Top Reads of 2024

Dec 11, 2024 - Waterloo Public Library
Read / Watch List

‘Tis the season… to review the year’s most popular reads! You, our wonderful library customers, borrowed a LOT of digital and physical books over the last 12 months, but some were more popular than others. Browse the lists below to see the top books of 2024 in adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction.

Adult Fiction

The Ministry of Time
Kailane Bradley
We Solve Murders
Richard Osman
The Au Pair Affair
Tessa Bailey
Cockroach
Rawl Hage
A Great Country
Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Sanctuary
Nora Roberts
The Grey Wolf
Louise Penny
The Women
Kristin Hannah
The Briar Club
Kate Quinn
A Game of Lies
Clare Mackintosh
Denison Avenue
Christina Wong
This Summer Will Be Different
Carley Fortune
The Midnight Feast
Lucy Foley
Camino Ghosts
John Grisham
One Perfect Couple
Ruth Ware
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel
Alexander McCall Smith
Polostan
Neal Stephenson
Just for the Summer
Abby Jimenez
I Will Ruin You
Linwood Barclay
What Have You Done
Shari Lapena

Adult Non-Fiction

The War We Won Apart: The Untold Story of Two Elite Agents Who Became One of the Most Decorated Couples of WWII
Nahlah Ayed
Easy Weeknight Dinners: 100 Fast, Flavor-packed Meals for Busy People Who Still Want Something Good to Eat
Emily Weinstein
Nexus: a Brief History of Information Networks From the Stone Age to AI
Yuval Noah Harari
Who We Are: Four Questions For a Life and a Nation
Murray Sinclair
40 Days & 40 Hikes: Loving the Bruce Trail One Loop at a Time
Nicola Ross
Rich Dad Poor Dad: With Updates for Today's World and 9 New Study Session Sections
Robert T. Kiyosaki
Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
Malcolm Gladwell
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Jonathan Haidt
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir
Ina Garten
Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
John Grisham, Jim McCloskey
The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards: A Memoir
Jessica Waite
The Nature of Our Cities: Harnessing the Power of the Natural World to Survive a Changing Planet
Nadina Galle
War
Bob Woodward
What I Ate in One Year (and Related Thoughts)
Stanley Tucci
At a Loss for Words: Conversation in An Age of Rage
Carol Off
The Backyard Bird Chronicles
Amy Tan
Soups, Salads, Sandwiches
Matty Matheson
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
Erik Larson

Teen

The Grandest Game
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Heir
Sabaa Tahir
Nothing Like the Movies
Lynn Painter
When the World Tips Over
Jandy Nelson
Ultimate Spiderman 1: Married with Children
Jonathan Hickman
Empire of Storms
Sarah J. Maas
Scott Pilgrim 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe
Bryan Lee O'Malley
Heartstopper, Volume 5
Alice Oseman
Ruthless Vows
Rebecca Ross
Powerless
Lauren Roberts
I Hope This Doesn't Find You
Ann Liang
When Haru Was Here
Dustin Thao
Such Charming Liars
Karen M. McManus
The Reappearance of Rachel Price
Holly Jackson
All the Jingle Ladies
Beth Garrod
Tower of Dawn
Sarah J. Maas
The Prisoner's Throne: A Novel of Elfhame
Holly Black
Chainsaw Man, Volume 16: Ordinary Happiness
Tatsuki Fujimoto
The Getaway List
Emma Lord
Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair
Lucy Knisley

Picturebooks

The Snail and the Whale
Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
Rory the Remarkable Dragon
Kathryn Rammell
You're Going to Love This Book!
Jory John; pictures by Olivier Tallec
Hippos Remain Calm
Sandra Boynton
Don't Trust Cats (Life Lessons From Chip the Dog)
Dev Petty; illustrated by Mike Boldt
How Do Dinosaurs Go to School
Jane Yolen; illustrated by Mark Teague
I Quit
Kristen Tracy; pictures by Federico Fabiani
Peppa Pig and the Nature Walk
Bounce!
Robert Munsch; illustrations by Michael Martchenko
Construction Site: Garbage Crew to the Rescue!
Sherri Duskey Rinker & AG Ford
The Tooth Fairy and the Crocodile
Julia Donaldson & Lydia Monks
Get Out of Bed!
Robert Munsch; illustrated by Dave Whamond
Gertie is Not All Dogs
Siski Kalla
A Unicorn, a Dinosaur, and a Shark Were Riding a Bicycle
Jonathan Fenske
Paint With Ploof
Ben Clanton & Andy Chou Musser
Pete the Cat Screams for Ice Cream!
Kimberly & James Dean
5 More Sleeps 'Til Halloween
Jimmy Fallon; illustrated by Rich Deas
Agent Unicorn
Jenny Alvarado
Mermaid Helper
Christy Webster; illustrations by Kaley McCabe
The Digger and the Dark
Joseph Kuefler

