What do book editors read in their spare time? The obvious answer for most of us is: a lot. We really do love reading and we try to read as widely as possible, both to top up our English literature and language skills, and to spot upcoming and successful trends in the publishing industry.
Although I only work with non-fiction, I absolutely love fiction and have been making a recent effort to read more poetry. A combination of reading non-fiction, fiction, and poetry is the ideal recipe for editing memoir and personal development, my specialist genres.
What I love about book reviews is how so very personal they are. You can never predict how a book is going to resonate with someone (that’s why there can never be too many books in the world – we need to ensure there is something out there for every single person out there). Books that I love, you may never read, or you may have read them and hated them!
So do remember that the winners of my ‘best books of 2024’ are MY personal favourites. And they’re not just books that were published in 2024: they’re just books I finished reading in 2024.
Read below, then, to find out my personal favourites of 2024 in the following categories:
Best fiction book
Best non-fiction book
Best audiobook
Best poetry book
The book I need to read again
My teenager’s favourite book of 2024
My 10-year-old’s favourite book of 2024
Scroll to the end to see a list of every book I read in 2024, if that floats your boat (I love these sort of lists, so I reckon there are plenty of you out there who are the same!).
Best fiction book
I said a few weeks ago that this was in strong contention to win my favourite fiction book of 2024, so it will come as no surprise to some of you that the winner is… Guilty by Definition, by Susie Dent (2024).
This is a cosy crime set amongst a group of lexicographers. Personally, I loved the inclusion of etymology throughout the book (it makes perfect sense that this group of characters would be obsessed with and discuss all things to do with linguistics and literature). I don’t tend to read a lot of crime fiction, so I found myself hungrily turning the pages to find out all the answers to the plot.
Best non-fiction book
There was a last-minute change to the winner for this category. I finished The Outrun less than a week ago and it had to make it as winner for the best non-fiction book I read in 2024.
I only heard of this book when I saw business owner who lives in Orkney waxing lyrical about the recent film adaptation of it (and the memoir).
The Outrun follows Amy Liptrot’s escape from Orkney (where she was born and brought up) to London, where she feels even more out of control, relying heavily on drugs and alcohol. A decade later, she returns to Orkney to navigate a life of sobriety, without losing sight of her inner wildness.
It’s a powerful, emotional tribute to the beauty and ruggedness of Orkney, without romanticising a rural lifestyle. Amy’s language throughout vulnerable and emotional (without being sentimental), steeped in topographical and ecological metaphor.
I listened to this on audiobook, but have the print version on my Christmas list, which I’ll definitely be reading.
Runner-up of best non-fiction
This would never have made it onto my reading list if I hadn’t given it a go from my audiobook app (I use BorrowBox, a library lending app). As soon as I finished listening to the audio version I bought a print copy.
Is This OK? One Woman’s Search for Connection Online (2023) is a memoir of Harriet Gibsone’s life from the nineties to present day, as she navigates her obsession with internet searches and friendship (often cross the line into parasocial relationships) and then has to tackle the effects of a traumatic diagnosis of early menopause and the hardships of motherhood (from facing the question of whether motherhood is something she wants to finding a way to achieve it).
I was initially drawn in my the subject matter of life as a teen in the nineties and early noughties, but what ended up captivating me was the complete demystification of a character whom I would normally idolise. Harriet, on the outside, is ‘cool’. A music journalist living in London. But her fragility and neuroses were expressed with such authenticity and eloquence that I engaged with her wholeheartedly.
This is everything I look for in a memoir: a clear message, eloquently but naturally written, and with an organic ability to break down barriers.
Best audiobook
This was another book I found through the BorrowBox app. I hadn’t even heard of Hayley Morris before listening to her book Me Vs Brain: An Overthinker’s Guide to Life (2023) (even though she has 2.3 million followers on Instagram and her sense of humour is right up my street).
With some audiobooks, it’s hard to communicate to the listener what formatting achieves for a reader. There were numerous sections in this book where Hayley has internal conversations with her brain, and the use of a slight echo on the audio of these parts was effective without being distracting. The timbre of Hayey’s voice was also an absolute joy to listen to.
