#95 Favorite Reads of 2024
Dark Matter, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Covenant of Water, We Were Illegal, and Look in the Mirror
Quotes & Things
“These are a few of my favorite things” - Oscar Hammerstein II
Now this is a list of books I happened to read in 2024, but it doesn’t mean they were published this year (though two were). I tend to be a few years behind the trend in books, so I have one from 2017, one from 2018, and one from 2023. But first, for this edition, I thought I’d take you behind the scenes of how I write this newsletter, choosing the books, movies, and other media that I review or recommend.
Basically, every time I finish a book, I make myself sit down and write a review of it. Sometimes I write with y’all in mind and other times I write more for myself — what I want to remember about the experience of reading the book and particular themes and characters of interest I might want to discuss more fully with a fellow reader someday. I have liked this practice because it makes me stop to reflect on what I have just read rather than simply cracking open a new spine straight off. If I watch a particularly interesting movie that may be off the beaten path, I’ll also write a review. Same goes for podcast episodes and YouTube videos. I remember starting off this newsletter trying to always include a poem, but I gave up on that pretty quickly. If I have a good one in mind, I’ll include it, but I don’t sweat it.
Since I don’t roll out the books as I read them, but rather group them by topic or genre, I’ve also created a database of what I’ve already written about in which newsletter. I have reached nearly 100 posts, so I found this organization necessary in order to avoid repeating books or other media, unless I do so intentionally.
In order to decide what I want to publish, I choose one of two actions: 1) choose a theme and start reading books and other materials about that theme or 2) look through what I have read and start grouping the media by theme. I have to admit that I do a lot more of option #2 because I’m not always very intentional with what I read. I’m usually beholden to when my library holds arrive. But that being said, I do have several themes I want to discuss and a list of books to read that I will slowly make my way through, which leads me to Database #3: Newsletter Ideas.
You might be thinking at this point — gee that’s a lot of databases for a newsletter you do in your spare time for no money. But I have to say that I kind of love databases, so writing the newsletter is a joy, but so is keeping it all organized. If you’re interested, I created these databases using Notion, an online workspace which as an individual I can use for free.
Hope you enjoyed peering behind the curtain at how I make this newsletter happen. Now, let’s get on to my favorite reads of the year.
Book Recommendations
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
What an excellent sci-fi thriller! I enjoyed Crouch’s prose, his fully-realized characters, the unexpected love story, and the examination of identity itself. The less I say, the better, so if you are looking for a fairly quick, thrilling read, I definitely recommend this novel.
I saw that Apple TV+ has also adapted the book, so I’m looking forward to watching and comparing it with the novel. A bit of advice — do not watch the trailer for the show as it basically spoils the entire plot.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I very much enjoyed this novel that tells us the life story of a fictional 1950’s Hollywood bombshell named Evelyn Hugo. She has the looks of Rita Hayworth, but the power and snark of Katherine Hepburn. The book is a fun read but also touches on serious themes — gender roles, sex, sexuality, the nature of friendship, and fame. The main story of Evelyn’s life is framed by the circumstances of who she chooses to give her life story to — a talented, but not well-known journalist named Monique Grant. I was so smug — thought I had figured out why Evelyn chose Monique to write her story, but I was completely wrong. The connection between the two women is threaded by one choice Evelyn made that changed Monique’s life forever. Evelyn’s story is much more complex and nuanced than I was expecting. We do get the pulpy drama of the golden age of Hollywood and the decades after, but we also get to examine the various facets of a person’s life and the choices she made. This is excellent on audio, but beware, it will make you wish you still had cable and access to the Turner Classic Movies channel. Thanks to my sister Shelby for recommending this one to me!
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Abraham Verghese is an infectious diseases doctor turned excellent fiction writer. Everything I’ve read by him, I love and this novel is no exception. If you enjoy sweeping generational family sagas, medical mysteries, lovely prose, and astonishingly real characters, start reading this novel now because at a 715 pages, it will take you awhile. We follow three generations of a family in Kerala, India from the early 1900’s through the 1970’s, mourning with them when, in each generation, they lose a family member to drowning. At what first sounds like a strange familial curse is revealed over time to be a mysterious medical malady. And while that mystery propels the story forward, the real heart of this novel is the family that loves each other fiercely, despite the many heartbreaks they endure. I always love Verghese’s novels because he uses his medical knowledge to give us insight into how different places in the world work to heal the body and the soul. This family, their love for each other and their community will stay with me for a long time.
We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family’s Mythmaking and Migration by Jessica Goudeau
This was a fascinating and illuminating read about Texas history through the lens of the author’s personal ancestral ties. Goudeau traces her Texan ancestors back to before the Revolutionary War in Virginia, through the Anglo migration to Texas, the ravages of the Civil War, an era of violent family feuds, the overt racism of the KKK and police brutality to the more covert racism of redlining in her hometown of Abilene. I thought I had a fairly good grasp on Texas history — knew the key players and their motivations, but Goudeau really brought this history to life by connecting the greater context of history to her ordinary ancestors.
I now understand why Anglo settlers were so keen to move into Texas. It wasn’t the myths I had grown up with — that these immigrants were simply people seeking the freedom to live as they wish. Well, that was true, but the freedom they wanted to exercise was the right to enslave others. I didn’t realize that Texas was the only nation to ever codify slavery as right and legal in its constitution. It was also fascinating to read that Texas could hold such disparate stories like the bloody Reese-Townsend feud and the mild-mannered founders of Abilene Christian College who kept the very best land for themselves, leaving anyone who was not white subject to the low-lying areas that disastrously flooded every few years.
I promise this is not like reading someone’s scrapbook of family trees, but is a more thorough investigation into how the stories that get passed down in families elide more complicated truths. It’s also not about hating Texas. Goudeau loves her home state, but sees loving something as truly understanding all its facets, even those we’d rather forget. Perhaps this is more interesting to me because I’m a life-long Texan and even went to the same university as the author (ACU), but as Goudeau reminds us, “as Texas goes, so goes the nation.” It may be tempting to look at this as the history of one family, one state, but really it is the history of our nation writ small.
Look in the Mirror by Catherine Steadman
I finished this one just a few days ago, so it barely made it into this selection. This was such a good thriller — captivating, mysterious, and with a satisfying ending. The less you know going in — the better, but I will say that the main plot centers around Nina, a British English professor who has just learned that her beloved late father bequeathed her a beautiful house in the British Virgin Islands, one that she knew nothing about. She goes to the house searching for any new information about her father, and discovers something much more sinister than she expected. An excellent fast-paced read that will keep you up late in the night wanting to figure out what happens next. Purely a fun (though disturbing) book. I guess it’s fun if you like twisty reads that are slightly disturbing.
A Question for You
What were your favorite reads of this year?