Favorite 2024 books from Axios New Orleans readers
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
We asked Axios New Orleans readers earlier this week to share with us their favorite books of 2024.
Why it matters: You delivered!
The big picture: Some of the things y'all read this year made you laugh. Some of the things you read made you cry.
- But all of it, if your explanations are to be believed, made you think a little bit harder about a different life experience, and isn't that what the best books always do?
- I think so, anyway.
Zoom in: The top read amongst Axios New Orleans readers was "The Women" by Kristin Hannah.
- The book, which was published in February, follows the story of a young woman in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War.
- "The Women" was tapped as a favorite for several readers, including Amy W., Janet M. and Kendall K.
Jacob E.'s favorite read was "The Man in the Banana Trees," a debut collection of short stories by New Orleans writer Marguerite Sheffer.
- The collection "is weird and speculative and relatable and human," Jacob told us.
- It's "one of those books where, at several points, I felt like some new trench was being dug in my mind to water some newly sprouted idea."
"The Thursday Murder Club" was among Terri T.'s favorites.
- 💠Chelsea's thought bubble: I just read the first one in that series and found the septuagenarian and octogenarian perspectives to be gently beautiful — even if the whole premise was about solving a murder.
Angelle A. enjoyed "Tom Lake" by Ann Patchett, a story about three daughters who pull out of their mom a story about an old romance with a famous actor.
- "I loved the characters so much and I could visualize everything so well," she told us. "Of course, it may have helped that I read it while enjoying the beach with my own three daughters! It's a beautiful, juicy, emotional family saga."
And Denise A. loved "The Covenant of Water" so much, she read it twice!
- That's especially impressive considering the Abraham Verghese book is so thick.
- "It is beautifully crafted," Denise said. "The author's language, pace, and structure are masterful. I enjoyed it even more on the second reading. … It's a big book, but I found myself reading for hours as the story swept along."