I read 46 books in 2024—a little over 13,000 pages—and here are some of my favs, in no particular order.
- If God Was a Virus by Seema Yasmin
This was my favorite book of poetry I read this year. Dr. Yasmin is a medical doctor, professor, and journalist, and this book covers her experience dealing with the Ebola outbreak in Africa. I’ve never read a single book about Ebola, and the older I get, the harder it is to read books where I think, “this thought has never crossed my mind,” and this book hit that for me. I loved how it also delved into religion and gender and how those factors intertwined with her medical experience. And in poetry form? Incredible. - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
This book is incredibly popular (AKA 1.2 million ratings on Goodreads), and I was ready to be underwhelmed. Reader, I was not underwhelmed. This was such a fun, fast-paced read. I recommend reading this book with zero context because honestly the less you know the better. - Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore
I wasn’t obsessed with this book when I read it, but it’s lingered in my imagination longer than others. This book captures the weirdness of girlhood and how the strange, magical friendships of childhood morph and suddenly we’re adults and the space between us is voluminous. The title of this book captures the style of the book—weird and nostalgic. - The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jake Bittle
I’ve read a lot of climate change and environmentalism books, and this one was superb. Each chapter focuses on a different place in the U.S. and how climate change will uniquely disrupt the social ecosystem there. There are some obvious ones, like California and Florida, but some less considered places as well, like North Carolina. The journalism and anecdotes are equally interesting and readable. - Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
This is a fantasy book inspired by Native American legends and culture. So much of fantasy is steeped in European history, and this book really made me think about all the details I immediately fill in with a Western lens. For example, she talks about boats, and my mind immediately went to huge colonial sailing vessels when the boats she was referencing were more like canoes. Loved the plot and the characters in this. I read the second in the series, and I did not like it that much, so enjoy the first! - Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Don’t feel like I need to say much about this one. I think she writes like Hemmingway—short and to the point and always pushing the narrative forward. I wasn’t a huge fan of “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” so I was stoked that this one hit. - Chain-Gang All-Stars by Adjei-Brenyah Nana Kwame
Arguably my favorite novel of the year. So. Good. This book is Hunger Games meets the U.S. prison industrial complex. It’s smart and interesting without being too depressing. I read this while camping in a canyon in Arizona, and I was hooked until the very last page. - Woodswoman I: Living Alone in the Adirondack Wilderness by Anne LaBastille
This satisfies two personal interests: women living alone in the woods and the Adirondack region of New York. So interesting! She built her own house? Which was only accessible by boat and later snowmobile? Hell yeah. Someone recommended this to me back in 2018, and I just got around to reading it, so shoutout to that person whom I no longer talk to. - The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemison
This trilogy is the only sci-fi series where every book in the series has won the Hugo Award, and it is so deserved. I thought that the first book had a unique magic system, a compelling plot, and a very good twist! Second book was good not incredible, and the third one was also excellent. I also appreciate how succinct this series is; she does so much in three books! If you’re big on world building, maybe not the book for you, but if you’re into powerful women, apocalypses, and the literal power to move the earth, then this is the series for you! - Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz
I find that reading about a place makes me feel more grounded and attached, and I was on a California reading kick this year (it worked; I feel way more at home here now). Eve Babitz is a legend who is having a resurgence of popularity along with Didion, who, arguably, never really lost popularity. Babitz’s known for being a socialite and a muse as well as a writer, and beyond all of those interesting facets that make their way into the story, I thought she had some incredible scenery descriptions. This book made me want to go to Bakersfield? - California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline by Rosanna Xia
This one hit two themes of my yearly reading: climate change and California. Like “The Great Displacement” mentioned above, each chapter switches cities, although all of these are in California. As an East Coast native, California faces a lot of challenges I haven’t in-depth thought about before and this book was a fascinating look into some of those issues. Like ground water pollution! Rising tides will push ground water levels higher, and consequently buried pollutants will be pushed to the surface. So fun! The author, who’s a journalist, does a great job highlighting minority communities and involving Indigenous stewardship as a solution. - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Another incredible novel. Thoughtful, engaging, funny, I read this for book club and it topped all of our lists. This book had some of the most interesting themes I’d read this year: Buddhism, family, aging, small town gossip (love it). This is a book that begs to be unpacked further than a casual read. - The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves by J. B. MacKinnon
Probably my favorite nonfiction read of the year. This was another book that introduced me to topics I’d never thought about before. Like planned obsolescence! And lightbulbs that last 100+ years! And the fact that all of our sustainable solutions are fucking useless if we don’t stop consuming more! Solar panels will not save us! I made my sister read this, and she also loved it, which means a lot because she has excellent taste and out read me by quite a large margin this year.
Happy reading ❤
People in Parks 