You’re in Trouble, by Stephen McCauley. A man going through a break-up and his niece, who’s in a professional crisis, navigate their relationships with their high-maintenance sister/mother. It’s quietly funny.

A Beautiful Rival, by Gill Paul. This is a fictionalized account of the professional rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, and I was strangely riveted.

Annie Bot, by Sierra Greer. A robot designed to be her owner’s perfect girlfriend develops her own consciousness and starts to question what she wants, and deserves, from the world.

The Husbands, by Holly Gramazio. A woman discovers that the ladder to her attic produces a seemingly endless supply of husbands. I didn’t know where this was going at first, but it ended up being surprisingly engrossing.

Victim, by Andrew Boryga. A man from a disadvantaged background finds success by embellishing his life story. Things don’t go entirely accordingly to plan.

Like Happiness, by Ursula Villarreal-Moura. When a reporter calls, a woman reexamines the relationship she had with an older writer as a young woman. Excellent.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, by Tia Williams. A florist trying to break free from her socialite family finds a strange connection with a musician. It’s romance, but it’s also about chosen family, magic, and the Harlem Renaissance, and Tia Williams writes so beautifully.

Funny Story, by Emily Henry. When a librarian’s fiancé leaves her for his long-time best friend, she moves in with the ex’s new fiancée’s ex-boyfriend.

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley. As part of a study of time travel, a government employee is assigned to be the minder of a military commander from 1847. A culture clash ensues, as does a romance and a thrilling mystery.

Very Bad Company, by Emma Rosenblum. An executive disappears at a dysfunctional start-up’s annual retreat. If you like company gossip, even if not your own, this is very fun.

I Hope This Finds You Well, by Natalie Sue. A not-well-liked office worker who sticks to herself accidentally gains access to all her coworkers’ emails. It’s a surprising combination of darkly funny and sweet.

Within Arm’s Reach, by Ann Napolitano. Told from alternating perspectives, it’s the story of three generations of a large Irish-Catholic family that is forever changed when the matriarch becomes ill and one granddaughter unexpectedly gets pregnant.

The Paris Novel, by Ruth Reichl. When her difficult mother dies, a woman is left a plane ticket and instructions to go to France, where she finds the unexpected.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe. A 20-year-old with a new baby turns to her pro wrestler father and a demented OnlyFans account to help support them. I did not expect to love this as deeply as I did.

Same As It Ever Was, by Claire Lombardo. A woman with a rocky history with her mom tries to navigate a life very different from her own upbringing. It’s about family, friendship, self-sabotage, and overcoming the way you grew up. It’s long — at times, I thought too long — but ultimately satisfying.

The Mythmakers, by Keziah Weir. A young writer recognizes herself in a short story by an author who she met years ago and tries to find out why.

Jackpot Summer, by Elyssa Friedland. In the wake of their mother’s death, three of four siblings win Powerball, but it turns out becoming millionaires overnight isn’t what they’d expected.

Hope, by Andrew Ridker. The ground shifts under each member of a family after one of them is caught falsifying data at work. Publishers Weekly called it a “pitch-perfect portrayal of Jewish American life.”

Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. This is the story of a family during their summer beach vacation, as the mom struggles with menopause, her kids getting older, and her aging parents. There are some very vivid descriptions of sandwiches, as well as the push and pull of family.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman. A bored widow in her 60s walks into the CIA and walks out with a job as a secret agent.

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend, by MJ Wassmer. A couple is trapped at an expensive resort after the sun explodes.

Fleishman Is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. A man looks back at the break-up of his marriage as he fields dating, raising two kids, and the disappearance of his ex-wife.

A Likely Story, by Leigh McMullan Abramson. The daughter of a celebrated author struggles to succeed as a writer herself. Ethical missteps and family secrets abound.

Then She Found Me, by Elinor Lipman. A quiet teacher find her life changed when her birth mother — a flamboyant and somewhat narcissistic talk show host — finds her.

Really Good, Actually, by Monica Heisey. Reeling from the break-up of her marriage, a 20something woman tries to figure out dating after divorce, her ex, and how much you can really ask of a group chat. The main character isn’t very likable, but the writing is extremely funny.

Colored Television, by Danzy Senna. An author struggling to finish her book gets sidetracked by Hollywood. It’s a satirical take on race, marriage, career, writing, friendship, and betrayal.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea, by TJ Klune. The long-awaited sequel to the House in the Cerulean Sea, in which the two men running an orphanage for magical children must fight against danger from the outside world. Nothing will match the magic of the first book for me, but I was very happy to visit this world and these characters again.

A comfort re-read: Barbara Pym’s Crampton Hodnet, in which gossip and romance disrupt the sedate pace of life for an elderly woman and her paid companion.

Another comfort re-read: The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman, in which a Jewish teenager gets entangled in surprising ways with a family that runs a “gentiles-only” inn.

Blood Test, by Charles Baxter. A mild-mannered father is thrown after a blood test predicts he will turn to a life of crime.

Amp’d, by Ken Pisani. After an accident leaves him short one arm, a man moves back home with his father and tries to rebuild his life. Far funnier than you expect it to be.

Trust and Safety, by Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman. Sick of NYC and searching for a more meaningful life, a couple buy a dilapidated house upstate but find rural living isn’t what Instagram had promised. Meanwhile, their attractive and deeply cool tenants seem to have landed in exactly the life they’d wanted for themselves.

All Fours, by Miranda July. What to say about this book! It’s about marriage and parenthood and sex and perimenopause and obsession and trauma and aging and understanding yourself and being female. It’s intense and uncomfortable and I couldn’t put it down. And I know that tells you nothing, but saying that it’s about an artist who sets out to drive across country when life takes a detour wouldn’t come close to touching what it really is.

And if you’re looking for more, here are my lists of book recommendations from 2023 … from 2022 … from 2021 … from 2020 … from 2019 … from 2018 … from 2017 … from 2016 … and from 2015.

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