2024 reading

[white_hart]

I snuck in one last novelette on New Year's Eve to bring my total of books read in 2024 to a nice round 125. Of these, at most 9 were by cishet white men, with 105 by women or NB people. Most-read genres were fantasy (39) and non-fiction (37), with SF and mystery both on 17. My most-read author was Margery Allingham, thanks to Kate Davies's Summer of Mystery pattern club. (I am unlikely to knit many of the patterns, but was very glad to be prompted to return to Albert Campion, who I adored at the age of 11 or 12. At 50, I liked the older, wiser and sadder man more than the foolish young sleuth I'd preferred then.)

Full list of books:

The Dragon With A Chocolate Heart-Stephanie Burgis
At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies' Pond-Various
The Grief of Stones-Katherine Addison
Looking After Your Autistic Self-Niamh Garvey
Late Eclipses-Seanan McGuire
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise-Katherine Rundell
A Stroke of the Pen-Terry Pratchett
Offshore -Penelope Fitzgerald
The Blue Castle -L.M. Montgomery
Time of the Cat-Tansy Rayner Roberts
The Geek Feminist Revolution -Kameron Hurley
Faebound-Saara El-Arifi
Letters To My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism-Joanne Limburg
The Bone Harp-Victoria Goddard
Chaucer: A European Life-Marion Turner
The Case of the Missing Marquess -Nancy Springer
The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt-Mary Russell
Gate Sinister -Tansy Rayner Roberts
All Systems Red-Martha Wells
Travellers Joy -Victoria Goddard
Waiting for the Flood-Alexis Hall
Colour at Work-Kate Davies and Felicity Ford
By the River-Various
State Tectonics -Malka Older
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum-Emma Southon
Tales from Cramberleigh -Tansy Rayner Roberts
Embertide-Liz Williams
You Are Not Alone -Cariad Lloyd
Artificial Condition -Martha Wells
In Her Nature -Rachel Hewitt
Nevertheless She Persisted -Various
Women On Nature-Various (ed. Katherine Norbury)
Terec and the Wall-Victoria Goddard
Embroidered Worlds -Various
Sweet Danger-Margery Allingham
Dog Days: A Year With Olive and Mabel-Andrew Cotter
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi -Shannon Chakraborty
Style and Substance -Various (ed. Bay Garnett)
Death in the Spires -K.J. Charles
Reading Lessons -Carol Atherton
Death of a Ghost-Margery Allingham
Rogue Protocol -Martha Wells
Mammoths at the Gates-Nghi Vo
The Easternmost House-Juliet Blaxland
One Salt Sea-Seanan McGuire
The Rings of Saturn-W.G. Sebald
Flowers for the Judge -Margery Allingham
Dancers in Mourning -Margery Allingham
Parables Fables Nightmares -Malachi McIntosh
The Fashion in Shrouds-Margery Allingham
Traitor's Purse-Margery Allingham
The Great Level -Stella Tillyard
The Fens-Francis Pryor
Coroner's Pidgin -Margery Allingham
The Girl With The Dragon Heart-Stephanie Burgis
I Heart Politics -Phoenix Andrews
Big Sky-Kate Atkinson
Exit Strategy-Martha Wells
Mary Ellen, Craterean!-Chaz Brenchley
Paladin's Strength -T Kingfisher
A Stash of One's Own-Various (ed. Clara Parkes)
More Work For The Undertaker -Margery Allingham
House Perilous -Tansy Rayner Roberts
Diary of a Young Naturalist -Dara McAnulty
How to Get a Date with the Evil Queen-Marie Cardno
How to Do Nothing -Jenny Odell
A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience -Stephanie Burgis
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles -Malka Older
This Rough Magic-Mary Stewart
Prisoners of Geography -Tim Marshall
Hild-Nicola Griffith
The Button Box-Lynn Knight
The Tiger in the Smoke-Margery Allingham
The Nutmeg of Consolation -Patrick O'Brian
What Works for Autistic Adults-Luke Beardon
The True Queen -Zen Cho
The Glassblower -Victoria Goddard
The Long, Long Life of Trees-Fiona Stafford
The Beckoning Lady-Margery Allingham
Salt on the Midnight Fire-Liz Williams
Sisters of the Forsaken Stars-Lina Rather
Winters in the World-Eleanor Parker
Fugitive Telemetry -Martha Wells
Slippery Creatures -K.J. Charles
Rest is Resistance-Tricia Hersey
Fathomfolk-Eliza Chan
From Spare Oom to War Drobe-Katherine Langrish
Confounding Oaths -Alexis Hall
The Ladies of Llangollen -Elizabeth Mavor
Impact of Evidence -Carol Carnac
Navigational Entanglements -Aliette de Bodard
Hide My Eyes-Margery Allingham
Oxford -Jan Morris
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance -Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar -Indra Das
If Found, Return to Hell-Em X. Liu
Old Babes in the Wood-Margaret Atwood
Network Effect -Martha Wells
Double Entry -Jane Gleeson-White
The Grasshopper's Child -Gwyneth Jones
The Crime at Black Dudley -Margery Allingham
Bonnets at Dawn-Tansy Rayner Roberts
The Outrun-Amy Liptrot
Solitaire -Alice Oseman
Ashes of Honor-Seanan McGuire
Lady Eve's Last Con -Rebecca Fraimow
Black and British: A Forgotten History -David Olusoga
The Blue, Beautiful World-Karen Lord
The Weaver of the Middle Desert -Victoria Goddard
Mystery Mile-Margery Allingham
System Collapse -Martha Wells
Hope in the Dark-Rebecca Solnit
The Green Man's Gift-Juliet E McKenna
Under Fortunate Stars-Ren Hutchings
The Wood at Midwinter -Susanna Clarke
Land Glorious -Tansy Rayner Roberts
Notes from Deep Time -Helen Gordon
Blood Sweat Glitter -Iona Datt Sharma
The Brides of High Hill -Nghi Vo
The Princess Who Flew With Dragons-Stephanie Burgis
Fludd -Hilary Mantel
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-flight Tower-Tamsyn Muir
Balancing Stone-Victoria Goddard
Orbital -Samantha Harvey
The Fox Roads-Nghi Vo

