book-review

9 Books That I Have Loved This Year (2024 edition)

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Hello beautiful cats! We are at the end of 2024 and what a year it has been! It’s been another busy year, and finding time to read has not always been easy, but I have tried to dedicate at least one hour of reading before bedtime. There were nights I succeeded and other times I didn’t quite make it and in these cases, I would open the book, find the page I was reading and promptly fall asleep, and I kid you not, once I even dozed off while still holding my place with my finger, or so my partner told me!

You know that I love reading. It’s one of my favourite things to do (otherwise, I wouldn’t work in a library!), and I strongly believe it improves mental health. It also has (more or less) obvious benefits, like better literacy and vocabulary and opening the mind to other perspectives. Similarly to last year, I thought I would share my favourite reads of 2024: I managed to read/listen to 39 books and not all of them were a “win”, but the ones that I enjoyed are definitely more than those that weren’t really my taste, so it has been difficult to make a selection. But here there are the 9 best (according to me) reads of 2024!

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

This was the very first book of 2024 and it was in eAudiobook format through the BorrowBox app. It was also my very first book by Zadie Smith, and what a treat this was! It was a great introduction to her writing and the eAudiobook I listened to was read by Zadie Smith herself.

This is a historical book, with the “Tichborne Trial” in the background and the two main characters being a woman and a former slave, it shows how the British Empire was built on the labour of slaves, the misappropriation of lands in far-away places (i.e. Jamaica) and how this has never been really acknowledged to this day. You can see how some people might find this book uncomfortable, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

This book found itself in my hands one day while I was covering the main desk at work, and from the title I was expecting something different. After reading the plot, I HAD to borrow it.

It’s a book that touches on the experience of a second-generation Palestinian-American, so you understand why I wanted to read it. And it didn’t disappoint! It provides a glance into the world of a family that emigrated from Palestine to America in the 1970s, the culture clash between Arab Muslims and Americans, touching also on the Nakba. It is highly recommended.

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Julie Smith

Another eAudiobook, this time on Spotify.

A beautiful book of advice on how to live with more confidence and compassion (both towards others and yourself). Enjoying it as an audiobook felt like having a personal therapist offering valuable life lessons. While it’s not a replacement for professional therapy, it serves as a great resource for understanding your thought processes and discovering ways to enhance your well-being.

It also clarified which aspects I could tackle independently and where I might benefit from a therapist’s support. Get ready to put in some effort!

A Thousand Golden Cities: 2,500 Years of Writing from Afghanistan and its People by Justin Marozzi

This was truly eye-opening on a Country that is so full of history and yet has been relegated as being full of uncivilised people. Got it as an ebook on BorrowBox, and I’ll be honest it took me almost 2 months to finish because it’s around 1000 pages and full of excerpts from different books and sources: some I found were easier to read than others. There were many descriptions of the geography and the people by different authors in different times, from 200 BCE to 2000 CE, extracts (briefly) an ally to the West.

This book shows how, because of its peculiar location, Afghanistan has been used and abused by other empires.

It’s absolutely recommended.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

This was just “Wow”. Another eAudiobook on the BorrowBox app. A kind of fantasy, but set in the very real Sri Lanka in the 1990s and its civil war, this is also a mystery book. A story of queer people, colonialism and corruption, it’s funny and sour. The idea of the seven moons as the time in the afterlife to make peace with oneself is so interesting, and the main character in the book uses this time to find who killed him.

It was easily one of my favourite books this year.

The Order of the Day by Éric Vuillard

I would have never chosen this book as it covers a time in history with which I can’t cope (WWII). It’s thanks to a friend that I read this book – I’m so lucky to have the friends I have!

While the book is promoted as being about various meetings of heads of state in the 1930s, I would argue that this is also a book clearly demonstrating how few families and companies own maybe not everything, but definitely a very good chunk of the economy. And they have always played major roles in politics too, by influencing events that at the time looked insignificant, but actually revealed themselves to be very important later.

It’s a short and (bitter)sweet book that should be read by everybody.

Paper Cup by Karen Campbell

A colleague suggested this book, she ordered it from another library for me and it took ages to arrive as that library was set to close soon and a lot of the stock was in boxed destined to other libraries, so I forgot about it and I didn’t have any idea of what the book was about until it arrived.

