Heading into the New Year, I wanted to share some of the great books I’ve enjoyed throughout 2024 and some bookish resolutions I’m going to do my best to keep. Wishing all of our brilliant Writeresque readers and writers a very happy New Year!
Burnt Sugar - Avni Doshi
This book examines the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, how parenting shapes us and the scars left behind from childhood. Doshi plays with ideas of memory and truth - how memories ebb and flow, stick around when we want to forget and go when we should remember, and the malleability of the ‘truth’. As Antara’s mother Tara’s memory fades, hers is acutely focused on a chaotic past. It’s a book that makes you think of what our parents owe us and what we owe them, and is vibrantly written.
Piranesi - Susanna Clatke
I found this book in a bookshop and actually put it down as I didn’t feel like it was my kind of book, but something told me that I should give it another try. I read more and within a couple of sentences was completely proven wrong. The whole atmosphere of the book was something really special and unique - it might sound like a cliché but it truly does transport you into the world of the novel, with a leading character with a truly unique perspective that I loved to hear. It’s beautifully crafted and will make you think, with a world that sticks around in your mind.
I Am, I Am, I Am - Maggie O’Farrell
In this vulnerable, moving and gripping essay collection, O’Farrell talks about near-death experiences throughout her life. While a lot of the topics she talks about are hard-hitting she deals with them with intuition, the essays chronicling different parts of her life. I also found it emotional to see the role of motherhood, seeing O’Farrell as a young person and her own mother’s worries, with this echoed with her own daughter’s health. It’s a book that shows what a knife edge we live on, and how life can be change in a moment.
Assembly - Natasha Brown
Brown’s writing is incredible, and this powerful book deals with the toll prejudice takes day-to-day and the immense impact it has on life. Brown’s narrator, a high-flyer in finance, living in a world faced with success at a price, having conventional achievements but facing the double-edged sword of being used and her race always being a factor. It is a sharp shock of a novel, hard-hitting but incredibly important and meticulously well-crafted.
Jungle House - Julianne Pachico
It seems strange that topics dealt with in science fiction novels of the past are now a reality, and Pachico’s AI story reflects very real technology taken forward. The mechanical and the natural world is blended together in a Pachico’s jungle in a version of Columbia, threaded with political undertones and the psychology of what makes us sentient and what makes us feel. Short – and I’m reluctant to say sweet – it is a read for anyone interested in technology, the climate, and will make you think and want to know much more.
Hijab Butch Blues - Lamya H.
An amazing memoir focusing on religion and queerness, with each section focusing on how a different section of the Qur’an interacts with the writer’s life. Dealing with religion in such a personal way, ‘Lamya’, who uses a pseudonym to protect her identity, movingly discusses her relationship with religion, grander identity and sexuality, offering her insightful perspective to spirituality. Her memoir also focuses on hard-hitting topics, such as the racism and Islamophobia she faced, not steering away from the political.
She’s Always Hungry - Eliza Clark
I got this book as soon as it came out, as I devoured Eliza Clark’s Penance over the summer. Her stories are delivered with her characteristic bite and dark humour, and are stories you’ll want to savour, but will not be able to resist reading anyway. The stories are varied and take you on a journey through many different, twisted worlds, all of them brilliantly entertaining.
Please note: while they may contain spoilers/reveals about aspects of the stories you might want to avoid, Clark provides a content guide about some of the darker or difficult subject matter she writes about for transparency before reading.
Greta & Valdin - Rebecca K Rielly
Funny and moving, the story follows (you’ll never guess…) Greta & Valdin, a brother and sister living in Auckland, along with a cast of their family, friends, partners, and a couple of exes along the way. It’s a cliché to say that the characters are really brought to life, and the more I read the more I wanted them to jump out of the page to meet. The book deals with friendship, love, family, Maōri identity, queerness and connection with sensitivity and humour.
My bookish New Year’s resolutions
1. Be patient with my reading
As much as I’ve been glued to some of the great books I’ve read, there’s been points where I’ve had to get myself out of a little bit of a reading slump and I’ve found it important to be realistic with my reading goals. While I’d love to spend all of my time reading, it just isn’t always that easy, so I want to take the pressure off feeling as if there’s a specific number of books I need to read.
2. Shop my own bookshelf
I love buying new books, and finding something I wouldn’t expect in a bookshop, but my to-read pile is getting too big. I want to have a good period of time where I don’t buy a book, and have even toyed with the idea of a no-buy year but we’ll see how it goes…
3. Set more structured writing goals
I have to admit that when it comes to writing, I tend to go with the flow, writing when I’m in the mood, have a flash of inspiration, have the time or just need a creative outlet. I’d like to be more structured with my writing, making it more of a habit.
4. Read a wider variety of books
It’s easy to get into a rut when it comes to books, reading the kind of books you tend to gravitate towards, authors you know and have heard of and your favourite genres. I want to mix it up a bit this year, and discover new books - some of my favourites are ones I wasn’t sure I’d like at first but took a chance on!
5. Make notes of what I think of books
This may be a slightly strange one, but I always feel like I engage more with books when I annotate them or write notes - it’s always great to go back to them when re-reading to see my initial thoughts and opinions and what caught my eye.
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