Top 10 Favorite Books of 2024 | We Are So Back

Also kinda funny that the one year Ruocchio doesn't release a book was the last year, when he would have had a good chance at book of the year.

Anyway, I read multiple amazing books this year, and found some new favorite authors, but only one can be my favorite book of 2024, and it came out of left field.

0:00 start
0:44 me just lying about what this video is about for like 30 seconds (oops)
1:10 strength of the list compared to previous years
2:40 10
4:25 9
7:02 8
9:16 7
14:08 6
18:49 5
23:28 4
25:09 3
29:14 2
33:08 1

So I conquered Alex Nieves discord, and i'm putting the link down here so people can join, but not telling anyone about it so not too many people join:

Intro music: Music is by Budapest BluesBoy
the music is is Creative Commons licensed for commercial use

[BooksWithBenghisKahn]

list, can’t wait to read Memory and Blood over Bright Haven SOON, and Ada Palmer soonish. Thanks for getting me to try Vorkosigan!!!!

What an upset for book of the year! Gotta try that one too.

[andreiiancu]

Chosing the unibomber manifesto as his number 1 was kind of brave

[adamborst]

Can wait to get through the replay, couldn't make the initial release premier. Got a lucky pause around 13:30 where you have a sly grin on your face that reminds me of my 5 year old when he gets a good or cool idea about a tower or something he wants to build. I'm hoping the rest of this list past Ruocchio are super-bangers. Happy New Year!

[Ray.]

So excited to start Ada Palmer, my library copy of too like the lightning is on its way!

Also, your praise for a monster calls is making me want to read it again. I read it sooo many years ago and liked it but I suspect I would get more out of it this time.

(You kinda changed my life with the Lions of Al-Rassan recommendation btw, read it last month and cried my eyes out.)

[esmayrosalyne]

I am soooo happy for you that 2025 was so much better than last year. You've got me beyond excited to start Sun Eater, Vorkosigan and Ada Palmer. And Blood Over Bright Haven was one of my priority reads of last year and it just didn't happen... oops. Gotta rectify that mistake.
My top 10 of the year was:
1. Asunder by Kerstin Hall
2. Obsidian: Revelation by Sienna Frost
3. Hell For Hire by Rachel Aaron
4. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
5. Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff
6. The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting by Evanna Lynch
7. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
8. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
9. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
10. Riven Earth by Zammar Ahmer

Happy new year and happy reading!! 🥰

[Jeremy_LeJeune]

Thanks for the video, list, and your thoughts! Happy your reading year was so good. I actually picked up and read A Monster Calls after you mentioned it in your video at Dragonsteel Nexus. While it didn't hit me quite as hard as it did you, I still really enjoyed it. To be as vague as possible, I also cried at the mom part. So thanks for the recommendation! Cheers to 2025 reads

[fithfath]

A great list Jake. Great to see De Lint make the list.
I am hoping to read some Ada Palmer this year and M L Wang.
My top 10 for 2024 contains The Curse Of Chalion which you recommended which adds a nice bit reciprocity to the year.
My Top 10 being:
1. One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest – Ken Kesey
2. Memory And Dream – Charles De Lint (re-read)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
4. Dead Water – C A Fletcher
5. The Curse Of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold
6. Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
7. Flowers For Algernon – Daniel Keyes
8. The Seasons Of Albadone - Elan Marche & Christopher Warman
9. The Rage Of Dragons – Evan Winter
10. The Forgotten Beasts Of Eld - Patricia A McKillip

[Beech]

War and Peace also demonstrates Tolstoy’s ability to write deeply human truths in such a way that you feel you’re given a revelation that you paradoxically already knew. But it’s also a giant bonkers soap opera with the romance and violence the title implies, told with an expansive cast, rapid POV changes, and punchy chapters.

I think it’s honestly one of the easiest classic recs for epic fantasy fans—doubly so since you liked one of his shorts.

[ZOMGfantasy]

Jake, you've completely sold me on Memory & Dream. And l still have to read Ada Palmer, McCammon, & Suneater, jeez!


Love that you had such a great year of reading! Here's to another awesome year in 2025. That #1 pick was a proper surprise! I must check it out!

You may be happy to know that both LoE & A Brightness Long Ago steamrolled into my own top 10 of 2024 list hehe 😁

[Coleton]

I just put A Monster Calls on hold at my library. I'll be reading it very soon because after finishing The Bonehunters I'm taking a break from big books and going to chill out with shorter stuff for a while. 😅
I definitely think you'll like Speaks the Nightbird even more than Boy's Life. I hope you get to it this year! This was a really cool list, I'm excited to try Terra Ignota.

[samuelleask]

Damn I’ve really gotta board the Sun Eater hype train soon, I met Christopher Ruocchio at Dragonsteel and he was such a gentleman

[marianamasbooks]

Awesome list! I always end up with so many recommendations after your favorite book videos! I totally agree with what you said about pain and hope!! ❤️‍🔥 Books with only tragedy end up boring me because it just feels like the author was going for shock factor. 🙃 …A Monster Calls has been on my tbr for forever but I’m scared to read it 😅
Other thoughts:
-Bujold is my favorite character writer after Robin Hobb! She has quickly become one of my favorite authors ❤️ (I’ve only read the first two Vorkosigan books so far because I got hooked on the Penric novellas).
-I already had Ada Palmer on my wtr, but I just googled her and she’s a historian! 👀👀👀🔥 I need to listen to her podcast with Jo Walton. (Who I also love and need to read more).
-I didn’t know Charles de Lint, adding him to my list.

[darmokandjalad]

The podcast episode is "Pacing with Ken Liu, " on Ex Urbe Ad Astra, hosted by Ada Palmer and Jo Walton. Great episode and great show!!!

[Gltch]

I’d have had DQ in mine if not for feeling absolutely nothing towards Cassandra. Was really looking forward to that dynamic but it didn’t get there for me

[Varumitto]

A random unsolicited recommendation: check out Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić. Has some cringe political commentary, but it is also the best fantasy book set in "dream magic" kind of setting I've read. Reading it really created a feeling of being in another world right on the doorstep of our own like nothing else I have read.

[Page_max]

Obligatory Recommendation:

1. The expanse series by James S A Corey

2. HxH by Yoshihiro togashi

3. Dungeon Crawler Carl

[Christian-utsp]

Not trying to be snarky, but just so you know it’s pronounced “Tol-stoy” (stoy like toy with an s before). Glad you loved the book!

[iSamwise]

Sounds like a great year of reading! That’s crazy that DG was a favorite Sun Eater book and it didn’t crack the top five! Guess it’s just that kind of year!!!
Personally I found all the religious stuff in DG to work pretty well. It’s presented a lot more abstract and…metaphysical than say the Catechism or anything, but I get why some people are turned off. I honestly think Shadows Upon Time is my most anticipated book of 2025. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[Belemrys]

Interested where Disquiet Gods is in the list!

[paulwilliams]

Since you liked de Lint so much, you may like Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood.

Also, read Tim Powers. He’s too little read and yet he’s awesome. Ruocchio is a fan :)