I listen to all my audiobooks when I’m running, so I try not to choose anything where I’ll want to make notes or anything too emotional. Hayley humorously writes about her experience with anxiety throughout her life, with some touching moments to really underscore her humanity.
Runner-up of best audiobook
The Outrun audio version is narrated by Tracy Wiles. The power of Amy’s narrative description combines with Tracy’s gorgeous lilt wonderfully. If the film comes out on DVD then by the end of the year I should have experienced this incredible memoir in all its formats!
Best poetry book
For the second year in a row, Brian Bilston has won my ‘best poetry book’ category. I discovered Brian Bilston fairly late compared to everyone else and he’s become a family favourite, especially Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems (2022). All my poetry books are in the kitchen (usually by the toaster) to try and encourage me to read a poem instead of scroll on my phone while I wait for the kettle to boil. I think I shared a few of his particularly funny poems with my 13-year-old, who was studying poetry at school (I urge you to search for ‘Brian Bilston, Needles').
While I usually encourage writers to read poetry to improve their imagery and vocabulary, Brian’s work reminds us of the potential for fun with the English language – whether it’s an acerbic comment on politics, playing with literal word positioning on the page, or giving us a masterclass in the power of rhyming.
The book I need to read again
I was so excited to read David Nicholls’ new book You Are Here (2024), waiting impatiently for a copy of his book to make its way to me through the library reservation list (I have a deal with my husband not to buy hardback books).
That time came a couple of days before I went away with my 10-year-old on a solo parenting holiday. Perfect! I thought, knowing I’d need something light-hearted but well-written while I was on away.
However, finding the holiday quite stressful to begin with, I clung to this book as something to keep me going and I sped through it, devouring it in the hope that it would make me feel better. When I got to the end, I didn’t know what to make of the book. Initially, I classified it as just ‘OK’. And I was hugely disappointed I hadn’t enjoyed it more.
But as the days following my finishing the book went on, I couldn’t get the book and its characters out of my head. I adored Marnie and had developed a bit of a crush on Michael. That’s when I realised I hadn’t read the book properly and that I’d let such a brilliant book slip through my fingers. My impatience for it combined with my stressful surroundings resulted in my skim-reading too much of it.
So now I’m waiting for the paperback to be released so I can do this wonderful book justice and read every single word properly, without the added pressure of needing this book to make me feel better.
My teenager’s favourite book of 2024
My 13-year-old generally finds it impossible to make decisions (ice cream flavours, what to do for his birthday, what to put on his Christmas list…), but this one was pretty easy. He absolutely loved Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
Interesting facts about this book: Christopher starting writing it when he was only 15! The family self-published the book in 2001, when he was just 18, and then it was published under a publishing house a couple of years later.
My 10-year-old’s favourite book of 2024
My youngest was delighted to have read the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. He read The Hobbit earlier this year and loved that one too, so I think we have a J.R.R. Tolkien fan on our hands (my big brother would definitely approve).
Full disclosure: I’m completely aware not many 10-year-old’s read Lord of the Rings. While he is definitely the kind of kid who’s always reading, he’s just as happy reading The Beano or Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Every book I read in 2024
It’s the list you all want, right? Every book I finished reading in 2024,* including audiobooks which I 100% say counts as reading!
