2024 - the books that saw me through
And your chance to grab a copy of one
When I draw up a list of my favourite reads, I always notice patterns in my reading year.
This year, unusually for me, I didn’t read a lot of non-fiction for pleasure. It was a tricky year and I was publishing non-fiction myself and just needed to feel wrapped up in story.
There is a distinct Australian vibe. Almost half the list are Australian authors (and I reread a number of old favourites too). Clearly I’m missing home….
I read a lot about love - gaining it, losing it, questioning it, trying to hold on to it and letting go of it……. (make of that what you will!).
Five years ago when I started this newsletter, I started a tradition that is now one of my favourite end of year rituals. I make a list of my favourite reads of the year and give one away to one of my subscribers. All you have to do is be a subscriber, comment below (or send an email reply) and tell me which from the list you would most love to read and I’ll chose someone at random to send a book to! (UK only)
Why? It’s a small way I can support an author whose work I love and also, buying books is just always a pleasure - even if it’s for someone else!
Here they, in no particular order, the books that saw me through.
Quietly unnerving, this is the story of a middle age woman who leaves her city life (and activism) behind to live in a religious community in the remote area of Australia she grew up in. This novel had a much deserved place on the Booker Prize shortlist this year. You can hear Charlotte chat with me on the podcast early this year about how not exactly thrilled her editor was when she told them the book would feature a mouse plague (!!). I think we can safely say readers have more than been on board.
In the weeks leading up to her wedding, Piglet discovers an awful truth. Does she stay and do what’s expected of her? An incredible debut about social pressures and a big appetite.
Sandwich -
Inject anything Catherine Newman writes into my veins. Rocky is reunited with her young adult children on their annual week at the same beach house they’ve been going to for decades. This is a golden moment in time, with her parents still alive and her children (semi) independent. Things can’t stay the same forever, family secrets will surface, as the past and the present blend. If you love funny complex families - this one is for you.
Bored in her soulless office job, Hera decides to embark on an affair with an older married man. Darkly funny, about the obsessiveness of love, the angst of being a twentysomething, of both growing up and being left behind.
Restless Dolly Maunder - Kate Grenville
Dolly Maunder is born on a sheep farm at the end of the 19th century in New South Wales. Determined not to settle for the quiet life expected of her, Dolly faces and pushes against every boundary she comes up against to become more than she was born to be. But how far is she willing to go and what will the costs be? A completely riveting tale of a pioneer and entrepreneur, based on the author’s own grandmother, in part to understand what had made her the harsh and fierce woman that she knew.
Experienced by
Bette is in love with Mei, but Mei insists they go on a break, so that Bette can catch up on dating other women, that she’s missed out on by coming out at 30. Reluctantly, Bette agrees to get experienced. A completely delightful and sexy debut about love and friendship and knowing thyself.
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses - Jan Carson
An otherworldly and at times dark collection of short stories by the brilliant Irish author of The Raptures (one of my favs from a couple of years ago). Each story is like a punch in the gut (in the best possible way!)
Max, newly dead, watches over his girlfriend Hannah in their London flat as she comes to terms with his death. Unknown to Max, the past has been creeping back in to Hannah’s life over the previous months, no longer able to escape the memories of her rural Australian childhood. Did he really know her at all? This is a book that stayed with me long after I’d finished it.
The Rom-Commers - Katherine Center
A young screenwriter whose career is yet to take off, thanks to her intense caring responsibilities, is given the opportunity of a lifetime to rewrite her screenwriting hero’s rom-com script. Only problem is, it’s terrible. Really terrible. And worse, he’s an ass and doesn’t even believe in love. Can she rewrite this love story and her own at the same time? Sweet, sharp witted and romantic - the film lover in me adored all the screen references. And yes, seeing a unpaid carer as a heroine of a romantic comedy did get me a little teary. The Rom-Commers is a 10/10 rom-com.
Ordinary Time - Cathy Rentzenbrink
A contemporary Brief Encounter - Ann is a reluctant, bored and underappreciated vicar’s wife. On the train to London to visit her brother she meets the irrisistable Jamie. But can she really go through with having an affair? Heartbreaking and filled with longing, this is a gorgeous and compassionate meditation on marriage, long term love and ordinary family life.
The Wedding People - Alison Espach
Recently divorced Phoebe runs away from her life and arrives at a fancy Rhode Island hotel, to discover she’s the only guest not part of the wedding party there all week. In the elevator together, she tells the bride she’s there to kill herself and determined not to let anything ruin her wedding, the bride takes Phoebe under her wing and an unusual friendship ensues. Hilarious, dark and somehow completely uplifting (I promise!), this is a story about complex family relationships and regret. An absolute stand out book of the year.
Bryony has been dating mediocre Ed for a short time when she receives a call to say he has died. Except his entire family think they were deeply in love and in a serious committed relationship. Thinking it would be rude to correct them at such a difficult time, Bryony decides to play along and becomes enmeshed in a life that does not technically belong to her. This was the only book I read on holiday this year. I completely fell in love with Bryony and all the reasons she dug the most enormous hole for herself. A total joy.
Meditations For Mortals - Oliver Burkeman
A short and beautiful reflection on how we mere mortals spend our time. I’m quite obsessed with books about time and how we spend it but rarely find any truth and reality for me in those written by men (feel free to get into a fight with me about this, it is a hill I am willing to die on). Oliver Burkeman will always be the exception. If you need a reminder on how to make time for what is most important to you, this is the perfect slim book to do just that.
Tell me which one you’d most love to receive below!
Please may I add my name to the virtual hat — I’d love to read Meditations for Mortals because his first book, Four Thousand Weeks (and his newsletter) transformed by way of thinking. Thanks!
PS. Buying a book for a reader is such a lovely idea!! ✨
So honoured to be on this list (and what a list) – thank you Penny!! I adored The Wedding People too – and am still dying to read Ordinary Time, it had me at “train journey”.