Top 5 Reads of 2024 (So Far)
With the King’s Birthday Long Weekend in Australia, and the marking of halfway through the year around the corner, what better time that to do a look back of the top reads so far.
It was a surprise as I went through the list that all of these were publishes last year… and not a single White American Male among the authors.
Below is the list in no particular order are books that will take us through the coming of age in London through to the Tamil Tiger’s of Sri Lanka. From Australian feminist history, off to a barren Irish island and then into the underground dub clubs of a Caribbean London in the early 1980s. Enjoy!
‘Small Worlds’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Male/UK)
Pub May, 2023
Set over three summers, we follow the coming of age of Stephen. Coming from Ghanian heritage and living in London, this is a book of fathers and some, rhythm, dancing and music and what it means to grow up. Simply and sometimes naively written (this is the second book for the 30 year old author), it was very much one to be enjoyed. A good pick for a much needed holiday read!
‘Brotherless Night’ by VV Ganeshananthan (Female / Sri Lanka)
Pub May, 2023
This one took a little bit to get going, but it was worth the initial effort. Spanning a decade from 1981, it’s set during the start of the Sri Lankan ‘Tamil Tigers’ War. The book centres around 16 year old Sashi and her dream of becoming a doctor — which is thrown into chaos has her brothers and friend are sucked into the growing violence of the war. More plot than character driven, it’s a compelling story, and an insight into a time in history that is worth gaining more knowledge of.
‘Restless Dolly Maunder’ by Kate Grenville (Female / Australian)
Pub December 2023
Grenville truly is the master of re-imagining Australian history into something absolutely compelling. Here we have an historical re-versioning of her grandmother Dolly Maunder, born at the end of the 19th Century, undetermined to push through any obstacle in her way. A story of triumph and losses, all the while giving us a glimpse of a time in our recent history where women really did need to battle for their own self determination.
‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee (Female / Ireland)
Pub June 2023
Spoiler — this could quite possibly be my Book of 2024…. I seem to be in a phase of depressing Irish literature, and this one continues the trend. Apparently Robbie Arnott (of ‘Limberlost’ fame — you need to read this one too!) loved this, and I can see why. An isolated island, two visitors, art, family, friction and fissures. Dark and compelling.
‘Fire Rush’ by Jacqueline Crooks (Female / UK)
Pub April 2023
Maggie O’Farrell (of Hamlet fame) called this one out in Guardian’s Best Books of Summer 2023 saying it was a “heady swirl of a novel that pulls the reader in from the first page.: Set in London from 1979–81, it’s an underground underworld of gangsters and music, with a touch of ghosts and the supernatural.
