every book i read in 2024
welcome to the margaret atwood fanclub
Hi! I haven’t written in a little while. Sorry.
Here are my excuses:
I wrote a LOT for my last semester of uni. A 10,000 word creative in fact, plus a few essays. The good news is that uni is donezo (I have a masters degree now? I do not feel like a master in any sense) so I have zero excuses
EXCEPT that I am unfortunately a migraine sufferer and the end of last year was NOT a good time for me. I honestly felt like I was on a pharmaceutical merry-go-round (not in a good way). Anyway, they’ve gotten marginally better since Christmas and I’m on the hunt for a neurologist and therefore hopefully a longer-term solution than triptans and soluble aspirin.
and finally, I’ve been reading too much. No time to write!
(and also I’ve been avoiding it. I’m a perfectionist and gets in the way of creativity).
Anyway, we’re here now. Moving on.
I’m happy to report that in 2024 my relationship to reading improved. I kind of thought that last year (2023) was the peak, but in hindsight I think I was a little too obsessed with the numbers. I was constantly counting, wondering which milestone I’d reach with every page flip, every Goodreads rating. It honestly stressed me out!
This year, I tried to read based on *vibes*. Sorry, I know that’s annoying. I’ll only say it one more time. Vibes. I didn’t count until December. I was free! Free to not feel guilty and to not just read for the sake of reading!
Ok new topic. 2024, for moi, was the year of Margaret Atwood. If you’re not across Margaret, she’s a super underground, little-known, up-and-coming author from Canada, who has written a few small books you’ve probably never heard of. JOKING. But I actually can’t believe I hadn’t properly appreciated her work until last year. I read Alias Grace way back in 2018, and I don’t know why that didn’t compel me to read more, because I loved it. But anyway. I’m here now and I’m on board.
The problem with Margaret Atwood is that her books are so good they make me not want to read anything else.
The first piece of writing by Margaret Atwood I ever read was a poem. She wrote it for a climate change campaign, back in 2009, when world leaders were set to gather in Copenhagen for a global summit. I don’t remember being aware of that context at the time. I think I was given to me as a low quality photocopy in an english class, slid across the desk with a sigh and a longing glance at the clock.
Anyway, it had an impact on me. Not in the moment, but afterward. It drifted back to me this year when I began to read her books.
Here it is, if you want to read it: Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet.
It’s remarkable how her work, even her early work, remains and even becomes more relevant as time surges forwards.
She has this seemingly effortless knack of capturing the intricacies of her characters as well as the complexity of the world that surrounds them. She perfectly paints the arc of a person’s life while criticising the way we so often treat each other, the way we treat the earth, and the way we treat ourselves. A magician, truly.
Anyway, I’ll stop ranting about Margaret Atwood now.
Ok one more thing: here’s a podcast interview with her that I loved:
Onwards! To the books I read this year!
A TIER (a.k.a. so fucking good)
1: Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
My first Barbara Kingsolver book. I read this while camping at the start of the year, so I was able to really sink into it over a few days. I would lie in the sun fresh out of the river and read chapter after chapter.
I didn’t realise until after I’d read it, but turns out it’s a retelling of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. I spent a good while on Wikipedia comparing all the characters and their plot points, which I would highly recommend doing.
2: The Rachel Incident - Caroline O’Donoghue
SO GOOD. Caroline O’Donoghue manages to write friendships and relationships in a way that somehow makes them realer than real life. I really hope someone makes a TV show.
3: Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos - Nash Jenkins
The way I describe this book is like if The Secret History was set in 2008 and everyone had a Blackberry.
I hate to be this earnest, but this book has had the most profound effect on me. Not just on my life but on the way I write, and on the way I want to write a craft stories. Nash Jenkins, you might be a genius.
4: The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O’Farrell
This book is why I love historical novels. It was so delicate and rich, a masterful portrait (ha) of 16th century Italy. Even better than Hamnet. Also fun fact, it’s based on the (presumed fictional, no one’s ever found it) portrait of duchess Lucrezia di Cosimo de'Medici that is featured in Robert Browning’s poem ‘My Last Duchess’, which I studied in year 12 literature. Worlds and timelines collide!
5: Cat’s Eye - Margaret Atwood
How does one begin!! We follow Elaine, a painter, through her childhood, adolescence and adult life across Toronto and Vancouver. I don’t even know how to describe how much I loved this. Everything is so vivid, so detailed, so intricate.
6: The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
A book within a book within a book! I’ve never read anything like this. Again Atwood’s ability to quilt a life is unmatched.
7: The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
I tried to read this years ago (I think I was twenty?) and for some reason I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. This time though, I read it in a few days. LOVE the language and the writing style, it’s almost like poetry. Wild and scary plot, obviously. Much to think about.
B TIER (excellent but not quuuuite A Tier)
8: Good Material - Dolly Alderton
Never have I felt sorry for and also wanted to punch a man at the same time. Infuriating but also honest, sad and hopeful.
9: Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh
Loved. Like My Year of Rest and Relaxation except mid-century and lowkey gay.
10: The Bee Sting - Paul Murray
This was a wild ride. Stories interweave, lies are told and retold, history races back to the present. Chaos ensues.
11: Green Dot - Madeleine Grey
A modern bisexual bible (it doesn’t end well).
12: Make it Make Sense - Lucy Blakiston and Bel Hawkins
My only non-fic read for the year. One of the essays sent me into a (totally chill) depression spiral (spoiler it was about death), but otherwise, I liked it.
13: Perfume and Pain - Anna Dorn
Chaotic L.A. lesbian does chaotic L.A. lesbian stuff. Loved. Will absolutely be reading more of Anna Dorn.
14: Evenings and Weekends - Oisin McKenna
Beautiful!! Manages to be funny, melancholic, modern and timeless all at once. Also gay.
15: Briefly a Delicious Life - Nell Stevens
Bisexual ghost in the 1800s, need I say more? Reminded me of Hannah Kent’s Devotion.
16: One Day - David Nicholls
Bruh. Rip my heart out why don’t you. Also highly recommend the Netflix series (Leo Woodall anyone???)
17: Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
Delicately delves into the history of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries. Beautifully written.
C TIER (still great but probably wouldn’t reread)
18: Big Swiss - Jen Beagin
I think I liked this? It was truly bizarre. Not sure if it’s totally my vibe but I can appreciate that it is technically good.
19: Lead Us Not - Abbey Lay
A Catholic schoolgirl finds herself infatuated with her friend and next-door-neighbour. I liked the concept but I thought it was a tiny bit underdone. I wanted more Catholic lore, more juice.
20: Flowers in the Attic - V. C. Andrews
Some fucked-up shit happens in this book. A classic of the gothic genre, I guess?? And there’s a movie?? With Kiernen Shipka?????
21: Death in her Hands - Ottessa Moshfegh
A crazy ride. Kinda spooky? Very disconcerting.
22: The Edible Woman - Margaret Atwood
Reminded me of The Bell Jar, which I haven’t managed to get through yet. I liked it, but didn’t love it.
D TIER (not my fave)
23: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
I really wanted to like it but I found it SO dry. I need to watch the movie.
F TIER (DNF)
24: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett
I really wanted to be that person that got into cosy lit, but it really wasn’t for me. If I’m gonna read about faeries it needs to be dark and twisted and not whatever this was.
I leave you with some pieces I wrote for Nonsense Newsletter at the end of last year, and also some random pics (obviously) xx
see u soon (hopefully) xx
