What to read next: books to be thankful for, from a real page-turner to an absolute treat

EDITORS' PICKS

What to read next: books to be thankful for, from a real page-turner to an absolute treat

Vannessa Cronin | November 26, 2024

Jackets for 4 books the Amazon Editors are thankul for: "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," "Is She Really Going Out With Him?," "The Body Keeps the Score," and "Mustaches for Maddie."

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Ireland, but luckily, ‘thankful’ is a concept that transcends cultural, geographical, and language barriers. The Amazon Editors are feeling thankful this week and naturally, it involves books. Read on for a few of the reads that made them give thanks, and if you’re looking for a read that will make someone else thankful, be sure to check out the Amazon Editors’ Best Books for Gifts.

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for community. And there is perhaps no more vibrant one than in Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in this stunning narrative by James McBride. McBride’s novel was the Amazon Editors’ #1 Best Book of 2023, and it’s full of characters that will make your heart sing and ache, including Chona, who is perhaps one of my favorite women ever imagined in book form. You can tell McBride (Deacon King Kong, The Color of Water) is also a jazz musician given the masterful way he draws in characters and then fades them away in a compelling cacophony that makes for a real page-turner. Curious what our #1 Best Book of 2024 is? We’ll tell you (along with our top 100) right here. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor

We have a big week ahead of us. Whether we're excited for Thanksgiving or dreading it (or a little bit of both), I think a light read is a perfect companion. And wow, did this book made me happy. Cousens is a master, and her latest romantic comedy is an absolute treat. Anna Appleby is a columnist who has zero interest in dating after her divorce. But when she’s challenged to spice up her column or lose it to her work nemesis, Will, she rises to the challenge with an idea to only go out on dates with men picked by her children. Hilarity and awkwardness ensue. And she finds she is becoming frustratingly attracted to the ambitious, charismatic, and annoying Will. The chemistry between these characters was so much fun to read, and there are endless endearing moments with Anna and her children, her dates, and her family. This is a book about second chances and unexpected connections. It is witty and heartfelt and made me smile the whole way through. I loved it even more than I expected to. —Abby Abell, Amazon Editor

Is it odd to select a book about a serial killer in a small Southern town to be thankful for? Maybe so, but hear me out. Like many a snooty post-graduate, I used to think that mysteries and thrillers were lowbrow affairs and that it wasn’t worth passing up loftier fare to read about the criminal underbelly. Then Marilyn, a former boss, handwrote a boot camp mystery list—about 20 or so books I had to read before I wrote off mysteries and thrillers (I still have that list somewhere). I was slow to take to Georgette Heyer, quicker off the blocks with Josephine Tey, but it wasn’t until I got to The Killing Floor that we were cooking with gas. Twenty-two years later, I have a job I love—reading the likes of Mr. Cosby, a three-time Top 20 Best of the Year pick—and I remain thankful for that life- and career-altering scrap of paper. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor

Tis the season for joy, yes, but also anxiety and worry, and my body is definitely feeling it (the soreness, alas, cannot be attributed to all the exercising I haven’t been doing). Van der Kolk’s perennial best-seller, originally published in 2014, delves into this phenomenon, and offers practical ways of mitigating, and healing, the profound effects of chronic stress (I've heard exercising also helps. Ahem). If you’re someone struggling with trauma, any kind of trauma, this is a book you’ll be grateful to read. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor

When I think of books I'm thankful for, my mind goes to the books that really stuck with me, that impacted me in a way that fundamentally changed who I am. So much of who I am is thanks to the books I've read, and there are too many to count here. But I wouldn't be where I am today without one particular book that landed in my lap on a cold November afternoon in 2016—a book that wasn't even published yet, and one that I immediately knew would change my life. This book means so much to me because of the period in my life when I read it, but it has also impacted the lives of thousands of readers—specifically the young woman for whom the book is named. Maddie, then in elementary school, was diagnosed with a brain tumor that threw her family's life into chaos. Her dad's book tour for his debut novel had to be canceled. Her mother had to devote constant attention to her. And her hopes of making Juliet in the school play went from high to low. Worst of all were the bullies at school who didn't believe she had a life-threatening diagnosis. But how Maddie overcame all her challenges with compassion and humor was an inspiration to everyone—including the book's publisher, who asked Maddie's parents to write this book based on the real life story of their daughter, and the healing power of mustaches that went viral. —Ben Grange, Amazon Editor

I’m thankful for the books that are one in a lifetime, and James, which we named one of our Best Books of 2024 is one of those books. It recently won the National Book Award for Fiction and my money is on this novel to win the Pulitzer. With the same fiery wit, snap, and energy of his previous work, Percival Everett brings to life a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as told from the perspective of Jim. It’s a book that makes you think, that expands your mind and your heart, and is one that I can’t recommend enough. I’m thankful for Percival Everett who relentlessly pursues stories that navigate race in America. --Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor

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About the Editor

Vannessa Cronin

Vannessa Cronin arrived in the U.S. from Ireland over two decades ago and has spent the intervening years working in the book industry as a book buyer, a sales rep, an Amazon Bookstore curator, and now an Amazon Books senior editor. She covers the mystery, thriller & suspense category but, really, there’s almost no genre she won’t read. She arranges her life so that she is never very far from a book (or ten), which is why her car resembles a mobile library. She and her vast book collection live in Seattle.