What I read in December 2024

December felt like a really long month. For the first three weeks, it was all obligations, appointments, and events, ranging from the torturous to the jolly good fun. Then it was the Christmas break, which I’ve mostly spent reading, playing board games, drafting a few of my January blog posts, and maintaining something resembling a gym habit. It’s been like microdosing the retirement I’ll probably never attain.

The Parasites, by Daphne du Maurier - 4*

Homecoming, by Kate Morton - 5*

Breath of Life, by LH Moore - 4.5*

In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado - remarkable, and a late entry for my top reads of 2024. 5*

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley - 4*

Things We Lost in the Fire, by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell - 4*

Frances and her Ghosts, by Rebecca Hughes Hall - review coming soon! 3.5*

Every Light in the House Burnin’, by Andrea Levy - 4*

The Ancients, by John Larison - review coming soon! 4*

Frenchman’s Creek, by Daphne du Maurier - 4*

Into Thin Air, by Ørjan Karlsson, translated by Ian Giles - review coming soon! 4*

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers - another late entry to my best of 2024 list. 5*

Someone You Can Build a Nest In, by John Wiswell - 4*

Looking ahead…

I’m so in love with Becky Chambers’ books at the moment! Having just read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, I’m looking forward to continuing the Wayfarers series with A Closed and Common Orbit.

My post-Christmas shopping was remarkably restrained this year. Two books I bought were Cursed Under London, by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, having loved her Rooks series, and Orbital, by Samantha Harvey – its Booker Prize win brought it to my attention, but it sounds like just the sort of thing I’m into at the moment: uplifting sci-fi that’s full of wonder.