Happy new year! In episode 134, Rachel and I share our favourite books reads in 2024 – counting down from ten to one. And we each pick one of the other’s top 10 to read for our next episode!
Thanks so much for everyone who listens to the podcast and gets in touch. It means such a lot to us.
The books and authors we mention in this episode are below – but if you want to avoid spoilers for our favourite books, then don’t read this list too carefully!
Letters to Gwen John by Celia Paul
The Years by Annie Ernaux
The Wife of Bath: A Biography by Marion Turner
The Inn at the Edge of the World by Alice Thomas Ellis
George Orwell
Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks
My Darling Villain by Lynne Reid Banks
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad
The Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
Weather by Jenny Offill
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Body Made of Glass by Caroline Crampton
Foster by Claire Keegan
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
Antarctica by Claire Keegan
Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Wifedom by Anna Funder
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Oracles by Margaret Kennedy
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola
Babbacombe’s by Susan Scarlett
Lady Living Alone by Norah Lofts
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Spring House by Cynthia Asquith
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Spring Begins by Katherine Dunning
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
Spoiler alert: Thank you for your recommendation of The Inn at the end of the World which gave me a happy day’s relaxed reading on NY eve. Harry was the only character who came alive and really interested me, I was sorry for his death.
Yes, I loved his friendship with Jessica – not what you’d expect, and done so well.
My favourite book of 2024 was They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple. Absolutely loved it. Eager to try and find more of her books.
Your podcast is never too long. So enjoy listening.
Happy New Year
It’s briliant isn’t it! And quietly devastating. Thanks so much for your comment.
Happy New Year Rachel and Simon! Thank you for sharing your reading year. I really enjoyed your discussion. Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks has come at me in all directions today (and I hadn’t heard of her before) as I also saw it on Liz Dexter’s blog (adventuresinrunningandreadingandworking fromhome), and I saw it on a faber newsletter and saw it on radio 4 recommended sounds! I think that means I shall have to find a copy to read! I already have Enter Ghost and have to read that soon because it’s a library one so I’m pleased Rachel recommended it.. Like Rachel, I rush to read an Elizabeth Strout book as soon as it comes out; Tell Me Anything also lived up to my high expectations. I like the sound of Angle of Repose (loved Crossing to Safety) so I’ve grabbed the copy from the local library shelf.
I found A Body made of Glass to be a fascinating and moving read this year. Thanks Simon for being the one who drew my attention to this when you read it. I also finally managed to read The Feast in 2024 and really enjoyed it so I shall now also hope to read The Oracles.
I’m also one of the few who has not yet quite grasped the magic of Claire Keegan and I did not like Lady Living Alone as much as I was hoping to either. Now I feel I have missed something and maybe should embark on some rereading to see if I can find it!
I do hope you have success with all of those – I was definitely intrigued by Angle of Repose myself, but couldn’t face picking something quite that long for January. And glad for solidarity with Claire Keegan, thank you! Re: Lady Living Alone – sometimes even people with really overlapping taste will have outliers, so no worries. It’s always a surprise, to me as much as anyone, that I don’t like Dorothy L Sayers.
Oh P.S – I’m very excited about Spring Begins too – I’ve noted it in the diary; that’s great news!