2024 has drawn to a close, and I'm both proud and relieved to say that I accomplished my goal of reading 36 books in the year. I managed to read 38! I log all my reading on my storygraph.

This post is just a brief review of the best books I fell in love with in 2024, in no particular order.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

“Do you take pride in your hurt?” Samuel asked. “Does it make you seem large and tragic?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, think about it. Maybe you’re playing a part on a great stage with only yourself as audience.”

There's really no better word to describe this novel than "masterpiece." Perhaps the most human story I've read, this is a novel of nature and nurture, and of overcoming what you think you are. It is also an incredibly wild ride - so many twists and turns, and characters you will both love and want to shake by the shoulders.

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

"I had in my hands the most precious of treasures, a spring from which to drink the knowledge of that world to which I would never have access."

I went in blind to this dystopian novel, and that experience is one I'd recommend to every reader. It opens with one mystery - why is the protagonist held captive? - and page by page the reader wonders if some clue will arrive to help resolve that mystery, yet page by page the mystery only deepens.

Of Time And Turtles by Sy Montgomery

"Perhaps time is not an arrow, a deadly weapon flying towards its target. Instead of an arrow, perhaps time is an egg. Let’s make it a turtle egg - with the promise that each end might lead to a new beginning."

I always have to read a bit of nature nonfiction every year in order to fuel my existential, environmental despair. Usually these are bird-centric, but I branched out a bit into another type of creature I love - turtles. (I also read Silent Spring this year - hoo boy.) Though some people criticize the winding paths this book can take to make a point, I really enjoyed the meandering and musings that linked vast topics back to the care and conservation of turtles. And, maybe this is just me willingly wanting to pull the wool over my eyes, but I enjoyed the optimistic tone the book tended to take. It's about people who have shaped their lives around rescuing and conserving turtles, and it's hard not to feel a bit of hope when the story is about folks like these.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

“If you want to get on in life, there’s things you have to ignore, so you can keep on.”

This novella is cozy, contemplative, and a perfect read for Christmastime; it is a story about finding the courage to do the right and good thing rather than taking the path of least resistance. I listened to the 2-hour long audiobook and then immediately purchased a physical copy, which is high praise for me, who typically tries to keep my physical book library pretty minimal. Also, the film adaptation starring Cillian Murphy is the most perfect book-to-film adaption I've personally seen. I will be rereading this book every Christmas for years to come. (I also read Foster by the same author this year and it is also perfect!)

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

"Some swivel in Seymour has locked: he can no longer see the planet as anything but dying, and everyone around him complicit in the killing."

I am getting emotional just thinking about this book. Just go in blind; you'll be glad you did. All I can say is that I am someone who struggles with my role in a world which I often can only see as, well, dying, and I feel powerless to stop it. I have also struggled with my neurodivergence all of my life. Every protagonist in this book was wonderful, but I have never related to any character more than Seymour.