Best literature and fiction of 2024 so far, as chosen by the Amazon Editors
![Percival Everett's "James," Kristin Hannah's "The Women," and Leif Enger's "I Cheerfully Refuse."](https://cdn.statically.io/img/d1ysvut1l4lkly.cloudfront.net/B0D74G6QVT/3/image-0-0.jpg)
Barbara Kingsolver has said: “Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life.” That’s an extraordinary thing when you think about it, and it’s something the books below will ask of you. We hope you’ll answer yes. We’re glad we did.
Browse the Amazon Editors’ favorite fictions of the year so far, and you can browse all of our picks when you click right here.
With the same fiery wit, snap, and energy of his previous work, Percival Everett brings to life a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as told from the perspective of Jim. When he is threatened to be sold off and separated from his wife and daughter, Jim decides to run away to buy time while he hatches a plan. Landing on an island in the Mississippi, Jim soon discovers another runaway: Huck, who is trying to escape his violent and drunken father. With a bounty on his head, Jim has no designs on shepherding a young white boy north with him. But there is no other alternative, and the next thing you know, the unlikely duo sets off—rafting down the river, dodging the danger that surrounds them. Everett brilliantly unwinds this adventure, revealing with glee savvy code-switching Jim and his penchant for philosophy, literature, and justice. Based on a classic, Everett has made an entirely new classic, one that is rip-roaringly American, funny, and hard-hitting. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
When you think war hero, you’re probably not envisioning someone wielding a stethoscope. Medical personnel putting themselves in harm’s way are often the unsung heroes of such conflicts, especially combat nurses. Kristin Hannah honors them in a novel featuring Frances “Frankie” McGrath—a naïve, idealistic woman from a moneyed family of military heroes, who signs up to serve in Vietnam. Despite the valor Frankie demonstrates in makeshift, muddy operating rooms, she isn’t met with gratitude when she returns home. Instead, she is subject to the same profound indignities and challenges—both practical and emotional—foisted on her fighting comrades. Adding insult to injury, this contempt comes from some of the soldiers whose lives may have depended on her, and even members of Frankie’s own family. She gets by with (a lot) of help from her friends—the lifeline that found family extends is a hallmark of Hannah’s beloved oeuvre. So are stories that elicit all the feels. If the best-selling author of The Nightingale is worried that she didn’t do the subject justice, this reader found The Women to be another stitch in a still open wound, one that can only help the healing process. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
How do I even describe this book? It’s a time travel-spy thriller-government conspiracy-love story, and it’s also so much more. I’ve never read anything like it, and I loved every second. It's near-future London, and a time travel device has been discovered by a top-secret government agency. The operatives bring back "expats" from different times in history when they would not have survived (to avoid disrupting the future) and pair them with "bridges”—people to help them acclimate to current times. The story follows Arctic explorer Graham Gore and his bridge over the course of a year as he adjusts to modern-day life. This genre-bending novel explores humanity in all its frailty and potential, and how love can alter the course of history in ways we never expect. It’s a fantastical debut that’s funny, riveting, heartbreaking, and unputdownable. I want everyone to read this book. —Abby Abell, Amazon Editor
Poet Kaveh Akbar makes his dazzling fiction debut with an unforgettable main character who reminded us of the voicey, charismatic, and undeniably addictive hero of Demon Copperhead (yes, I just compared this to a Pulitzer Prize winner). One of the buzziest debuts of winter, Martyr! is both laugh-out-loud funny and deadly serious—a coming-of-age story and a portrait of a young Iranian-American man wrestling with what it means to have a life of value. After tripping through college on various concoctions of booze and drugs, a newly orphaned and sober graduate, Cyrus Shams ventures to New York City in pursuit of an Iranian artist who he hopes will fuel his creative writing project and give meaning to his life. Electric and unique, with a voice that feels shot from a cannon, Martyr! is a book you’re going to hear about for a long time. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
