Though I read fewer debuts this year (34 so far, down 17% from last year), those that I did read were high quality. 88% of those were successful (up from 85% last year) and you’ll be seeing a few of these make an appearance on my overall Best Books of 2024 list coming later this week. A common theme among the books on this list is that many of them surprised me…and I love that in my reading!
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My #1 Debuts of 2024
Victim by Andrew Boryga
Fans of Yellowface, this 5 star is your next read! Our main character, Javi, grew up in the Bronx in a single mother household (his Dad was a drug dealer who was murdered) with a best friend who fell in with the wrong crowd. Javi discovers at a young age that he can take advantage of his disadvantaged background to get ahead…both in his education and in his writing career after college. So, he does just that by exaggerating and outright lying in his work to disastrous results. Victim is juicy, discussable, and Boryga’s writing pulls you right in. I loved the combination of satirical humor, biting social commentary, and heart, which softened the somewhat dislikable protagonist.
Buy from: Amazon
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten
I’ve been a big fan of Ina Garten’s (aka The Barefoot Contessa) cooking shows and cookbooks for years, so I knew I’d like her memoir, but she went to some unexpected places, which pushed it into 5 star territory. She is a savvy businesswoman and her memoir is just as much a book about entrepreneurship as it is about food and cooking. This is also a book about taking risks. Ina rarely followed the rules and was always doing things in an out of the box way that fit her style and personality, many times against the advice of “the experts.” She delved deep into her unhappy childhood, her marriage, and how she was an early feminist in her life choices. Ina is a warm, comforting presence on TV (and narrating her audiobook) and that feeling comes through in this book, but she also allows the meat behind the warmth to shine through.
Buy from: Amazon
The Rest of the Best Debuts of 2024
Dixon, Descending by Karen Outen
Partially set on Mt. Everest, Dixon, Descending is not what you’d expect! After missing the Olympic team in Track & Field, Dixon settled into a job as a school psychologist and stayed far away from attempting any lofty achievements. Amid this more settled life, Dixon and his brother (Nate) decide to attempt to become the first Black Americans to summit Everest. It took me a minute to get into this one…but, I eventually got REALLY into it and it ended up deeply affecting me. I think readers expect a Mt. Everest book to be a page turner, but this book was much sadder than I expected. It’s emotional and focuses a lot on the aftermath of the climb. And, Outen’s research into what it’s like to climb Mt. Everest and why an average citizen would attempt it is top notch. A unique and deeper than usual take on the Mt. Everest novel.
Buy from: Amazon
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
Fire Exit is a quiet, reflective book, but I never wanted to stop turning the pages. Charles (who is White), lives across Maine’s Penobscot Bay from his daughter, Elizabeth, who lives on the reservation. For years, Charles has watched Elizabeth go about her daily life, but he hasn’t seen her in weeks and is worried about her. Elizabeth’s paternity is a secret, but Charles no longer wants to keep that secret. This story is NOT about Elizabeth’s whereabouts, rather it’s Charles’ story. He’s questioning his decision to allow Elizabeth’s mother to keep her paternity a secret, taking care of his mentally ill mother, revisiting his complicity in his stepfather’s death, and dealing with his alcoholic friend. There’s a lot of melancholy, but also hope and tenderness here.
Buy from: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Libro.fm (Audio)
How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
This Reese’s Book Club pick has everything I always look for in a romance novel: great writing, depth, and a behind the scenes look at a particular industry (in this case, book to screen adaptation screenwriting). Helen and Grant lives were bound together in high school by a tragic accident. Years later, Grant has been hired to lead the writers’ room for the screen adaptation of Helen’s successful YA series and Helen is also working in the writer’s room. The author is a screenwriter herself working on adapting Emily Henry’s books for the screen, so the depiction of the writer’s room is authentic. And, in this case, the depth comes from Helen and Grant dealing with grief, healing, family attachments, and Helen is dealing with generational and cultural differences with her Chinese immigrant parents. This enemies to lovers romance is SUPER steamy.
Buy from: Amazon
Only Say Good Things
In the vein of Open Book by Jessica Simpson, this memoir is much deeper, more reflective, and surprisingly good than you’d expect. Crystal was a Playboy bunny and Hugh Hefner’s Girlfriend #1 for a time before finally becoming Hef’s wife. She was married to him when he died and, after his death, was put in charge of his foundation. She was also unofficially in charge of making sure his narrative was positive after his death. I could see Lara Love Hardin’s (Hefner’s co-writer and the author of The Many Lives of Mama Love) hand in the writing and she knows how to tell a story in an extremely compelling way with lots of excellent turns of phrase. Highly recommend on audio narrated beautifully by the author.
Buy from: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Libro.fm (Audio)
River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure
I was pleasantly surprised by how good this part coming of age, part untraditional family drama, and part social drama was AND the topics it covered. The story is told in dual timelines: Shanghai (2007) starring 14 year old girl Alva who is being raised by her American expat single mother and longs to move to America and Qingdao (1985) starring Lu Dang (the landlord Alva’s mother gets engaged to) re-evaluating his future as a young newlywed amid China’s Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward. The story of Sloan (Alva’s mom) and Lu Dang is much more interesting than it appears on the surface and the book overall is more fast-paced than I expected. Note: there are some very steamy sex scenes in here.
Buy from: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Libro.fm (Audio)
Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
Shred Sisters is a story about what happens when there’s one person in the family who sucks all the air out of the room. One incredibly complicated, damaging, toxic person who permeates everyone and everything around them. The Shred family is rocked when Olivia, their daughter who suffers from mental illness and has always gotten the limelight, starts to behave erratically. Her younger sister, Amy, who is super smart and quieter, butts up against Olivia for much of her life. Shred Sisters opens with a literal bang, but not a gunshot-type bang. You’re pulled right into the story and I read it in a couple days. Shred Sisters will be deeply relatable to anyone who has lived in close proximity to and/or been responsible for an extremely chaotic person, whether a family member or not.
Buy from: Amazon | Bookshop.org
Sociopath by Patric Gagne
There’ve been many nonfiction books about sociopaths, BUT I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nonfiction book written about sociopaths BY a diagnosed sociopath…and Gagne also has her PHD in Clinical Psychology. The Prologue is jarring and SUPER compelling. The entire book is deeply uncomfortable and I could not look away. Gagne helps readers understand what it’s like to actually BE a sociopath and she enabled me to have some empathy for these types of people. They are aware that they don’t feel and they WANT to feel, but they just can’t. Raw, uncomfortable, and honest!
Affiliate Link: Amazon
The Wives by Simone Gorrindo
This memoir about what it’s like to be the wife of someone in the Army, in this case Special Operations, is high quality with depth and nuance…and it took me by surprise. Simone reluctantly moves with her new husband from New York City to Columbus, GA when he joins an elite Army unit. In GA, Simone struggles with life alone while her husband is deployed, but meeting a group of “Army wives” changes things for her. Simone goes through a tumultuous emotional journey with her feelings about the military and her husband becoming a “trained killer.” But, The Wives is ultimately a celebration of the bond and support network she’s a part of with the other wives who are in her same boat. Simone’s writing is gorgeous and I was totally immersed in her story (despite having no particular interest in or experience with the military).
Buy from: Amazon | Bookshop.org
What are your favorite debuts of 2024?
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I have read so many of these! The Wives, Sociopath, and Only Say Good Things loved all 3. Shred Sisters and How To End a Love Story are on my Kindle for traveling over Christmas and I am waiting on Ina Garten’s from the library. Thanks for all the great suggestions!