Two Lives by William Trevor was a Christmas gift (thanks, Pat!). I LOVED the first story (Reading Turgenev) and wished it had been longer. And, while I liked the second story (My House in Umbria), the first one really was much better. Amazon: “In Reading Turgenev, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, an Irish country girl is trapped in a loveless marriage with an older man, but finds release through secret meetings with a man who shares her passion for Russian novels. My House in Umbria tells of Emily Delahunty, a writer of romantic novels, who helps survivors of a bomb attack on a train to convalesce, inventing colorful pasts for her patients. Two novels, two women who retreat further into the realm of the imagination until the boundaries between what is real and what is not become blurred.” I merged my feelings about both to one number (5 stars for Reading Turgenev and 3 stars for My House in Umbria).

The past few years for my birthday, I have been gifted a book by a school parent. This year it was Erasure by Percival Everett. I recently read Everett’s newer work, James. I liked Erasure better than James, but it felt so much like Martyr and also like many of the recently published books about authors and fraud. At the same time, it was an enjoyable read. “Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison’s writing career has bottomed out: his latest manuscript has been rejected by seventeen publishers, which stings all the more because his previous novels have been ‘critically acclaimed.’ He seethes on the sidelines of the literary establishment as he watches the meteoric success of We’s Lives in Da Ghetto, a first novel by a woman who once visited ‘some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days.’ Meanwhile, Monk struggles with real family tragedies―his aged mother is fast succumbing to Alzheimer’s, and he still grapples with the reverberations of his father’s suicide seven years before. In his rage and despair, Monk dashes off a novel meant to be an indictment of Juanita Mae Jenkins’s bestseller. He doesn’t intend for My Pafology to be published, let alone taken seriously, but it is―under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh―and soon it becomes the Next Big Thing. How Monk deals with the personal and professional fallout galvanizes this audacious, hysterical, and quietly devastating novel.” (Amazon) Overall, this was a good read. It just hit me in a moment where I have read many similar themes.

I have read many positive reviews of Martyr by Kaveh Akbar. Ultimately, I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t love it in the midst as much as I might. Amazon: “Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of the Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.” I don’t know that I would recommend this read – it didn’t have enough for me to enjoy.

This was a YA weekend. Our librarian had the advance copy of Adam Gidwitz’s sequel to Max and the House of Spies, Max in the Land of Lies and lent it to me (thanks, Mara!). I had really enjoyed House of Spies until the last page. Land of Lies made up for that. This was a great YA novel that I really enjoyed. “Max is on a mission. Well, two missions. One has been assigned by his British spymasters: Infiltrate the Funkhaus, the center of Nazi radio and propaganda. The other they have forbidden: Find his parents. Max Bretzfeld was willing to do anything to return to Germany, even become a British spy. Training complete and forged papers in hand, the radio wunderkind’s missions have begun. But nothing is as he expected. His parents are missing. Nazi intelligence is watching him. And the lines between lies and truth are becoming more blurred every day. Max will need every tool at his disposal, from his radio expertise and spy training to the help of Berg and Stein, the immortal creatures living on his shoulders. Even so, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it out of Berlin alive.” (Amazon) I enjoyed both of these reads, but the immortal creatures weren’t for me.

Accountable by Dashka Slater was chosen for the equity book club at school. Amazon: “When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as ‘edgy’ humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults―educators and parents―whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse. In the end, no one was laughing. And everyone was left asking: Where does accountability end for online speech that harms? And what does accountability even mean?” This was a good read (even though it’s YA) and a powerful story with no right answers. I enjoyed it.

I love Ruth Reichl (Delicious, Save Me the Plums, Garlic & Sapphires). Her latest was another in a long line of great entries. The Paris Novel, though it had a few inconsistencies that bothered me (and I almost gave it 4.5), overall, was just wonderful. “When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a traumatic childhood has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone. But when her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes. Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store, where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella and for the first time in her life Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress—and embarks on an adventure. Her first stop: the iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots, where Stella tastes her first oysters and then meets an octogenarian art collector who decides to take her under his wing. As Jules introduces Stella to a veritable who’s who of the Paris literary, art, and culinary worlds, she begins to understand what it might mean to live a larger life. As weeks—and many decadent meals—go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed” at famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past. A feast for the senses, this novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home.” (Amazon) The descriptions of food and dresses were so decadent and detailed. It was a true delight.

I really liked Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library and was excited to read The Life Impossible. Amazon: “When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.” The magical realism of this selection didn’t do it for me. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t much like it either. I would give it a pass.

A five-star book to start the year! What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama was a wonderful, sweet, simple set of stories that was a perfect way to begin the reading year. “What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian. For Sayuri Komachi is able to sense exactly what each visitor to her library is searching for and provide just the book recommendation to help them find it. A restless retail assistant looks to gain new skills, a mother tries to overcome demotion at work after maternity leave, a conscientious accountant yearns to open an antique store, a recently retired salaryman searches for newfound purpose. In Komachi’s unique book recommendations they will find just what they need to achieve their dreams. What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is about the magic of libraries and the discovery of connection. This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams. Which book will you recommend?” Highly, highly recommend this delightful read.

I have generally given up on Jodi Picoult. However, By Any Other Name kept coming up on lists, so I thought I would give it a try. Like the last book I read, though, this one was SO long. “Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym. In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work. Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.” (Amazon) This was a wonderful book that I really enjoyed. While I was tempted to give it four and a half for length, I liked it so much and was so pulled into both stories, that I give it five. First of the new year!

Every year, at the end of the year, I look back on all the books I have read the year before and list my favorites overall. This year, as always, my goal was 100 books. For the first time in many years, I didn’t make my goal. I only finished 85. The bonus of this post is that you don’t have to bother to read any of my other posts over the course of the year. This year I had nine 5-star books and fourteen 4.5-star choices.

2024 reading stats:

Books finished: 85
Fiction: 73 (86%)
Non-fiction: 12 (14%), including 9 memoirs
Authors of color: 11 (12%)
Male/Female authors: 67 female (79%), 18 male (21%)
Audiobooks:  8
Average rating: 3.9
Repeat authors: 32 (39%)

5-Star Books

4.5-Star Books

Links to my past years in review:

2023 Best Books
2022 Best Books
2021 Best Books
2020 Best Books
2019 Best Books
2018 Best Books
2017 Best Books
2016 Best Books
2015 Best Books
2014 Best Books
2013 Best Books