Just the right mix of books for 2024

As the co-owner of a bookstore, The Book Shop of Beverly Farms, I read for a living. Choosing what to read throughout the year requires strategy: I try to pick a mix of bestsellers, so I can confirm or deny whether they’re worth reading for patrons who ask; general literary and mainstream fiction, because it’s what I like reading best and it’s our bestselling category in the store (there’s probably a correlation there); audiobooks in plot-driven genres like mystery and romance, mostly because I find it difficult to maintain listening focus otherwise; small press titles, because those don’t always receive a ton of attention and there are a lot gems in there; and whatever else suits my fancy, like the occasional fantasy novel, because I like them but also because I need a range of knowledge in every category we carry in the store.

When I’m crafting my annual list of favorite books, I like it to reflect that mix. Only one book on my list of favorites for 2024 has stayed on the bestseller lists for a significant length of time, and that’s “James” by Percival Everett. It also recently won the National Book Award and, let me tell you, the hype is real. This retelling of “Huckleberry Finn” from Jim’s perspective should be mandatory reading in this country — for the way it broadens the historical perspective, for its humanity and for Everett’s assured language and pacing.

A book I’m surprised hasn’t been nominated for more awards (and didn’t stay on the bestseller lists for as long as I thought it should have) is “Long Island Compromise,” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. For readers who love big, meaty dramas about dysfunctional families, this novel more than delivers, at the same time tackling big American issues with grit and humor and no small amount of talent. The novel opens with the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman with a young family. Once the ransom is paid, the man is returned to his home. Thirty years later, we uncover how this trauma continues to affect his three children. And how do they each handle the wealth they’ve inherited, potentially ill-earned? I sank deep into this story and didn’t want it to end.

Similarly, more people should be talking about “Fire Exit” by Morgan Talty. In this novel, Charles Lamosway has lived on the other side of Maine’s Penobscot River watching his secret daughter for 20 years. If anyone knew he was really her father, they would know she technically did not qualify for the blood quantum necessary to be an enrolled member in the Penobscot Nation. Charles wants to tell her the truth — but then she goes missing. What Talty really excels at is writing characters that feel so real. I knew them instantly. The scenes between Charles and his mother, whose dementia worsens over the course of the book, broke my heart with their honesty. Throughout, Talty explores questions of identity, the characters’ own and in relation to each other, what they are and what they’re told they should be.

I also love books that are less weighty and rooted in reality, though, and while three books on my list did have fantastical elements, the only one I would call a true fantasy novel is “The Book of Love,” by Kelly Link. I’m a longtime fan of her short stories and think her style of modern fairy tale is unmatched. “The Book of Love” is her debut novel and it had all the magic, pathos, humor and exquisite sentences I could have hoped for. Three teens return from the dead to their coastal Massachusetts town with the chance to reclaim their lives, if only they can figure out what went wrong in the first place — and how to do magic. Some dark forces stand in their way.

Link manages to make an old form feel new, something I also found in “The Ministry of Time,” by Kaliane Bradley. In this novel, the British government experiments with time travel by bringing people from the past to the present. And my god it’s funny. Add in a passionate love story, a thrilling ending and commentary on identity and colonialism and the book as a whole turns into a real zinger. It’s the dialogue in this book that really sings. I couldn’t put it down.

It’s the dialogue in this book that really sings. I couldn’t put it down.

“On the Calculation of Volume (Book I)” by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland, almost didn’t make my list because it just came out on November 18 — the day our protagonist finds herself living over and over again (kind of like the movie “Groundhog Day,” but without Bill Murray sexually harassing people). I loved it from the opening paragraph, where the narrator describes listening to a man move about a house. It might not sound like gripping reading, but the creaks and groans of the world carried this book and it was hypnotizing. Perhaps it was from the feeling of being in such assured hands, the word choices and construction of the book so purposeful. How will this woman get back to her life? What do we notice when we’re not rushing through each day but experiencing the same day again and again? A slim book and the first of a proposed seven-book series, I was left wanting more.

For audiobooks, my favorite would have to be “Death at the Sign of the Rook” by Kate Atkinson, a great romp of a novel, with stolen art and a few dead bodies and a whole bunch of storylines that culminate in a chaotic murder mystery game during a snow storm at a remote manor house. It’s just good fun.

And non-fiction! I mostly stray toward memoir, and my favorite of the year was the 25th anniversary reissue of “All Souls,” by Michael Patrick McDonald, a must-read for anyone living in the Boston area. McDonald’s story of growing up in the projects of Southie at the height of Whitey Bulger’s reign, through the busing crisis and his family’s travails with addiction, hits hard, but he brings a light touch and infuses the whole book with so much compassion and love that it’s a joy to read.

In 2024, I found a common strand of identity and inherited trauma, themes that extended across genres and were explored from seemingly every angle. As we head into 2025, I’m already thinking about what my mix of books will be and what themes they’ll bring. Something tells me that writers have a lot on their minds right now.

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