What I Read and Watched in 2024

A happy and healthy New Year to you and yours! I hope you have had a joyful and wide-ranging year of reading, whatever that means in your particular circumstances.

For the past four years, I've kept a running list of books I've finished over the course of the year. Previous lists can find found at the following links:

• 2023
  
• 2022
  
• 2021 
• 2020
  

In 2024 I read 82 books...

Out of all of those books, there are a few that particularly stood out to me, which I would enthusiastically encourage you to check out. Part of the fun of recommending books is the connection it can create with another reader, so if you do read or listen something below and enjoy it, I'd love to hear about it!

Books in bold were read as part of my 2024 reading challenges. Interestingly, my reading challenges led me to enjoy bigger, more challenging books this year, with the result that I read fewer books than I have since I began recording, but cannot think of a year I enjoyed my reading more.

My Recommendations 

1. Lies of Locke Lamora!!! For the setting, the clothes, and the characterisation of twisty bastards who are supposed to be cleverer than anyone else. Lynch writes his characters' mistakes with such breathtaking believability. If you are a fan of Lymond, you want to meet Locke.
2. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart. Instant addition to my list of comfort reads.
3. Les Trois Mousquetaires, both parts. A costume drama the way costume dramas should be. Eva Green's performance as Milady is indelible.
4. The essay "Food Slut" by Binyavanga Wainaina, which is some of the sharpest, funniest and enthusiastic writing about food I have ever read. 
5. Augustus by John Williams is one of the most perfect works of historical fiction I have ever read. Yes, it sometimes reads like a nineteenth century epistolary novel rather than Roman letters. No, I utterly do not care, because the things it does with narrative time and character development are so unique and remarkable. None of the letters, except the second to last, are from Augustus himself--the emperor's character and motivations are developed entirely through the eyes of other people. Williams' command of structure--the letters and documents are not arranged in chronological order--and the intricacies of that structure, is just impossibly good. And like all amazing historical fiction, Williams builds on what's already there and uses the details of what we know about the past in new and fascinating ways.
6. Literary Fiction: Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont is a little black dress of a short novel--timeless, elegant, and accessible to a wide range of readers. Plotwise, it's about a friendship between an elderly woman and a young man who wants to be a writer. Thematically, it's about loneliness and old age. It's both funny and tragic, and the last two sentences are a sucker punch from which I have not yet recovered. I can think of no higher praise for it than to say that it is now on my list of books I would give as gifts. I also adored Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand, with its wildly playful language, and sharp, funny portrayal of a strong older widow seizing the opportunity to live life in her own terms, dragging her hapless family, used to thinking of her as helpless, in her forceful wake. These two books would be wonderful read as a pair, too.
   
7. Books in translation: I read books originally written in Russian, Danish, Dutch, French, Swedish, Korean, Spanish, and Hindi. Each of them was remarkable in its own way, to the point where they will get their own post. It was particularly fun to read translated historical fiction, and I'd especially encourage other fans of the genre to check out the work of Zoe Oldenbourg and Hella Haase.
   

Reading

Fiction 

Anthologies and Short Stories (6)

1. Driftglass by Samuel R. Delaney
2. Queer Africa 2: New Stories, edited by Makhosazana Xaba and Karen Martin
3. Furies, with an introduction by Sandi Toksvig
4. Fellowship of the Stars: Nine Science Fiction Stories, edited by Terry Carr
   
5. The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov, translated (from Russian), annotated, and introduced by Richard Pevear and Larisa Volokhonsky
6. How to Write About Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina 

Children's Book and Young Adult (4)

1. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
2. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
3. Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
4. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (reread)
   

Historical Fiction (10)

1. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett (reread)
2. The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
3. The Liars' Gospel by Naomi Alderman 
4. The Emperor's Son by Vamba Sherif 
5. The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken
6. In a Dark Wood Wandering, Hella S. Haase, translated from Dutch by Lewis C. Kaplan, revised and edited by Anita Lewis 
7. Augustus by John Williams 
8. The Long Song by Andrea Levy    
9.  The World is not Enough by Zoe Oldenbourg, translated from French by Willard R. Trask
10. Land of Wooden Gods by Jan Fridegård, translated from Swedish by Robert E. Bjork

Literary Fiction (11)

1. The Blazing World and Other Writings by Margaret Cavendish, edited by Kate Lilley
2. Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang, translated from Chinese by Karen S. Kingsbury
3. Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim 
4. Evelina by Frances Burney 
5. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
6. Bright Air Black by David Vann
7. Ogadinma, or Everything Will Be Alright by Ukamaka Olisakwe 
8. Simpatía by Rodrigo  Blanco Calderón, translated from Spanish by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn
9. Go As A River by Shelley Read
10. Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
11. How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
    

Poetry (4)

1. Fierce Fairytales and other stories to stir your soul by Nikita Gill
2. Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake, with introduction and Commentary by Geoffrey Keynes
3. The War Poems by Siegfried Sassoon, arranged and introduced by Rupert Hart-Davis 
4. The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
   

Romance (5)

1. Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
2. Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail by Ashley Herring Blake
3. The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore
4. Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey
5. The Long Game by Elena Armas
   

Science Fiction and Fantasy (26)

1. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (reread)
   
2. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (reread)
3. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett 
4. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
   
5. The Snail on the Slope by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, translated from Russian by Olena Bormashenko
6. The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
8. The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker
9. The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
   
10. The Testament of Loki by Joanne M. Harris
11. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
12. She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore
13. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros 
14. Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
    
15. Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
16. Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
17. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
18. Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
19. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
20. Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
    
21. A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen
22. The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, illustrated by Charles Vess
23. Paladin's Strength by T. Kingfisher
    
24. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
25. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
26. The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Nonfiction 

Autobiography, Biography, and Memoir (3)

1. The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with Sixteen Sheep, Three Dogs, Two Donkeys, and Me by Jon Katz 
2. Woodsqueer: Crafting a Sustainable Rural Life by Gretchen Legle
3.  Salt and Roses by May Davidson 

Cookbooks (10)

1. Tava by Irina Georgescu
2. Big Heart, Little Stove by Erin French
3. A Splash of Soy by Lara Lee 
4. Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi 
5. Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds by Heidi Lui McKinnon
6. My Vermont Table by Gesine Bullock-Prado
7. Simply Chinese: Recipes from a Chinese Home Kitchen by Suzie Lee
8. Zoë Bakes Cookies by Zoë François
9. Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant by Annie Somerville
10. Lidia's a Pot, a Pan, a Bowl, and a Spoon by Lidia Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali 
    

History (3)

1. The Bookshop of the World. Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen 
2. Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh 
3. Our Beloved Kin: a New History of King Philip's War by Lisa Brooks
   

Viewing and Listening

 

Movies

1. Les Trois Mousquetaires : D'Artagnan (2023)
2. Les Trois Mousquetaires : Milady (2023)
3. Dune: Part One (2021)
4. Dune: Part Two (2024)  
5. Mr Malcolm's List (2022)
   
6. Die Hard (1988)
   

Podcasts

1. Nobody Asked Us with Des and Kara
2. Ali on the Run
   

TV Shows

1. Avatar the Last Airbender (2005-2008), seasons 1-3
2. Stranger Things (2016-present), seasons 1-4
3. Bridgerton (2020-present), season 3
4. A Discovery of Witches (2018-2022), season 1
5. Wheel of Time (2022-present), seasons 1-2
   

Youtube

1. Vlogbrothers
2. Todd in the Shadows
3. Allie Ostrander