My Top 5 Books of 2024
At the beginning of 2024, I challenged myself to read 12 books, working out at an achievable one book a month. As we enter the run up to Christmas, I am on my 25th book of the year, over double what I planned to accomplish.
As a child who always had their nose in a book and would get in trouble for staying up late reading under the covers, I was eager to get back into the swing of reading and rediscover a hobby I once loved so much.
My plethora of books came in many forms throughout the year, from battered library books and worn-out second-hand treasures from friends, to flicking through the digital pages of my Kindle and cracking spines of brand-new beauties. I have tried and tested a handful of genres, eventually discovering my love for thrillers and gripping murder mysteries. I have thrown books across my room in anger and avoided picking up the page in particularly painful reading slumps across the year. It sounds cliché, but sometimes there is nothing better than being transported into another world for a couple of chapters a day.
I have listed below my top 5 books of the year with the hopes that my love for these stories will motivate you to give one of these a go next time you need some inspiration.
5. Down The Drain
As someone who is fascinated by celebrity stories, gossip and is just an overall nosy person, Julia Fox’s raw and personal writing style was exactly what I wanted from her autobiography. Dive headfirst into the captivating retelling of her life, sparing no details about her struggles with addiction, homelessness, and abuse. Her complete honesty and compassion for others is nothing short of a masterpiece, something that Julia herself claimed the book to be before it was even completed. Whether you are a fan of her work or just curious to know more like I was, I can assure you that you will be obsessed after reading her memoir.
4. Butter
A delicious thriller set in Tokyo that explores prevalent themes of misogyny, fatphobia, and consumption in modern day Japan. Protagonist Rika, a journalist at a male dominated magazine, sets out to interview Manako Kajii, a chef accused of feeding and murdering a handful of men in a series of bloody events. Rika is taken on a journey as she uncovers this mystery through food, particularly butter, and learns to indulge in all parts of life that are often shamed by the rigid gender rules of Japanese culture. As this novel is translated from Japanese, I indulged in learning about all aspects of what it is like to be in a society that demands thinness from women, with my stomach rumbling throughout with delicious imagery and tantalising paragraphs that left me hungry for more. A perfect read for anyone who enjoys a thrilling yet slightly unsettling story.
3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
After seeing the hype for this book absolutely everywhere, I was desperate to try it out for myself, and this story did not disappoint. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows, as you might expect, Evelyn Hugo, a glamorous retired Hollywood movie star and the story of her life and the seven marriages throughout her life. In an exclusive interview with journalist Monique Grant, Evelyn tells the story of her eventful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating career on and off the screen. I was captivated by the wonderful imagery and complex characters that intertwined throughout the novel, eager to unravel the mysteries sprinkled throughout each chapter. It explores themes of bisexuality in the unforgiving 1950s America, alongside the harsh realities of facing stardom as a young woman. If you’re looking to escape from reality for a few chapters at a time, this should be at the top of your TBR list.
2. Good Material
Dolly Alderton is one of my favourite writers, and after obsessing over her widely successful memoir ‘Everything I Know About Love’ I was excited to tuck into her latest fiction novel. The story follows Andy, a comedian still waiting for his big break through his journey after a particularly painful breakup. I really enjoyed taking a man’s perspective on throughout the novel, something that is often unspoken in everyday life, and Alderton’s witty writing style and charming characters made it all the more enjoyable.
1. Gone Girl
I will never stop talking about this book. I know I am very late to the hype, but it is the one story that I will never stop recommending, and yes, it is better than the film. I devoured the story of Amy Dunne’s disappearance on a lazy family holiday in Ibiza this summer, eagerly finishing this thriller in two days. As I tore apart this story by the pool, the book dramatically fell apart as the glue melted away in the Spanish heat, an accurate representation of the unravelling story at hand. I won’t give too much away, but it’s as satisfying as it is frustrating, and if you like an unreliable narrator, this is perfect for you.
