As a person who has loved to read since I learned to read, I feel really fortunate that I don't have to limit my reading time to whatever spare time I can carve out.

Books are a big part of my job.

As it happens, I actually do make time for books that have nothing to do with work,

but I'm aware that in 10 lifetimes, I could never come close to reading everything that piques my interest.

So I am always grateful for recommendations.

From KERA in Dallas, this is Think.

I'm Chris Boyd. The smart, passionate staffers at the New York Times book review also get to read for a living. And a key goal of all that page time is providing insights for the rest of us about what is worth our time in a world where there is so much competing for our attention. So their list of the 10 best books of 2024 is a great place to start if you are looking

for a gift for your favorite book bibliophile, especially if that bibliophile is you.

Gilbert Cruz is book review editor for The New York Times.

Gilbert, welcome back to think.

Thanks for having me back.

All in all, would you call 2024 a good year for books?

Like, was it as challenging as ever to call the list down to just 10 titles?

I think, honestly, I think every year is a good year for books.

And I will tell you, having done this for several years now, every year is a challenging year in terms of breaking it down just to 10.

There are many thousands of books published every year, possibly more.

In the English language here in America, we try to read as many of them as possible.

And winnowing it down to 10, I honestly don't know how I do it, but here we are.

So let's start with the nonfiction titles on this list.

The Wide Wide Sea is all about the voyages of Captain James Cook.

First of all, what shines about Hampton Sides storytelling here?

So Hampton Sides is a long-time nonfiction writer. His

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