Essential Reads: The Best of 2024
A roundup of people sharing their favorite things from 2024 because — better late than never?
I am slooooowwwww rolling into the new year (2025, not my favorite so far—February, please be better, yes? please?). I was blissfully offline for a couple of weeks on Maui over the holidays (more on that later…), and coming back, I just didn’t have a strong desire to look at a screen. Throw in some work travel mid-month, and I am only now catching up on all of the end of year content and 2024 reviews and round ups, which I always love to read.
Lately, whenever I read anything, I'm always on the hunt for people sharing their favorite things. I'm endlessly fascinated — as you well know — by what items people truly love in this world of so much stuff. So, I wanted to share a roundup of some of my favorite 2024 recap posts where people shared all sorts of things they loved—what they bought, wore, watched, enjoyed, visited, etc.
I didn’t do my own year-end roundup since I share my favorite things here and there throughout the year, so I especially loved reading what other people had to say. If you already consumed this stuff at the end of the year, as one does, apologies for the late share, but if not — enjoy! Also, I’m sure there are many more great roundups that I missed (Substack makes it kind of tricky to search/go back in time, no?), so if you read or wrote anything, please share!
- shared her standouts from 2024, including her most worn sneakers and favorite brand for everyday essentials:
- shared so many great recs in her recap, including lots of great, smaller brands:
- shared her best purchases of 2024 across clothing, beauty, accessories and home:
I was delighted to contribute to this round up by
of different Substacker’s oldest and most cherished pieces in their wardrobe. The stories were so fun to read:
- shared her favorite purchases from 2024 across clothing, shoes, accessories, beauty and home:
- asked 12 friends to shared their favorite 2024 discoveries across all areas of life:
- did a data dive into her 2024 purchases (love a data nerd!), and recapped her shopping trends and most love purchases:
Speaking of data nerds,
did an end of year reader survey, then analyzed and published the results in a couple of fabulous recaps:
I love
’s recommendations across food, newsletters, objects, and general life advice:
- shared her favorite things of 2024 across all categories in the first annual Amuse Bouche Awards (I’m a sucker for any list with Love Island UK on it!):
And, actually, I came across a few good roundups written more recently, so — good thing I waited until Feb to do this! ;)
I’m not a runner (hate it, in fact), but I love hearing from people who actually do the thing talk about their favorite gear and it includes a lot of great active wear recs:
A roundup of healing films for those of us (all?) in need of some comfort viewing that the moment:
And, to close it out, a sprinkle of wanderlust ✨
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How am I just seeing this 😭 better late than never though! Thank youuuu🩷
SO sweet of you to include me! xx