Do you still have holiday shopping to do? If you've got book lovers on your list, or if you're looking for a reward for yourself for making it through 2024, Cannonball Read has got you covered with Best and Worst selections from 24 of its participants, including links to their reviews. (These are books published in any year but were read in 2024.) Find out which books to add to your cart and which ones to stay away from.

If you've got something to say about these books drop a comment below, or consider signing up for next year's Cannonball Read 17.

BlackRaven's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Gray City by Torben Kuhlmann - I picked this one because it really stood out in many ways. It was soft and sweet, plus tough and solid. It's a great book for adults and kids. You need to read it as it is an emotional read. Bitter sweet that stays with you. The illustrations are worth the read.

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang - This book is far from perfect. But the presentation has all the elements I enjoyed. Plus, it is by Yang and I'm already biased towards him! But in a good way!

Liberty by Julian Voloj - My best of was narrowed down to eight, then five. But which one out of the five to pick to make the three? The first two were fairly easy, and then it was down between The Yellow Bus by Long and Liberty by Voloj. I decided on Liberty because it wasn't getting the love my other choices were. Lunar New Year has love (though I picked it), 49 Days by Lee has a bit of love (it's winning awards and mentions), and even Einstein in Kafkaland by Ken Krimstein has a little love (but I almost picked it for a choice as it isn't getting as much as Yang's book). But Liberty it was. This is a book that is about the Statue of Liberty that is fun, interesting, and not "just the facts" but a lot more for that aged 10 to 15 crowd, but adults should read as well. There is a lot of good here, and I can't do it justice in a few words.

BlackRaven's Worst Book of 2024:

I Can Count to Ten by Roman Dirge - The worst book pick was a bit easier, as it usually is, but it was still down to four or five titles (depending if you count Fluffle Bunnies 1 & 2 as one or two books.) It was going to be Curses by George WylesolI, but a friend of mine liked it, so I realized it wasn't a bad book, just that I wasn't the right reader for it. Then it was a graphic novel about mutant cats, but again, I figured the right reader would be okay (and it had a few funny moments, just that gross out aspect was off putting). So it was down to I Can Count to Ten by Roman Dirge (as Fluffle Bunnies are not so bad...). Sure the right reader will be fine, but my personal tastes said I don't think I want to meet them. This was all about the gross out factor for gross out sake. Not my cup of mud.

Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing by Emily Lynn Paulson

It was easier than I expected to pick my faves (or at least to narrow it down to four -- then I had trouble). But, the occasional hate-read aside, I don't really finish books I'm not enjoying anymore. I wonder if anyone else was in the same boat?

Dome'Loki's 3 Best Books of 2024:

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler - Django Wexler writes incredible epic fantasy but this time he went for something much more light hearted. Davi was pulled from our human world to a fantasy one where she is the chosen one to save the Kingdom from the Dark Lord and his horde. However she keeps failing, dying, and is reborn in the exact same spot. Having had enough of this b.s. on this go round Davi decides to do something different and try to become the Dark Lord herself!

When a Sorceress Comes to Call by T Kingfisher - T Kingfisher has written several fairytale retellings and original fairytales as well. When a Sorceress Come to Call is her most recent original, and it is spine tingling good in the way of darker fairytales.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming - This is the first book in a trilogy, and all three are fun, spicy sexy, light fantasy reads with similarly great titles. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf and That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human.

Dome'Loki's Worst Book of 2024:

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - I finished it to find out how all these disparate threads came together, but it would have been better to just quit the book.

Jaws by Peter Benchley - I feel bad but -- this was the worst book I read this year. I think my love for the movie makes me unable to separate it from the book (even though the book came first!), and I just did not like it. (That said it is not horrible and I had a great year of reading that this "meh" book was the worst I read!)

ElCicco's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff - A very funny thriller about a group of women who are part of a micro-loan program and decide to murder their abusive husbands.

Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro - Elena is suffering from Parkinson's and trying to solve her daughter's murder. A heartbreaking story.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - A truly amazing story about death and grief, art, and friendship.

