We may be a bit technology-obsessed here, but the Engadget team does occasionally get around to low-tech activities, like reading.Well, some of us read on ereaders or our smartphones, but you get the point — books are great, and we read some exceptional ones this year that each deserve a shoutout.These are some of the best books we read in 2024.Quick OverviewAfter World$16 at AmazonI Was A Teenage Slasher$19 at AmazonFinal Cut$24 at AmazonAll FoursMore options$20 at Amazon$26 at Macy's$29 at Books-A-Million (BAM!)James$18 at AmazonHousekeeping$16 at AmazonBeautyland$16 at AmazonBurn$21 at AmazonBurnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle$21 at AmazonSee 4 moreSimon & SchusterAfter World is the first novel by Debbie Urbanski and, boy oh boy, is it a doozy.
I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since I read it back in January.Simply put? The book chronicles a climate-based apocalypse from the vantage point of a (potentially) sentient AI.It follows the last human on Earth, a young woman named Sen, whose final experiences are being catalogued as part of an archival project.
The narrator is an AI who jumps around Sen’s life at will, often repeating anecdotes in slightly different ways as it re-examines its subject and humanity as a whole.Being as how archival practices are so integral to the story here, chapters also include made-up near-future news articles and essays that discuss the final decades of humankind.These are really well done and, unfortunately, all-too-plausible.
I have just one warning to would-be readers.This was the most emotionally devastating book I read this year, even if there are little bits of levity here and there.I can almost guarantee, however, that it’ll get stuck in your craw.
$16 at AmazonS&S/Saga PressI Was A Teenage SlasherI did a of reading in 2024, and was pretty lucky to have (mostly) enjoyed all the books and comics I picked up.That could have made it difficult to choose favorites when it came time to reflect on the year, but there was no question in my mind about which book I loved most, because one in particular fully knocked me on my ass, ripped my heart out, made me laugh, made me cry, etc., etc., etc.: Stephen Graham Jones’ .Now, wouldn’t seem like the kind story that’d leave you weeping about love and the power of friendship if you’re, you know, judging a book by its cover.
The slasher genre isn’t exactly known for emotional depth, so if you went into this thinking you were just in for a classic revenge-killing spree with some teenage antics mixed in, I wouldn’t blame you.And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong — this book indeed has those things.But the supernatural slasher element, while being a major part of the plot, feels secondary to the rollercoaster coming of age story that’s really at its heart.
Tolly Driver doesn’t want to be a slasher, but he is.It’s in his blood, thanks to a string of freak incidents that aligned in just the right way to seal his fate.Amber, his best friend and truly a ride-or-die, has lots of knowledge on the subject and essentially becomes his trip guide on this bewildering journey.
deals with a lot of difficult subjects, like the grief of losing a parent young, something I instantly related to, the pressure of trying to do right by the people you love, and the terrifying reality of growing up and growing into yourself.But it's also very often funny, which helped offset all the gore and tragedy. This is the second year in a row a Stephen Graham Jones book has landed at the top of my list, which isn’t surprising because I’m a big fan, but is really on another level.It isn’t just one of my favorite books of the year, it’s probably one of my favorite books ever.
I wanted to start it over the second I finished reading it, but I couldn’t because I was crying too hard.— $19 at AmazonPantheonFinal CutCharles Burns’ is less overtly bizarre than some of his other works, though still very much a surreal ride as we see the world through the awkward and often delusional lens of aspiring filmmaker, Brian.Brian is obsessed with classic sci-fi horror movies like , and takes his own art seriously.
He’s also crushing hard on Laurie, the star of a film he's planning.When Brian and a small group of friends go on a weekend trip to a remote cabin to film the movie, his yearning seems to grow stronger than his grasp on reality.There are several moments in this book where the actions of these characters feels so real it was almost hard to read — I wanted to shake them, tell them to just stop talking.
Those moments of realness are balanced with a morose dreaminess throughout the book that makes everything feel a little unsettling.Burns’ illustrations are breathtaking, and really give life to Brian’s mental state and the uncomfortable dynamics of the situation.It’s a beautiful, somber exploration of mental health and obsession that it’d be hard not to connect with on some level.
$24 at AmazonRiverhead BooksAll FoursI was confused when got so much acclaim, topping year-end lists everywhere.Not because it wasn’t good — it’s insightful and moving and hilarious, with turns of phrase that feel completely new yet ancient in their truth.I was confused because how could a book that was so obviously written for me become so widely popular? As a 45-year-old perimenopausal woman/wife/mom who overthinks everything and is currently navigating the “end” of her “utility” and the upheaval/hormonal instability that brings, reading a book about a 45-year-old perimenopausal woman/wife/mom analyzing her way through that same drama was a trip.
