Booklist 2024

 Happy new year! As is tradition, my round up of reading for the year that was. In total, the number of (new to me) books that I read in 2024 was 83, up again on last year. When I was doing my 20 year book stats I got curious about re-reads- what would be my most re-read book? So for this year I can tell you I also reread 9 books, these were mainly childhood favourites that I read to the kids, as well as the complete Scott Pilgrim and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, which I just read last year but saw in the library and thought "why not read it in physical copy, since I read it in eBook form last time?" But as usual my list will not include rereads. And I got to read my kids The Railway Children, which was a joy for all of us and also made me cry. Anyway, let's get into it!

Shortest book was The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison at 112 pages- I have been reading his comics since I discovered Scary-Go-Round in my uni days and they are always a treat. This one features a murder mystery set in the Great British Bake Off tent, with recurring character Shauna Wickle at the centre, which is of course a delight. Longest book was Beware of Chicken 2 by CasualFarmer, a Xianxia parody featuring farming that started off as a web serial and then was self-published in book form I believe? My sibling brought it (and Beware of Chicken 1) to our beach holiday and I read them both- silly but fun. And apparently 685 pages long.

Oldest book from 1941, it was Babbacombe's by Susan Scarlett (aka Noel Streatfeild). A light-hearted Romance novel set in a department store. Newest book as always is a tight call, but I think it goes to Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik, a collection of fantasy stories published in September 2024. I love Naomi Novik (though I've never gotten into her regency dragon series), so love to pounce on her new books when they come out.

Most books by one author goes to T. Kingsfisher with 7 books. I've been really enjoying T. Kingsfisher- some cosy, twisty, witty fantasy, including a bunch of fairytale retellings. I started the year with her Swordheart, which I really liked (a romance between a widow and an enchanted sword), and attempted to recapture the magic with her Saint of Steel series. These are also romances (Romantasy?) and I did like them, but I think I read too many in a row and they became a bit repetitive. Still I will come back to these, maybe just space them out a bit. A really creditable second place to Martha Wells, since I read 6 of her Murderbot series (they are mostly novellas so pretty quick!). A funny and action packed series about a self-aware AI/bot/construct which just wants to watch its soaps- what's not to love?

Reading themes I feel like this was a year with lots of fun reads (probably why the number of books is so high), and I feel like I ended up reading a bunch of Romantasy inadvertently (it's really having a moment right now). Although I can't get my head around it as a genre- is it romance books with fantasy settings? Fantasy books with romance plots? Is there a line between these two? Does it have to include Fae? Obviously both fantasy romances and fantasy books with romances have existed for ages, is Romantasy something new or just a rebranding of something that has always existed? I've loved Fantasy for a long time, though Romance as a genre is not something I've read a lot of until a bit more recently, but I do enjoy a romance plot... Anyway it is very tangled but romance/fantasy books I've read this year have included: Queer magicians in Edwardian England (Freya Marske's Last Binding series), a widow escaping from overbearing family with an enchanted sword (Swordheart by T Kingfisher), a tea magician and an exiled prince in ancient China (The Book of Tea series by Judy Lin) and various Paladin's of a dead God finding love as they investigate magical crimes and perhaps a deeper mystery (The Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher) and a villain and his assistant (Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Maehrer), a bartender/thief and a man with no shadow (The Book of Night by Holly Black).

I like a very niche theme, and this year a very small theme is Albania. Why Albania? I read My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (incidentally I think this was my only non-fiction book of the year). It's an account of his time growing up on the island of Corfu with his eccentric British family, and all the animals he observed/captured/adopted as a boy. And they are always spotting the coast of Albania. Then coincidentally two separate people I know started posting about their trips to Albania on social media. Then I just had to read something set in Albania, so I turned to Reddit for Albanian book recommendations, and turned up the name Ismail Kadare (he was apparently nominated for the Nobel prize 15 times). The library had his book The Traitor's Niche, so I was set. What a wild book- the traitor's niche in  question is a niche set up in the Ottoman empire to hold the severed heads of traitors. So this is a book all about severed heads, the people who fear that fate, the people who tend the heads, the people who collect them. Also about the controlling power of the Ottoman Empire, and, obliquely, Soviet Russia- about Empire and national identity and its erasure. I'm really glad I stumbled on this one.

Favourite books I really did like The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare, also want to mention two recent literary fiction books that were big recently- Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood and The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff. Stone Yard Devotional is sort of quite austere, as is fitting for a book in which the main character enters a religious community. She is not religious, but preoccupied with what it means to be good in modern life. And asks some good questions, while also evoking the mouse plague in a very disturbing way. I think The Vaster Wilds is maybe bleaker, but in a lush and beautiful way? A girl escapes from a 17th century settlement in America- escapes from famine and illness and attempts to survive the wilderness. A wilderness which is beautiful but cruel, a book that is beautiful but bleak.

Also this year I loved Kate Atkinson's latest, At the Sign of the Rook, which is kind of a crime pastiche, a loving return to Jackson Brodie, a whirlwind through class and crime and justice. I really love the Jackson Brodie series, this is perhaps the most lighthearted of them, without losing Atkinson's sometimes dark sense of humour and constant sense of humanity. Less by Andrew Sean Greer was a delightful trip around the world with a man reflecting on his romantic past and his recent breakup with the man he loves.

