The best books of 2024
And a needless reminder that books make the best gifts.
This is popping into your inbox a little late, due to travel-related interruptions. It’s a big post and one of my, I think I can now say, yearly favourites to pen, so I wanted to do it justice!
And so we’re at the tail end of another great year of reading.
I try to read across a few different genres every year. This year has brought with it a little less literary fiction, a little more romance, which I’m kinda happy about. Am on track to read about 125 books this year – one of the better years of reading I’ve had in awhile.
I’ve picked and chosen my faves. Here they are for your perusing pleasure.
Happy reading.
Note: most of these were published in 2024. Others were published recently, then read by moi over the course of the last 12 months.
For a good yarn
The Extinction of Irena Rey is a hard one to describe. Eight translators arrive at the house of a world-renowned Polish novelist, who then goes missing. It’s written from the POV of one translator, and then translated by the ‘English’ translator… oh and the author is a prize-winning translator themselves – Jennifer Croft. Croft, in turn, is the translator of Nobel Prize-winning author Olga Tokarczuk, whose latest book The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story is part historical fiction, part comedy, part folklore, and part feminist manifesto.
John Boyne is in the middle of publishing four short, sharp stories themed around ‘The Elements’ and Earth is the second in the series. The tale revolves around disgraced professional footballer and Irishman Evan Keogh. It’s a short story at under 170 pages, but unfolds slowly, as Evan reflects on whether he is growing into the man he always hoped to be. Similarly, Clare Keegan’s So Late in The Day is a short story that packs a punch. Cathal heads home after a long day at work, thinking about his ex and reminiscing on what his life could have been, if he’d just approached things differently.
And a collection of excellent books by Australian authors. The legendary Tim Winton has published Juice, a story about survival, led by Winton’s concerns regarding the future of the planet. Here One Moment is Liane Moriarty’s latest, an answer perhaps to the question of ‘What would you do with your life if you knew exactly when you were going to die?’
Kind of, Sort of, Maybe… but Probably Not is just a delight to read. Told from the perspective of two young protagonists living in Melbourne in the nineties, it’s a very heartwarming book about overcoming inhibitions, to welcome love and friendship into your life.
For fans of ‘millennial fiction’
Appreciation is a cracker. Author Liam Pieper is himself a ghostwriter, and doesn’t hold back in eviscerating art-world culture. Worry is one of the most uncomfortable, anxiety-ridden books I’ve ever read. Jules Gold’s sister Poppy comes to crash at her pad. Jules spends her days doom-scrolling and following the antics of Mormon ‘Mommy‘ bloggers and Poppy is a year out from a suicide attempt that only Jules knows about.
Ripe is similarly dark – set in the Silicon Valley, where Cassie works at tech start-up VOYAGER and has a metaphorical and as the book hints, perhaps literal black hole following her everywhere she goes. After a harrowing event in London, Lazy City’s Erin finds herself back in her hometown of Belfast, grieving and picking up the pieces of her life in a city whose familiarity alone brings at least some comfort.
For fans of the memoir
The Third Gilmore Girl is the memoir of Kelly Bishop, who played snarky matriarch Emily Gilmore on the show. The Tony award-winning actor has had a pretty fascinating life, starting out as a dancer and ending up as a television star. It’s an interesting insight into the life of someone who isn’t name-in-the-headlines famous, but has consistently worked in show biz throughout their entire life.
My Brother's Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag is a collection of funny and at times tender essays by Australian comedian Michelle Brasier. She has lost both her father and brother to cancer, and has a risk of developing some form of it herself. So, she lives her life brightly, boldly and fully in the moment. If Women Rose Rooted: The Power of the Celtic Woman is a collection of Celtic myths and folktales, intertwining the memoir of author and psychologist Sharon Blackie. She examines the way patriarchy holds women back, and how we can learn to root down and grow from stories of the past.
Richard Flanagan writes the most fascinating books and Question 7 is no exception. The story weaves between the love affair of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West’s in the 1930s and stories of survival – Flanagan’s father, forced to work slave labour near Hiroshima when the atom bomb is dropped, and his own near-drowning in one of Tasmania’s wildest rivers at the age of 21.
For the romantics
How to End a Love Story is a rom-com at heart, but deals with some really emotionally heavy subjects. I read all of EmHen’s back catalogue this year and am gonna stake Book Lovers as my favourite. It’s the first one I picked up and I feel my reason for loving it is obvious. Rapture is a surprisingly horny piece of historical fiction, taking the myth of female Pope Joan and running with it.
For thrills & chills
Lucy Clarke writes ‘destination thrillers’, which is the best sub-genre, if you ask me. The Hike sees three friends, well, hike into the Norwegian wilderness… exactly where a woman disappeared exactly a year ago. 56 Days is somewhat COVID-19 inspired, but don’t let that deter you! Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue and lockdown threatens to keep them apart. Ciara is keen to get to know him away from the scrutiny of family and friends. Whereas Oliver sees it as a chance to kick his dark past at least temporarily under the rug. Pheasants Nest is the first fictional novel by journalist Louise Milligan, where a journalist is kidnapped and subjected to the horrific things she herself reports on, as part of her job. Chillingly, this echoes the real-life case of Irish-born, Melbourne-based ABC employee Jill Meagher
Butter revolves around journalist Rika and her obsession with accused serial killer and gourmet cook Manako Kajii. Kajii refuses to speak to the press about her case, but then Rika writes her a letter requesting her recipe for beef stew. Kajii can’t resist writing back. Such a Bad Influence is such an interesting book of the times, focusing on an OG influencer and lifestyle social media star, who goes missing. Her sister Hazel is on the hunt, trying to track her down.
