The Best Novels of 2024
Last updated: December 04, 2024
This is the best page to bookmark if you'd like to keep up to date with the best new novels as they are released in 2024. We search out notable new releases from literary greats and fan favourites every season, and we listen out for gossip on which new books are going to 'break out' by finding critical or commercial success.
Throughout the literary year, we will also examine the shortlists for major prizes in every genre. Judges of literary prizes are often extremely well-read and unusually up-to-date on recent publications, so we find it illuminating to interview them at length about the novels they have chosen to highlight and why. These lists often include books released over a previous twelve month period, but inclusion on a prize list will often bring them to new prominence.
We will do our best to keep up with the flow of 2024's new novels—but if you think we have missed something crucial, please do let us know; get in touch on social media.
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Prize-Winning Sci Fi Novels of 2024, recommended by Sylvia Bishop
Award-winning sci fi books this year have ranged from deep-sea dives to space operas to goats. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop talks us through the winning titles.
The Best Novels of 2024: The Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Nitin Sawhney
Every year, the £50,000 Booker Prize is awarded to a work of fiction newly published in English. We spoke to the composer Nitin Sawhney, one of this year’s judges, about their search for a shortlist, and why these six books—including the winning title, Samantha Harvey’s space station novel Orbital—are the best novels of 2024.
Award-Winning Fantasy Novels of 2024, recommended by Sylvia Bishop
This year’s award-winning fantasy books offer something for every taste, from melancholic fairy tales to gripping horror. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop introduces the winning titles.
Notable Novels of Fall 2024, recommended by Cal Flyn
Our deputy editor Cal Flyn compiles her autumnal literary fiction highlights: five freshly released and hotly anticipated new novels that you should have on your reading list in the fall of 2024: from Sally Rooney to Garth Greenwell.
The Best Adventure Novels: The 2024 Wilbur Smith Prize, recommended by Emma Styles
If you love adventure stories, you’ll be delighted to hear that there’s a book prize fully focused on them. Novelist Emma Styles, one of the judges for the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, talks us through the shortlist for best published novel, from pirates in the Caribbean to World War II Italy, from Victorian London to a dystopian future Britain—by way of Nigeria and Tbilisi, Georgia.
The Best Historical Fiction of 2024, recommended by Katharine Grant
The judges of the Walter Scott Prize aim to highlight the very best new historical novels, and in 2024 they have settled on a varied shortlist featuring a Trinidadian tragedy, a Vatican-based thriller, and a charming coming-of-age tale from 1960s Middle England. We spoke to Katharine Grant, chair of the judging panel, to find out more.
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1
Not a River: A Novel
by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott -
2
Crooked Plow: A Novel
by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz -
3
Mater 2-10
by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell & Youngjae Josephine Bae -
4
What I’d Rather Not Think About
by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey -
5
Kairos
by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann -
6
The Details: A Novel
by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson
The Best Novels in Translation: The 2024 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Eleanor Wachtel
The Best Novels in Translation: The 2024 International Booker Prize Shortlist, recommended by Eleanor Wachtel
Every year, the judges for the International Booker Prize read dozens of novels newly translated into English before compiling their shortlist of the very best. We spoke to the Canadian broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel—who chaired this year’s jury—about the six books they’ve selected in 2024: from a slim, elliptical Swedish novel about contemporary relationships to a multi-generational epic set in 20th-century Korea. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations
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1
A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering
by Andrew Hunter Murray -
2
Good Material: A Novel
by Dolly Alderton -
3
High Vaultage
by Chris Sugden & Jen Sugden -
4
The Ministry of Time: A Novel
by Kaliane Bradley -
5
The Rachel Incident: A Novel
by Caroline O'Donoghue -
6
You Are Here: A Novel
by David Nicholls
The Funniest Books of 2024, recommended by Justin Albert
The Funniest Books of 2024, recommended by Justin Albert
Every year, judges for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize ferret out the very best in newly published comic fiction. This year, the seven-novel shortlist ranges from steampunk fantasy to romantic comedy—and they are, says judge Justin Albert, the funniest books of 2024.
Notable New Novels of Summer 2024, recommended by Cal Flyn
Another year, another summer stretching out before us… another reading dilemma? Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a succinct round-up of the novels that should be on your radar in the summer of 2024: highly anticipated works of fiction from well-known literary figures and ‘breakout’ books that have quickly amassed significant critical attention – to guide you on your way. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations
The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels, as Chosen by Fans: the 2024 Hugo Award, recommended by Sylvia Bishop
Every year, members of the World Science Fiction Society nominate writers for the Hugo Award, then vote for the winner. All speculative fiction is eligible – fantasy as well as sci-fi – and the shortlist is one of the most prestigious for both genres. Here, Sylvia Bishop introduces us to the nominees for the title of the best speculative novel of 2024 – and the page-turning champion. See all our best science fiction books, fantasy fiction, and best novels of 2024 recommendations.