I read 124 books in 2024: my goal every year for a while now has been 100 plus the last two digits of the year. Here are five standouts in various genres.
One of my favorite genres is post-apocalyptic novels, and one of the most original ones I read this year was After World by Deborah Urbanski. The premise: humans have asked an artificial intelligence how they can save their planet. The reply: end your physical existences and upload your consciousnesses. Surprisingly, humanity complies. Each person is assigned a "storyworker," an artificial intelligence tasked with summing up that human's life for the upload. Twist: the storyworker assigned to the last human falls in love with her.
For those who are into young adult fantasy, I truly enjoyed Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse books, starting with Six of Crows. The action-packed adventure includes a diverse crew with strong female characters, tackling themes of friendship and surviving trauma. This book will leave you hanging, but no fear, there are several more!
For those interested in literary classics, James by Percival Everett is on the top of a lot of important lists this year. It is a rewriting of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of young Huck's enslaved friend, Jim, aka James. Everett plays with the idea that Mark Twain may have based the character of Huck Finn on an African American, and takes it to a surprising conclusion.
Lost and Found by Brooke Davis is the poignant and hilarious story of an abandoned child, who is found and cared for by two otherwise anti-social elderly people, helping to transform their lives for the better. Sounds like a typical feel-good plot but it's carried off with originality and lots of humor. I recommend the audiobook for the very entertaining Australian accents.
Finally, Horse by Geraldine Brooks is a unique historical novel that moves in time between the present, where an art historian finds himself working with a scientist on a skeleton of a horse; and the antebellum period, when an enslaved man trained that racehorse for the people who owned them both. Brooks offers unique insight into lesser-known facets of African American history, and racism, both contemporary and historical.
