The It Books of 2024
What a year it’s been!
Martyr! came out of the gate in January as the year’s hottest debut with major book award potential, and while it didn’t win the NBA, it made the shortlist and just about every best-of list around. Jonathan Haidt sparked a new round of phone and social media concern—and some congressional hearings—with The Anxious Generation. James was indisputably the most anticipated novel of the year, and it’s ending the year as the indisputable champion. Simon & Schuster tried—and mostly succeeded—to make fetch happen with the every-genre-and-the-kitchen-sink romp The Ministry of Time. Miranda July launched a thousand midlife crises with her manic pixie perimenopause novel, All Fours (I was not a fan). Sally Rooney got adults out to midnight release parties for Intermezzo. Romantasy ruled BookTok and bestseller lists. Even Louise Erdrich got sprayed edges. A lot happened.
It’s easy to see the It Books of the year in hindsight, and we did just that on a recent episode of the Book Riot Podcast. What’s not easy is guessing each month’s It Book before it even hits shelves, and we do that every month, whittling down a list of 10 contenders to identify the It Book of the Month. Below are the 12 It Books episodes of 2024, complete with title lists.
If this kind of thing is your jam, follow the Book Riot Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcatcher of choice, and join us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, and community discussion.
The It Books of January 2024 – featuring Martyr!, The Storm We Made, and more
The It Books of February 2024 – The Women? The Book of Love? Something else?
The It Books of March 2024 – James wasn’t the only big book that came out this month
The It Books of April 2024 – Amor Towles, Salman Rushdie, Emily Henry, and Leigh Bardugo all enter the ring
The It Books of May 2024 – There are no take-backs in It Books, but boy, I got this one wrong.
The It Books of June 2024 – A Michael Crichton-James Patterson crossover event?
The It Books of July 2024 – The God of the Woods had some competition!
The It Books of August 2024 – The dog days weren’t totally woof.
The It Books of September 2024 – Can anyone topple Sally Rooney?
The It Books of October 2024 – Coates, Erdrich, Gladwell, Tucci, and…Pacino?
The It Books of November 2024 – Did you know Rebecca Yarros had a new book out that isn’t romantasy?
Interesting Books of December 2024 + Looking Back at Our Picks of the Year
Copyright
© Book Riot
How’d you do with 2024 book predictions? Let’s chat in the comments!