Junior Fiction

Tig
Heather Smith
Spy School Goes Wild
Stuart Gibbs
Impossible Creatures
Katherine Rundell; with art by Ashley Mackenzie
Faker
Gordon Korman
The Bletchley Riddle
Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Tales From a Not-so-bratty Little Sister
Rachel Renée Russell
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess
Jeff Kinney
Firewing
Kenneth Oppel
The Ice Monster
David Walliams; illustrated by Tony Ross
Mr. Lemoncello's Fantabulous Finale
Chris Grabenstein
Operation Chaos
Lisa McMann
Liar Liar
Sarah Mlynowski
Wrath of the Triple Goddess
Rick Riordan
The Princess in Black and the kitty catastrophe
Shannon Hale & Dean Hale; illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Ready. Set. Respawn!
Caleb Zane Huett; illustrated by Alan Batson and Chris Hill
Slugfest
Gordon Korman
House of Elephants
Claribel A. Ortega
The Realms of the Gods
Tamora Pierce
Skandar and the Skeleton Curse
A.F. Steadman
Wind
Erin Hunter

Junior Non-Fiction

The Big, Fun Kids Baking Book
Editor in chief, Maile Carpenter; executive editor, Liz Sgrol; illustrations by Amy Kaffka
Team Green!
Andrea Beaty & Dr. Theanne Griffith
Growing Up: An Inclusive Guide to Puberty and Your Changing Body
Rachel Greener; illustrated by Clare Owen
STEM Activity Lab: Fantastic Projects For Young Scientists
Jack Challoner
Tell Us Apart: A Who's Who of Confusing Animals
Lucy Thorn & Lucy Rose
Super Space Encyclopedia
Clive Gifford
Monstrous Mammals
Jerry Pallotta; illustrated by Rob Bolster
Let's Find Pokémon!
Kazunori Aihara
Taylor Swift
Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara; illustrated by Borghild Fallberg
This Day in History For Kids: 1,001 Remarkable Moments & Fascinating Facts
Dan Bova; illustrations by Russell Shaw
Amazing Space: The Most Incredible Features of the Known Universe
Sophie Allan & Josh Barker; illustrated by Tim Smart
Look and Cook Breakfast: A First Book of Recipes in Pictures
Valorie Fisher
Can We Live On Mars?
Giles Sparrow; illustrated by el primo Ramón
5-minute Hockey Stories: All-star Edition
Peter Norman; illustrated by Chelsea Charles
An Anthology of Fungi
Ali Ashby & Lynne Boddy; illustrated by Angela Rizza & Olivier Ribbe
An Anthology of Rocks and Minerals
Devin Dennie; illustrated by Angela Rizza & Olivier Ribbe
Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet
Geo Rutherford
I Am Money: And I Don't Grow on Trees
Julia Cook & Garrett Gunderson; pictures by Josh Cleland
Grow: A Family Guide to Plants and How to Grow Them
Riz Reyes; illustrated by Sara Boccaccini Meadows
The Heartbeat Drum: The Story of Carol Powder, Cree Drummer and Activist
Deidre Havrelock; illustrated by Aphelandra

Junior Graphic Novels

LankyBox: Epic Adventure!
Youtubers, Adam & Justin of LankyBox; illustrated by Alex Lopez
Agents of S.U.I.T.: From Badger to Worse
John Patrick Green & Christopher Hastings; illustrated by Pat Lewis
Pocket Peaches: At the Fair
Dora Wang
Cat on the Run: Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness!
Aaron Blabey
Always Anthony
Terri Libensonv
Big Nate: A Good Old-fashioned Wedgie
Lincoln Peirce
Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder
Written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey as George Beard & Harold Hutchins
Simon and Chester: Super friends!
Cale Atkinson
Barkham Asylum
Written, drawn, and colored by Yehudi Mercado
Bad Kitty: Bad Kitty Makes a Movie
Nick Bruel
Diary of an 8-bit Warrior Graphic Novel: An Op Alliance
Cube Kid; story adapted by Pirate Sourcil; illustrated by Jez
The Baby-sitters Club: Claudia and the Bad Joke (A Graphic Novel)
Arley Nopra
The Girl Who Sang: a Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival
Estelle Nadel with Sammy Savos & Bethany Strout; art by Sammy Savos
Sweet Valley Twins (Volume 4): The Haunted House
Francine Pascal; adaptation written by Nicole Andelfinger; illustrated by Knack Whittle
The 39 Clues (Book Two): One False Note
Gordon Korman; a graphic novel by Hannah Templer
Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House: Afternoon on the Amazon (The Graphic Novel)
Adapted by Jenny Laird; with art by Kelly & Nichole Matthews
Sonic the Hedgehog: Adventure Awaits
Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, Nigel Kitching & more; art by Thomas Rothlisberger, Evan Stanley, Adam Bryce Thomas & more
Scaredy's Nutty Adventures: Scaredy Squirrel Scared Silly
Mélanie Watt
Amulet (Book Nine): Waverider
Kazu Kibuishi
Plants vs. Zombies: Zapped
Paul Tobin; art by Christianne Gillenardo-Goudreau
Waterloo Public Library

WPL’s Check It Out blog is your go-to destination for all things literary, curated with care by your trusted library staff. With insightful book reviews, reading suggestions, helpful resources and more, we’re here to inspire and guide you on your journey through all that the library has to offer.