2024 was a year where I stopped doing a lot of things I'd previously enjoyed, mostly due to fundamental brokenness (five years of burning out at work and starting the year with your father's funeral will do that, never mind covid halfway through). One of those was writing about the books I'd read, because trying to write good reviews was feeling too much like hard work, but I miss talking about the books I've read, so I'm going to try to get back in the habit of doing that, even if I only write a couple of sentences rather than full reviews.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in my thoughts on any of the 2024 books, ask in comments, or give me a random number between 1 and 125 and I'll talk about the corresponding book.

Comments

[mountainkiss]

I am interested in which of the autism books you liked and why.

[white_hart]

I didn't think any of the ones I read this year were among my favourites, but I liked the Garvey best, as it came from lived experience and was very relatable. I didn't really gel with Letters to My Weird Sisters and the Luke Beardon was too much stuff I already knew.

[mountainkiss]

Thank you!

[nineveh_uk]

The two Singing Hills novellas I've read so far are the two you must have read in 2023, but I'll definitely be reading the next ones. Vo's storytelling in them is a delight from the first word.

SA Also, I'd be interested in any thoughts you'd like to share on How to Do Nothing. Valuable or irritating?

[white_hart]

2023, or even earlier. I do really love the series.

I thought How to Do Nothing was interesting, but much more about cultural expectations than individual experiences. Definitely not irritating, but not necessarily particularly valuable either.

[sartorias]

What did you think of the Stella Tillyard book?

[white_hart]

That's one my mother recommended. I liked it, but did have the niggling feeling I often get with historical fiction of wondering just how true to life it actually is. It sent me off wanting to know more about the draining of the Fens, and made me visit Denver Sluices on my way to my mother's in July.

[sartorias]

Thank you!

[machiavellijr]

Interested to know your thoughts on Jan Morris' Oxford or Captain Vorpatril's Alliance?

[white_hart]

I liked both of them! Morris's Oxford was interesting, and I did learn quite a lot of new things about the place I've lived for almost quarter of a century from it. And I thought Captain Vorpatril's Alliance was fun, and really enjoyed Ivan's point of view. (Also, he's an administrator! Of course I love him!)

[radiantfracture]

Forgive me if you have actually posted about this and I've jsut lost track, but as Fitzgerald is a favorite author of mine I would be interested to know what your thoughts were on Offshore!

[white_hart]

That was another one of my mother's recommendations. I enjoyed it - a really interesting little study of a group of characters and their way of life.

[shewhostaples]

I keep seeing The Fens - how is it?

[white_hart]

It's interesting, but very focused on prehistory to medieval times, when I'd really been looking for something about the draining of the Fens.

[perennialanna]

Imperial Mud by James Boyce is much more about the draining, and is excellent. I discovered that the hamlet where my father loves was a hotbed of opposition and indeed direct action.

[white_hart]

I have that one on the to-read shelf (recommended by you, I think!).

[julian]

Yeah, somewhat of a heavy year you had there.

And, hm! There's quite a few in there that look interesting, so I shall just do the Random Stab thing and say 13. If that overlaps with someone else, then 17.

[white_hart]

Hmmm. 13 was Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. Epic fantasy which I had pre-ordered, presumably because I'd seen a positive review, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it.

17 was The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer - the first of her Enola Holmes series, and I thought it was very entertaining.

[rachelmanija]

Orbital and The Grasshopper's Child!

[white_hart]

Orbital is absolutely lovely - gorgeous descriptive prose and a quiet meditation on our relationship with our planet. It's like a David Attenborough documentary in novel form, and I think it really deserved the Booker Prize.

The Grasshopper's Child is a sort-of sequel to the Bold As Love series, which I really love, although it mostly focuses on a different set of characters and local-level issues rather than wider politics. It's sort of YA, with a teenage central character, but has much the same sense of an oddly hopeful vision of a world ravaged by climate crisis, and I really enjoyed it.

[coughingbear]

The Blue, Beautiful World - I have been getting into Karen Lord and interested to know what you thought of it.

(Am also fascinated by the draining of the fens via Nine Tailors and Sybil Marshall, and planning to visit the pumping station near Ely some time this yeat.)

[white_hart]

I liked it, but I hadn't realised that it wasn't a standalone, but followed on from The Best of All Possible Worlds (which I read a long time ago) and The Galaxy Game (which I haven't read), and that made it a bit confusing in places.

[adaeze]

Hey, there's a Victoria Goddard I didn't know about! Thanks for the tip-off.

[white_hart]

She does tend to sneak them out without much warning! There's a fan discord group which I mostly don't participate in any more but she does announce new releases there.

[lokifan]

The Tiger in the Smoke-Margery Allingham

Ah, Philip Pullman must be a fan of hers! (The Ruby in the Smoke and The Tiger in the Well being two of the titles of his Sally Lockhart mysteries.)

I really liked Hope in the Dark. It was interesting as well, to me, to see ways things have shifted even since that book was published. What did you think of it?

I hope this year is easier!

[white_hart]

I hadn't made that connection, but I think you must be right!

I also liked Hope in the Dark, and it did manage to make me feel more optimistic - but yes, it was really interesting to be reminded of the things which seemed so significant to Solnit when she was writing it, and which I can now barely remember.