New York Public Library announces the best books of 2024

The New York Public Library has released its annual list of the best books of the year. The list, selected by committees and librarians who read hundreds of books across several genres, chose the best books of 2024 for kids, teens, and adults. This year, the library staff also released books about, or set in, New York City. The lists build on NYPL’s century-old tradition of recommending the most-loved titles to New Yorkers of all ages, choosing books that reflect the city’s diverse readership.

“One of our main priorities at The New York Public Library is to get people excited about reading. There is something for everyone at NYPL, and we want to help find that book that makes reading easy,” Brian Bannon, Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education & Chief Librarian, said.

“Throughout the year we librarians and staff spend countless hours reading, selecting, discussing, and putting together this list of a wide variety of book titles that reflect our diverse patrons’ varied tastes. We’re proud to offer this list every year, and celebrate our readers and authors, especially at a time when the very act of reading, and the freedom to choose what to read, is under threat.”

Check out the recommended books at branches across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, and via the free e-reader app, SimplyE.

See the full list of the Best Books of 2024 here.

Explore the top books in five categories as determined by the NYPL:

Best book for adults:

• “The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America” by Aaron Robertson
• “The Familiar” by Leigh Bardugo
• “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore
• “I Was Working” by Ariel Yelen
• “The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth” by Zoë Schlanger
• “Rare Flavours” by Ram V, art by Filipe Andrade
• “Small Rain” by Garth Greenwell
• “A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories” by Mariana Enriquez, translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
• “You Dreamed of Empires” by Álvaro Enrigue, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer
• “You Should Be So Lucky” by Cat Sebastian

Best books about or set in New York City:

Nonfiction:

• “The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture” by Tricia Romano
• “I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition” by Lucy Sante
• “Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York” by Ross Perlin
• “Life Underground: Encounters with People Below the Streets of New York” by Terry Williams
• “Paper of Wreckage: An Oral History of the New York Post, 1976-2024” by Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo
• “Paradise Bronx: The Life and Times of New York’s Greatest Borough” by Ian Frazier
• “2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed” by Eric Klinenberg

Fiction:

• “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” by Xochitl Gonzalez
• “The Coin” by Yasmin Zaher
• “In Tongues” by Thomas Grattan
• “Lazarus Man” by Richard Price
• “Memory Piece” by Lisa Ko
• “Ways and Means” by Daniel Lefferts
• “You Should Be So Lucky” by Cat Sebastian

Best books for teens:

• “Bright Red Fruit” by Safia Elhillo
• “Canto Contigo” by Jonny Garza Villa
• “The Deep Dark” by Molly Knox Ostertag
• “Dragonfruit” by Makiia Lucier
• “Gachiakuta, Volume 1” by Kei Urana and Hideyoshi Andou
• “How the Boogeyman Became a Poet” by Tony Keith, Jr.
• “Leap” by Simina Popescu
• “Looking for Smoke” by K.A. Cobell
• “The No-Girlfriend Rule” by Christen Randall
• “Snowglobe” by Soyoung Park, translated from the Korean by Joungmin Lee Comfort

Best books for children:

• “Aloha Everything” by Kaylin Melia George, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
• “Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat” by Li Chen
• “Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Roy DeCarava” by Gary Golio, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
• “Godfather Death” by Sally Nicholls, illustrated by Júlia Sardà
• “Made in Asia America: A History for Young People” by Erika Lee and Christina Soontornvat
• “Mallory in Full Color” by Elisa Stone Leahy
• “Mishka” by Edward van de Vendel and Anoush Elman, illustrated by Annet Schaap, translated from the Dutch by Nancy Forest-Flier
• “The Spindle of Fate” by Aimee Lim
• “We Are Definitely Human” by X. Fang
• “When I Wrap My Hair” by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed

Best books for kids in Spanish:

• “Aire animal por Teodora,” ilustrado por Paula Álvarez
• “Cómo se come un mango” por Paola Santos, ilustrado por Juliana Perdomo
• “Cuando seamos ranas” por Dipacho
• “Gracias” por Jarvis
• “Llamando a mamá” por Anya Damirón, ilustrado por César Barceló
• “Los mariachis de Adela” por Denise Vega, ilustrado por Erika Rodríguez Medina
• “Ojalá pudiera decirte” por Jean-François Sénéchal, ilustrado por Chiaki Okada
• “Un plato de esperanza: La inspiradora historia del chef José Andrés y World Central Kitchen” por Erin Frankel, ilustrado por Paola Escobar
• “El río es mi mar” por Rio Cortez, ilustrado por Ashleigh Corrin
• “La vida secreta de las babosas” por Moesha Kellaway

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