Our favorite books to read in 2024

I did a a lot to be read in 2024 and I was very lucky to (mostly) enjoy all the books and comics I picked up. This might have made it difficult to pick favorites when it came time to reflect on the year, but there was no doubt in my mind which book I loved the most, because one in particular completely knocked me over, ripped my heart out, made me laugh, made me to cry, etc., etc., etc.: Stephen Graham Jones I was a teenage slasher.

now I was a teenage slasher it won’t seem like a kind story that will make you cry about love and the power of friendship if, you know, you judge a book by its cover. The slasher genre isn’t known for its emotional depth, so if you went into it thinking you were in for some classic murderous revenge with some teenage antics, I wouldn’t blame you. And you wouldn’t be entirely wrong – this book really does have those things. But the supernatural slasher element, while a major part of the plot, feels secondary to the roller coaster coming-of-age story that’s really at its heart.

Tolly Driver doesn’t want to be a slasher, but it is. It’s in his blood, thanks to a series of strange incidents lined up just right to seal his fate. Amber, his best friend and a true rider or die, has a lot of knowledge on the subject and essentially becomes his guide on this confusing journey. I was a teenage slasher deals with many difficult subjects such as the grief of losing a parent young, something I instantly related to, the pressure to try to do right by the people you love, and the terrifying reality of growing up and growing into yourself. But it’s also very often funny, which helped offset all the gore and tragedy.

This is the second year in a row that a Stephen Graham Jones book has topped my list, which isn’t surprising because I’m a huge fan, but I was a teenage slasher it really is on another level. This isn’t just one of my favorite books of the year, it’s probably one of my favorite books ever. I wanted to start it over as soon as I read it, but I couldn’t because I was crying so hard. — Cheyenne McDonald, Weekend Editor