My favourite read of 2024 was Open throat by Henry Hoke, a short novel from the perspective of a queer mountain lion - honestly this description is what sold me on it. I also loved the romance The Pairing by Casey McQuinston, it was so evocative and frankly, horny. But in an everything can be sexy way (food and drink and travel).
Overstory was wonderful, but Bewilderment was my favourite Richard Powers book. By being shorter and tighter (in length of time covered, number of characters, and word count) the feeling of having my heart ripped out was that much more. Strongly recommend.
Oh no! I liked Overstory way more than Bewilderment. The ending of Bewilderment made me cross! And I thought the structure of the Overstory with the whole roots, trunk, branches thing was so cool. (But obviously each to their own, we are different people, we're allowed to like different things!!)
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is great - I read it last year. It's set in Scotland following a woman who is involved with the reintroduction of wolves to the Cairngorms. It's about nature restoration and your intimate connections to people and yourself and about fitting in (or not) and there's a weird/interesting magical realism thing going on. And it's short! Which suits me haha.
Ooh also Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters which was a reread for me last year. A gorgeous story following a trans woman and a man who detransitioned from living as a trans woman. It's about love and family and gender and New York and motherhood and parenthood. It's also so clever and funny!
Also are you on storygraph? I love seeing what people are reading there...
I also disliked Old Enough! Such awkward dialogue? A lot of telling vs showing? A lot of what seemed to me like bitterness against “typical” girls (whatever that means)?
yess exactly, and sometimes queer fiction just feels like a collection of stereotypes (i am bisexual look at me wearing doc martens sitting weird dyeing my hair etc etc) meant to be "relatable" and it just takes me out of it
the overstory absolutely rocked my shit, in the best way possible. also super enjoyed the last tale of the flower bride! i haven't read "enlightenment" but i remember having a really great time with "the essex serpent" so adding that to my tbr! also "expand into the spaciousness of time"--so beautifully put!!
I read Whereabouts this year on your recommendation and loved it. I plan on picking up Lahiri's "Roman Stories" this year, too.
I didn't read much last year because I was pregnant Jan-Sept, and man does that pregnancy brain fog make it impossible to do anything. But one thing I did read that you may like is "It Lasts Forever and then it's Over" by Anne de Marcken. It's kind of weird lit and doesn't have a lot of plot, but I think it's an interesting metaphor for grief and a reflection on what makes us human.
Also check out the Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh. All about folklore and becoming one with the woods. And it's LGBTQ+!
I also recommend "The Butterfly's Burden" by Mahmoud Darwish if you're looking for Palestinian poetry.
Hey Frankie!!! Putting ALL of these books on my tbr immediately tbh. Really want to read over story!
Love love love braiding sweetgrass and greta and valdin (may I please make a wee suggestion / Greta and Valdin is actually set in New Zealand!! As someone who lives here and is so passionate about this book and as a New Zealander it’s baked into our dna to defend ourselves about not being Aussies lol.) Thanks so much, love your work so much!
omg THANK YOU for this correction and sorry for my mistake!! Actually so embarrassing lol, one of my favorite things about the book was the way it reveled in the New Zealand culture and Maori identity, so can't believe THAT was the typo that went uncaught lmao. Thank you again, correcting now!
Thank you for being so understanding and nice!! New Zealanders will find anywhere on the internet to defend themselves hahhaha. So happy you loved the book, it’s also one of my faves and makes me so proud of where I come from. Must do a reread in 2025! Xx
We apparently have wildly different taste in reading. I’ve only read one of yours and I loved and highlighted like crazy even though it’s a romance because the MCs felt like me (albeit 30-40 years ago) & for you it didn’t do much (Funny Story).
My favorite fiction books were ( in no particular order other than 1st) : The Monsters We Defy by Lesley Penelope (1925 Washington DC, historical fantasy, black history, African American folk magic, romance, heist adventure, found family, great characters & world building); Balanced Luck by Mel Todd (last of 8 book fantasy series with Ace main character & other LGBTQ rep in other characters, very well written series with a lot of character growth and an interesting magic system); The Reading List , a novel by Sara Nishimura Adams (read as audiobook, recommend it that way for the voices/accents, such a wonderful book developing friendship between 17 yr old English girls and elderly Indian widower, and the reading list of books found in a library book, headed ‘just in case you need it’ circulating through their relationship and other characters in the town of Wembley and help each work through difficulties in their lives); Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (49th book in this universe& 3rd in this trilogy, loved it but not the place to start); The Once & Future Witches by Alice E. Harrow (wow); and The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leone Swan (slow start but fun!). My favorite non fiction of the year were (in no particular order & without description because it’s now 3:00 AM): The Survivors of the Clotilda, the lost stories of the last captives of the American Slave Trade by Hannah Durkin; Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal; An Immense World by Ed Yong; The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr, and The Witch of New York, the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice by Alex Hortis.
wrote down some of your recs! surprised to see you feel conflicted about Seven Days in June, I loved it!! my best reads of 2024 were probably notes from the underground by dostoievsky, franny and zooey by j.d. salinger, beautiful where are you by sally rooney and private arrangements by sherry thomas. maybe missing some, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately!
I really loved Exit Ghost by Isabella Hammad, which is about a Palestinian actress who returns to Haifa to visit her sister and gets involved with a West Bank production of Hamlet. The pacing, observations on the characters, depiction of the craft and social world of acting, and portrayal of a privileged Palestinian's encounters with apartheid Israel make for a really gripping read. It's so beautifully written, also. By far the best book I read in 2024, and I read quite a few!
Reading about books makes me feel so hopeful 💜
My favourite read of 2024 was Open throat by Henry Hoke, a short novel from the perspective of a queer mountain lion - honestly this description is what sold me on it. I also loved the romance The Pairing by Casey McQuinston, it was so evocative and frankly, horny. But in an everything can be sexy way (food and drink and travel).
