Favorite Books of 2024: A Year of Discontented Reading
Tell us your favorites of the year and learn about our Project Incubator
It’s not you. It’s me.
That’s how I’ll summarize my year in reading this year.
On the one hand, this should have been a year of abundance for me and my specific tastes. So many of my favorite authors had new, big books this year. And as a year for midlife women as protagonists? A phenomenal year.
I’m what most would call an avid, obsessive reader. It’s not unusual for me to read a few books a week. Sometimes more. Books are my self-care, my sedative at night, my loyal friends, my favorite weekend past-time.
I love literary fiction, crime fiction, thrillers, narrative nonfiction, memoirs. I have favorite authors in each genre.
It’s generally easy for me to find my next book. I mostly like what mainstream critics like, in those genres, or what my book-loving age/gender peers like.
Not this year. I mostly hated everything.
I abandoned book after book, even books recommended by friends whose tastes I have always shared, even books by my favorite authors (with a couple exceptions on my list below).
The latest Sally Rooney? I always love her. Nope. My favorite narrative nonfiction writer Erik Larson had a new book this year and I excitedly pre-ordered it. Nope. I love everything by Rumaan Alam but his newest? I couldn’t get through 100 pages. Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge is one of my favorite novels of all time that I’ve probably reread five times yet I somehow had no interest in finishing her latest which featured beloved characters from her previous books. On and on.
Do I think these books were inferior to their previous ones? Not at all. And those midlife-themed novels on the Best of the Year lists? (You probably know which ones.) I recognize that they’re beautifully written and compelling, but I couldn’t get into them.
What did I read instead? I didn’t read any less in terms of time and quantity. Instead of finishing the newest novels, I just re-read a lot of old favorites, explored new genres (I’m currently on a YA apocalyptic thriller kick), and read many older books that I never tried before.
I spent a lot of time being frustrated with myself for not enjoying what I thought I should be enjoying.
I’m not sure what’s behind my current reading contrarianism. This is the year I turned 50 so maybe I’m just done listening (even subconsciously) to what other people tell me I’m supposed to be reading and loving.
So what did I love from 2024? Here are several of my favorites:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
She (and Tana French) are two exceptions this year for me of authors whose previous novels I loved and whose current ones I devoured. It certainly helps that The God of the Woods is set in the Adirondacks, where I grew up. I loved the ambition of this book. It’s sweeping, suspenseful, and tackles issues of class, privilege, and family legacies.
The Hunter by Tana French
I always love anything by Tana French, and I’m pleased to report this return to the characters of The Searcher was no exception.
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
All of my Gen-X and narrative nonfiction-loving parts were enthralled by the deeply reported and tragic story of the crew and NASA staff, as well as the history of the shuttle program itself.
The Winner by Teddy Wayne
I thought I knew what this story was going to be — a novel about the elite worlds of tennis and vacation communities — but it ended up being a wild ride that gripped me all the way to the end.
Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Historical fiction is not usually my favorite genre, but I loved this story of a midlife in 1700s Maine.
Have plans for January? Beginning a new project in the New Year?
We’re thrilled to announce our first ever Project Incubator. It’s for midlife women who are starting new writing projects in 2025. Thirty days of speakers and workshops, co-working, assignments and lessons, starting January 13th.
Learn more HERE.
Thanks for the book recommendations--I'm always looking for good reads. I agree with you that lately, I have found more disappointments than satisfactions. I just finished The Once and Future Witches and I LOVED everything about it. The author is very skilled.
I so get those phases where nothing works in my reading life, including the things that, based on my past literary loves, should work. I spun (spinned?) my wheels a good bit this year with books, but in November, I discovered Louise Erdrich. Her novels--especially The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse--have been just the right thing at the right time, and I'm not looking back. Meaning I am reading ALL of them until there are none left to read, LOL.