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Top Ten Books from 2024

2024 was another excellent year for me when it comes to books. I ended up reading a number of great novels ranging from fantasy works to detective fiction to horror and even comedy. This list reflects on the mix of different works that I read that range from plays to modern books to timeless classics. Here we go.

10. Mort

Mort is a pretty good, but flawed entry in the Discworld series. While I did not love the majority of the second half, I did love that moving and terrific ending. The characterization and pacing were somewhat weak, but some of the ideas introduced here were quite fascinating and the basic premise was superb. The Death character is terrific and the first half is cozy and magical.

9. Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case

Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case is one of the best novels in the series, one that ended Poirot’s story incredibly well. Christie ended his story with so much dignity and spectacle. Hastings is also interesting and their friendship was the emotional highlight of the book. The final twist is ingenious, sophisticated and mostly plausible. It’s a wonderful novel.

8. Equal Rites

Equal Rites is the third novel in the Discworld series and it was a definite improvement upon the previous two entries. While the final conflict was unnecessary and rushed, the rest of the story was charmingly simple, cozy and engaging. The character standouts were Granny Weatherwax and Eskarina. This is a lovely story about feminism that is never too preachy, but genuinely subversive and consistently funny. I did end up preferring it over Mort in the end.

7. The Kite Runner

Flawed but deeply moving, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is a wonderful story of redemption and friendship. This book mixes historical fiction with coming-of-age elements deftly, remaining emotionally exhilarating throughout. There is so much staying power in the author’s culturally rich and authentic descriptions, but also in its intimate tone and its exploration of the issues that face this region of the world. It’s impossible not to love this book.

6. Macbeth

Macbeth isn’t my favorite Shakespeare play as it hinges heavily on its tone and atmosphere, which made it more fitting for the visual mediums of film and theater. But the two leads are iconic Shakespeare characters, beautifully drawn and unforgettable. The tone of danger and darkness made the story so atmospheric while the fantastical elements were quite intriguing. It’s a seemingly simple, but complex tale of ambition, power and gender roles that is truly timeless in quality.

5. The Importance of Being Earnest

Another great play I read this year is this Oscar Wilde masterpiece. The Importance of Being Earnest is renowned for many great reasons. Not only is it thematically rich and a perfect satire of Victorian society and its many hypocrisies and trivialities, but it’s also simply hilarious in its dialogue. It’s immensely funny to read even today, which is a testament to the author’s prowess at writing witty dialogue. This one was an absolute joy to read.

4. Dracula

Bram Stoker’s Dracula ranks among the most essential works of Gothic fiction. This book was not only hugely influential on vampire fiction at large, but it has stood the test of time, being engaging and deliciously atmospheric to this day and age. It features an interesting set of characters, a unique epistolary approach to storytelling and a couple of fascinating themes that dealt deftly with the issues of the time. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric book.

3. The Collector

The Collector by John Fowles is a terrific psychological thriller that is thrilling and wonderfully insightful. It deals with some very interesting themes and it actually develops both of its characters so well that they almost felt real. So well written and tonally unique, the book is also structurally interesting and particularly unforgettable in its instantly memorable beginning and absolutely shocking ending. When it comes to thrillers, you cannot get better than this.

2. Hamlet

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a literary masterpiece. This tragedy has stood the test of time gloriously, still being timeless and effective today. It benefits from iconic characters, superb dialogue, an incredibly rich and diverse writing style and so many powerfully explored, complex themes that tackled the human condition beautifully. It’s a thought-provoking story in its numerous ambiguities and complexities, one that is engaging and sophisticated throughout. Above all else, some of its lines of dialogue stuck with me so much that I still remember them to this day. It’s a hugely influential work.

1. The Portrait of a Lady

And the best novel I read this year has to be The Portrait of a Lady. Henry James’ narration is so incredible, his writing style so polished in its simplicity but also elegance, and the story and characters so interesting that the novel was very engaging to me even in spite of its staggering length. This is a thematically rich, emotionally riveting and sophisticated novel that is timeless in its qualities and one of my absolute favorite novels of the 19^th century. I read numerous classics in 2024, but this one impressed me most with its plot, characters, writing and dialogue. It’s a masterpiece for sure.