Of course, the unnamed character in the book goes about understanding this transition with far more adventure and abandon than I could ever.She turns a solo cross-country road trip into a secret three-week stay just 20 minutes from her home in a nondescript motel room that she redecorates to resemble a Parisian hotel suite.This then becomes the base camp for an affair with no sex, as well as the stage for a methodical examination (which includes lots of sex) of what it means to crest the top of the hill — and whether what’s waiting on the other side is freedom and inspiration or a steadily accelerating skid towards death.
$20 at AmazonExplore More Buying Options$26 at Macy's$29 at Books-A-Million (BAM!)DoubledayJamesAs an English major with a focus on American literature, I had multiple encounters with Mark Twain’s .High school teachers and university professors dove deep into the classic, hailing it as a reckoning with the country’s fucked up inception as a slavery-based society.I dutifully admired the book, but as time passed, couldn’t help but see it as a little problematic.
What would Jim have to say about what was really his “adventure”? elevates Huck’s travelling companion from sidekick (at best, and prop at worst) to a fully-formed human dealing with the unfathomable injustices and terrors his status as an enslaved person brings.It’s a retelling that reinstates the more important perspective to an American classic, but it’s no academic rectification.It’s a funny and horrifying page-turning epic that goes well beyond the boundaries of Twain’s story.
Everett’s James is a code-switching philosopher who has extended conversations with Voltaire about slavery and we see his relationship with Huck is far more layered than we knew.The raft-borne journey down the Mississippi is both more thrilling and harrowing than we remember, now that there’s a proper accounting of what's really at stake.$18 at AmazonSt.
Martin's PressHousekeeping is, to oversimplify, weird.The novel's center — a home, in a fictional and remote town in Idaho — is both pastoral and destitute.In and around the walls of this fragile domesticity, piles subtle meaning and generational trauma seemingly aimlessly, just the way clutter grows to fill any space.
Admittedly I grew frustrated partway into its relatively lean 219 pages, wondering what all this detail and backstory did, what exactly it was for.The answer is nothing.That's not how life works. It's a story of orphans, and how we're all orphaned; transients, and temporariness in general.
It all weaves together to form not the arc of a plot, but the threads of a unique and deeply affecting cosmology.$16 at AmazonFarrar, Straus and GirouxBeautyland is an excellent example of light sci-fi: it starts on the day Voyager 1 is launched, aliens may or may not be communicating via fax and you're never really sure if the protagonist Adina Giorno is of the Earth or not.It almost doesn't matter, as the book is less about possible extraterrestrial origins and more a study of a person who doesn't quite feel at home in their skin. The writing fits the alienation of the main character perfectly; it's matter-of-fact, a little awkward but unflinchingly real.
It's in the same vein of Emily St.John Mandel's and two other books that use some sci-fi/post-apocalyptic tropes to tell exceedingly human stories.$16 at AmazonKnopfBurnWhen I read Peter Heller's it was already a bit too real — and that was before the election.
Reading it now, its story of two men out camping in the Maine wilderness who wake up to find the state in the middle of a violent secession crisis could just be too much to handle.But Heller is a great storyteller, and the combo of extreme tension, confusion, moments of levity and moments of action keep it a compelling page-turner despite the grim subject matter. It's not a book of concrete answers, as the reader is usually just as in the dark as Jess and Storey are, and I was a little bit disappointed to exit the world when the book ended without knowing But spilling all the beans wouldn't have been true to Heller's vision, and is ultimately better for it.$21 at AmazonBallantine BooksBurnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress CycleThere is some irony to be appreciated, I'm sure, about my being too busy to finish reading a book about the stress of being too busy.
But even though I've yet to get to the end of , by sisters Emily and Amelia Nagoski, I already feel like I've benefitted.Around late summer and the beginning of fall, my anxiety grew relentless and I was struggling to breathe every day.I've had this anxiety symptom for years, so I knew it wasn't physiological.
The anxiety was then joined by constant frustration and random bouts of crying, as work and life started to overwhelm me.I knew something was off, and was looking everywhere for help.Finally, in the first half of , I read about completing the stress cycle and separating the stress from the stressor.
I took some of the advice that the Nagoskis recommended, and finally found what I needed: to turn my brain off for at least an hour a day.Emily Nagoski is probably best known for her book , which many people recommend for its scientific and straightforward approach to sex.I started reading that book first, finding Nagoski's style engaging, educational and entertaining.
She wasn't just talking about sex and the (limited) science around it — she was also explaining psychological and behavioral concepts that play into all aspects of life, in or out of the bedroom., which was originally published in 2019, is much the same.It provides clear, relatable descriptions of situations, followed by cogent explanations of what is happening on a physiological and mental level.
Then, through examples and easy-to-follow lists of actions, the Nagoskis explain ways to alleviate burnout.I still feel burned out, of course, and look forward to being able to finish the book soon.But even having read only part of it, I know that is one of my favorite books I've read ever, not to mention in 2024.
— $21 at Amazon