Prize-Winning Crime Novels of 2024, recommended by Sophie Roell
Crime novels are one of the most popular fiction genres, catering to a wide range of tastes and interests. Our editor, Sophie Roell, takes us through the books that won prestigious US and UK awards this year, from a historical novel set during the American Civil War to a spy thriller that raises interesting questions about Western policy in the Middle East.
The Best Novels of 2024: The Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Nitin Sawhney
“I love this book so much, I ended up writing a piece of music around it”
THE FUNNIEST BOOK OF 2024? NEWS: Glorious Exploits wins the Wodehouse Prize
A historical novel set in 412BCE Sicily by Ferdia Lennon has won the UK’s book prize for comedy.
HISTORY BOOKS The 2024 Wolfson History Prize, recommended by Diarmaid MacCulloch
“What we’re trying to do is to find the best history books created within the UK in the last year”
NONFICTION BOOKS NEWS: Question 7 by Richard Flanagan wins the Baillie Gifford Prize
“There’s a connection with The Narrow Road to the Deep North because that book was also concerned with his father’s experience of being a slave laborer in the Second World War: he was an Australian captured by the Japanese”
FANTASY Award-Winning Fantasy Novels of 2024, a roundup by our SFF editor Sylvia Bishop
“This year’s award-winning fantasy books offer something for every taste, from melancholic fairy tales to gripping horror”
FICTION NEWS: Orbital wins the 2024 Booker Prize Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the first book set in space to win the Booker Prize, follows a team of astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
The Best Science Books for Kids of 2024, chosen by the judges of the Royal Society book prize
“We were particularly focused on books that will not just tell kids about science, but inspire them to become scientists themselves”—Dorothy Bishop, chair of the judging panel
NONFICTION BOOKS
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2024: The Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist, recommended by Isabel Hilton
“There’s a Zeitgeist feel to them. They’re very much about today, but each…is drawing threads from the past”
NONFICTION BOOKS Notable Nonfiction of Fall 2024, recommended by Sophie Roell
“It’s been a great few months for new nonfiction”
SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS The Best Sci-Fi Series, recommended by novelist and historian Ada Palmer
“I often think about it, especially if I’m structuring my own series, like composing a symphony”
HISTORICAL FICTION The Best Historical Fiction Set in the American South, recommended by Xan Brooks
“There is the sense of it being a haunted land, still screaming, with no clarity or resolution”
FICTION BOOKS Notable Novels of Fall 2024, recommended by deputy editor Cal Flyn
“What are the novels everyone is talking about in Fall 2024?”
HISTORICAL FICTION The Best Historical Fiction of 2024: the Walter Scott Prize with judging chair Katharine Grant
“It’s been a wonderful year for historical fiction”
MILITARY HISTORY British military historian Sir Antony Beevor on the best books on World War II
“Goebbels was a diabolical genius. He saw that hatred was not enough and you had to combine hatred with fear if you were going to get the maximum killing potential out of your followers”
SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS The best sci-fi: the 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award, introduced by Andrew M Butler
“One of the jobs of the award is to promote writers that not everyone has heard of. Each of these novels stand alone, rather than being parts of long series.”
Our aim is to make Five Books the place to go to on the web for book recommendations, arranged by topic. Help us achieve our goal by making a reading list on a subject you know a lot about. These lists have been created by our readers using our new interactive tool. Browse them all, or make your own.
