top ten reads of the year
books, baby!
Hey! You’re here. Thank you!
Well, it’s that time of the year again. I am once again coming before you arms heavy with a stack of ten books that I would fight for to the end. Who am I fighting? Why am I fighting? To what end? Not important. The point is I would.
I have read 83 books so far this year.
I read 68% fiction and 32% non-fiction and about 45% of the books I read this year were new 2024 releases. That’s just some math for you if that’s your kink.
Me? I’m more of a ~feelings~ girl and let me tell you these ten books took me on a journey. So sit back, pour another cup of coffee, and let this little lesbian moon about some books she loves.
A quick note that I couldn’t contain myself on this one, so it is likely too long to read the whole thing in your email inbox. Just make sure you click the tiny link at the bottom that says “view entire message” so you don’t miss any of my nonsense.
Here they are, my ten favorite books of 2024. I sort of put them in order with my very favorites at the end, but pitting my beloveds against each other was painful for me and I will not be taking further questions on this matter.
A Psalm for The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Now you might be thinking, but Rosamond didn’t you just read this book!? Yes, yes I did. I finished this book approximately one hour before I finalized my top ten list. Call it recency bias, but I just could not leave this lovely, profound book off my list. I am very late to the train on this one, but I’m so glad I finally got on because this is the book for this moment. It is cozy and comforting and softly hits you over the head with some real life truths about how to live in this world. Don’t let the Science Fiction of it all turn you off if that’s not your thing. I would truly recommend this book to anyone.
Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley
This memoir inspired me to write this reflection on my obsession of sorts with grief memoirs. Sloane Crosley is a writer’s writer and sometimes that came off as pretentious to me, but in this book you see her wrestling with grief in the only way she knows how, and that excavation and vulnerability is what will stay with me. I want to know how we are all managing to carry on in this cruel world. When you get right down to it, I think that’s really why I read. This particular testimony to life and loss will stay with me.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
As you can see my top ten reads are mostly new releases except for this absolute banger from 1940. Carson McCullers is a new hero of mine. I plan to read absolutely everything by and about her, and if you are into lesbian literary history I think you should too. This novel took me out. It is a coming of age novel like I have never read before. It’s about being an outsider and all the ways good and terrible ways we reach toward one another. I wish I read it 15 years ago, and I can’t wait to read it again and again for years to come.
Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza
This memoir won the Pulitzer prize and I’m chiming in to say - they’re not wrong! Cristina Rivera Garza’s sister Liliana was murdered by her boyfriend in 1990 in Mexico. Thirty years later he has not been brought to justice and this book is both a tender, detailed, exquisite portrait of Liliana and a searing look at the impact of intimate partner violence and femicide. I’ve never read anything like it.
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
You know I love this book! It’s the only book on this list I’ve read twice and wow it just hits. This romance novel is slutty and delicious and gay as the day is long. I’ll read everything Casey McQuiston writes forever, and this is my favorite work of theirs to date.
Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace
The memoir of the year! A huge thank you to
for knowing me well enough to bully me into reading this book. It’s part memoir, part manifesto, and wholly engaging and transformative. Remember how I said I read to find out how we are all really making it through? This book is written for exactly my kind of reader. There is a way forward and Carvell Wallace is going to hold your hand and walk you there.The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
Speaking of book bullies, you really need one or two in your life because my dear one
bullied me into reading this historical fiction novel about two women forced to share an old house in the Dutch countryside in 1961. Something is afoot!! And it’s gay!! And yes there are pears. And that’s really all I’m going to tell you except this reading experience was ten out of ten. Yael Van Der Wouden had me by the throat from start to finish. Also, Rebecca gave this one five stars and you know you can trust her.Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
Remember my bestie,
? Well I just do what she tells me and this is why. She told me I needed to read this weird little novel about an alien named Adina and SHE WAS RIGHT. I wrote about my love for it here. This book was a complete surprise and I don’t know what more to say except it made me happy to be alive.
Everything you’ve heard is true. Martyr! was one of the first novels I read in 2024 and nothing has made me feel quite the way I did when I turned the last page. But please don’t take my word for it. I’m gonna shut up and direct you to
whose close reading of Martyr! was a highlight and joy of my reading life in 2024. Reading Martyr! with Laura made me a better reader and a happier human.
Listen, I know sometimes books get overhyped. I know sometimes the capitalist book monsters put all their weight behind one book that is not worthy. That is not the case here. Whatever you have heard about this book is true and then some. The reading experience I had with this novel reminded me of some of my earliest days as a reader. I did not want to stop reading for love or money. Every page gave me something delicious to chew on. It’s fast and gripping and rich for discussion and dissection. I don’t know how Percival Everett did it, but this is a masterwork, and I know readers will be holding their breath until the last page for decades to come.
Well, folks, that’s all she read. If you made it this far, I love you.
Reading is the only way I know to find a way forward. Sharing my love of reading with you is a nothing less than a dream come true. Thank you for taking me seriously, but not too seriously.
I love you.
Love,
Rosamond
Great list. Will promise to bully you in 2025. Whatever it takes, babe.
Yay for book bullies in TSP! So glad all of us are reading together.