PEOPLE Picks the Best 10 Books of 2024, Including Al Pacino's Memoir, Sally Rooney's Latest and More

Mar. 15, 2025

A selection of PEOPLE’s Top 10 Books of 2024.

01of 10

In 1961 Bear Van Laar, 8, disappeared without a trace. Now, 14 years later, Bear’s teen sister has gone missing too. This taut dual-timeline suspense novel masterfully handles class and privilege.

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02of 10

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

After their father’s death, brothers Peter, a lawyer, and Ivan, a competitive chess player, navigate very different relationships. A quiet, poignant novel about love and grief.

03of 10

This romp of a spy thriller-meets-romance sees a civil servant help a time traveler from 1847 adjust to the modern world. But they soon question the program that united them.

04of 10

Four years after former best friends and lovers Kit and Theo break up, they end up on a European food tour together. To prove they’re really over the split, they have a hookup competition. Spicy, sexy and delicious. Grab a snack before you crack this one open — trust me.

05of 10

National Book Awards

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Harvard senior Catalina must reckon with what graduation will mean for her and her undocumented family in this sharp coming-of-age story.

07of 10

Spanning the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and two generations at the notoriously cruel Carlisle Indian Industrial School, this is a heart-wrenching saga of trauma, friendship and hope.

08of 10

Little, Brown and Company

The late novelist reveals his struggle to overcome the legacy of his famous Beat Generation father and his remarkable bond with his rescued Siberian Forest cat Masha.

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Penguin Press

The rare celebrity memoir that’s also a literary read. As funny as it is reflective, it shares stories behind Pacino’s hardscrabble upbringing, classic films and journey to icon status.

10of 10

source: people.com