In Episode 186, Catherine (@GilmoreGuide) and Sarah share the best backlist books they read in 2024. They discuss their top 5 backlist books from last year, highlight some underrated backlist gems, and review their backlist reading statistics. Devoting an entire episode to backlist reading is now an annual tradition at Sarah’s Bookshelves Live — a team and listener favorite! 

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CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.

Announcement

• 2024’s Best of the Backlist Guide is available now! 25 of the Sarah’s Bookshelves Live Patrons share the best backlist book they read last year in a beautiful PDF guide. To get the guide, you can sign up to be a Superstars patron here. You’ll also get access to a 3 bonus podcast episodes per month and my Rock Your Reading Tracker and our all-new Lite Reading Tracker.

Highlights

• Sarah and Catherine share their full stats for backlist reading in 2024.
• Backlist reading quantity was down a bit again last year for Sarah, but backlist reading quality increased.
• Catherine had a slight decrease in the number of backlist books she read, but backlist reading remained incredibly successful for her.
• Sarah’s backlist reading included several atypical choices for her, maybe shaping how she approaches 2025.

Our Top 5 Backlist Books We Read in 2024 [6:27]

Catherine

• Ghosts by Dolly Alderton | Amazon | Bookshop.org [6:33]
• Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson | Amazon | Bookshop.org [12:19]
• Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell | Amazon | Bookshop.org[17:38]
• Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer | Amazon | Bookshop.org[24:10]
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson | Amazon | Bookshop.org[32:11]

Sarah

• The Hop by Diana Clarke | Amazon | Bookshop.org [9:38]
• The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore | Amazon | Bookshop.org [14:26]
• Water by John Boyne | Amazon [20:57]
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi | Amazon | Bookshop.org [27:32]
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo | Amazon | Bookshop.org [36:33]

Other Books Mentioned

• Good Material by Dolly Alderton [8:54]
• The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore [14:37]
• The Holdout by Graham Moore [16:58]
• Earth by John Boyne [21:09]
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne [22:18]
• Fire by John Boyne [22:57] 
• This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer (coming Feb 4) [26:57] 
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson [32:42]
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson [32:54] 

Underrated Backlist Gems [38:56]

Catherine

• The Reformatory by Tananarive Due | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:00] 
• The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:36]

Sarah

• Home Stretch by Graham Norton | Amazon | Bookshop.org [42:50] 
• The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [48:01]

Other Books Mentioned

• The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead [41:33]
• Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro [43:51]
• Frankie by Graham Norton [45:12]