2024, in Books

I love this time of the year. It is the holiday season, so people are chilling. I love the slight nip in the air, albeit with lowered AQI here in Hyderabad. I love seeing everyone’s holiday pictures. Most of all, I really like recapping my year – Have I had fun this year? Did I meet enough interesting people? What have I learnt this year? What should I change in the next year to be more productive – not just at work, but in life in general?

That brings me to this post - I love doing a book recap. Books take up a significant portion of my day and reading is no more just an interest - it is something I just do or have to do, like eating food, something I have time in my day no matter what my schedule has been like.

I’ve read 108 books in 2024. Out of these, 47 were written by exophonic authors and are hence mostly translations – my hope is to learn more about the author’s native land and their culture.

Here’s a list of some best reads from this year, listed in the order of my Date Read – 

1.    Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson – I reread the graphic novel version of this book earlier this year. The subject of this book is triggering but this is a must-read, at least for awareness sake. I’d suggest picking up this version coz Emily Carroll is a true master, some panels in this book are truly moving.

2.   Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell – I was horrified by this bit of history I read about the First Nations – this really short book series taught me more about how the kids were brainwashed against their language & heritage in the boarding school. This book won’t teach you the history, it will give you a human angle to the trauma an entire demographic was put through by the colonizing governments.

3.   The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng – This was my first book this year by Eng and I’ve been in love with his storytelling – he has a real talent to weave bits of real history into his fiction invoking a tone of nostalgia amidst the backdrop of colonialism, sexism and racism. This book is a love story spanning epics featuring prominent incidents from Malayan history, about the Straits Chinese people, and Somerset Maugham. I also read The Garden of Evening Mists by this author this year and enjoyed his prose and bits of Malay-Japanese history. 

4.   Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls – I enjoy Nicholls’ prose and narration. This is the story of Fran & Charlie as they meet in their late teens and then meet again as adults. The book is full of literary references and is a very easy read. I couldn’t get enough of Nicholls, so I also read You Are Here this year, another great read. 

5.   The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne – I finished reading this book and wished I could read it for the first time all over again – that is how brilliant this was. Narrated in time-jumps of a decade, every chapter takes the reader through Cyril Avery’s life and ends with a big-bang incident – this book was literally unputdownable – I read this ~580-page tome over two weeknights.

6.   Tom Lake by Ann Patchett – This book is about nothing, really. Or about Lara’s summer many decades ago as she narrates to her children. Again, nothing of consequence. But this is a story of how a life is slowly built, love is discovered and the idea of home is formed – a prime example of why Ann Patchett is so celebrated.

7.   Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls – The first half of this book details the atrocities of the CCP carried on by regular students, how citizens felt threatened and yet continued living on in China. The second half of the book is how this created long-lasting impact on the mental health of the author’s grandma and her family.

8.   Books based on ex-USSR – I am still very interested in everything related to ex-USSR – the atrocities, the way of living, the resilience of people etc. These books have been great introductions for me – 

a.   Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking – A memoir by Anya von Bremzen – I savored this book over several months not because it was a food-based book, but because of the perfect format. The author takes the read through the last 100 years of Soviet life with a focus on what the citizens ate delving into details of the factors that changed what they ate. 

b.   Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina – Zuleikha is a strong woman with a never-say-die spirit, but that’s not the only reason to read this book. This book has great detail on Kulakization, how the Tartars were displaced by the Communists and resettled in the inhabitable parts of Siberia and how all these people had to make that place their home.

c.   Your Presence is Mandatory by Sasha Vasilyuk – Yefin is an Ukrainian Jew soldier who fought for Stalin’s army, got put in prison camps in Germany and has to figure out how to escape the forced labor camp after he returns alive. This story shows the Soviet thinking of fear, mistrust and paranoia.

d.   Among the Living and the Dead by Inara Verzemnieks – In this book, the author explores the trauma her family faced – one branch having to flee Latvia as war refugees into Germany and then USA, another branch exiled to Siberia under Stalin, one family member having to fight the war under the SS as a soldier in the Latvian Legion and has to live with the guilt of having fought for Hitler. This book gives a glimpse into the Latvia as it had to merge into USSR and then split.

9.   Books by Asian authors – The books I’ve read this year were all heartwarming and had a really interesting & distinct narration style. All these are short & fun reads.

a.   Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa – This was a heart-tugging read about a sad subject – how to continue living as a survivor of a devastating prolonged illness.

b.   The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa – This was an adorable book about the main protagonist finding a right home for his cat. 

c.   Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum – This is a story where almost every protagonist has quit the rat-race of making money and is pursuing a life of interest. The main protagonist is an office worker who sets up a bookshop in a quiet neighborhood – it is her journey as she figures out her bookshop’s identity and comes to terms with the fact that one has to pursue interests fully for the joy of it and see happiness in the act of pursuit - she comes a full circle. This book made me feel like I’d be Yeongju too, if I ever took this route. 

d.   The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai – The subject is so unique – imagine hiring a food detective to rediscover a lost or forgotten recipe! Albeit a bit repetitive in parts, this was a great read. 

e.   Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung – Another adorable book on how an orphan-child who cannot feel emotions navigates through his life and makes friendships.

f.    Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura – This heartbreaking book is based on the kids’ struggles in middle school, their complicated friendships and the mental health issues they face. A really good read, IMO. 

Depending on how I look, this has either been a very productive year, book-wise, or not. Anything upwards of 80 books a year means I haven’t done much else that year except read, and as idyllic as that sounds, even to me, it means I haven’t pursued the other interests/hobbies I have. This is an area for improvement for me, for 2025. 

In 2025, I resolve to not rely solely on the books I borrow from the library and to read from my own library – all the hordes of books unread sitting on the shelves must be changed. And I will continue reading stories told by authors whose mother tongue is not English – I feel like I am learning a lot about the state of the world from these stories. 

What about you? How has your reading been in 2024? Any good recommendations for me you want to share 😊