Once upon a time, a beekeeper met a pirate…and though they were only children, they recognized each other as two sides of one coin, creating an unbreakable bond of friendship. All the Colors of the Dark begins with a kidnapping that changes their lives forever, as a serial killer leaves a trail of missing girls in his wake. Patch (the pirate in this story) and Saint (the beekeeper) get caught up in this mystery that takes years and many detours to solve, because Patch's obsession with finding a particular girl does not wane with time. Chris Whitaker’s vivid storytelling had me laughing one minute, crying the next, and I could picture everything as clearly as if I were living alongside these characters. A novel of love so powerful it hurts, family, sacrifice, survival, and devotion—I couldn’t stop turning the pages and when I reached the end, I wanted to begin again. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians) once again delights and entertains us with a couture-studded, globe-trotting tale of family, legacy, and finding our own happiness. In Lies and Weddings, he sets the stage with an over-the-top wedding in Hawaii, where we’re introduced to the Earl of Greshambury, his wife (previously a model in Hong Kong, now a builder of lavish resorts and mother of the bride), and children—most notably his heir, Rufus; as well as their next-door neighbors, the Tongs, a hardworking middle-class father and daughter who have been friends of the family for decades. A surprising confession overheard at the wedding is just the first of many secrets spilled, hearts broken, and plans foiled, in a hilarious rom-com of wealth, prestige, surprising twists, and silver linings. Reading Lies and Weddings is like taking a decadent vacation from your life, without ever leaving your chair. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
Yet again, things are not all quiet on the Midwestern front in Leif Enger’s latest, set on and around Lake Superior in the near future. The country is now ruled by baleful billionaires who preside over work camps, and an absconder from one such camp inadvertently upends the lives of the couple who take him in, forcing our hero, Rainy, to embark on a treacherous journey–both to escape those who hunt him, and to reunite with the love of his life. Dark much? Yes. But, those familiar with Enger’s oeuvre know that he imbues his stories with so much humanity and heart that, like Rainy, readers will never lose hope. I Cheerfully Refuse is no exception. This harrowing, but beautifully told, tale is a sly paean to books, language, love, and the transformative power of receiving and extending kindness. I cheerfully endorse it. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
As Dolly Parton once pointed out, it costs a lot of money to look this cheap. Single parenthood also costs money, and when life hands 20-year-old Margo lemons by getting her pregnant by her skeevy professor, she gamely searches for a good lemonade recipe. But it may take getting her melons out on OnlyFans to make rent and be the parent she didn’t exactly have herself. Semi-abandoned by her dad—an itinerant pro wrestler—as a kid, and by her mother—a former Hooters waitress—during her hour of need as a new mom, Margo leans in, and, using a few tricks from her dad’s old WWE playbook, suddenly her OnlyFans page is getting the kind of hits that Vince McMahon could only dream of. Motherhood, using what you’ve got, the internet, female friendship, sex work, and the way women catch flak coming and going: Thorpe throws it all into the hopper, and out comes the most gloriously over-the-top, unapologetically crass, singularly hilarious, thoughtful, and dazzlingly original novel to ever make this editor snort with laughter. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
The magic of skin & bones sank deep into my skin and bones and will stay with me for a long while. This beautiful tale is so rich, weaving together a narrative that is poetic and historical, but yet so deeply real that it was hard at times to remember it’s fiction. If you are Black, have weight issues, are a daughter, a mother, a best friend, or a minority navigating majority spaces—parts of this story will absolutely resonate with you. If you are none of these, then this is a master class on what it's like for those of us who fit within these spaces. Settle in for not only an education, but a simple yet elegant perspective that will make you think. This is also a love song to Portland's Black community, the power of women connection, forgotten history, Wednesday love, and showing up and showing out for yourself every day. A must read for fans of Amazon Editors’ Picks like Roxanne Gay’s Hunger and Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire on High. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
The imitable Amor Towles (Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway) regales readers with his signature wit, old-world atmosphere, and beguiling characters in Table for Two. While avid Towles fans may wish this book were a novel, rest assured, the stories are uncannily satisfying and deliver just the right amount of humor, glamour, and ambience that make them as immersive as his novels. Readers will delight (perhaps just as much as Towles does) in his characters, who seem to act simultaneously as naive, optimistic rubes and calculating operators with a dash of panache—or is one mistaken for the other? Regardless, it’s all too much fun—whether you’re waiting in a Russian breadline at the turn of the century, sitting in a New York City bar with two men whose flight have been cancelled, or in the storied Beverly Hills Hotel with the charmingly independent Evelyn Ross of Rules of Civility. Table for Two is splendidly enchanting—and perhaps, in this chaotic world that we live in, just the right amount of pomp to elevate your outlook. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
