The Best Books of 2024
2024 was one of the most exciting years in books to date! With new titles from Richard Osman, Tim Winton and Yotam Ottolenghi, to stunning debuts from Niamh Mulvey and Kaliane Bradley. This was a year that kept us turning pages and adding to our TBR piles. Below are our favourite books from the year that was.
The Ministry of Time
Kaliane BradleyA 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
Comfort food as only Yotam Ottolenghi can craft it, this sumptuous, truly mouthwatering cookbook transforms hearty mealtime staples into bold and adventurous cuisine.
A breathtakingly accomplished retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of the enslaved Jim, Everett's tour de force reclaims the character's voice from the literary margins with power, precision and dazzling wit.
From the author of the world wide phenomenon that is The Thursday Murder Club comes the first in a pulsating series of thrillers featuring retired copper Steve Wheeler and his impulsive daughter-in-law Amy.
The acclaimed actor and star of Sex Education curates a groundbreaking volume of anonymous female correspondence about sexual desire, which reveals so much that is usually left unsaid.
Spectacular romantasy with astounding world building. When the Moon Hatched teams an imprisoned assassin and a vengeful dragon rider in a quest to unravel secrets that could shatter their world.
The Ultimate 2024 Fiction Bundle
From the must-read journalist on how power, money and influence work in this country, the full story of how one of the nation's favourite brands brought itself to ground
A scintillating crime and dark fantasy mash-up, as a group of outcasts mounts a heist to save a tearoom which acts as a front for local vampires seeking fresh blood.
Delving into the lives of three generations of women, an extraordinary novel about love and freedom, belonging and rebellion.
Hugely important and necessary, Badawi's compelling history of Africa charts a fascinating and informative journey from the origins of humanity to the pivotal new chapter of independence.
Two brothers navigate the turmoil and joy of love after the passing of their father in this breathtaking novel from the hugely acclaimed author of Normal People and Conversations With Friends.
The 2024 Non-Fiction Set
These are the tried-and-true recipes behind the bakes that have made Brooki Bakehouse famous, plus the brand-new personal favourites that Brooke loves to make at home for friends and family (or a late-night sweet moment).
The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?
We Are the Stars is a magic carpet ride through the exquisite mystery of the human heart. You've never read anything like it.
