The Best Debut Books of 2024, According to Debutiful

Books

Debutiful is a website and podcast focused on helping readers discover debut authors through interviews, excerpts, recommendations, and more. They’ve released a list of their top debuts of the year, including “debut-ish” authors who debuted in a new genre this year but may have published books previously.

The full list includes 42 titles. Here are some of Book Riot’s favorites from the list with our recommendations.

10 of the Best Debut Books of 2024

mouth book cover

Mouth by Puloma Ghosh

Puloma Ghosh’s debut short story collection is being compared to Bestiary and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, which shot it straight to the top of my TBR list. A teen skater with necrophiliac tendencies believes she’s sharing the rink with a vampire. A woman is unsure if she’s being haunted by her dead mother…or something else. Through uncanny, surreal, strange, and often horrifying scenarios, Ghosh’s short stories explore grief, intimacy, sexuality, bodily autonomy, and more. —Emily Martin

cover of Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang

Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang

Scraping by in New York City’s Chinatown, Bao Mei and her husband, Old Second, have been married for over 30 years, but their marriage is anything but typical. Years ago, they met in rural China at a cinema, where Bao Mei worked at the box office, and where Old Second frequented as a customer…and as a gay man seeking love. In between showings of classic war films were gay men seeking trysts, with Bao Mei acting as the keeper of their secrets. But then Old Second’s sexuality is discovered, and he and Bao Mei flee to the United States to face uncertainty. With Cinema Love, we see the cost of love, immigration, and how the past can forever flavor the present. —Erica Ezeifedi

there is a rio grande in heaven book cover

There is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr

From an abuela-turned-marionette to mango farmers, reggaetón stars, and cyborgs, the characters and stories in this debut collection explore the past, present, and future of Central America.

Also, that cover is one of my favorites of the year. —Erica Ezeifedi

cover of Oye by Melissa Mogollon

Oye by Melissa Mogollon

I don’t know how to talk about this book without sounding like a wild-eyed fangirl pero ahí les va. Columbian American teen Luciana has been tasked with serving as caretaker to her abuela while trying to get through her senior year of high school. She’s also trying to convince Abue to evacuate the family home as Hurricane Irma barrels its way toward Miami. Then Abue receives a crushing medical diagnosis, and the already eccentric, stubborn old woman digs in her heels, refusing to leave. Through a series of phone calls to Luciana’s older sister that are so fully drawn that you feel like you’re listening in on another line, we get to know Luciana, Abue, Luciana’s mother, and other women in the family as they unpack long-buried secrets, generational trauma (oof), and all the hot goss. This debut is a warm hug, a full-body laugh, a punch to the gut, and the juiciest chisme—plus my kind of profanity. I just love it, so much. —Vanessa Diaz

ghostroots book cover

Ghostroots by ‘Pemi Aguda

The characters of this Lagos-set short story collection seek freedom from the shackles of the past. In 12 deliciously eerie stories, a woman bears an uncanny resemblance to a wicked but deceased grandmother, an architect comes across a house set on vengeance, and a girl gets kidnapped by the local market’s tomato seller.

This was also a finalist for the National Book Awards prize for fiction. —Erica Ezeifedi

Anyone's Ghost cover

Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson

At 30 years old, Theron learns that his childhood friend and first love, Jake, has died in a car crash. Theron and Jake had been in two car crashes together as teenagers, but he wasn’t there for this final one. Theron reflects on when they first met, smoking weed and listening to Metallica together, and the heartbreak of them drifting apart as young adults. Kirkus calls is a “dirtbag Call Me by Your Name,” and reviews all agree: this will make you cry. —Danika Ellis

craft book cover

Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima

An unnamed author slept with the devil at a Halloween party in 1999, like you do, and then went on to write stories about him each time she saw him again throughout her life. That’s the premise behind the eight linked stories in Ananda Lima’s debut, a collection that transports readers to the United States and Brazil. This fascinating debut reads like a novel told in fragments. —Vanessa Diaz

We Were the Universe cover

We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons

In this new, queer take on the “unhinged mothers” genre, we follow Kit, a young mother who is still reeling from the death of her sister several years ago. A vacation with her best friend after his boyfriend broke up with him was supposed to be an escape for them both, but now she’s finding it hard to go back to her old routine and is fantasizing about blowing up her life — like maybe having a threesome with her kid’s gymnastic teacher and one of the Cool Moms. Soon she’s losing her grip on what’s real — including whether her sister is really gone. —Danika Ellis

cover of Fire Exit

Fire Exit by Morgan Talty

From the award-winning author of Night of the Living Rez comes a story of secrets. Since she was born more than 20 years ago, Charles Lamosway has watched Eizabeth’s life unfold across the river on Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. The truth is, he’s her father, but he’s never been able to act as such and laments the life he could have had on the reservation. Now that he hasn’t seen Elizabeth in weeks, he’s worried. What’s more, everything seems to be falling apart. His alcoholic friend is a mess in general, his mother is slipping deeper into dementia, and he’s wondering if it’s finally time to share the truth with Elizabeth or if it is fair to share at all. —Erica Ezeifedi

Annie Bot cover

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

This premise feels less like science fiction with every passing day: a pleasure robot named Annie is using everything at her disposal to become the perfect girlfriend for her owner, but as she uses AI to become more human, she ends up with more questions than answers. Part thriller and part exploration of toxic masculinity, this isn’t exactly an easy read, but it’ll pull you in. —Ashlie Swicker

You can find the full list all 42 of the best debut books of 2024 at Debutiful.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

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