It’s one thing to have to keep a daughter secret, quite another for that secret to live so close you can catch glimpses of her life, glimpses that sometimes lead you to worry…. This is a heart-wrenching reality that Charles Lamosway understands all too well, and while the decision whether or not to reveal Elizabeth’s parentage propels the plot, this gem of a novel truly is more about the journey than the destination. Charles was raised on the Penobscot Reservation, a community he loved, but wasn’t a citizen of (his mother married a full member of the tribe). Morgan Talty deftly mines the emotional alienation Charles feels, and makes the reader question, along with him, if a wrong decision was made for all the right reasons. And that is a running theme: flawed characters you’d physically shake if you could, but who you can’t help but root for anyway, because they’re all trying to do what’s best for their loved ones, when what is best isn’t always clear. Fire Exit is a melancholy but quietly powerful story about taking care of your tribe, however you find them. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
This debut novel has a mystique that is not only beautifully displayed on the cover, but elegantly woven throughout. Set in the small border town of La Cienega, Texas, a dual timeline jumps between 1951 and 1994. Readers first learn about Pilar—a young, newly married mother who experiences a series of events that dramatically shape the course of her life. Fast forward to 1994, where you meet Lulu—a punk rock, Selena-lovin' Latina who has dealt with more heartache than any 15-year- old should. Pilar and Lulu meet, and there is something about Pilar that continues to draw Lulu in, flaming her desire to learn more about Pilar’s background and connection to Lulu’s family and the community. Spanish words and phrases are sprinkled throughout and cultural nuances within the Mexican diaspora are detailed in a way that offers an immersive and intimate view into the characters and culture. Providing a little bit of mystery and a lot of family drama—readers will become engrossed in this story of friendship, grief, and secrets. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
Tommy Orange is a blazingly talented writer. His debut, There There, was a finalist for the Pulitzer, a best seller, and an award winner—and his sophomore novel exudes the same kind of powerful intensity, but with an even tighter cast of characters. Wandering Stars follows seven generations of a family, beginning in 1864 with the Sand Creek Massacre through a shooting in 2018. As Orange writes, “Take in what it means to be the children and grandchildren of massacre. You will understand another form of inheritance then. Feel it.... Their stories are what you are made of.” Cascading down from parent to child, the novel lands like dominoes, offering readers the bone-deep legacy of trauma and how it can manifest in love, abandonment, addiction, and violence. Like Denis Johnson, Orange’s booze-fueled, dreaming characters have a sort of fractured coherence, which gives the novel its inexorable momentum and heartbeat. A breathtaking and award-worthy read. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
As I read the last words, I sat back, eyes wide, and took a deep sigh as my mind put together the puzzle of complexities that made this book simply breathtaking. Immersive and deep, it’s a perfect book for the armchair traveler who loves family sagas and doesn’t mind a bit of magical realism mixed in for intrigue. This narrative spans three generations, taking the reader from New York City, the Pacific Northwest, Beijing, China, and many other places in between, connecting three coming-of-age stories not only by lineage, but also ancestral decisions, circumstances, and baggage. The characters wrestle with the good and bad of privilege, and the impact of secrets while navigating the shifting world around them. After reading, I pondered how my own life has been shaped by elements outside of my control, and the decisions I have made not only for myself, but for my child and future generations. A truly thought-provoking read that will provide great discussion for partner reads and book clubs. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editor
