Books of 2024
At the start of the year Rachel and I decided to make this a year of more reading, less scrolling.
The end result was we ploughed through a wide range of books in-between life, probably stayed in more, definitely watched fewer TV series, but hopefully scrolled social media less.
I read 75 books in total. I do tend to binge authors once I discover them, and this was a year I really sought out the ever blooming Australian crime genre. I rinsed Patricia Wolf, Sarah Bailey and Chris Hammer and eagerly look forward to the next instalment.
I do feel slightly bereft having binged Sarah Bailey and her creation Detective Gemma Woodstock all year, but to say it’s been a complicated rollercoaster is a vast understatement. Her last and final Book in this series, Body of Lies, is where it all comes together, a proper shocker of a story with shifting loyalties and a dark dark plot.
All of them have been so well written, it’s character driven crime fiction at its absolute best and also plugs into Australia’s shifting culture really effectively.
It's true of all three that they have all got better and better. I'm now looking forward to more from Wendy James and Candice Fox from this genre.
The other fictional rabbit hole I loved going down was Mick Herron's Slow Horses series, which I obviously started because of the TV series starring Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb.
The fiction author I probably enjoyed discovering more than any other was Tim Winton. Part of me is scratching my head wondering what took me so long. He's from Perth, he writes about toxic masculinity and the environment and has a firm pulse on social trends. I genuinely think if I had discovered him in the 1990s I might have moved back to Perth and would have understood why I was told "Perth needs people like you" in a way no-one in London every did in the 1990s. His writing is so vivid, so full of love, but tinged with a doleful fate. His sprawling Cloudstreet was even set in the same part of the city I lived in. I've got a lot of catching up to do, but as I told my literary buddy James Armstrong, Shepherd's Hut is probably my favourite of the ones I read this year, which takes nothing away from his most recent post-apocalyptic epic, Juice.
A few other fictional highlights included David Nicholls gorgeous You Are Here, Joseph Knox's edgy thriller Imposter Syndrome, and everything by Elizabeth Day, Lucy Clarke and Jordan Harper.
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The non-fiction genre I was really captivated by was the WTF shockers written by journalists who try and explain how the world really works. The stories of Global Witness and writers who poke the beasts in big banks and powerful oligarchs were not only written with the same pace and edge as the best novelists, but exuded raw bravery too. Big shouts especially to Marianna Spring, Jen McAdam, Dan McCrum, Duncan Mavin, Tracy Hall and Tom Burgis.
I tried to read a wider range of political books this year than my usual diet of centrist dads who just reinforce my world view. Anthony Broxton, Rafael Behr, Andy Burnham, Rory Stewart and James O'Brien did that very well. I would probably have dismissed Grace Blakeley a couple of years ago as being too left wing for me, but I enjoyed her treatise on Vulture Capitalism. Same with Naomi Klein's Doppleganger. Former Tory MP Graham Brady's book was very readable, but if anything I was even less sympathetic to him than I was before.
We met a few authors at various events, which we always enjoy, and I interviewed a few too - Brian Groom, Sacha Lord and my mate Pete McKenzie Hodge who's remarkable tale of survival I read an early draft.
And yet, as I look back at this summary I've not mentioned two absolute stand out epic books of this year, Orbital by Samantha Harvey and Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll. So different, obviously, but both took my totally by surprise.
I cried at two books - Helen Garner's remarkable true story This House of Grief, and Cheryl Strayed's Wild.
Thanks to everyone who recommended something this year.
Books of 2024
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Head of Fundraising at Caritas Diocese of Salford
1 个月A fabulous 2024 book review and a really helpful summary for anyone looking for a book to read this year. I reached 62 books, a definite PB, thanks in part to returning to the office 4 days per week, and the daily train commute.
Top Linked In Voice | ePrivate Client 50 Most Influential 2025 | Investor | Advisor to Ambitious Companies | Head of Private Capital at Alvarez & Marsal | All Views My Own
1 个月I loved reading this. I really enjoy reading and listening to as much as I can. Here’s a snapshot of my 2024. Recommendations welcome…
Banking Partner specialising in Real Estate Finance at Hill Dickinson LLP
1 个月Great list - thanks for sharing - I’ve read about 15 on your list which makes me feel better about what was a slightly poor 35 book year
Great list, thank you for sharing. Cuckooland was outstanding. I’d also add O Brother by John Niven and A Thread of Violence by Mark O’Connell, both now in paperback.