Every year I tell myself not to bother with this list. There are so many "best books" out there. But reading is one of life's most delicious pleasures, and I can't help myself. These are the books that I loved, cried over, despaired over, and still think about in 2024. I'd love to know what you think....
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
This novel is not for the faint of heart. It is one of the most brutal, most terrifying, and most important books I've ever read. I could only read a few pages at a time but could not stop, needed to finish it. Without much punctuation or paragraphs, the writing is propulsive and raw. Months later, I can't stop thinking about it….
Arroyo Circle, by JoeAnn Hart
Climate fiction might be the most important subgenre of fiction in these times; it's certainly what interests me most deeply. This novel is a perfect example of why that's true. It's an ambitious and fast-paced story of wildfire and pandemic and flood told through the eyes of characters living on the margins of our communities and the natural world. Entertaining, sobering, and thought-provoking, this novel grabbed me from the first pages. I loved it.
Colored Television, by Danzy Senna
I've been a fan of Senna's since her debut novel "Caucasia." Her writing is smart and funny; it's snarky and sometimes profound. For those of us still trying to figure out how to negotiate identity politics and the deeper issues of race and class bias in our culture, this new novel has some thoughts to add to our understanding.
Swift River, by Essie J. Chambers
I bought this novel after hearing the author read from it. Despite the noisy room making it hard to hear, I loved Diamond's voice, the western MA setting and the rich historical background about sundown towns and northern racism. This story, it turns out, is a page turner with gravitas. Highly recommended.
Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone by Randy Susan Meyers
I approached reading this novel with the mixed emotions I feel when beginning any novel set in the activism of the 1960s. With fascination, because my world view and personhood was formed in that landscape. And with trepidation, because the author might get it wrong. That period of intense political activism and personal change has been the frequent victim of stereotyping and caricature. But Meyers gets it right. I liked this book so much I wrote about it; you can read the full review here.
North Woods by Daniel Mason
This novel offers us 400 years of a house and a place. It is a banquet of characters, human and otherwise, of stories and ghosts and the kind of quirky connections that delight me as a reader. Mason gives us a masterpiece here in an odd narrative structure that weaves in and out of history and ecology. This is a pleasure of a book, (especially the best scene of beetles mating in literature.)
The Waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Few authors can write place like Bonnie Jo Campbell. In this novel, she takes us to an island in the Great Massasauga swamp, land of the massasauga rattlesnake, of farmers and barely employed laborers largely written off by society. I'm in awe of her characters, especially herbalist Hermine "Herself" Zook and her granddaughter Donkey. This book is both grim and spirited. I loved it.
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julie Alvarez
What does a novelist do with the stories she can't write, doesn't have time to write, but is obsessed with? In this novel, Alvarez' main character asks that question as she turns a plot of land in her native Dominican Republic into a cemetery for her unfinished manuscripts and the stillborn characters within them. If you believe, as I do, that our stories define us and may be the best of us, take a look at this book.
Change the Wallpaper by Nilanjana Dasgupta
This book, scheduled for publication in January, is my nonfiction choice for this year. If you've ever wondered why Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programs are often ineffective, take a look at this approach to how individuals can make a difference in structural inequality. Dasgupta synthesizes the social science research that offers insight with the stories that make us care. Pre-order at bookshop.org or your favorite indie.
Last Days in Plaka by Henriette Lazaridis
This novel opens with: "This is not her story. She stole it from the young woman who did not realize until the end that it was hers." It's the perfect introduction to the complex and often perplexing relationship between a young woman trying to discover herself and an old woman, living largely in the losses and regrets of the past. Told by an omniscient narrator who knows both women well and is often judgmental towards them, this novel shimmers in the heat of Athens and the quiet intensity of the story.