In the follow-up to Colm Tóibín’s beloved novel, Brooklyn, we revisit Eilis Lacey twenty years later, when she finds out that her husband has fathered a child out of wedlock—a child his family intends to raise, whether Eilis likes it or not. This prompts her to return to her hometown in Ireland, just in time for her cantankerous mother’s 80th birthday, with her two teens in tow. Things haven’t changed much in Enniscorthy, and a reckoning awaits that will impact Eilis, the man she loved and left, and his betrothed—Eilis’s best friend. Long Island can be read as a stand-alone, but readers will either want to discover, or revisit, Eilis’ origin story once you finish this emotionally nuanced tale about the perils of leaving important things unsaid. It’s another master class in putting to words what is inexpressible in less skilled hands. Tóibín is at the top of his game. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
To be clear, ahem, this is one of the most unusual, and wonderful, novels I’ve read in a long time. Taking place in a far-flung area of Scotland during the infamous Clearances, when wealthy land owners evicted tenants in favor of sheep, Clear finds a desperate minister on a mission to remove one such unfortunate denizen. This already fraught task becomes all the more complicated when said minister is gravely injured and nursed back to health by Ivar, the man he is meant to oust. So yeah, awkward. And all the more so when unexpected feelings start to develop…This spare but lush, and quietly provocative tale is not to be missed. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
With Great Circle and Amor Towles vibes, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Club tells the story of a group of women who are determined to find independence after World War II. They are plucky, big-hearted, and garrulous, but despite the strides women made during the war, society continues to constrict their hopes and dreams—whatever will they do? How about forming a business ferrying women to their clandestine destinations on female-driven motorcycles? Helen Simonson deftly spins a yarn that delights in the historical details and, despite the obstacles these women face, has an undeniable bounce and optimism to it. It’s a read that feels comforting—like what it feels like to have the wind in your hair as you speed towards a seaside town. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
I went from cackling at the all-too-relatable workplace absurdities (I felt seen) to crying by the end of this unexpected gem of a novel. Jolene is a snarky, disaffected worker in a regional office. Through a mishap, she ends up being blind copied on all workplace communication. Horrifying. Once she gets over the initial humiliation of seeing what everyone is saying about her and each other, she devises a plan. With layoffs looming, she’ll use this intel to keep her job and undermine her rivals. But as they say, best laid plans…. As hijinks, and maybe romance, unfold, Jolene begins to recognize the unfair judgments she’s made and the damage she’s done by isolating herself from everyone in her life. I was rooting for Jolene every step of the way, and I fell in love with the vibrant cast of characters who were rooting for her too. This is a delight of a debut, perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. —Abby Abell, Amazon Editor
“Sometimes, she thought, it’s easier to remain lonely than present the lonely person to the world….” To say I was charmed by this hilarious, hopeful book is the understatement of the century. Marnie is a copyeditor who has withdrawn from her friends in the wake of her divorce and worries she’s let life pass her by. Michael has taken to walking the English countryside alone to avoid being at his house after his wife left him. They are strangers brought together by a mutual friend for a 10-day hike. What happens next is the stuff of literary magic—phenomenal banter, the unpredictability of the outdoors, and the tentative, fragile beginnings of a second chance. I was cheering for Marnie and Michael from page one, hoping that they’d be brave enough to find their way back to themselves, and to each other, along this endearingly funny journey. Every step was a delight. —Abby Abell, Amazon Editor
I know I love a book when I can’t stop thinking (and talking) about it. That’s how I feel about Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. For over twenty years, Daphne has received a note with a name and number, telling her how long each of her relationships will last—three days with Martin, three intense months with her now-best friend Hugo, etc. Until one day, Daphne receives a note with just a name—Jack. As their relationship unfolds, Daphne contemplates what she thought “forever” would look like, and the ways in which fate has shaped her life and how she’s let it, for better or worse. What could have been a lighthearted romance becomes something richer with each layer Serle deftly adds to this insightful and heartbreaking novel. I cherished every character in this story, including the city of Los Angeles, which came alive on the page. I’m jealous of everyone who gets to read this book for the first time, but I can’t wait to talk about it with them! —Abby Abbell, Amazon Editor
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