Books I Read in 2024 "not for work"
First of all, thanks for subscribing! I kept putting off joining a new platform and posting because I thought I’d only have a month or two worth of things to say, but I’ve appreciated everyone suggesting topics and asking questions to keep ideas flowing.
I don’t ever make a numerical reading goal (this feels childish and not the point of engaged learning, sorry) and I am chronicling my reading here in format rather than rating, since I’m not really in the business of publicly airing which books I don’t like.
“Not for work” = I don’t count books I read as research, books I read on submission, books I’m editing, books I skimmed for comps.
From January through September I tallied my reading by quarters and you can see those here (Q2 includes Q1 as well):
But here is all of 2024. OK, I put a little asterisk next to the books I particularly enjoyed.
LEGENDS & LATTES by Travis Baldree - Audio while getting over food poisoning from a salad.
SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS by Ed Park - Purchased in hardcover.
FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston* - Purchased in hardcover, read start-to-finish over 2 plane rides.
VINTAGE CONTEMPORARIES by Dan Kois* - Purchased paperback.
THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS by Ayşegül Savaş* - Read via PDF when a client was asked to blurb the book. She’s so good.
WE COULD BE SO GOOD by Cat Sebastian - Audio, read for a social bookclub.
WELLNESS by Nathan Hill* - Audio.
NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason - Borrowed, read for a social bookclub.
IF ONLY by Vigdis Hjorth translated by Charlotte Barslund - Begged for a galley. I read two Hjorth this year; WILL & TESTAMENT really affected me when I read last year.
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas - Audio.
POVERTY, BY AMERICA by Matthew Desmond - Audio.
JAMES by Percival Everett - Purchased the hardcover.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Fyodor Dostoevsky translated by Michael R. Katz - Asked a publishing contact for the hardcover, read for different social bookclub. This was really fun, highly recommend a long Russian novel to read this winter with friends.
MY BELOVED LIFE by Amitava Kumar* - Purchased signed hardcover at book event.
CLEAR by Carys Davies* - Was given a hardcover by an editor
FAMILY HAPPINESS by Laurie Colwin - Bought a $5 paperback outside the Center for Fiction.
THIS STRANGE EVENTFUL HISTORY by Claire Messud - Purchased hardcover.
A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas* - Audio (this one is better than the first)
BEAUTYLAND by Marie-Helene Bertino* - Borrowed a hardcover. I really loved this book.
INTERMEZZO by Sally Rooney - Read early.
BEAUTIFUL DAYS: Stories by Zach Williams - Audio.
FIERCE ATTACHMENTS: Memoir by Vivian Gornick - Paperback purchased for $1 in Provincetown.
ON TIME AND WATER by Andri Snær Magnason trans. Lytton Smith - Audio.
BANAL NIGHTMARE by Halle Butler - Purchased in hardcover.
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton - Purchased paperback on vacation & partner and I read the same copy for a social bookclub.
GRETA & VALDIN by Rebecca K. Reilly - Audio.
EVENINGS & WEEKENDS by Oisín McKenna - Was given a hardcover by an editor.
ALPHABETICAL DIARIES by Sheila Heti* - Audio. Kate Berlant’s reading here is so good.
HOW TO HIDE AN EMPIRE: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr* - Audio.
MY FRIENDS by Hisham Matar - Found a galley on the street in Brooklyn.
COLORED TELEVISION by Danzy Senna - Hardcover, given to me by an editor, I’d like to read her other books next.
SEASON OF MIGRATION TO THE NORTH by Tayeb Salih trans. Denys Johnson Davies - Purchased at used bookstore and then read after listening to Sarah Thankam Mathews discuss on Reading Writers
FOG & CAR by Eugene Lim* - purchased at RiffRaff Bookstore in Providence, RI.
A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Mariana Enriquez, trans. Megan McDowell - purchased at RiffRaff Bookstore in Providence, RI.
THE POWER BROKER by Robert Caro* - per my post; fiancé had this paperback from grad school.
ENTER GHOST by Isabella Hammad - Ebook via Libby, read on a plane.
LOVE IN A FALLEN CITY by Eileen Chang trans. Karen S. Kinsbury - Bought the ebook, read on a plane.
JANE AND PRUDENCE by Barbara Pym - This was somehow already on the Kindle I unearthed for above-mentioned plane flight.
LONG LIVE THE POST HORN! by Vigdis Hjorth trans Charlotte Barslund - Purchased at RiffRaff Bookstore in Providence, RI.
RENTAL HOUSE by Weike Wang* - Found hardcover on street in Brooklyn. I had a very emotional reaction to reading this.
THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach - Audio.
THE PRINCESS OF 72ND STREET by Elaine Kraf - Given as a gift for Jolabokaflod.
CULTISH: THE LANGUAGE OF FANATICISM by Amanda Montell* - Audio.
Comments open for discussion around these books —
mariana 🫶
I chuckled at begging for the If Only galley - idk if there’s a galley I don’t beg for? I also read Will & Testament this year and god that book was…. mind blowing in all the ways. I’ve just had a copy of Is Mother Dead arrive and I can’t wait to be in her prose again.
I’m super intrigued in Fog & Car?! I’ve not come across that before.