The 5 Best Books I Read in 2024

OnlyFans, the multiverse, a grieving chess player, AIDS, and fairy tales with a twist. Plus superlatives!

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We’re officially in reflection season! I kicked things off two weeks ago with 5 Things I Learned in 2024, and now we’re keeping the accountability going with my top reads of the year.

Full disclosure: this was my least literary year since I started keeping track—I only read 19 books, when my average is closer to 30. In my defense, this was the year I took a break from writing fiction, which might explain why I slowed down consuming it. I also spent two full months getting through Demon Copperhead, through no fault of its own. (Pro-tip: don’t read a super heavy book while grieving a beloved dog!) I hope to read more books in 2025, and I’m going to push myself to read outside my comfort zone. More on that when we discuss goals.

For now, let’s look back and see who nabbed a coveted top 5 ranking, and what earned an completely arbitrary, made-up-on-the-spot superlative.

We read Intermezzo for book club, and Katie brought the actual Irish edition, picked up while visiting the Emerald Isle. What a flex!

The 5 Best Books I Read in 2024

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe. A young woman gets knocked up by her community college professor and decides to keep the baby. To support herself, she starts an OnlyFans using storytelling tricks learned from her father, an ex-pro wrestler. This is my favorite kind of novel—inventive, literary, funny, unexpected, and full of heart. An incredible exploration of what it means to make a family, craft a narrative, and embrace love, even when it’s a total mess.

• The Husbands, Holly Gramazio. Lauren, a single woman in London, realizes she can summon infinite husbands from her attic, and each one comes complete with an accompanying life. A delightful romp through the multiverse, this book was a funny and clever meditation on how to choose a life and commit to living it.

• Intermezzo, Sally Rooney. Is there any pleasure greater that a new novel from a favorite author? Of cracking that much-anticipated spine and knowing you’re about to fall in love again? This time, we get to know two grieving brothers, Ivan and Peter, and the equally fascinating women they love. Rooney’s mastery of interiority is awe-inspiring—she brings us so close to each character that it feels both beautiful and unsettling. Also the best sex scenes in modern literature, which doesn’t hurt!

• The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai. Published in 2018, but my first time reading it. Taking place in 1980s Chicago during the AIDS epidemic, and in 2015 in Paris, it follows a cast of unforgettable characters while exploring the lasting impact of the AIDS crisis on their lives. Sad, gorgeous, and deeply human, this was the kind of book I wished would never end.

• White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link. I’ll always be a sucker for short stories that reinvent classic fairy tales. Link is the best at this, bar none, and I loved everything about her collection—the prose, the imagery, and the uncanny feeling threaded through it all that everything is perfect and nothing is right.

2024 Superlatives

• Best Dialogue: Come and Get It, Kiley Reid

• Most Likely to Eat the Rich: Poverty, By America, Matthew Desmond

• Slowest Burn (Yet Shortest Book): The Most, Jessica Anthony

• Most Inspiring: The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron

• Best Travel Companion: The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley

• Most Extremely Online: Such a Bad Influence, Olivia Muenter

• Least Interesting Smut: Acts of Service, Lillian Fishman

• Best Depiction of Addiction: Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver

PS: To see every book I’ve read since 2013, check out this spreadsheet. It’s full of great recommendations, if I do say so myself.

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🐕 Sneak Peek

We got an early and unexpected Christmas present. I’ll write a whole essay about him soon. For now, it feels good to end a long year with a whole lot of joy. 💛

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👋 About Me: I’m Chrissy Hennessey, an enthusiastic snacker and native New Yorker living in coastal North Carolina, where I stayed after earning my MFA. My writing has appeared in a decent number of journals, I’ve received fellowships to some fancy residencies, and I’ve written three novels, all currently unpublished. This newsletter is a passion project I started in 2019 as a way to connect with readers and writers, share my creative journey, and build a community. Thank you for being here!