The Best Literary Fiction Books of 2024, So Far

There are few pleasures—or responsibilities—I appreciate as much as the chance to survey a whole year’s worth of books. Hundreds of thousands (or millions, depending on what and how you’re counting) of titles are published each year: Giving each the equal consideration they deserve is impossible, but it’s fun to try anyway. After digging—in some cases, literally—through as many books as the ELLE office could squeeze in, we decided to split our annual “best of 2024” list into five categories: literary fiction; nonfiction; fantasy and sci-fi; romance; and mysteries and thrillers.