This has been a wonderful year for reading. I’ve just closed my 38th book and would love to share some favourites with you.
While I usually prefer non-fiction (memoir, investigative, health & science), I've noticed with the news cycle lately, I'm leaning toward fiction as a means of escape. Of the books I've read this year, 27 have been fiction.
Another change is that I’m listening to more audiobooks. Likely due to a busy period at work and more time outside. This has made me realize the power of a great narrator.
While writing this, I was curious about two things. One is whether a cover can convince us to buy a book without reading the blurb (I’m guilty of this), and how our reading habits change based on current events I’ll be diving into this in a future post so tuned.
Without further ado…
The Best Books to 2024 — So Far!
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Inspired by the kidnapping of her father's friend who was held at gunpoint in Long Island fifty years ago, this is an excellent read. Spanning the entirety of one family's history, Long Island Compromise explores complex family relationships and intergenerational trauma.
If you enjoyed the author's debut, Fleishman is in Trouble, you'll love this. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, and highly recommend it.
Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins
I'll admit that I only bought this book for two reasons: it was on sale and it has a great cover. It sat unopened on my bookshelf for months, until a few days into a reading slump, I picked it up at random. I’m so glad I did as this is a campus novel at its best.
We follow a teenager named Foster Dade who arrives at Kennedy, an elite boarding school in New Jersey in 2008. His life is upended when he befriends two students at the top of the social ladder. In an exploration of wealth, power, and privilege, Jenkins paints a haunting picture of adolescence.
If you have any recommendations similar to this, I'd love to hear them. I just finished Come & Get It by Kiley Reid and I'm currently reading Donna Tartt's The Secret History — both of which have similar themes.
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley
In her first memoir, multi-
New York Times bestseller Sloane Crosley reflects on the grief she feels following the death of her closest friend. This is one of the most affecting books in this category since Joan Didion's
The Year of Magical Thinking.
Crosley reminds us of the importance of the present. “If I desire the kind of life you wanted me to live, one of expansion over retraction,” she reflects, “I must learn to be on the side of the living.”
All Fours by Miranda July
My first Miranda July and let me tell you this lives up to the hype. It’s laugh out loud hilarious. Here we follow a semi-famous artist with a plan to drive from Los Angeles to New York, however she actually ends up spending her time up at a nondescript motel thirty minutes after leaving her house.
She pays an interior decorator to renovate her room so that it resembles a suite at Le Bristol in Paris, and what is supposed to be a cross country road trip turns into an epic journey of the self. I loved every moment of this.
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Soon after starting this gorgeous novel, I knew it would be one I talk about for years to come.
Told from the perspectives of three generations from the sixties to present day, Real Americans is an incredible story of family and friendship, and how we change as humans over the course of our lives. With each turn of the page, this story expanded in the most captivating of ways.
What Rachel Khong has crafted is a beautiful, timeless, and impressive read.
Change by Édouard Louis
In his new work, Édouard Louis presents an astounding portrait of self-transformation. This is a haunting and all consuming work of autofiction. The author, in all his attempts to change and escape – still remains bound to his past. This leads him to ask, “am I doomed always to hope for another life?”
You can read my review here.
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller
Based on the Oliver and Tony Award-winning play, Suzie Miller's
Prima Facie is a gut-wrenching story about a defense barrister who has spent her career securing freedom for men accused of rape and sexual assault. When she is raped by her colleague, she finds herself in the courtroom as a victim. Miller's work sheds light on a broken legal system that is not equipped to protect survivors.
I can't imagine a better fit for the narration than Jodie Comer, who played Tessa in the stage production and brought so much energy to the audiobook. Keep your eyes out for the movie adaptation.
The Holocaust: An Unfinished History by Dan Stone
Drawing on decades of research, this essential work examines the reasons we should stop thinking of the Holocaust as an exclusively German project. Stone, who is Director of the Holocaust Research Institute at the University of London, explains why Jewish suffering has yet to be reckoned with.
While many books have been written about the Holocaust, this book offers a different perspective and opened my eyes to yet more tragedy than I was aware of. The audiobook, narrated by John Sackville, is certainly worth the listen.
Jones by Neil Smith
I finished this a couple of weeks ago and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. From Neil Smith, the award-winning author of
Bang Crunch and
Boo comes a deeply affecting work of autofiction.
Spanning decades, Jones tells the story of a Canadian family struck by trauma, addiction, and abuse. Read my review here.
My Most Anticipated Reads
Roman Year: A Memoir by André Aciman
From the author of
Call Me by Your Name comes a “lush memoir of a turbulent time spent in Rome during his adolescence.”
Kirkus, starred review.
Entitlement by Rumaan Alam
One of the first audiobooks I listened to when I started this blog was Rumaan Alam's
Leave the World Behind. Narrated by Marin Ireland, who is also part of the brilliant cast in
Three Women.
Alam's latest is described by the publisher as “taut, unsettling, and alive to the seductive distortions of money,” and a “propulsive novel about the American imagination.”
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna
Recipient of the Next Generation Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland, Oisín McKenna's debut, Evenings and Weekends is for fans of Sally Rooney and Torrey Peters. Described by the publisher as “stunning, [a novel] that follows a vibrant multi-generational cast of characters through a London heatwave as their simmering tensions and secrets come to a head over a feverish, life-changing weekend.”
I’m in love with both the UK and North American covers. The UK release was designed by
Jo Thompson for 4th Estate Books. I haven’t yet figured out the designer behind the other, however will update once I find out.
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| Evenings and Weekends (North America) |
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| Evenings and Weekends (UK) |
Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum
Pulitzer Prize-winning
New Yorker writer, Nussbaum's
Cue the Sun! is a deeply reported account of reality television. Advanced praise includes
Publisher's Weekly (starred review),
The Washington Post, and authors such as Samantha Irby and Michael Chabon.
Side note, every time I see this cover and read the title, I think of that
final episode of
The Hills.
The Book of George by Kate Greathead
Described as a “big-hearted excavation of millennial masculinity,”
The Book of George makes me think of
Good Material by Dolly Alderton, which I adored.
Advanced praise incudes Maria Semple, Adelle Waldman, and Alison Espach, who said that “every sentence in this novel glitters with insight and humor. [It's] a perceptive, funny and tender portrayal of the complicated relationships that define our adulthood.”
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
The literary event of the year, Sally Rooney's fourth novel Intermezzo is due out this September. Described by the publisher as “an exquisitely moving story about grief, love and family,” and by Publisher's Weekly, who in a starred review said this “feels like Rooney’s most fully realized work.”
My top Rooney so far is
Normal People, one of the only books I can read again and again. I've just started the TV adaptation which I am loving.
What’s your favourite this year so far? Any recommendations or upcoming releases you’re excited for? Let me know on Instagram or let’s connect on GoodReads.
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