2024 is drawing to a close and we've been discussing our favourite reads of the year. It's been an interesting twelve months, with some absolutely fantastic literary discoveries, both newly-published and backlisted. We've read across a broad spectrum of genres, styles and authors. We've tried things we wouldn't ordinarily gravitate towards, thanks to the handy Willoughby Book Challenge. We've even been exchanging titles between us and loving our cosy afternoon book chats in the office. We've put together a little list of some of our highlights and would love to hear which books have surprised and delighted you too this year. Let us know!
I have found it really hard to pick a favourite book of 2024, so have chosen two.
Firstly, Heart, Be At Peace by Donal Ryan.
Heart, Be At Peace is a companion piece to The Spinning Heart, Donal Ryan's award winning novel. In The Spinning Heart, inhabitants of a small rural town in Ireland are coming to terms with economic collapse. In Heart, Be At Peace, the residents have weathered the storms only to face a new threat...
You don't need to have read the Spinning Heart to read this- it would work just as well as a standalone!
Written in the voices of 21 different characters, this is experimental and cleverly structured, but is not challenging to read. Each voice fits with the others like a pleasing mosaic leading to the finale. Donal Ryan's writing is so well crafted and beautiful, scattered with such warmth and insight. I was in awe of his craft, but also completely engrossed in the voices, stories and moments of humanity that he's created. Go and get your hands on a copy!
My other favourite of 2025 was The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry.
Set in October, 1891, in Butte, Montana, The Heart in Winter takes us to a city rapidly becoming rich on mining, rampant with debauched, hard-scrabble immigrant lives. We meet Tom Rourke, shameless poet, balladeer and photographer's assistant rattling around from bar to bar. As settler men's lives become more established, they send letters East for brides to come and join them. This is how Polly Gillespie arrives in town to marry the devout, ascetic mine captain Long Anthony Harrington. Just a day after her arrival she poses for wedding photos and her life collides with Tom's. As they fall headlong into love, they steal a horse and head West in the hopes of beginning a new life together, but are soon pursued by Cornish gunmen hired by the Captain.
I somersaulted straight into this novel, and didn't emerge until it was finished. It is a glorious, poetic romp of a tale, with two deeply flawed heroes in Polly and Tom. I loved the gorgeous, drink-sodden writing and was completely hooked on the love story, the escape, and the chase. This is a book that you'll devour and want to re-read straight away. It is clear that the writing is built on serious research about the time and place, but this is worn so lightly. I enjoyed this book so much and want other people I care about to read it so I can discuss it with them!
Other honorable mentions for other great reads from this year include Hagstone by Sinead Gleeson, Kala by Colin Walsh, last year's Booker winner Prophet Song by Paul Lynch and Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, both out in paperback early in 2024.
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa is a book that I will constantly press into the hands of everyone in seach of a book recommendation. I am always reluctant to describe a book as important, but in this case, Against the Loveless World absolutely is. The novel opens with Nahr, a Palestinian refugee in an Israeli prison, isolated in solitary confinement and recounting her life up until the present moment. Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, the narrative traces her tumultuous life as she becomes gradually more radicalised from life as a refugee under colonial oppression. The protagonist Nahr will stay with you for a long time. She's fiercely strong and loyal, forthright and intelligent, and you'll be moved by her character's ability to continue finding pockets of love and joy, despite the horrendous injustices wrought upon her and her people. Abulhawa is a literary master and I've since picked up her more well known title, Mornings in Jenin, so I can't wait to be immersed in her wonderful writing once again.
Verdigris by Michele Mari, translated by Brian Robert Moore, is different to anything I've read, whether written in English or translated from another language. At first it feels intentionally impenetrable, drawing you in to the cental mystery of the novel. It is narrated by thirteen-year-old Michelino, who is staying on his grandparents' estate during the summer of 1969 in Northern Italy. The novel explores his relationship with the groundskeeper, Felice. Felice's memory is deteriorating day by day and Michelino is determined to help the man recover long-lost memories of his past using mnemonic devices. Soon dark incidents emerge from the haze of Felice's mind and Michelino is determined to sort fact from fiction. It's an intriguing, gothic story of monstrosity and morality and an utterly compelling read and I have been thinking about it since finishing it back in May!
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is an office favorite this year! It is everything I love in contemporary fiction at the moment. There are wickedly funny characters, an interesting and original concept (transcriptionist falling in love with a sex therapist's client anyone?), and dialogue sharp enough to slice bread. Each character is exaggerated yet totally relatable. You'll laugh, you'll shed a wee tear and you'll be keeping your fingers crossed that the film adaptation comes to a cinema near you!
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty.
I'd heard a lot of good things about Shannon Chakraborty. With this book coming out in paperback, I figured it was the best time to be introduced and I’m extremely glad I did!
Full of magic and mayhem, this is the first in a series that follows notorious female pirate, Amina. She's had ten years away to settle with her family, but she's offered a job no bandit can refuse and sets off on her most dangerous adventure yet, with dreams of glory!
Once she has her old crew back, they soon realise the deeper they delve, the higher the risk of losing their souls to a mysterious power.
I really enjoyed this. It was fast-paced and mysterious! It’s so interesting to learn more about the characters and the world of piracy and magic they live in. I’m so excited for the rest of the series and can’t wait to see what other hijinks the characters get up to.
After I finished Amina al-Sirafi, I went straight into Chakraborty’s Daevabad Trilogy and she now has a long-life fan in me and I’m really looking forward to the new adventures she writes. If anyone has any recommendations for anything similar, I’m all ears!
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson
Once I had finished Small Worlds, I immediately wanted to reread it or find books that were very similar to it and fall in love with them too. Already a fan of Caleb Azumah Nelson, having read Open Water a couple of years ago, I knew I was reading a gem of a book. The writing is beautiful to read, it lets you take your time with the story and sit with the characters, along with your own thoughts.Set over the course of three summers, we follow Stephen from London to Ghana and back, as he learns, grows and falls in love. Stephen’s world is music and it’s the way he knows best to communicate with his family and friends, knowing music can solve a lot of their problems.
Small Worlds is all about the creation of the worlds we create for ourselves, to feel safe, to feel love and to live. I read this in March, and I still think about this book. I found it incredibly moving and it has moved to the top of my recommendation list!
My favourite read of 2024 was Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune.
This was one of my most highly anticipated reads of this year and thankfully it lived up to expectations. The first of this two book series, The House in the Cerulean Sea, was one of my favourite reads of 2022 so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel when it released.
It was just as heartwarming and funny as the first book and got to expand on the world building I was craving. I loved that is satisfied my curiosity about Arthur and his life. It was just as cozy as I hoped it would be and I loved all the soft moments between the happy couple and the children. If you are craving a good found family story with only dribs and drabs of angst but mostly a lot of cute moments and humour then I highly recommend you give this series a go!
Also a special mention goes to Lies We Sing to the Sea by Sarah Underwood. I only picked it up recently but I am thoroughly enjoying it and think it will easily tie with Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune for my favourite book of the year. I always love a Greek Myth retelling and this is definetly a perfect example of the genre done right. I love how Sarah Underwood writes. And unlike Song of Achilles or Ariadne, this is a myth I'm not familiar with so I'm loving finding out the story as I go and not knowing how it will end.
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