It has been a good year for reading, in terms of both quality and material. I read 126 books (and counting!) in 2024, most of them at least respectably solid reads. Some, of course, were standouts – more on them in a moment. Over the summer, after a decade-long hiatus, I restarted the tradition of weekly visits with my daughter to the public library. I still buy a lot of books for my personal library at home, but with space running out, I have to be more selective with new additions, so I’ve been falling back on library loans as a way to supplement my reading material. Plus, it’s a nice bonding experience for my daughter and I; she calls the public library “our happy place”. Well, that and our local bookstore. Like mother, like daughter – she’s got her own burgeoning personal library to consider.
I thought I would share my top 10 favourite reads of the year, because if there is one thing book lovers enjoy more than receiving reccs, it’s sharing them. They’re listed in no particular order; one cannot be asked to rank their darlings, it’s too cruel. And since it’s also cruel to ask someone to choose only 10 books out of XXX, I’ve added one or two bonuses at the end 😉
Top 10 Reads
William Blake vs the World – John Higgs
Described as a “wild and unexpected journey through culture, science, philosophy, and religion”, this book strives to provide a fresh, carefully considered look at William Blake’s philosophical worldview and art. I didn’t know a lot about Blake going in and bought the book off the clearance shelf on a whim. It was a surprise and a delight. As someone drawn to Eastern philosophies (Taoism and Buddhism), I was fascinated by Blake’s ideas; Higgs writing is insightful and accessible, managing to weave together a lot of different sources and strands into a tremendously pleasurable read.
Slough House series – Mick Herron
You don’t have to love spies to love Mick Herron’s Slough House books. At its heart, this is a series about a dysfunctional work culture – with hierarchies, various arbitrary or arcane traditions, idiosyncratic characters, and so on. Sort of like The Office, if the work setting was MI5 instead of a Midwest paper company. And the comparison is not as wild as it might seem, because one of the best things about Herron’s writing – which is fantastic – is its humour. There are so many memorable one-liners and wonderful turns of phrases. But be warned: this is the opposite of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. Main characters die with alarming frequency and little fanfare. Enjoy the ride, but don’t get attached to any fellow passenger.
Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change – W. David Marx
I love reading about social class and status, and how it influences and plays out in Western culture, so this book was very much up my alley. Fascinating and thought-provoking, it has given me many ideas to ponder. I have returned to it several times, rereading and redigesting. As I get older, I find myself increasingly drawn to any art (books or other) that stokes my curiosity and provides new avenues of exploration, philosophical and/or creative. For me, this is one of those.
Last Devil to Die – Richard Osman
A new Richard Osman book is a dead cert guarantee of a good time, and this one was no exception. His writing is like a warm, soft blanket, enveloping you in comforting cocoon far removed from troublesome reality. Escapism at its coziest.
Black Bird Oracle – Deborah Harkness
I loved the original A Discovery of Witches trilogy, and I am not in the least embarrassed to admit that Diana Bishop is one of my favourite literary characters, even though it might be said (not without reason) that these books are essentially Twilight for middle-aged women. Anyway, Black Bird Oracle is a continuation of Diana’s story, in which she pursues her journey to discover and master her full powers with the help of her Bishop relatives, witches hailing from Salem. It’s an engrossing, fun read and my only complaint is that the ending merely sets up the next book. On the plus side, there will be another book – yay!
The Emperor of Scent – Chandler Burr
As y’all know, I got super interested in perfumes, and perfume history, this year and this was the best book I read on the subject. It covers the story of Luca Turin, a scientist and perfume connoisseur, who shocked the scientific establishment by putting forward a controversial new theory on the human sense of smell (still being debated today). Burr manages to make the science accessible, and the story thrilling. Even if you’re not a fraghead like me, you’ll probably find the book hard to put down.
The Decagon House Murder – Yukito Ayatsuji
This year, I discovered the genre of Japanese locked room mysteries, inspired by classic English detective fiction of the likes of Agatha Christie. They are jolly great fun! And this one is a classic. Its plot is very loosely based on And Then There Were None, but it is masterful in its own way rather than anything like a pastiche. It will keep you reading into the small hours, because you’ll want to get to the end. Ask me how I know.
The Dark Interval and Collected Poems – Rainer Maria Rilke
Rilke is my favourite poet, and I finally got around to adding a collection of his best-known works to my library. It was also the first time in more than a decade that I re-read his poetry; I found it as beautiful, elegiac and meditative as I did in my 20s, though I’m finding different beats in it now. The Dark Interval, on the other hand, is a collection of Rilke’s letters to friends in which he wrote about grief. Having gone through my own journey with grief over the past 4 years, I found his writing deeply moving; he managed to capture and articulate many of the feelings and ideas which my own experiences brought up for me. If you or someone you know is going through a season of loss, this is a book that may speak to you or them.
The Last Murder at the End of the World – Stuart Turton
Turton might be something of a love-it-or-hate-it writer. Some people think his books are gimmicky and/or incomprehensible, and some think they’re inventive and utterly brilliant. I’ll let you work out which category I fall into. Each of his 3 books are genre-bending mysteries, and the only thing they have in common is that they’re unlike any other mystery you’ve read before. The Last Murder at the End of the World combines classic Sherlockian detective fiction and apocalyptic science fiction. I don’t enjoy the latter genre as a rule, but that did not impact my enjoyment of this book. It’s a thrill ride from beginning to end.
Red Side Story – Jasper Fforde
I waited 14 years to read the sequel to Shades of Grey (no, not THAT one), which was one of my favourite books of 2010, and by the time it came out — to relatively little fanfare — I had more or less given it up as a lost cause. But it’s here now, and it’s wonderful. Comic fantasy is a genre that is close to my heart, as a die-hard Terry Pratchett fan (indeed, it’s the only kind of fantasy I enjoy reading on the regular), and Fforde is up there on the list of greats, imo. The universe of Shades of Grey — a world where people are sorted by their ability to see a specific, single colour — is unique and fascinating and full of quirky, memorable characters. The dystopian elements are softened by the humour and zest of the writing, which is the only way I find them digestible these days.
Best of the Rest – Romance
I’m going to present this trio without further comment, apart from the fact that it represents my top 3 fave romance novel heroes: Gabriel St. Vincent; Tom Severin; Wulfric, Duke of Bedwyn. I’ll leave you to discover the rest, should you be so inclined 😉
Devil in Spring – Lisa Kleypas
Chasing Cassandra – Lisa Kleypas
Slightly Dangerous – Mary Balogh
Best of the Rest – Historical Non-Fiction
Historical non-fiction is my most-read category, so I thought it deserved its own separate list. If not obvious from the title, I’ve added the subject matter in brackets.
Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages — Frances and Joseph Gies
House of Lilies – Justine Firnhaber-Baker (history of the French royal dynasty, the Capetians)
The Regency Years – Robert Morrison (society, culture, and politics of the Regency era in Britain)
Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power – Clare Hunter
Blood Sisters: The Hidden Lives of the Women Behind the Wars of the Roses – Sarah Gristwood
Young Queens: The Intertwined Lives of Catherine de’ Medici, Elisabeth de Valois, and Mary, Queen of Scots – Leah Redmond Chang
Young Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII – Gareth Russell
A Rome of One’s Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire – Emma Soputhon
Elizabethans: How Modern Britain Was Forged – Andrew Marr (society, culture, and politics of QEII’s reign)
The Borgias – CJ Meyer
The Burgundians: A Vanished Empire – Bart Van Loo (history of Burgundy, the territories now known as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands)
Two Houses Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100–1300 – Catherine Hanley
And that concludes my list for the year, but keep the recommendation train going in the comments and share yours!