The Stories That Shaped Us: Our Top Reads of 2024

As 2025 begins, we find ourselves in the season of reflection and goal-setting, looking back at our achievements from last year while charting our course for the year ahead. At BAM, our commitment to reading continues to be a cornerstone of our team culture.

After BAM Account Manager, Rachel Thimsen, set an ambitious goal to read 25 books this year, she turned to her most trusted source of recommendations: her fellow BAMfs. Her simple question, "What are your top 3 book/audiobook recommendations from 2024?" sparked an inspiring collection of must-reads from across the team.

Here’s what the BAMfs said:

Fiction

Thrillers and Mysteries

• All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
• The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Fantasy and Historical Fiction 

• My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Contemporary Fiction and Romance

• Anything by Emily Henry

Literary Fiction

• The Women by Kristin Hannah
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Nonfiction

Memoirs and Biographies

• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
• Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola Davis
• Craig & Fred: A Marine, A Stray Dog, and How They Rescued Each Other by Craig Grossi

Science and Environmental Topics

• The Wave: In Oursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
• A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies by Matt Simon
• Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Bill Gifford and Peter Attia

Personal Development and Self-Help

• Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
• How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety by Ellen Hendriksen
• We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter by Celeste Headlee

Society and Culture

• The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
• Loving Corrections by Adrienne Maree Brown
• Sociopath by Patric Gange

Passionate about storytelling as well? Get in touch by emailing us at talent@bambybig.agency. We're a team of storytellers and we're always looking to keep building relationships with like-minded professionals.