It’s time for the annual round-up!
How many books did you read this year? How many books did you want to read this year?
Well, I — picture me saying this with a big smug grin — read 47 books in 2024, which is 7 more than my planned 40.
That totals 19,817 pages.
📊 What are the stats?
I’m glad you asked.
I keep an incredibly nerdy Book Tracking spreadsheet where I enter a selection of data points:
I can dive deeper on my reading trends and discover insights about my preferences. If you’d like to do this, too, here is a link to Copy My Spreadsheet into your own Google Sheets. To use, just fill out the light blue cells at the top of the Summary tab — the rest is automated.
In 2024, how diverse were the books I read?
The protagonists’ genders are fairly split:
But the authors skewed slightly male:
I read from a panoply of genres, but my favourite genres tended to be Contemporary and Historical Fiction:
The authors are from an impressively diverse range of countries, skewing heavily toward the two English-speaking superpowers of UK and US:
The vast majority of books I read this year were published in the last 2-3 years, with only a handful published pre-2000. The earliest published book I read was The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (published 1926).
Now the nerdy stuff is outta the way, let’s get into my favourites.
🏆 It’s award time!
This is always a tough question because book taste is so subjective. I ‘DNF’ed a lot of books this year due to not enjoying them — I even noped out of the Booker Prize winning Orbital after only 50 pages because I found it unbearably navel-gazy.
But hey, you’re reading this newsletter, which means you probably align with my tastes in some form, so I’ll give you my honest recommendations. Two per category.
Let’s start off with, arguably, the most boring category first.
🏅 Best Non-Fiction books
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Absolutely riveting. Highly recommended reading for anyone who has children in their lives, or for anyone who is keen to understand the issues facing our young people a little deeper. Definitely made me feel a lot of empathy for the poor little buggers.
Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken
Quite possibly the most important and affecting book I’ve read in the last decade. Constantly fascinating despite being dense at times, this book not only packs a hefty punch of gobsmacking information but Chris van Tulleken’s voice is so likeable and placid that it’s never overwhelming.
I’d love to read it again some time.
🏅 Best Light Contemporary novels
You Are Here by David Nicholls
Oh man, this was so far up my alley it’s ridiculous. Beautiful countryside setting, charming characters who are around my age (what a joy!) going through similar life obstacles as my peer group, and plenty of laughs.
Perfect holiday read if you’ve got one coming up. Or equally satisfying as a normal day read.
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
I inhaled this book. It’s probably the most fun and relatable book I’ve read all year.
If you want to feel what life is like for a white straight dude in his 30s, this is the book. It’s a blast.
🏅 Best Perimenopausal Comedies
All Fours by Miranda July
Unexpected, graphically sexual, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Loved it.
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Darkly funny and psychologically athletic, I found this novel an uncomfortably enjoyable ride. Reading about smart, complex people who are ‘messed up’ from the outside is sickly appealing. Kinda like watching pimple popping videos.
🏅 Best Epic, Sprawling, Entire-Life-Story novels
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
What a long, wild, painful and beautiful ride.
A modern epic, capturing a time and place that I’ve not experienced and yet Kingsolver somehow had me feeling nostalgia for. Twists and turns galore. Real tragedy and pain. Adrenalin rush reading at multiple chapters. A beautifully written epic.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I know, I know. This book came out over seventy years ago (1952), why is it on the list? Two reasons. 1. I hadn’t read it yet and 2. They’re filming it in New Zealand right now, so I think it’s worth a mention.
A constantly entertaining and wisdom-rich classic.
The characters! The weaving plot! The setting! It’s all here, captured and put on glittering show by Steinbeck, a master.
East of Eden reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude, with a Ken Follet twist, and some Jennifer Donnelly characters that had a hint more unpredictability to them.
It’s a powerful novel that steams and slows. Perfect for a long flight or a holiday that lends itself to delving in for long uninterrupted stretches of reading. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a family epic.
Can I choose a NUMBER ONE FAVOURITE?
No. I cannot. I thought I could, but I can’t. There were just too many great books I had the pleasure of losing myself in this year.
Some Special Mentions are:
James by Percival Everett
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Nomad by Alan Partridge
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
But as to a favourite, I can’t choose any single book that stood a full poppyhead taller than the rest. Too many brilliant books, it feels almost rude to pit them against each other (hence why I chose two books per category — I felt bad choosing only one).
🎊 Thank you very much for your support in 2024
It’s been a brilliant but painful year for many of us for many reasons, but one thing we can rely on is the escapism of a good book. Thankfully, there were plenty of pearlers this year.
I’m eager to add to them with the new Seen in Silverbridge book.
I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday break with loved ones.
See you in 2025!