The Best Books I Read in 2024

I read a lot of books! And I read a lot of particularly good books this year and figured I’d share a few of my favorites. What makes me qualified to share my reviews? Well, absolutely nothing, of course! But books have always been a huge source of creative inspo for me, and I thought it would be fun to create collages for my top 3 books to accompany my thoughts.

Let me know if you’ve read any of these – I’d love to hear what you thought too.

In regards to general idea, I’ve actually been trying to write an “intro” post for a few days now, but it seems to be a very similar experience as drawing on the first page of a sketchbook. So I’m skipping ahead to the good part and getting right to what I’m excited about at this very moment. Maybe an intro will come next time. There are no rules!

This was the first book I read of the year, and wow what a way to start! It’s a dystopian story about a young girl who grew up in a prison-like bunker with 39 other women and no memory of life before, or why they’re even trapped there. One day something strange happens, and we follow our narrator on a series of discoveries. I won’t elaborate much more on the plot, which is somehow almost besides the point. It tells a haunting story on what it means to be human when you aren’t exactly sure what human even is. In a beautifully frustrating way, both the reader and the narrator learn that life is full of questions we will never know the answer to. Harpman describes loneliness like no other – I blew through this book in two days and have frequently thought about it throughout the course of the year.

“I was forced to acknowledge too late, much too late, that I too had loved, that I was capable of suffering, and that I was human after all.”

A distraught mother cuts out a piece of her dead child’s lung and nurtures it until it grows into a strange little monster. This was such a unique telling about grief, learning to let go, seeing loved ones for who they really are, and how being stuck in the past leaves you unable to see the present. The cast of characters is tight, and Córdova crafted them all so well that I felt like I knew the family deeply. There are quite a few metaphors tucked into this story, and while some argue that they water each other down, I thought Córdova wrote something really special.

“One believes the stupidest things in grief.”

A story about poverty, anger, and the effects of capitalism on the human spirit. Another light read! This novel follows Christine, a post-WWI-working class girl who is whisked away by her rich aunt on a trip to the Swiss Alps. After being opened up to how the other half lives, she is swiftly sent home back to her normal life – and is evidently filled with rage and bitterness. The way Zweig juxtaposed Christine’s bleak hometown against the glitz of the Alps was so sharp and descriptive that I felt like I was there, eating the same delicious foods and touching the same luxurious fabrics that she was. This was such a perfect analysis of how money may not necessarily buy happiness, but it buys freedom – to think, to relax, to explore, to discover oneself.

“Why breathe this in day after day, knowing that there's another world out there somewhere, the real one, and in herself another person, who is suffocating, being poisoned, in this miasma…suddenly she hates everyone and everything, herself and everyone else, wealth and property, everything about this hard, unendurable, incomprehensible life.”

Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black by Cookie Mueller

This one’s an autobiographical collection of stories, and what an insane life Cookie lived! Despite so much sadness in her life, her attitude and spirit is admirable. I would have loved to be her friend.

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Rarely are nearly 700 page books necessary, but Murray doesn’t waste a word in this one. I’ve seen mixed reviews, but I personally love heavy character studies and thought the story was woven together in a well-connected way. I liked how the small details came up again later on – it made me feel like an active participant in the story.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Technically this was my third re-read of this one, but as my favorite book of all time, I had to list it here. I first read this in late high school and I think it put a lot of my teenage thoughts of the world into much clearer words. I had wondered if it would still hold up to me at this stage in my life, and (not very surprisingly) it absolutely did. This is such an absurd story with an achingly clear message. Man, what I wouldn’t give to hear Vonnegut’s thoughts on the world today. So it goes.

“And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.”

And that’s a wrap! Looking back, I’m laughing at myself a bit for having such a depressing list of favorite books. If nothing else, at least I’m consistent.

Until next time,

Juliana