*Up until 25 November 2024
1. Knock Three Times (The Wizards of Once, #3) Cressida Cowell
2. Bonkers: My Life in Laughs Jennifer Saunders
3. How to Live When You Could Be Dead Deborah James
4. Can You See Me? Libby Scott
5. Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman Alan Rickman
6. And So This is Christmas: 51 Seasonally Adjusted Poems Brian Bilston
7. What About Men? Caitlin Moran
8. The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
9. The Testaments Margaret Atwood
10. Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth Natalie Haynes
11. Never and Forever (The Wizards of Once, #4) Cressida Cowell
12. In Memoriam Alice Winn
13. How to be Champion Sarah Millican
14. Speak Your Truth: Connecting With Your Inner Truth and Learning to Find Your Voice Fearne Cotton
15. The Four Winds Kristin Hannah
16. Me vs Brain: An Overthinker’s Guide to Life Hayley Morris
17. The Book You Want Everyone You Love* To Read *(and maybe a few you don’t) Philippa Perry
18. How to Be Good Nick Hornby
19. You’ve Got To Laugh Alison Hammond
20. The Wild Other: A Memoir Clover Stroud
21. Good Material Dolly Alderton
22. Intimations Zadie Smith
23. How Not To Be a Boy Robert Webb
24. Yellowface R.F. Kuang
25. The Happiness Cure: Why You’re Not Built for Constant Happiness, and How to Find a Way Through Anders Hansen
26. The Fault in Our Stars John Green
27. Orlando Virginia Woolf
28. Codename Villanelle (Killing Eve, #1) Luke Jennings
29. La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1) Philip Pullman
30. Cheer Up, Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate Susan Calman
31. Atalanta Jennifer Saint
32. The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust, #2) Philip Pullman
33. Someday, Maybe Onyi Nwabineli
34. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1) Satoshi Yagisawa
35. Eat, Drink, Run: How I Got Fit Without Going Too Mad Bryony Gordon
36. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank
37. The Creakers Tom Fletcher
38. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) Philip Pullman
39. The Twat Files: a Life of Mistakes - No Regrets Dawn French
40. Northern Lights (His Dark Materials, #1) Philip Pullman
41. The Secret History Donna Tartt
42. Wanderers: A History of Women Walking Kerri Andrews
43. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race Reni Eddo-Lodge
44. The Pants of Perspective: One Woman's 3,000 Kilometre Running Adventure through the Wilds of New Zealand Anna McNuff
45. The Women Kristin Hannah
46. Is This OK? One Woman's Search for Connection Online Harriet Gibsone
47. My Wild and Sleepless Nights: A Mother's Story Clover Stroud
48. This Is Not A Pity Memoir Abi Morgan
49. How to Train Your Dragon (How to Train Your Dragon, #1) Cressida Cowell
50. Bellies Nicola Dinan
51. How to Be a Pirate (How to Train Your Dragon, #2) Cressida Cowell
52. You Are Here David Nicholls
53. How to Speak Dragonese (How to Train Your Dragon, #3) cressida-cowell
54. Why Mummy Drinks on Holiday Gill Sims
55. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, #2) Philip Pullman
56. Notes from a Small Island Bill Bryson
57. Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World Lauren Fleshman
58. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Stephen King
59. Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
60. The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: True Stories of the Magic of Reading James Patterson
61. Julia Sandra Newman
62. Lies We Sing to the Sea Sarah Underwood
63. Inheritance Jenny Eclair
64. How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse (How to Train Your Dragon, #4) Cressida Cowell
65. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear Elizabeth Gilbert
66. And Now For The Good News...: The much-needed tonic for our frazzled world Ruby Wax
67. Love Me!: One woman’s search for a different happy ever after Marianne Power
68. How to Twist a Dragon's Tale (How to Train Your Dragon, #5) Cressida Cowell
69. Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean? Fran Hill
70. Jokes, Jokes, Jokes: My Very Funny Memoir Jenny Eclair
71. Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper, #1) Alice Oseman
72. Scatter Brain: How I finally got off the ADHD rollercoaster and became the owner of a very tidy sock drawer Shaparak Khorsandi
73. Heartstopper: Volume Two (Heartstopper, #2) Alice Oseman
74. Guilty by Definition Susie Dent
75. The Water Cure Sophie Mackintosh
76. Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) Rebecca Yarros
77. The Life Impossible Matt Haig
78. Heartstopper: Volume Four (Heartstopper, #4) Alice Oseman
79. Heartstopper: Volume Three (Heartstopper, #3) Alice Oseman
80. Heartstopper: Volume Five (Heartstopper, #5) Alice Oseman
81. Dust Child Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
The Outrun Amy Liptrot
Call Me By Your Name André Aciman
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