PEOPLE's Best Books of September 2024: Sally Rooney’sIntermezzoand Memoirs from Kenny G, Connie Chung and Hillary Clinton

Mar. 15, 2025

PEOPLE’s picks for the best books of Sept. 2024.

A hotly anticipated family drama, a memoir of self-discovery and a thriller for Hitchcock film fans — and new celebrity memoirs — see PEOPLE’s picks for the best books of Sept. 2024.

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In a book that feels like a chat over coffee, Rodham Clinton reflects on life, love, feminism and faith, sharing stories from her extraordinary journey.

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The broadcast journalist reports her own story in this witty and honest look at her career, marriage, motherhood and what it means to break barriers.

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Put a record on with this heartfelt memoir that goes backstage with Kenny and greats like John Coltrane and Barry White — and offers some useful life lessons too.

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Farrar, Straus and Giroux

After their father’s death, brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek are grieving in their own ways. Peter, a Dublin-based lawyer, becomes romantically entangled with both a younger college student and his ex-girlfriend as his mental health declines. Ivan, a socially inept competitive chess player, falls for an older woman he meets at a match. This quiet, poignant novel examines how this pivotal period affects all five characters’ lives.

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Flatiron Books

Tics, rage, social awkwardness — growing up was rough for Schembari. Finally learning she had autism, she writes, felt like crawling between crisp sheets “after a lifetime of sleeping upright in a barn.” An inspiring memoir about coming home to who you are. —Kim Hubbard

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Simon & Schuster

Alfred hasn’t forgiven his friends for betraying him 16 years ago, and they don’t discuss a mysterious incident that followed. Yet they all gather at the isolated Victorian mansion he’s turned into a Hitchcock-themed hotel. A clever, sinister fun-house ride. —Robin Micheli

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Abrams Press

Nenquimo was born in one of the last contacted Amazon rainforest tribes and after leaving the forest at 14 to study in the city, she later returned to embrace and protect the precious culture she came from. An astonishing tale of fighting climate change from one of the most forceful voices in the field.

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Ecco

The title says it all: The CIA’s precursor was staffed with literature professors, librarians and historians trained to perform covert operations. This is their fascinating story.

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Graywolf Press

Drawing threads among issues like political upheaval, the COVID-19 pandemic and her own childhood, this is a deeply personal and wide-ranging essay collection.

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Actress Kelly Bishop has lived quite a life on both stage and screen. She won a Tony Award for her groundbreaking role in the Broadway musicalA Chorus Line, played Jennifer Grey’s mother inDirty Dancingand, of course, became beloved for her time as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the drama-comedy seriesGilmore Girls.

In her new memoir, Bishop is looking back on those roles as well as the experiences that have shaped her beyond show business, including failed relationships, life-altering decisions and personal loss. This warm and witty read is an ode to following your heart.

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“He kept assuring me my suspicions were the idlest feminine fancies.” So says Oscar Wilde’s wife, Constance, after discovering that her playwright husband and his poet friend Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas are sharing more than first drafts. Scandal, estrangement and Wilde’s imprisonment for “gross indecency” follow. Bayard (Jackie & Me) maps the fallout for the couple’s sons and posits an alternate outcome in a more enlightened world. It’s all spellbinding. —Kim Hubbard

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Imagine this: You’re on a flight when a woman starts pointing at passengers, predicting how and when each one will die. From that shivery beginning Moriarty (Big Little Lies) spins an intricate tale about fate, superstition and seizing the day. Great fun. —Kim Hubbard

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Starry-eyed Brooke Orr is eager to help her elderly billionaire boss Asher Jaffee bestow his foundation’s wealth on worthy causes. But as they grow closer and boundaries blur, she starts seeing herself as the worthiest cause of all. A resonant novel about inequality and designing a meaningful life. —Kim Hubbard

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Sloane and Naomi’s girls’ trip goes horribly awry after a night out with strangers alters their lives forever. A bloodthirsty romp with thrills, laughs and sisterhood.

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All her life on the Red Pine reservation Quill hasn’t felt safe. When she looks into a series of crimes, she learns more than she bargained for in this stunning novel.

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If you don’t fear rapidly evolving AI technology yet, read this one. Come for the creepily smart robot, stay for the expertly executed horror tropes — and one heck of a twist.

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Grammy-winning rapper, actress and talk show hostEvehas made history with her music, from her 1999 debut albumLet There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders' First Ladyto her acclaimed single in collaboration withGwen Stefani, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” In her new memoir, the star is opening up about that career, along with motherhood, infertility issues mental health and more.“The book is about a woman who went through a lot,” she tells PEOPLE. “That’s a lot of us. If I can help someone feel less alone, that’s what I care about.”

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A Maine murder mystery is the backdrop for Pulitzer winner Strout’s latest, a stunner that unites beloved characters from her previous books. Attorney Bob Burgess defends the suspect, a loner accused of killing his mother. Meanwhile, Burgess’s friendship with writer Lucy Barton enters a deeper phase and Lucy strikes up a bond with Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement home. Strout’s musings on life and the importance of storytelling are downright profound. —Claire Martin

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Sol and her wife, Alice, are excited to buy a home in the gated community of Maneless Grove, but when they get there, they discover strangely identical lots, unexplained events, creepy kids and nosy, pushy neighbors. The suburbs have never been scarier. —Rennie Dyball

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This inspiring memoir charts the rise of the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, from her family’s fighting segregation to her confirmation to the highest bench in the country. An accessible, uplifting read.

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Connecting the 1830s removal of Native Americans from their lands and a 1990s murder that reaffirmed their sovereignty, this powerful, important story is a must-read addition to any American’s historical education.

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source: people.com