ElCicco's Worst Book of 2024:

The Umbrella Academy Vols. 1-3 by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba - A confusing mess to read. I loved the TV series, which seems to be only slightly related to the books.

elderberrywine's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - Lady pirate captain sailing the medieval Indian Ocean. With extremely dubious ex-husband in tow.

Some Everyday Folk and Dawn. by Miles Franklin - Early woman's rights in Australia, as told by female Mark Twain. Never heard a voice like hers before and must search out more.

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas - OK, but so what if the vampires aren't really the villains? All right, so they are eyeless grey bloodsuckers, but they aren't the real enemy. *eyes map* You know where the northern part of Mexico used to be, right?

Mind Games by Nora Roberts - I expect a certain level of competence in storytelling with Nora Roberts, and I don't feel like she met that here.

The League of Lady Poisoners: Illustrated True Stories of Dangerous Women by Lisa Perrin - I titled my review of this book "An Illustrated True Crime Book for Grown-ups" and that does sum it up, but this is perhaps the most beautiful book I read all year and one I think back on often.

Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up by Charish Reid - I devoured this book. The plot of this romance hinges on dual power imbalances, but Reid navigates it with a dexterity that keeps it all from crashing in on itself and instead giving us a really great story with lots of important rep and communication. The amount of excellent communication in this book would likely have earned it five stars on its own, but everything was great.

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall - This book's plot shouldn't work, but somehow between the way Alexis Hall crafts his works and the narration by Will Watt it all came together in the most wonderful way. An excellent holiday season listen!

The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman - Enough with intelligence officers and writers retconning 9/11 as if their genius plan would have anticipated everything. Just write your own damn stories.

Jen K's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick - Not even sure how I stumbled on this - maybe it was on sale? But like how are all these other fantasy and romantasy trilogies get all this coverage; and this one which is so good, I haven't seen discussed anywhere. Maybe it's because it's really more fantasy and not romantasy/steamy? There is a love story in here, but there is just so much world building, plot and everything else, too. The first one actually reminded me quite a bit of Mistborn because it starts as a very intricate and detailed con story and then just becomes so much more!

Weyward by Emilia Hart - One of those I kept seeing everywhere, and then when I finally picked it up, understood why. It covers 3 different (not consecutive) generations of women - my favorite was definitely the one set during World War II.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker - For two different book clubs this year, I read two of the big mysteries of the year, All the Colors of the Dark and The God of the Woods, and this one just hit extra hard. It was so good, so many little details that played into later reveals. There was one point where someone said something and I thought it was an error or that the author hadn't mentioned something but even that was intentional. So good!

Didn't really have any completed novels that were exceptionally bad. There were a few that disappointed or didn't quite hit but none that were stand out bad. I do have a list of unfinished books that might qualify if I ever finish them.

Honorable Mentions:

Bright Young Women - loved this as a take down of the true crime drama, the fawning admiration serial killers get and just the fact checking of how these brilliant men are often average men helped by an incompetent system.

The tainted Cup - fantasy Sherlock Holmes-esque murder mystery with just a very strongly plotted and dense story, and a very intelligent in his own right assistant to that person. And the world setting is also intriguing and leaves room for many more stories.

Long Live Evil - this was a 4-star read, not 5 but was one of the most fun reads of the year.

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door - also a 4 star but just haven't seen much about it elsewhere so wanted to mention it because it really is an enjoyable time. Plus - stand alone fantasy novel

More serious 5-star reads, literary fiction - Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow and Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward.

Dishonorable Mentions:

This was my year of disappointing sequels and follow up novels...these books are ones that I still haven't finished so it didn't feel fair to say they were the worst reads.

The Pairing - Since second chance romance isn't my favorite trope, they need to be really well done for me to like them (The Ex Vows, for example, pulled it off). This one - I don't like Theo at all. I also have no interest in reading a romance where the love interests have a bet that they are very much participating in about who can have the most hook ups. And another thing -- what's with these weird views of Europe, a land where apparently everyone is pan or bisexual and ready to hook up?

