Year in Review: 2024 Book List
My 2024 literary highlight was getting accepted into and then participating in the Master Class in Novel Writing through UCLA Extension. I’ve spent years writing and editing my own novels, not to mention writing and editing professionally, but turns out I still had so much to learn. To apply for the class, writers had to submit a completed manuscript, and then eight of us were accepted and spent the next nine months workshopping each others’ novels and learning about the craft of writing and editing, as well as publishing. It was truly a rich experience.
Somehow, between reading my classmates’ novels and the assigned books, I also read 43 other books. And participated, for the second year in a row, in the Overeducated Women with Cats 2024 Reading Challenge.
In 2024, I also volunteered at the National Book Festival for the first time. Before my shift, I attended one event on time travel novels with Edan Lepucki and Peng Shepherd, and another on romance novels with Abby Jimenez and Casey McQuiston.
During my shift, I directed festival attendees after they passed through security, and had so much fun recommending events based on people’s reading tastes, and seeing their enthusiasm for books and authors. I had many people run up to me and ask where they could find Rebecca. Luckily I knew Rebecca Yarros was doing a signing during my shift and could direct them straight to her!
Also, I attended Gen Con for the first time since 2019, and was delighted to find the Writer’s Symposium going strong. I attended one panel with agents, another with editors, one on self-editing, one on ageism in science fiction and fantasy, one on veganism in stories, one on writing across cultural lines, one on story structure, and one on the current state of AI and publishing.
Out of the 48 total books, 15 came from Book of the Month, one from Aardvark, nine from the DC Public Library, three from Libby, five from the UCLA Bookstore, two from Goodreads giveaways, one from a local Little Free Library, one from Washington Writers’ Publishing House, one from the author, and two from Bookshop. The remainder came from independent bookstores all over the world (thanks to my mom’s Paris trip): one from Old Town Books, one from Loyalty Bookstores, one from Kramers, two from Chaucer’s Books, and one from Shakespeare and Company. The final two were galleys from East City Bookshop that I received from their Hot Summer Reading Challenge last year.
Here are all the books, and then my top 10 of the year. Not listed: the novels of my fellow Master Class writers, although I hope we’ll all be able to read them in print in the future!
Age of Vice ~ Deepti Kapoor
And What Can We Offer You Tonight ~ Premee Mohamed
Annie Bot ~ Sierra Greer
Bad Questions ~ Len Kruger
The Bullet Swallower ~ Elizabeth Gonzalez James
The Business of Being a Writer ~ Jane Friedman
The Cemetery of Untold Stories ~ Julia Alvarez
Character: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen ~ Robert McKee
Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves ~ Quinn Connor
Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool ~ Emily Oster
Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for the Page, Stage, and Screen ~ Robert McKee
Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships ~ Nina Totenberg
Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife ~ Eric Schlich
Euphoria ~ Lily King
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong — and What You Really Need to Know ~ Emily Oster
Family Meal ~ Bryan Washington
The Great Divide ~ Cristina Henríquez
The Husbands ~ Holly Gramazio
In Universes ~ Emet North
Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story ~ John Yorke
The Kiss Quotient ~ Helen Hoang
Lawn Boy ~ Jonathan Evison
Let’s Get Back to the Party ~ Zak Salih
The Librarianist ~ Patrick deWitt
The Life Impossible ~ Matt Haig
Margo’s Got Money Troubles ~ Rufi Thorpe
The Mayor of Maxwell Street ~ Avery Cunningham
The Ministry of Time ~ Kaliane Bradley
Moonbound ~ Robin Sloan
The Mountain in the Sea ~ Ray Nayler
The Pairing ~ Casey McQuiston
Private Rites ~ Julia Armfield
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ~ Renni Browne and Dave King
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Song to Drown Rivers ~ Ann Liang
Stars in Your Eyes ~ Kacen Callender
A Thousand Times Before ~ Asha Thanki
Tomb Sweeping ~ Alexandra Chang
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe ~ Richard Rohr
The Violin Conspiracy ~ Brendan Slocumb
Yellowface ~ R.F. Kuang
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty ~ Akwaeke Emezi
Yours for the Taking ~ Gabrielle Korn
Yours Truly ~ Abby Jimenez
Re-read
In the Time of the Butterflies ~ Julia Alvarez
Audiobooks
The Monsters We Defy ~ Leslye Penelope
Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included) ~ Pooja Lakshmin
Spirit Run: A 6,000-Mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land ~ Noé Álvarez
Top 10
Eli Harpo’s Adventure to the Afterlife ~ Eric Schlich
I read an essay Schlich wrote for LitHub and really identified with it, so I emailed him to tell him so. He offered to send me a copy of his novel, which was lovely and obviously I took him up on it. But that’s not why Eli’s story makes my top 10 list this year. I read this novel almost a year ago, and it’s stuck with me that long. It’s gorgeously written, with flawed and nuanced characters. I eagerly await Schlich’s next novel.
Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong — and What You Really Need to Know ~ Emily Oster
Oster’s book was such a refreshing look at the actual data behind pregnancy recommendations, and how to sort good scientific studies from not-so-good ones. I took so much away from this book and have been recommending it to all the pregnant mamas I know. I found Cribsheet just as illuminating, but am only choosing one Oster book for the top ten list!
The Husbands ~ Holly Gramazio
I read Gramazio’s debut while studying techniques to revise a novel’s opening chapters in the Master Class, so paid close attention to how Gramazio set up a wild premise. She did an excellent job of giving enough details to provide clarity and hook me at the same time, and then throughout the book, did such a fantastic job of upping the stakes to keep the premise fresh and show Lauren’s personal growth. The concept was so well executed! And the ending was utterly perfect. Another book I’m still thinking about months after I read it.
The Librarianist ~ Patrick deWitt
deWitt magnificently wrote a very quiet main character who didn’t change every room he entered, but was compelling in a very understated way. Bob was the heart of this novel, and I loved him, and loved going through his ups and downs with him.
Moonbound ~ Robin Sloan
This was the absolute perfect read for a few days off from work, snuggled up at home. I had a blast with Moonbound and eagerly await more in the planned series. I’ve enjoyed Sloan’s wordsmithing and whimsy in every book he’s written. (His author newsletter is also excellent; I’ve found it exposes me to ideas and books and creative outlets I never would have heard about otherwise. It’s one of the few email newsletters I've stayed subscribed to over several years.)
Private Rites ~ Julia Armfield
Armfield’s second novel is classified as horror — and I am not a horror reader. At all. But I won it in a Goodreads giveaway, decided to give it a shot, and wow. The writing was just absolutely gorgeous. It didn't have a few gorgeous sentences here and there; it was gorgeous the whole way through. Emotions and characters were written in an intimately truthful and illuminating way. The tone wasn't terrifying but eerie, and the last portion of the book had me gasping and utterly unable to put the book down. It’s fun to read outside of my usual genres, and I was richly rewarded this time with one of my favorite reading experiences of the year.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ~ Renni Browne and Dave King
This book, assigned for the Master Class, is the most useful, practical book on revising I’ve read yet. Browne and King offer concrete suggestions on how to improve everything from characterization to voice. Not every concept presented was new to me, but their tips for tackling the concepts were mostly new to me. I can already tell my paperback copy is going to become creased and tattered from years of use.
A Thousand Times Before ~ Asha Thanki
Thanki excelled at blending magical realism with historical events I knew little about, and retaining mystery while unveiling the rules of the fantastical elements of her story. She also did a brilliant job of creating characters I cared about. I was mesmerized.
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe ~ Richard Rohr
The main title of this book is fairly unassuming, but the perspective Rohr presents is truly mind-bending. As someone who's largely written off mainstream Christianity, I found so much hope in Rohr’s generous, love-filled vision of the divine that is truly for everyone, not just followers of any one particular religion. I'll be rereading.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty ~ Akwaeke Emezi
My paperback copy, targeted at book groups, includes a conversation with Emezi, who said, “I think it’s a little fun to have a reader hear the premise of the book and decide what Feyi and Alim did was unconscionable, but then to actually read their story and end up sympathetic toward them.” When I initially heard the novel's premise, I thought, I’ll never root for that relationship. And then Emezi had me shipping it one hundred percent. They write humans, and remind us that often what we think we know about someone else isn’t the full story. I loved this journey, and of course the book was gorgeously written.
Honorable Mention: Yours for the Taking ~ Gabrielle Korn
It was really hard to pick only 10 books this year, so I’m including Yours for the Taking as an honorable mention. While I had slight quibbles with the book (sometimes I felt it moved too fast), overall I really enjoyed it and am still thinking about it almost a year later. Korn’s book was absolutely wild. So many twists and turns, characters I loved rooting for, and a great sinister antagonist masquerading as anything but. I just got my hands on The Shutouts and am eager to continue the story.
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| I've found it helpful to lay out a decoy book so Hobbes doesn't lay on the book I'm trying to read |
Overeducated Women with Cats 2024 Reading Challenge
- A book with a neurodivergent protagonist
- The Kiss Quotient ~ Helen Hoang
- A non-fiction book in an area you want to learn more about
- The Business of Being a Writer ~ Jane Friedman
- A book published by a small/independent publisher
- Bad Questions ~ Len Kruger
- A book reviewed by OWC
- You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty ~ Akwaeke Emezi
- A book with at least one LGBTQ protagonist
- Yours for the Taking ~ Gabrielle Korn
- A banned book
- Lawn Boy ~ Jonathan Evison
- A book written by a local (to you) author
- Let’s Get Back to the Party ~ Zak Salih
- A book published more than 10 years ago
- In the Time of the Butterflies ~ Julia Alvarez
- A book published in 2024
- The Bullet Swallower ~ Elizabeth Gonzalez James
- A book set outside of North America
- Age of Vice ~ Deepti Kapoor
- A novella under 150 pages
- And What Can We Offer You Tonight ~ Premee Mohamed
- A book you meant to read in 2023
- Family Meal ~ Bryan Washington