Press Release
Booksellers Select the Top Titles Published in the First Half of the Year
New York, NY – June 5, 2024 – Barnes & Noble is thrilled to announce their selections for The Best Books of the Year (So Far). The list is a compilation of categories hand-selected by the B&N bookselling team, each featuring several titles that represent the crème de la crème of books published since January of 2024.
From household names to debut authors, picture books to memoirs, the Best Books of 2024 (So Far) captures the brilliance of publishing in the first half of this memorable year. These 12 unique collections encompass a wide range of genres, highlighting books that will surprise and delight a broad readership, including:
Horror Rewind: 5 VHS Thrills and Chills
They Write, We Score: 10 Sports Romances We Cheer For
Micro to Macro: 7 Science and Nature Titles to Explore and more.
The Cutting Edge: 8 Spredges We're Obsessed With
“It is always a joy — and a challenge — to curate our Best Books lists, and this year has been an exceptional one for new publishing,” said Jackie De Leo, Chief Merchandising Officer, Barnes & Noble. “Instead of conforming to a Top 10-style round-up, our booksellers had the freedom to find the best books within a variety of themes. From broad categories like debut novels, to the very niche, like nostalgic horror stories, we’ve had a blast pulling these lists together. We hope our customers find them as interesting and fun to browse as they were to create.”
Barnes & Noble prides itself on uniting readers and introducing them to their next favorite book. Their booksellers are fueled by a desire to amplify stories that have a lasting effect on the reader. The Best Books of 2024 (So Far) joins the bookseller’s immensely successful literary celebrations, including their annual Children’s & YA Book Awards and Discover Prize Award.
“Our booksellers delved deep into the stacks with these,” said Shannon DeVito, Senior Director of Books, Barnes & Noble. “So much so that we couldn’t limit the number of books on each list — classic bookseller behavior. I am so happy we have these engaging, varied groups of titles that speak to the wide range and impressive depth of publishing we’ve seen so far in 2024.”
Some of the Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2024 (So Far) lists include:Modern Love: 6 Novels That Changed the Way We Think About Relationships
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers: A Novel by Abraham Chang
The Husbands: A Novel by Holly Gramazio
All Fours by Miranda July
Green Dot: A Novel by Madeleine Gray
You Are Here by David Nicholls
A Moment in Time: 9 Histories from Today’s Heavy Hitters
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson
After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations by Eric H. Cline
Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present by Fareed Zakaria
American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850-1873 by Alan Taylor
Burma '44: The Battle That Turned World War II in the East by James Holland
When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Mystery Solved: 8 Best Young Detectives on the Case
A Royal Conundrum: The Misfits by Lisa Yee, Dan Santat (Illustrator)
The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon
The World-Famous Nine by Ben Guterson, Kristina Kister (Illustrator)
The Labyrinth of Lost and Found by Jordan Lees
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
The Liars Society by Alyson Gerber
Roswell Johnson Saves the World! by Chris Colfer
Greenwild: The City Beyond the Sea by Pari Thomson
It’s Good to be Bad: 5 Cozy Fantasies with an Edge
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Customers can see all of the lists here, and will find all of these books and more at their local Barnes & Noble and on bn.com. They can also join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, using the hashtag #BNBestBooksSoFar.
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About Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest retail bookseller in the United States. The Company has over 600 bookstores across the United States, as well as its online bookstore at bn.com, the Nook Digital business which offers both e-books and an audio book subscriptions service, the SparkNotes educational service, and the publisher Union Square & Co. General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be found on the Company's website at www.bn.com.
