What a year it’s been!
Martyr! came out of the gate in January as the year’s hottest debut with major book award potential, and while it didn’t win the NBA, it made the shortlist and just about every best-of list around. Jonathan Haidt sparked a new round of phone and social media concern—and some congressional hearings—with The Anxious Generation. James was indisputably the most anticipated novel of the year, and it’s ending the year as the indisputable champion. Simon & Schuster tried—and mostly succeeded—to make fetch happen with the every-genre-and-the-kitchen-sink romp The Ministry of Time. Miranda July launched a thousand midlife crises with her manic pixie perimenopause novel, All Fours (I was not a fan). Sally Rooney got adults out to midnight release parties for Intermezzo. Romantasy ruled BookTok and bestseller lists. Even Louise Erdrich got sprayed edges. A lot happened.
It’s easy to see the It Books of the year in hindsight, and we did just that on a recent episode of the Book Riot Podcast. What’s not easy is guessing each month’s It Book before it even hits shelves, and we do that every month, whittling down a list of 10 contenders to identify the It Book of the Month. Below are the 12 It Books episodes of 2024, complete with title lists.
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