2024 Books of the Year

In Ecclesiastes, the Preacher warns, “Of making many books there is no end.” In 2024, those words once again proved true, and WORLD folks sifted through a mountain of titles to determine the year’s best. We’ve chosen five Books of the Year in a variety of categories: history, general nonfiction, Christian nonfiction, fiction, and the arts. We reviewed some of these books in previous issues when they first came out, but now we’re taking a closer look. All of the selections possess both a timeliness and a timelessness. For example, Erik Larson’s The Demon of Unrest depicts a nation tearing itself apart on the eve of the Civil War, and Brad Wilcox’s Get Married demonstrates that, no matter what cultural elites say, marriage provides the foundation for a healthy social order. Life in the Negative World and Poetry as Enchantment help us think about the roles Christianity and the arts respectively play in society. And our fiction selection, Time of the Child, is a modern take on the Christmas story. We’ve also highlighted the best children’s books of the year. The Preacher says, “Much study is a weariness of the flesh,” but we found these books to be a delight and encouragement.

Next in this 2024 Books of the Year special issue: “Small decisions, big consequences.”