Overstory was wonderful, but Bewilderment was my favourite Richard Powers book. By being shorter and tighter (in length of time covered, number of characters, and word count) the feeling of having my heart ripped out was that much more. Strongly recommend.
Oh no! I liked Overstory way more than Bewilderment. The ending of Bewilderment made me cross! And I thought the structure of the Overstory with the whole roots, trunk, branches thing was so cool. (But obviously each to their own, we are different people, we're allowed to like different things!!)
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is great - I read it last year. It's set in Scotland following a woman who is involved with the reintroduction of wolves to the Cairngorms. It's about nature restoration and your intimate connections to people and yourself and about fitting in (or not) and there's a weird/interesting magical realism thing going on. And it's short! Which suits me haha.
Ooh also Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters which was a reread for me last year. A gorgeous story following a trans woman and a man who detransitioned from living as a trans woman. It's about love and family and gender and New York and motherhood and parenthood. It's also so clever and funny!
Also are you on storygraph? I love seeing what people are reading there...
Oooh I second the Storygraph question!! Would love to make some more friends there.
I am! frankiedoodle over there :)
I also disliked Old Enough! Such awkward dialogue? A lot of telling vs showing? A lot of what seemed to me like bitterness against “typical” girls (whatever that means)?
yess exactly, and sometimes queer fiction just feels like a collection of stereotypes (i am bisexual look at me wearing doc martens sitting weird dyeing my hair etc etc) meant to be "relatable" and it just takes me out of it
the overstory absolutely rocked my shit, in the best way possible. also super enjoyed the last tale of the flower bride! i haven't read "enlightenment" but i remember having a really great time with "the essex serpent" so adding that to my tbr! also "expand into the spaciousness of time"--so beautifully put!!
Thank you for sharing! Great wrap up!
I read Whereabouts this year on your recommendation and loved it. I plan on picking up Lahiri's "Roman Stories" this year, too.
I didn't read much last year because I was pregnant Jan-Sept, and man does that pregnancy brain fog make it impossible to do anything. But one thing I did read that you may like is "It Lasts Forever and then it's Over" by Anne de Marcken. It's kind of weird lit and doesn't have a lot of plot, but I think it's an interesting metaphor for grief and a reflection on what makes us human.
Also check out the Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh. All about folklore and becoming one with the woods. And it's LGBTQ+!
I also recommend "The Butterfly's Burden" by Mahmoud Darwish if you're looking for Palestinian poetry.
Hey Frankie!!! Putting ALL of these books on my tbr immediately tbh. Really want to read over story!
Love love love braiding sweetgrass and greta and valdin (may I please make a wee suggestion / Greta and Valdin is actually set in New Zealand!! As someone who lives here and is so passionate about this book and as a New Zealander it’s baked into our dna to defend ourselves about not being Aussies lol.) Thanks so much, love your work so much!
omg THANK YOU for this correction and sorry for my mistake!! Actually so embarrassing lol, one of my favorite things about the book was the way it reveled in the New Zealand culture and Maori identity, so can't believe THAT was the typo that went uncaught lmao. Thank you again, correcting now!
Thank you for being so understanding and nice!! New Zealanders will find anywhere on the internet to defend themselves hahhaha. So happy you loved the book, it’s also one of my faves and makes me so proud of where I come from. Must do a reread in 2025! Xx
Frankie! Are any of these books particularly joyful?
So, so curious about why you didn't like Big Magic
We apparently have wildly different taste in reading. I’ve only read one of yours and I loved and highlighted like crazy even though it’s a romance because the MCs felt like me (albeit 30-40 years ago) & for you it didn’t do much (Funny Story).
My favorite fiction books were ( in no particular order other than 1st) : The Monsters We Defy by Lesley Penelope (1925 Washington DC, historical fantasy, black history, African American folk magic, romance, heist adventure, found family, great characters & world building); Balanced Luck by Mel Todd (last of 8 book fantasy series with Ace main character & other LGBTQ rep in other characters, very well written series with a lot of character growth and an interesting magic system); The Reading List , a novel by Sara Nishimura Adams (read as audiobook, recommend it that way for the voices/accents, such a wonderful book developing friendship between 17 yr old English girls and elderly Indian widower, and the reading list of books found in a library book, headed ‘just in case you need it’ circulating through their relationship and other characters in the town of Wembley and help each work through difficulties in their lives); Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey (49th book in this universe& 3rd in this trilogy, loved it but not the place to start); The Once & Future Witches by Alice E. Harrow (wow); and The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leone Swan (slow start but fun!). My favorite non fiction of the year were (in no particular order & without description because it’s now 3:00 AM): The Survivors of the Clotilda, the lost stories of the last captives of the American Slave Trade by Hannah Durkin; Native Nations by Kathleen DuVal; An Immense World by Ed Yong; The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr, and The Witch of New York, the trials of Polly Bodine and the cursed birth of tabloid justice by Alex Hortis.
Yippee! Love the doodle ratings
wrote down some of your recs! surprised to see you feel conflicted about Seven Days in June, I loved it!! my best reads of 2024 were probably notes from the underground by dostoievsky, franny and zooey by j.d. salinger, beautiful where are you by sally rooney and private arrangements by sherry thomas. maybe missing some, but these are the ones that come to mind immediately!
I really loved Exit Ghost by Isabella Hammad, which is about a Palestinian actress who returns to Haifa to visit her sister and gets involved with a West Bank production of Hamlet. The pacing, observations on the characters, depiction of the craft and social world of acting, and portrayal of a privileged Palestinian's encounters with apartheid Israel make for a really gripping read. It's so beautifully written, also. By far the best book I read in 2024, and I read quite a few!