These PEOPLE Book Picks Made Both TIME and Amazon's Top 100 Book Lists

Mar. 15, 2025

As we speed toward the end of 2024, authors, publishers and readers alike anxiously await year-end lists touting the best books of 2024. These lists shout out the most well-received, exciting and innovative reads of the year.And because many of them can overlap, we combed through two of the largest —TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024andAmazon’s Best Books of 2024to pinpoint which great reads made it onto TIME, Amazon and PEOPLE’s lists of the hottest books of the year.Whether you’re looking for a good book to give — or get— this holiday season or want to see which of the critics' choice books you have in your own TBR pile, read on.

As we speed toward the end of 2024, authors, publishers and readers alike anxiously await year-end lists touting the best books of 2024. These lists shout out the most well-received, exciting and innovative reads of the year.

And because many of them can overlap, we combed through two of the largest —TIME Magazine’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2024andAmazon’s Best Books of 2024to pinpoint which great reads made it onto TIME, Amazon and PEOPLE’s lists of the hottest books of the year.

Whether you’re looking for a good book to give — or get— this holiday season or want to see which of the critics' choice books you have in your own TBR pile, read on.

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Amazon

A murder mystery set in Maine is the backdrop for Pulitzer winner Strout’s latest, a stunner that unites beloved characters from her previous books. Attorney Bob Burgess defends the suspect, a loner accused of killing his mother. Meanwhile, Burgess’ friendship with writer Lucy Barton enters a deeper phase and Lucy strikes up a bond with the storied Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement home. Strout’s reflections on life and the significance of storytelling are downright profound. —Claire Martin

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Riverhead Books

In 1961,  the disappearance of the Van Laar’s 8-year-old son left their wealthy family devastated. Now, 14 years later, their teenage daughter has gone missing from a summer camp near the family’s Adirondack estate. Intersecting past and present, Moore keeps the suspense at a fever pitch amid nuanced portraits of the out-of-touch Van Laars, their hangers-on and the locals who both depend on and resent them. A winner.— Kim Hubbard

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Henry Holt and Co.

When the distraught Phoebe checks into the exclusive Cornwall Inn in Newport, R.I., everyone mistakes her for part of the newly-arrived wedding party. Her plans to end it all are flipped upside down when she meets the über-controlling bride who has planned everything meticulously  — and soon conscripts Phoebe into her service. As the two become unlikely confidants, both of their plans slowly shift. A funny, heartwarming paean to the magic of coincidental meetings.

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One World

In this original coming-of-age story, Harvard student Catalina navigates a complicated senior year filled with new relationships and elite circles. She must also consider what graduation will look like for her and her undocumented family.

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When a wealthy, eccentric Palestinian woman moves to New York City, starts teaching at a middle school and gets caught up in a bag-selling scheme, she starts to slowly unravel. Watching her get embroiled in fraud and all that follows is a page-turning delight.

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Tóibín revisits the Brooklyn heroine, Eilis Lacey, a complicated Irish wife and mother with a hard choice to make, after almost two decades. A riveting novel about love, loneliness and loss.

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courtesy

This time-traveling novel follows the Yang family from 2040 back to 2014 and across three continents. The novel introduces the wealthy Shanghai real estate investor Leo Yang, his posh Japanese-French wife, Eko, and their children Yumi, Yoko and Kiko as they deal with a climate disaster, quibbles that come to feel monumental and much more. This gorgeous, resonant novel balances a peek into the future with the present moment.

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Penguin Random House

In what may be Henry’s coziest romance to date, a reserved librarian falls for her new roommate — who’s also her ex’s best friend’s ex. During a coastal Michigan summer, captivating Miles helps Daphne let her guard down, and readers learn it’s never too late to live the life you thought was out of reach. —McKenzie Jean-Phillipe

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MacMillan

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Haidt, a social psychologist, dissects the effects of the “great rewiring of childhood” — looking at how technology has shaped today’s youth, the ways it interferes with neurological and social development, and actions society can take moving forward.

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TheCork Dorkauthor dives deep into the reasons art-lovers and artists alike are so passionate and what we can learn from them. The journey will impact the way you perceive the world.

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MCD

The day veteran book publicist Russell Perreault took his own life, he posted an admiring photo of wildflowers on Instagram. It’s just one of countless puzzles that haunt his friend Crosley. Her memoir charts her personal journey of grief while honoring a complicated man.— Kim Hubbard

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In 1988, the U.S. gunned down an Iranian plane carrying 290 civilians. There were no survivors. Spinning dervish-like around this fact, Akbar’s debut is full of love, fury, humor and wisdom. Protagonist Cyrus Shams — poet, recovering alcoholic and son of one of the passengers — will pull your heart strings.— Marion Winik

source: people.com