And it was absolutely brilliant! The main theme is homelessness, and this was another eye-opener. It’s set in Scotland in 2010s, the main character is a woman, and the book deals with her experience living in the streets for half of her life, but also an unexpected pilgrimage.

It’s a really sweet book, easy to read because of the beautiful writing but still heavy for the very real theme of homelessness.

I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You by Miranda Hart

This is the book I didn’t know I needed until I read it. Aside from the series “Miranda” (which I loved) by Miranda Hart herself, I didn’t really know her and her books. So I was happy to listen to the eAudiobook, read by Miranda, on Spotify. I couldn’t stop listening to it!

In this book, she shares her journey with chronic illness, detailing her struggles with being misdiagnosed multiple times and the reluctance of general practitioners to take patients—especially women—seriously when they seek answers about their symptoms. It’s such a close theme to me, that I felt so seen and understood (as I have been misdiagnosed twice, not been taken seriously after having been in and out of the GP practice for 4 years and now having been diagnosed with fibromyalgia) that I cried a few times while listening to it.

But it’s still Miranda Hart, and you will also get many laughs out of it!

Tyger by S.F. Said

Another eAudiobook on BorrowBox, again dealing with themes like racism and colonialism (is there a pattern? she asked rhetorically). It’s a fantasy book for young adults set in a similar world to ours, but with the British Empire still going strong, talking magical animals and a war of supernatural powers, where the themes of colonialism and racism are dealt with in such a sweet and delicate way, while at the same time almost presenting the reader with a call to action for the new generations (and possibly the older ones, too).

I’m a sucker for cats and here there is the gentle, big talking Tyger you can find in a YA book. It was so easy to listen to, I finished it in just a few days and who knows if there might be a sequel?

Conclusion

Looking at the list of books read this year, it didn’t really feel like I read a lot, but 39 books is not too bad. I am also aware that not everybody has the same time to read, the same attention span, etc, some people can read 5 books and some can read 150, we are all different and the main thing is to read whenever possible.

A couple of books didn’t make “the cut”: had to make a selection to bring you what I thought were the best reads for me, but I’ll leave you with the titles in case you want to check them out:

  • The Little Snake by A.L. Kennedy
  • All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
  • How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell

I hope you have managed to read something this year and that maybe this post inspired you to read a new book. Or maybe you’ve already read one of these books, so let me know if you enjoyed them or not.

In the meantime, have a lovely night and cheers to the New Year!

Love,

TVCL xx

7 Books That I Have Loved This Year

/ thevegancatlibrarian / 2 Comments

Hiya beauties! As we’re getting to the end of this year, I wanted to share with you my favourite reads of the year. In the past few months, I managed to read a bit more and I would like to share what I loved. Despite the stressful time of the move, or maybe because of it, I have been trying to cut out more reading time at the end of the day to read. I don’t know why, but during the first half of the year, I found it very difficult to sit down and read: once back from work, made dinner and watched a couple of episodes of a TV series, I would go to bed, get a book and almost immediately fall to sleep.

However, in the second half, a lot of the time I would do all of the above, except that once in bed I would manage to read at least one chapter! And I’m sure I haven’t been less tired than in the previous months. considering also the fact that I have been adjusting to the new living arrangements, having moved from being my cat and me, to being my cat, my partner and me. Who knows how more reading?!

A new factor

While I am enjoying podcasts on Spotify, lately the app started offering audioBooks: 15 hours of audiobooks per month. It’s a great way to get started on this wonderful source that I never considered before. At the library, I was used to issuing audiobooks to the elderly, and people driving a lot for work. Honestly, it didn’t even seem like a viable solution for me as it was usually in CD format. But there it happened, while I was browsing Spotify I got a notification about available audiobooks: I thought of looking at the titles and there were many interesting and popular while some others were a bit more obscure. After having selected my interests, I tried the first one and….couldn’t stop listening to it! So I started the next one – and stopped only because I ran out of the 15 hours. Then I remembered that with the library card, one gets also access to BorrowBox for eBooks and eAudiobooks (as well as PressReader for newspapers and magazines) so clearly being addicted to this “new” thing, I looked at the online catalogue available with BorrowBox there were so many interesting audiobooks – all for free!

