Looking at my list of 77 books read in 2024, it’s clear that I was seeking ease and escapism. I wanted quirky characters, snappy dialogue, and happy endings. If witches or descriptions of delicious food or England was involved, all the better.
I’m typically in for challenging myself, but not in 2024. I wanted my interest piqued, but I did not want to dissect; I tilted towards beach reads rather than serious literature.
I had two favorite series last year. The first was The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I actually read the first in the series in late 2023 and the sequels The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet that Missed in 2024. I’m in the library queue for the book four: The Last Devil to Die. The series follows four friends in a bucolic British retirement village who drink a lot of wine and solve cold murder cases. #retirementgoals
After reading and loving N.K. Jemisin’s The Great Cities series last year, I started The Fifth Season, the first of The Broken Earth trilogy, and was immediately drawn in by her incredible world creation and affecting characters. I zoomed through The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky. At times emotionally painful to read (dystopia, estranged families, a grieving mother), her characters, though far in a terrible future and with evolved abilities, feel real.
I belong to a book group of consultants that meets quarterly-ish to discuss books that inform our business practice and personal growth. We read:
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters by Priya Parker – This changed the way I look at bringing people together.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg – I liked The Power of Habit so much that I immediately got Duhigg’s second book Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta – Not an easy read, but worth the time and introspection.
My longtime book club (24 years and counting!) read 10 books and one play in 2024. My favorites were:
I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett – Bonkers in the best way. I also read Erasure and am in the queue for James.
The Wedding by Dorothy West – Generational trauma, racism, class, and infidelity collide over a wedding weekend.
Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott – Published in 1929 but completely relevant to young women today.
Guenevere by Susan Cinoman – This funny feminist play re-envisioning the Arthurian legend is ripe for a limited series adaptation. Shonda Rhimes, call me!
Unexpected otherworldly delights:
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – fairies, fish-out-of-water, British academia, and historical romance all in one.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – I love witches! Especially emerging witches learning their powers. Also set in England so features many cups of tea.
The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune -- I read Klune’s other books too, but this was my fave.
My favorite straight fiction reads were:
Wine People by Michelle Wildgen – I loved the portrayal of a business partnership and friendship between the two women protagonists in this book.
Family Family by Laurie Frankel – Family is what we decide to make it.
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray – Sacrifices, secrets, and great love in an unhappy Irish family.
It was a fantastic year for memoirs! My friend and author Ronit Plank gave me A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France by Steve Hoffman and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. Both are gorgeous examples of affecting storytelling.
My other favorites were:
Pets and the City by Dr. Amy Attas – Stories of wacky but loving pet owners in NYC.
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair – Searing portrayal of living in a religiously strict and dysfunctional family by a Jamaican-born poet.
And if you are ready to tackle your generational trauma (I know, so fun!), I suggest:
It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle by Mark Wolynn
Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma by Dr. Mariel Buqué
I’ve started 2025 with Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb (adore) and The Female Man by Joanna Russ (not sure exactly what is going on, but I’m intrigued).
Happy reading, friends!