Am a sucker for dark academia and I Have Some Questions For You pulled me right in. Brodie Kane returns to her alma mater, a New Hampshire boarding school, to lecture in media studies. It’s also where her roommate Thalia Kent was brutally murdered in 1995. A successful true crime podcaster, she and her students delve into the past, trying to solve the mystery surrounding Thalia’s death, once and for all. Bright Young Women is inspired by the murder spree of a certain notorious American serial killer – author Jessica Knoll chooses to spotlight his victims and leave him nameless, and I shall do the same.
Eliza Clark has fast become one of my favourite authors. Penance is written in the style of a true crime book, where a disgraced author covers a horrific murder that took place in a dying resort town in England’s north, on the night of the Brexit referendum (24 June 2016). And True Story is a disturbing, genre-twisting novel, tracing the fall-out of a 15 year old rumour.
For the cooking enthusiasts
Piglet is days out from her wedding to Kit, when she finds out a piece of information about her relationship that sends her spiralling. As her ‘perfect’ life unravels, the hungrier she gets.
I’ve been a longtime fan of writer and blogger Geraldine DeRuiter’s work. Celebrity chef Mario Batali’s apology letter, after being accused of sexual harassment, bafflingly included a recipe for cinnamon rolls. DeRuiter made the rolls and published a subsequent essay about the experience, which went viral and won her a James Beard Award. If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury contains this essay and subsequent musings on ‘feminism, food and fury’.
For the adventurer
Landlines is Raynor Winn’s third walking memoir and just as delightful as the others. She and her husband Moth continue to walk, to aid in his battling against a degenerative neurological disease. Starting with Scotland’s challenging Cape Wrath Trail, they tackle an incredible journey on foot, taking them back to where this chapter of their lives began, on the South West Coast Path. Also as an aside, can’t wait to watch the movie adaptation of her first book, The Salt Path.
Heading south: Far North Queensland to Western Australia by rail is a fantastic account of train travel in Australia, following travel writer Tim Richards’ journey from the historical railway lines of Far-North Queensland, to the western-most corner of the continent.
For the nature lover
Why women grow: stories of soil, sisterhood and survival examines what exactly draws women to the garden, to plunge their hands into the dirt. Dusk is the latest from talented Australian author Robbie Arnott, following fraternal twins in the highlands of Tasmania, hunting a man-eating puma. His setting and sense of place brings you right into the landscape of the story. Our Moon: A Human History is, as the title suggests, an examination of humanity’s long love affair with our nearest celestial body.
For the intellectually curious
Right Story, Wrong Story is a hard one to describe – a thought-experiment from First Nations author Tyson Yunkaporta, that shows what we can learn from Indigenous thinking and connection to land. Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall is an oldie, but a goodie, with Anna Funder pulling threads of various harrowing tales out from under the watchful eye of the Stasi, informers in former East Germany. Wanderers: A History of Women Walking examines the lives of creative women of history and how integral walking was to the way they worked. Similarly, A life of one's own: nine women writers begin again explores how women throughout history sought intellectual freedom, in a world that continually denied them the right to do so.
For the ‘lols’
Okay, it’s time for the laughs. Big Swiss is one of the most bizarre books I’ve ever read. Greta, a 45 year old audio transcriber, has a gig transcribing the interviews of local sex therapist ‘Om’. She finds herself drawn to one of Om’s patients, a woman dealing with a past trauma who she dubs Big Swiss. One day, Greta meets Big Swiss at the dog park, jump-starting a relationship where Greta very much has the upper-hand. Chaos and hilarity ensue, among many other very dark themes.
All Fours follows a semi-famous artist, who begins a cross-country journey in LA, only to hole up in a room in a motel half an hour from her husband and child. She instead, lies her way across the country and comes back a changed woman. Woo Woo is similarly unhinged. Conceptual artist Sabine is days out from her next show and is unravelling. She’s also being stalked by a man and visited by the ghost of a dead artist. Margo's Got Money Troubles is a laugh out loud story about Margo, who is knocked up at 19 by her college professor. She keeps the baby almost out of spite, but finds herself unemployed and rapidly running out of cash. With the support of her slightly odd housemate and ex-professional wrestler father, she turns to Only Fans to make a living.
Hopefully there’s something within this list that strikes your interest.
I’ll be back in your inbox next Thursday (promise), with the second-last edition of the year. ‘Til then, stay well, well-fed and well-read.
-Celine
For more reading recommendations, here are my favourites from last year:
And here are some tips on how to read more in your day to day life:
Most links in this missive will take you to YourBookstore.io. This very handy website allows you to shop and support independent Australian bookstores. Give your local some love, or request a copy from your nearest library.
I love your book round ups - so many titles here I'm excited to read in the new year!
This is a brilliant roundup! So many intriguing books.