For fantasy, much as I loved T. Kingfisher, maybe my favourite reads of the year were Johnathan Stroud's YA (or maybe even middle-grade?) Lockwood and Co series. I watched the Netflix show (sadly cancelled after one season) and then raced through all these books. I can't explain why I loved these so much, but I loved the characters, the ghost hunting, the melancholy and the fast pace. Also a shout out to The Book of Night by Holly Black. Could not put this down, she does great smart magical criminals. Very keen for the next book. Favourite sci-fi definitely goes to Martha Wells' Murderbot.

Disappointing books: Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran. I blame this on the cover (and title) which I think really misrepresents the book. Also in style it reminded me a bit of The Slap, which I didn't really enjoy. It's probably a good book, but not what I was expecting! Not heartwarming, despite the cover. And Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Maehrer. To be fair I was warned with this one, but tried it anyway. It's just quite poorly written- I think it comes from TikTok, and it shows. The Guest List by Lucy Foley and Beach Read by Emily Henry- I don't think these were bad books, but my expectations were quite high and I found that they were just ok. I was keen to read Emily Henry's Happy Place, but now I'm not sure if it's worth it. Any advice?

Anyway, the full list! Stars for ones I would recommend.

*Swordheart- T. Kingfisher

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens- Shankari Chandran

Sheets- Brenna Thummler

Beware of Chicken- CasualFarmer

Beware of Chicken 2- CasualFarmer

The Reading Party- Fenella Gentleman

*Maisie Dobbs- Jacqueline Winspear

The City of Brass- S.A. Chakraborty

*Artifical Condition- Martha Wells

Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs, #2)- Jacqueline Winspear

*Rogue Protocol- Martha Wells

Pardonable Lies (Maisie Dobbs, #3)- Jacqueline Winspear

*Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)- Martha Wells

*Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)- Martha Wells

*Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)- Martha Wells

All The Lovers In The Night- Mieko Kawakami

*A Man With One of Those Faces (Dublin Trilogy #1)- Caimh McDonnell

*The Vaster Wilds- Lauren Groff

*System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7)- Martha Wells

The Greatest Thing- Sarah Winifred Searle

The Lock In- Phoebe Luckhurst

*Shrines of Gaiety- Kate Atkinson

*Lemon- Kwon Yeo-Sun

The Guest List- Lucy Foley

*Less- Andrew Sean Greer

*Cibola Burn (The Expanse, #4)- James S.A. Corey

Beach Read- Emily Henry

Others Were Emeralds- Lang Leav

Bigfoot, Tobin, & Me- Melissa Savage

*Book of Night (Book of Night, #1)- Holly Black

*The Great British Bump-Off- John Allison

The Murder Game- Tom Hindle

*The Grandest Bookshop in the World- Amelia Mellor

*Babbacombe's- Susan Scarlett

Lifelode- Jo Walton

*Death at the Lighthouse (Montgomery Bonbon #2)- Alasdair Beckett-King

*My Family and Other Animals- Gerald Durrell

Twelve Steps to a Long and Fulfilling Death- Sarah Smith

*The Traitor's Niche- Ismail Kadare

*A Madness of Sunshine- Nalini Singh

A Short Walk Through a Wide World- Douglas Westerbeke

The Day That Never Comes (Dublin Trilogy #2)- Caimh McDonnell

*A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)- Freya Marske

*A Restless Truth (The Last Binding, #2)- Freya Marske

*A Power Unbound (The Last Binding, #3)- Freya Marske

*Mim and the Baffling Bully (The Travelling Bookshop, #1)- Katrina Nannestad

The Lost Life- Steven  Carroll

*The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co., #1)- Jonathan Stroud

*The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co., #2)- Jonathan Stroud

*The Hollow Boy (Lockwood & Co., #3)- Jonathan Stroud

*The Creeping Shadow (Lockwood & Co., #4)- Jonathan Stroud

*The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co., #5)- Jonathan Stroud

*A Sorceress Comes to Call- T. Kingfisher

*The Extinction of Irena Rey- Jennifer  Croft

*The Bookshop on the Corner (Kirrinfief #1)- Jenny Colgan

Thornhedge- T. Kingfisher

Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)- Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Close Knit- Jenny Colgan

*The Houdini Inheritance- Emma Carroll

*A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1)- Judy I. Lin

Moominland Midwinter (The Moomins, #6)- Tove Jansson

*A Venom Dark and Sweet (The Book of Tea, #2)- Judy I. Lin

*Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)- T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)- T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)- T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel, #4)- T. Kingfisher

*Smile (Smile, #1)- Raina Telgemeier

*Death at the Sign of the Rook- Kate Atkinson

*The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane- Kate DiCamillo

*Stone Yard Devotional- Charlotte Wood

Galapagos- Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

*Edenglassie- Melissa Lucashenko

BOX 88- Charles Cumming

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)- Becky  Chambers

The City of Stardust- Georgia  Summers

*Buried Deep and Other Stories- Naomi Novik

*The Dry (Aaron Falk, #1)- Jane Harper

*Wrong Place Wrong Time- Gillian McAllister

Just Another Missing Person- Gillian McAllister

*The Westing Game- Ellen Raskin

Joan Is Okay- Weike Wang

Roller Girl- Victoria Jamieson

*Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library- Chris Grabenstein