Top Reads of 2024
The last few years my reading was blessed by numerous lockdowns and job redundancies. In 2024; a combination of a new job, twins starting high school and (what I can only assume is) hormonal brain fog… my reading took a bit of a back seat to the rest of life. I still was able to enjoy some crackers, discard some rubbish and of course lose myself in some great stories. Like every summer holiday in Sydney — I’m indulging myself in hours of reading and setting myself up for a great 2025.
For those who just want to see the list — here’s this year’s spreadsheet of everything read with various data points — as well as previous years if you’re keen to go back in time.
Below is my usual rambling around reading data points — and then my Top 10 Reads of 2024.
Like in previous years, I like to do a bit of a data drill down and look at some of the stats:
2024 was a little less diverse and a lot more Irish: For those that know my reading, my personal goal is to read from as many countries as possible (defined by the place of birth of the author). This year it was only 15 countries read — featuring the very weird, investigative journalist meets food porn ‘Butter’ from Japan and the disappointing hype novel of the year ‘Yellowface’ by Chinese born RF Kuang. US native novelists persisted at 30% read — but it was the year of the Irish it seems — 20% of novels this year from there. The ABC was onto this trend too it seems with its 2023 article on the nation’s amazing literary depth.
It was a year of women (again): last year I stated that I probably needed to balance up my act and read more from the men, not only did I not listen to myself — I read even more from female authors — 56% to be exact! Interestingly my non-binary authors increased with Akwaeke Emezi’s latest ‘Little Rot’ (yes… still loving my Nigerian fiction!) and Caro De Robertis’s ‘The Palace of Eros’ (check my DNF stats on this one…)
17,601 pages read; that’s an average of 48 pages a day — and approx 332 per book. At just 47 pages — Claire Keegan’s ‘So Late in the Day’ was the shortest — and a beautiful piece of poetic prose. Kicking the year off, and at a whopping 961 pages was ‘The Running Grave’, the 7th in the addictive Cormoran Strike detective series by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). Like the previous 6 in the series, the pages fly by — just opt for an eBook for ease of lifting.
New releases FTW: It was clearly a year of new releases, 42% of the books read were published in 2024 and another 46% from 2023. In fact — only about 10% were released prior to 2023. School days classic ‘The Outsiders’ from 1967 was the clear oldest (and I’m amazed it’s still being taught in Year 7!), while Colm Tobin’s 2009 ‘Brooklyn’ was my only other real ‘classic’ — and only picked up as I realised his newest ‘Long Island’ may not make sense if I had never read the first part of this story.
DNF (Did Not Finish): The older I get, the easier it is to stop reading a book when it really is not ‘sparking joy’. This year 5 made the list — which is a personal record. The most regrettable was Melissa Lucashenko’s ‘Edenglassie’ — which I’m putting down to being wrong time for the head. Usually one of my favourite Australian authors — I just couldn’t get into the historical flow. Funniest was ‘The Palace of Eros’.. now when Caro was Caroline and wrote ‘Cantoras’ — it was one of my top reads.. however with their recent changes — came a big change in writing — with Palace of Eros quickly descending into Greek Mythology meets lesbian porn….
So, here they are — Top 10 of 2024 in no order whatsoever.
‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee (Female, Ireland)
Published February 2022, 286 pages
You’ll see later in this list that Robbie Arnott has made it into my Top 10 again. So when I found out that he loved this book I was onto it. It also fit into my accidental theme of the year reading Irish fiction. There’s so much to this book, yet on the surface it’s two men and a sparse colony of locals. There’s art, there’s water and there’s a plethora of bleakness. Not one for a summer beach read — save it for your winter weekends.
‘The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store’ by James McBride (Male, USA)
Published August 2023, 385 pages
I’ve been a fan of McBride’s quirky yet harsh take on America’s race history since the 19th Century evangelical ‘The Good Lord Bird’ (watch the TV series with Ethan Hawke — he’s brilliant) and also ‘Deacon King Kong’, focused on New York in the 60s. With his latest one, we’re in Pottstown, Pennsylvania 1972 and we meet a cast of blacks and Europeans all working to survive white Christian America together. A perfect balance of loveable characters and an intriguing plot make this his best book yet.
