Booksellers’ Best of 2024

The Safekeep

Yael Van Der Wouden

This book is flawless. Emotionally devastating and cathartic in equal measures, queer and tender, brutal and unforgiving — I read it months ago and still can't think about it without feeling punched in the gut. Bravo. – Sophie C.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep

Sylvie Cathrall

A beautifully written epistolary novel told in two timelines of correspondence and featuring a friends to lovers romance, a unique underwater world, and a touch of mystery! A fantasy perfect for fans of Becky Chambers. – Bethany O.

Your Absence Is Darkness

Jón Kalman Stefánsson (tr. Philip Roughton)

A breathtaking work of intergenerational fiction set upon the gorgeous Icelandic landscape, Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s Your Absence Is Darkness (translated by Philip Roughton) is as fine a novel as they come, teeming with life, love, humor, heartbreak, wisdom — and some of the year’s most beautiful prose. – Jeremy G.

Stories from the Center of the World

Jordan Elgrably (ed.)

A diverse and expansive collection of fiction that reflects the literary richness of the SWANA region. As this country continues to close its borders (and minds) to the world, this book offers a wonderful opportunity to experience this region in all of its beauty and complexity. – John H.

The Eyes are the Best Part

Monika Kim

A frustrating yet ultimately satisfying horror-thriller of a Korean American girl navigating life after her father leaves, her mom shacks up with a racial fetishizer, and her “ally” new friend is suffocating her. They say food is a coping mechanism, and eyes are famously a delicacy in Asia... – Stephanie L.

Asunder

Kerstin Hall

Asunder caught my heart in the most gorgeous, unexpected way. Karys herself is a phenomenal hero. Her journey was enthralling — I’d follow her to the end of the world. (Per the author, a sequel is planned, so I’ll be biting my nails until I get to read that too.) – Carlee B.

City of Laughter

Temim Fruchter

City of Laughter is funny and a deep reflection on what it means to be Jewish, gay, and live with family secrets. Fruchter introduces you to four generations of European Jewish women, with long-held secrets involving a shapeshifting stranger who helps reveal the truth about generational trauma and healing. – Sarah K.

The Spellshop

Sarah Beth Durst

I gravitated toward a lot of cozy fantasy this year and The Spellshop was the crème de la crème! Whimsical and sweet without being cloying, full of heart and an endearing cast of characters. How can you resist a lovable talking spider plant and a nonbinary sentient cactus? Exactly. You can’t! – Carly J.

You Dreamed of Empires

Álvaro Enrigue (tr. Natasha Wimmer)

I learned about this book because a customer asked about it at an information desk, and I am so glad they did. It’s unlike any historical fiction — any novel, really — I’ve ever read. It’s a strikingly compelling, strange, funny alternate history that I immediately started again after finishing. – Alice H.

The God of the Woods

Liz Moore

I mean it when I say I chose this book over sleep every single night until I was finished with it. While this is a mystery novel, it has so much depth, has such incredibly well-developed characters, and is so multi-layered that I would still read this again and again, even after knowing how it ends. – Kayla G.

Way Far Away

Evelio Rosero (tr. Victor Meadowcroft & Anne McLean)

Jeremías is searching for his granddaughter in a town somewhere in the Andes Mountains. He encounters unfriendliness, fog, mice carcasses and no clear path to finding her. This book is presented in such a way that the strange seems real, and I found myself hoping that Jeremías succeeds. – Paul S.

The Anthropologists

Ayşegül Savaş

Listen, Sally Rooney will always be queen of my heart, but I literally can’t get The Anthropologists out of my head. This lovely little book is an absolute delight, and Savaş’s writing hit me right in the feels. Can you list the things that make YOUR life worth living? – Carrie K.

Blue Sisters

Coco Mellors

While Blue Sisters is about family, it feels more like a plunge into cold water than a warm hug. Mellors skillfully crafts a narrative about escapism and avoidance, and how life inevitably catches up to us. This novel is about grief, addiction, chronic pain, and loss. – Veronica M.