Dark Restraint - the Dark Olympus series hasn't exactly been consistent in quality but they have all been readable,and I am also interested in the larger plot -- sometimes more than the couple. But here, the couple is so meh that even that isn't enough to get through this.

Do Me a Favor - Yardley is so good at romance with real people in lower stakes settings, but this one just dragged + disliked the MMC.

The Home-Wrecker by Sara Cate - Off the charts spice while folks are dealing with religious trauma? Evidently, this is my jam.

A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd - Super fun alternative future about the oldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet.

His Tesoro by Emilia Rossi - I bring this one up not because it was one of my top three, but because it was better than decent and features a FMC in a wheelchair. It's a spicy dark Mafia romance. You might want to give it a try, so more books with representation get written and published.

KimMie"'s 3 Best Books of 2024:

Bleak House by Charles Dickens - A soap opera of a mystery that includes the blueprint for police procedurals and the most famous case of spontaneous combustion in literature: these are some of the reasons this novel shot to my list of favorites. Mapping the characters for my review was almost as much fun as reading the book.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu - Certain individual stories within this novel/short story hybrid hit me hard, but the overall message (at least, my interpretation of it) -- that there are bright spots along the way and that there might be hope for humanity -- brings me peace during dark days.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - Two science fiction collections making my top reads for the year is weird, but here we are. I haven't come across another author who can blend science fiction and humanity the way Ted Chiang does, and "Story of Your Life" is one of the best and most beautiful novellas I've ever read.

Honorable Mentions:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Of course it's one of the best novels I read this year. I disqualified it from my top three on the basis of it being a reread and wanting to spread the love to novels that were new to me. There might be a couple of moments to give modern readers pause, but there's a reason this novel is a classic.

Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir - It took me two reads to realize how much I loved this novel. Grateful to whomever left a copy in a Little Free Library near me so I can now revisit whenever I feel the need for this hilarious, heartbreaking, and inventive story.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles - I'm not sure why I waited so long to read this one but I think, maybe, I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype. But it did. I absolutely adored it.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh - The recommendation for this came from someone on Pajiba and I can't thank them enough. A short novella, a lush fairy tale filled with whimsy & melancholy. You'll fall in love with a tree, folks!

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke - "There was no retracing her steps. Once she had been, there was no way back. Every departure irreversible." ~Douglas Westerbeke

In 1885, at 9-years old, Aubrey is struck by a terrible disease that cannot be cured, it can only be outrun; more than a few days in one place and Aubrey begins to bleed to death, forcing her into a life of constant movement. We experience her story through flashbacks & stories she tells about the people she's met along the way and the whole experience is magical, heartbreaking, hopeful, beautiful. Also, there is a magic library, accessed by magic doorways!

KRussell's Worst Book of 2024:

The Extinction of Irena Ray by Jennifer Croft - I generally don't finish a book if I'm not enjoying it - life is too short - so I don't have a lot of 1- or 2-star reads. But I stuck it out with this one, and I kind of wish I hadn't bothered. The blurb promised "hilarious and thought-provoking;" but, for me, it was neither; it was really just a slog.

LittlePlat's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - This was absolutely delightful; well-balanced blend of fantasy and mystery and some fantastically odd world building. Think Holmes and Watson in Ancient Rome, dealing with Kaiju. And murder. It's fantastic.

And while it's self contained, it's the first in the series as well, so we know there's more to come.

Majapahit: Intrigue, Betrayal and War in Indonesia's Greatest Empire by Herald van der Linde - I only finished this book last week so there's no review yet. This is a fantastically engaging book about an empire that rose and fell in Java's East; a region that doesn't have a high degree of recognition in the modern popular consciousness. So it's about time someone wrote a popular history book about the subject. With its casual tone, and chatty colloquialisms, Van der Linde's writing is absolutely geared towards the casual reader. But for those of us that want a little more detail and a little less flourish, there are extensive endnotes that explain some of the little inferences and embellishments that were made to maintain a good yarn.