Through this, I have been listening to eAudiobooks while doing chores at home, when I get to do some more creative tasks at work, while at lunch, and when I have to drive. It’s brilliant. And sometimes it’s the same authors that are reading their books, which is awesome because they know how the characters should sound or put a particular emphasis on some scenes. But also there are books read by actors who played characters from the books they are performing, such as Elizabeth Moss reading The Handmaid’s Tale – impossible to stop listening!

So, without further ado here is my favourite books of 2023:

Cat Lady by Dawn O’Porter

Thanks to a cup of coffee drank way too late in the evening, I finished this book in one night. It made me laugh and cry and it felt so relatable, but apparently, it’s one of those books that you either love or hate.

Mia is a childfree forty-something woman who loves her cat, has a good job and a nice boyfriend. One might find her a bit peculiar because she wants separate bedrooms and she likes things done in a specific way. But this makes her so much more relatable to me and I can understand her very well. Also, her boyfriend’s friends are mean to her because of her cat and if you are a cat lover then you will read the usual nasty comments you surely have heard many times by ignorant people.

It’s a perfect mix of humour and drama – I recommend it.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

This was the second eAudiobook I tried on Spotify, when I ran out of the allotted monthly listening hours, but I was enjoying the story so much that I went to look for it on BorrowBox to see if it was there in any format and found it as an eBook!

A darkly funny book – it’s set in Nigeria and I loved reading the story of Korede and how yet again she helps her serial killer sister Ayoola. While there is murder involved, there is also a subtle and interesting social commentary on women in Nigerian society.

Funny and easy to read – absolutely recommended.

The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice by Shon Faye

This has been such an interesting and eye-opening read – again done half as eAudiobook on Spotify and eBook on BorrowBox.

There has always been a lot of talking about transpeople in the news, but never knew much about it and before attending university, I didn’t have any idea of the issues that members of the LGBTQIA+ have to face in life, but as I started meeting more people I also became a supporter of the LGBTQIA+ causes. However, I never investigated the “transgender issue” properly, so when I saw this book I thought it would have been a good starting point to get some information.

Shon Faye writes beautifully about a complex topic, bringing facts and statistics where most of the time the other side only brings personal opinions and feelings, clearly explaining what it means for people to be transgender, how they are viewed and treated by society, and bringing possible solutions.

It is the perfect book to get you started on this topic.

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

Absolutely brilliant! I listened to the eAudiobook on BorrowBox, read by Natalie Haynes herself.

It is the story of Medusa and Perseus from the point of view of Medusa – but it’s not only that, there is the re-framing of many stories from Greek mythology looking at them with “modern” eyes, without the romanticised and patronising views with which they were written by men.

Without risking a spoiler, I’ll just say that the beheading of Medusa here is not seen as a courageous act by Perseus.

Another eAudiobook that was really difficult to pause.

My Lady Parts: A Life Fighting Stereotypes by Doon MacKichan

In her autobiography, Doon MacKichan takes the chance to show how misogynistic is the world of show business, but also that change is possible. She is vulnerable and strong: while I am only familiar with her work in the TV series Good Omens, reading this book made me want to go to the theatre and watch some of her plays.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

It would seem that people have not loved this book too much: I believe it’s because some were expecting something different after years of waiting for a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. As I’ve read the first one just this year, after having watched the TV series, I personally have loved The Testaments.

It is different from the first one because it has a different format and there is a change in the main character, nevertheless, it was gripping. Maybe it can be predictable in some points, but there were more surprises and unexpected events. Plus, Atwood’s writing is excellent.

The Black Pages by Nnedi Okorafor

This is the second book in the Black Stars series of short standalone sci-fi books by Black authors. The protagonist of this book, Issaka, goes back to his home in Timbouctou which is then raided by al-Quaeda. While this happens, he learns about a supernatural entity that was trapped in one of the books burned during the raid and decides to follow it.

It’s a short but intense story and one of my favourite in the series.

Conclusion

So between physical books, eBooks and audiobooks, we are in the golden era of reading media and it’s heaven for readers. Let me know if you’ve read any of these books and what do you think 🙂

Looking forward to reading some more!

Love,

TVCL xx