36 Short Books to Read in 2024

December 28, 2024

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For fans of: Trust by Hernan Diaz

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If you haven’t already read this 1925 classic or watched one of its many film adaptations, it’s high time you did. The Great Gatsby is one of the most celebrated short books to read on this list. “I consider it to be the ‘Great American Novel,’ and what’s especially nice about this particular classic is its brevity. This makes it that much more accessible to readers of all ages and backgrounds,” says Buonocore. “This Jazz Age story of a wealthy New Yorker haunted by the past and tormented by unrequited love says so much about the American Dream at the same time. It’s a must-read.”

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About the experts

Christine Bollow is the co-owner and director of programs for Loyalty Bookstores in Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Maryland. A 2022 Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree, she currently serves on the DEI Committee for the American Booksellers Association and is a fiction juror for the 2024 Kirkus Prize. She is passionate about championing books by marginalized authors both at Loyalty Bookstores and on her Instagram account, @readingismagical.
Julianne Buonocore is president of the Literary Lifestyle, a virtual reading community for women. She’s been featured by the Today’s Read with Jenna Book Club and several other media outlets. Her essay about books on the TV show Gilmore Girls was published in the book But I’m a Gilmore!
Karie Fugett is an author and freelance editor. Her debut memoir, Alive Day, will be published by The Dial Press in May 2025. She is a freelance proofreader for Row House Books, and her writing has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Vox, Romper, Business Insider and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project’s anthology Going for Broke.
Barbara Basbanes Richter is the founder of DIYBook and In Ink Ghostwriting. She hosts the podcast Writing for Immortality and is a voting member of the National Book Critics Circle, the Grolier Club and the Ticknor Society. She is also the former managing editor of Literary Features Syndicate.

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Sources:

Christine Bollow, co-owner and director of programs for Loyalty Bookstores, fiction juror for the 2024 Kirkus Prize and a champion of books on the Instagram account @readingismagical; email interview, June 2024
Julianne Buonocore, president of the Literary Lifestyle; email interview, May 2024
Karie Fugett, author of the forthcoming memoir Alive Day; email interview, June 2024
Barbara Basbanes Richter, founder of DIYBook and In Ink Ghostwriting, host of the Writing for Immortality podcast and a voting member of the National Book Critics Circle; email interview, June 2024