It's really great fun, with a full cast of colorful historical characters whose names should be better known! (And now I know more about who Gajah Mada was and why someone might see fit to name a university after him.)

Ashling by Isobelle Carmody - I spent a bit of effort re-reading the Obernewtyn Chronicles this year, and of all the books in the series, Ashling was the peak. This dystopian fantasy series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where society has regressed into an oppressive, agrarian state. Our protagonist is Elspeth Gordie is a teenage orphan with paranormal abilities who is spearheading the effort to unite others like her to challenge their oppressors and fight for survival. Yes, it's very young adult. But also in a way that is very ahead of its time.

While the first two books were strong, Ashling significantly improved upon the both of them, expertly blending action, world-building (super important for this series), and character development. It also avoided many of the issues that plagued the later installments. Ashling was the first book in my re-read that made me rethink a number of events that occur later in the series, which I think really heightened my enjoyment.

LittlePlat's Worst Book of 2024:

The Sending by Isobelle Carmody - So, as for the issues that cropped up later in the Obernewtyn Chronicles? The Sending suffered from quite a number of them. It's not a bad book, per se, but it is not up to the quality of many of the earlier installments. This was a very frustrating book, with a lot of wheel-spinning, sluggish pacing and plot points that far from being resolved, were just left bluster around in the radioactive winds for a few years longer.

Malin's 3 Best Books of 2024:

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood - I've read some great romances this year, but I think overall, this was my number one favourite. You can really see how Hazelwood has developed as a writer these last few years.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland - This book was an absolute delight. Having finished it, I got it in audiobook just so I could listen to parts of it all over again.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - I five-starred this entire trilogy, but if I had to pick a favourite of the three, it would be this one.

Malin's Worst Book of 2024:

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - I said in my review title that this was likely to be my worst book of the year, and it turns out I was entirely correct. I'm very happy I didn't read anything even vaguely close to it.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden - I was terrible at reviewing things this year, especially books I felt strongly about. But I read this twice this year, and it was extremely affecting both times. I will re-read it again.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett - Again, did not review, because I loved it too much. Great mystery, great worldbuilding, great characters.

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell - Weird, gross, hilarious, asexual, queer, fantasy horror rom-com. Instant all-time fave.

narfna's Worst Book of 2024:

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty - I do not understand why people like this. Subject matter aside, what is this writing???? This was a DNF, but I hated it so much I had to include it.

Comments:

There were literally too many great books this year to list.

RouletteGirl's 3 Best Books of 2024:

An Immense World by Ed Yong - A really fascinating look at the senses used by a wide variety of animals and how those senses impact their whole existence. It's interesting, informative, and often very funny.

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - Excellent world building, a fun and engaging plot, and asides that regularly made me snort-laugh in public, so thanks for that Sanderson.

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher - A House With Good Bones is moving, scary, interesting (so much to learn about bugs, roses, and vultures!), and funny all at the same time. T. Kingfisher has, once again knocked it out of the park.

RouletteGirl's Worst Book of 2024:

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew - The Whispering Dark has a neat idea behind it -- a Deaf girl can hear the dead -- but the execution misses the mark, and badly.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio - It was highly recommended, but I should have paid attention to the description because I am not fond of time travel/fantasy stories. Just didn't understand the point.

teresaelectro's 3 Best Books of 2024:

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna - This was like a warm hug. I didn't expect this to be a slow-burn romance, but it was still very satisfying. I highly recommend reading this book if you're a fan of The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, witchy romances, and hilarious banter.

All Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby - The premise was extremely timely with layers of commentary on school shootings, small-town life, and Southern overt and inadvertent racism. Read this if you're a fan of detective novels with colorful characters and open to social commentary. I'd recommend it for fans of Will Trent (TV show or books), True Detective, or The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead.

Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha - Consort of Fire was an insta-buy, because I love the author duo Kit Rocha to pieces! Their new duology kicks off with Sachielle on her way to become the said consort of a mysterious dragon lord. He is a powerful man named Ash who can literally become a dragon. This immortal dude is pretty scary, but Sachi isn't afraid. She has been dreaming of fire and determined to seduce him...

If you like spicy romance with fantasy elements, run, go, now, and read this. We get a fantastical journey full of perils and a steam

teresaelectro's 3 Worst Book of 2024:

The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson - It's Grey's Anatomy with werewolves set in Denver. I loved the premise and idea of the characters falling for each other. But the werewolf lore was lacking for me. The sex scenes are quite steamy, so it wasn't all bad. I felt we were missing some of the romance to understand why they should end up together.

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn - Just a lovely story about interesting characters and well done tension. I re-read the last 1/3 immediately after finishing it.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman - Who would have thought a story about Arthur would make me feel such feels? What do you do when Camelot is lost, this book asks, and then answers the question "what even is Camelot to you?"

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation by Alexandra Vasti - A stand in for the entire Halifax oeuvre, which is delightful and a good reminder that romance can be the best well of human emotion.

wicherwill's Worst Book of 2024:

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt - The octopus should have just f**ked off and left all of those annoying humans alone.

Zirza's 3 Best Books of 2024:

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton - A deeply sardonic novel about idealism gone wrong. Catton has a keen eye for political machinations in this novel that is both depressing and very, very funny. The parallels with Macbeth aren't obvious, but that only adds to the fun, especially in the last third of the book when the pace is kicked up to full throttle. It's a book that likes neither side of the political spectrum, and honestly, depressing as it is, it makes a few good points.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn - Sometimes a book that is not perfect still makes you feel like it is, and that was the case for me with this one. In Memoriam is occasionally juvenile and sometimes relies on cliché, but its portrayal of life in the trenches of World War I is painfully vivid. The lives of its protagonists might not be one hundred percent true to life, but they stick with you. The illicit moments of tenderness that they steal during the bloodshed and horror of war -- and Winn has no qualms about portraying that war in all its viciousness -- are heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. There are issues I had with this book; but ultimately it was easy to ignore them because the stories at the heart of it, and the people who live it, are so fascinating. It's been six months since I've read this book, and I still think of Gaunt and Ellwood on a daily basis. If that's not good literature, then I don't know what is.

The Lost Man by Jane Harper - A melancholy, almost elegiac novel where the setting -- the Australian Outback -- is as much of a villain in the story as anyone else. The novel portrays complex family dynamics in one of the most remote and inaccessible areas in the world without losing sight of the central plot, and that's no mean feat. It keeps you guessing until the end, and it sticks with you long after you finish it; and it manages to braid several plots and subplots into a coherent, diverse and engaging story. More impressive, even, is the subtlety and delicacy with which Harper manages to tackle a variety of issues, weaving them together into one narrative. Crime fiction doesn't get much better than this.

Zirza's Worst Book of 2024:

Final Girls by Riley Sager - Look, I hate perfect protagonists; they're not relatable. It's okay if a main character makes mistakes, as long as those are mistakes you could conceivably make yourself. The main character in this book, though, does things that are inexplicably, unimaginably dumb. Think of something dumb, and she does it. It's the literary equivalent of sticking your fingers into a wall socket or deciding to take a nap in your garage with your car engine running. Unfortunately the plot is dumb enough that the main character somehow manages to stumble her way from one fuckup to the next without getting herself killed. The ACME level of zaniness would probable be a hell of a lot more palatable if the book hadn't been dead serious about it all. It's a good thing this is fiction, or the fundies might've taken it as evidence against natural selection.

Cannonball Read an annual, memorial book challenge that began here at Pajiba. CBR asks participants to read and review 52 (or 26 or 13) books in a year. Bonus, CBR does all of this while fundraising for the American Cancer Society. If you got through the list and have added even one item to your TBR list, sign up for 2025's Cannonball Read 17. You too can stick it to cancer, one book at a time.