Books I’ve enjoyed this year

My favourite reads of the year and why I’m sharing them now

Is it too early to share my favourite reads of the year? Would it be better doing this at the end of the month, as the clock ticks towards 2025? There is, after all, a lot of reading time left with so many books that could still make my shortlist.

Well…yes, I probably should.

But if you’re looking for some Christmas recommendations, then the end of the year will be too late. There are some lovely reads on my list that would make excellent stocking-fillers. And, being completely honest, I’m also sharing it now because this weekend is a little tricky. I’m in London, being catapulted 85 metres into the air over Hyde Park Winter Wonderland because—so I’m told—this is a fun family thing to do.

While I am doing sky-high loops on the Munich Looper, being dropped from the tallest transportable drop-tower in the world, and whizzing around on the Starflyer, I will not have the resources or capabilities to write a full Substack essay for you.

So, books it is. 😊

In the summer, I did a round-up of my favourite reads so far this year. If you missed it, you can read it here. On the list were:

• You Are Here by David Nicholls;

• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld;

• The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak;

• Newborn by Kerry Hudson; and

• Two Women Walk into a Bar, a short ebook essay by Cheryl Strayed.

All of these make my final favourites list, but I’ve got a few more that I’d love to add.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

I read this one on holiday and loved it with a passion. I bought it for my mum for her birthday and she loved it too. Everyone I chat to who has read it raves about it. Definitely one to add to your to-be-read list.

Here’s the blurb.

There's more to every love story than what we choose to tell...

It's spring and Lara's three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the one story they've always longed to hear - of the film star with whom she shared a stage, and a romance, years before.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents lead before their children are born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.

The story is beautifully told, and the characters are just wonderful. This is the first novel I’ve read from Ann Patchett. I loved her essays, and will definitely be reading more of her fiction.

Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan

This book won the Women’s Prize for Fiction earlier this year. If I’d been a judge on the prize, it is the book I would have chosen as the winner. It is superb.

Here’s the blurb.

Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war subsumes Sri Lanka, her dream takes her on a different path as she watches those around her, including her four beloved brothers and their best friend, get swept up in violent political ideologies and their consequences. She must ask herself: is it possible for anyone to move through life without doing harm?

I wrote a post about the prize and my love of this book. You can read it here.

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

This one has been on my to read pile for a while but because it’s about loss, I was reluctant to read it. In the end, I’d heard so many good things about it, I had to read it for myself. It was moving but also laugh out loud funny, and warm, witty, and brilliantly written. I enjoyed it so much I then went straight onto the author’s latest book. But before we move on, here’s the blurb for We All Want Impossible Things.

Who knows you better than your best friend? Who knows your secrets, your fears, your desires, your strange imperfect self?
Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years. Since childhood they have seen each other through life's milestones: stealing vodka from their parents, REM concerts, marriages, infertility, children. As Ash notes, 'Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine.'
So when Edi is diagnosed with cancer, Ash's world reshapes around the rhythms of Edi's care, from making watermelon ice cubes and music therapy to snack smuggling and impromptu excursions into the frozen winter night.
Because life is about squeezing the joy out of every moment and building a powerhouse of memories, about learning when to hold on, and when to let go.

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

This is the second novel from Catherine Newman. She is a wonderful writer, and it was just a joy to read. Here’s the blurb.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape. Their rustic beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, its quirky furniture and mismatched pots and pans greeted like old friends.
Now, sandwiched between her children who are adult enough to be fun but still young enough to need her, and her parents who are alive and healthy, Rocky wants to preserve this golden moment forever. This one precious week when everything is in balance; everything is in flux.
But every family has its secrets and hers is no exception.
With her body in open revolt and surprises invading her peaceful haven, the perfectly balanced seesaw of Rocky’s life is tipping towards change…

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

Soldier Sailor was shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. If I’d been a judge, it would have been my second choice, pipped only at the last minute by V. V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Nights.

Claire Kilroy is a talented writer, and all I kept thinking as I read Soldier Sailor was how amazing the writing is. It’s a book about motherhood, but even if you don’t have children, it is still relatable. I absolutely loved it and I can’t wait to read more from Claire Kilroy.

Here’s the blurb. And I have to say with this one, the blurb really doesn’t do it justice.

In her wildly acclaimed new novel Claire Kilroy creates an unforgettable heroine, whose fierce love for her young son clashes with the seismic change to her own identity.
As her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy, creativity and the passing of time, an old friend makes a welcome return - but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?

The Woman Who Ran Away From Everything by Fiona Gibson

I regularly read Fiona Gibson’s Substack publication, and she always makes me laugh. The Woman Who Ran Away From Everything is my first of her novels and I will definitely read more. I read it at a time in my life when I very much wanted to run away from my life. If you missed my mini-meltdown earlier in the year, you can catch up here.

The Woman Who Ran Away From Everything is a fun and heart-warming read, perfect for middle-aged women who are feeling a bit stuck. Here’s the blurb.

Being married to a comedian is no joke.

Kate is sick of it. Sick of being a wife, cook, dog walker and flat-pack assembler, while still being treated like a doormat. Her husband all but ignores her—unless he needs a clean shirt—and she’s constantly compelled to keep up with the (very smug) Joneses in their neighbourhood.

What happened to the fun-loving woman she used to be? At almost 50, Kate feels lost, overlooked and stuck. That is, until she comes home to one of her husband’s impromptu parties—and is expected to feed their hungry guests.

And that’s it. Breaking point. The final straw.

Scrambling out of the bathroom window, Kate leaves. She has no money, no clean pants, and no plan – but a chance encounter sees her following her heart for once. And now there’s no going back…

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

Trespasses was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2023. It’s been on my list for a while and I finally got round to reading it in September while I was on holiday. I couldn’t put it down. Set in Belfast in the 1970s, during the Troubles, it is a star-crossed love story that is both beautiful and devastating. Here’s the blurb.

One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice.
If Davy had remembered to put on a coat.
If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street.
If Michael Agnew had not walked through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt.
There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever.
As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like 'petrol bomb' and 'rubber bullets'. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.
Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.

And there they are – my favourite reads of 2024. Have you read any of them?

What’s been your favourite read so far this year? I’d love to hear.