‘Earth’ and ‘Fire’ by John Boyne (Male, Ireland)
Published April 2024 and July 2024 168 and 176 pages
John Boyne writes beautiful narratives about horrible people. These two are part of his 4 book ‘Elements’ series of novellas. Very loosely connected, and each grounded in imagery of its title element, these two once more delve into the minds and acts of characters caught up in acts of human badness. Each gripping and equally horrifying, the beauty is in the balance of the story and the concise telling in just under 200 pages.
‘The House of Doors’ by Tan Twan Eng (Male, Malaysia)
Published May 2023 306 pages
Here we travel to Penang in 1921, the glory days of colonialism in Malaysia. It’s the story of Lesley and husband Robert and their famous writer friend Willie Somerset Maugham. For those who like their Chinese history — it also involves the historic Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen, and Lesley’s relationship with him and his cause. It’s a novel of hidden loves and affairs, of failures and of revolutions.
‘Beautyland’ — by Marie-Helene Bertino (Female, USA)
Published January 2024, 336 pages
Easily the most bizarre story of the year. A weird and beautiful book about a girl born to extraterrestrial people, yet living with a single mother in Philadelphia. With her fax machine, she reports back her observations of those on earth. It’s the story of this, and then what occurs when she is encouraged to publish these faxes even further. But is she really an alien….
‘Dusk’ by Robbie Arnott (Male, Australia)
Published October 2024, 272 pages
I was reluctant to read this one, as Robbie’s previous book ‘Limberlost’ was one of my top books of last year, and I was worried this wouldn’t compare. Fortunately I was wrong. A very different novel to his previous ‘Dusk’ is darker, bleaker and follows destitute twins Iris and Floyd. It’s a wild puma called Dusk that brings friction to this narrative, and the hunt these two join in — both physical and emotional.
‘Juice’ by Tim Winton (Male, Australia)
Published October 2024, 524 pages
It took six years for Tim Winton to write his latest book — and at over 500 pages and released (at this stage) as a giant hardcover — it’s an impressive release. Very different from his previous novels, this reads like Mad Max meets ‘The Road’ , a harsh dystopian novel where climate change has ravaged the world, and those who remain are desperate scavenging survivors. It’s an environmental sci-fi of sorts, and while the conclusion may leave more questions for the reader, it’s a compelling read.
‘James’ by Percival Everett (Male, USA)
Published March 2024, 303 pages
Read any end of this year’s ‘best of lists’ and you’ll start to see that James is a repeated nomination, Winner of the National Book Award, Kirk’s Prize and Booker Prize Shortlist Nominee (and many say robbed of the main prize) ‘James’ has been called by many THE most recent Great American Novel. On the surface, it’s a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the enslaved Jim’s POC (and no — you don’t need to have read the original). But it’s more than that, bubbling with observations and nuances that talk of America’s slave past and racially charged present.
‘Playground’ by Richard Powers (Male, USA)
Published September 2024, 381 pages
I find Richard Power’s to be an incredible author, though I feel sometimes his environmental passion goes a little too far sometimes (I have to admit, I got a little tired of the trees in ‘The Overstory’ — despite 95% of it being an amazing book). Here he gets the balance right, as well as bringing in elements of gaming, technology — and of course the ocean. With a focus on AI as well as an explanation of the deep seas, this is a beautiful novel that balances current events with the tenderness of friendship.
‘Martyr!’ By Kaveh Akbar (Male, Iran)
Published January 2024, 352 pages
A unique take on a coming of age story for protagonist Cyrus Shams. An Iranian immigrant, his troubled childhood has led to a troubled young adulthood of addiction and self-apathy. Through flashes to the past, and with a mix of character perspective, we are taken on a journey of understanding — brimming with black humour and a quirky view on the challenges of life.
BONUS BOOK
‘There are Rivers in the Sky’ by Elif Shafak (Female, Turkey)
Published August 2024, 464 pages
I thought I had landed on my Top 10 for the year, but then I read this just before Christmas and had to add to the list. As her previous books ’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World’ and ‘The Island of Missing Trees’ were both previous top reads, I shouldn’t have doubted this one. Spanning thousands of years, from ancient Mesopotamia, through to 1840s England up until today — this vast novel goes from deep into our past, bringing together love of learning, family and years of political unrest.
