What a year, man! I wrote, I read, I ran. I wrote 25,000 words on a book project and finished two short stories, I read more than 60 books (which is a light year quantity wise, but readers don't count, and counters don't read, right? Right.), and I stupidly ran three marathons (never doing that many again).
But what matters is the books. Always the books. Here are my 10 favorites of the year.
James, by Percival Everett -- Let's just get this one out of the way, because yeah, of course the National Book Award (and likely 2025 Pulitzer) winner is a best book of the year. Between this novel and the movie American Fiction (based on Everett's novel Erasure), this year will certainly be remembered as Everett's break-out. Dude had published nearly 20 novels over 30 years prior to this year. He's always had a small and very loyal fan base, but in 2024, he hit the stratosphere.
Perris, California, by Rachel Stark -- This is the 2024 book I probably spent the most time talking about and trying to convince other people to read, both at the bookstore and generally in the world. Deeply moving, deeply disturbing, and immensely readable, it's about a salt-of-the-earth family just trying to get by in a small California town, all the while dealing with past trauma. It's a really heavy read, but really accomplished.
Same As It Ever Was, by Claire Lombardo -- Rockin' the suburbs just like Claire Lombardo did! Sorry. Sorry about that. Anyway...this, Lombardo's second novel after her massively successful debut The Most Fun We Ever Had, is no sophomore slump. This novel is another long family saga, but this time from the point of view of one character, I got to interview Lombardo for the Chicago Review of Books about this novel, also, which was one of the highlights of my year.
Playground, by Richard Powers -- Any new Richard Powers novel is a must-read for me, and though this new novel isn't in the same pantheon as The Overstory (which would be nearly impossible, frankly), it's still a fantastic read in Powers' growing oeuvre of environmental fiction. This novel does for oceans what The Overstory did for trees and forests.
Small Rain, by Garth Greenwell -- Can I interest you in a book about a guy lying in a hospital bed for 11 days, contemplating the world, his relationship, and not much else happens? What if I told you it's actually absolutely riveting? Such is the magic Greenwell works in this novel. This was my first time reading Greenwell, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
Rejection, by Tony Tulathimutte -- This book of connected short stories which actually feels like a novel (where's the line? whose to say there HAS to be a line?) wins the 2024 Award for Absolutely Most Bonkers and Hilarious Imagined Sex Scene. That's all I'm willing to say about that. But overall, this is easily the funniest book I've read this year, and definitely among the smartest.
Blue Ruin, by Hari Kunzru -- 2024 is the year Kunzru achieved "one of my favorite writers" status. I'm sure he's very pleased lol. But really, this pandemic novel examines the role of art in the world. It's as entertaining as it is engaging.
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil, by Ananda Lima -- I got to be on the Chicago Writers Podcast with two very smart Chicago Review of Books editors in June, the topic for which was our favorite books of the year so far. All three of us had this book on our lists, and I'm willing to bet, all three of us will have it on our end-of-the-year lists too. Here's a reason why you should never trust Goodreads ratings: I just looked and this book has a 3.45 average rating, which is preposterous, stupid, and I'm insulted on behalf of the author. This book is brilliant. Period. (By the way, early in 2025 I'm planning to finally jettison my 20-year-old Goodreads account and move to the non-Bezos-infested-and-greener pastures of StoryGraph. Stay tuned.)
Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar -- I deeply, deeply loved this book. I read it in January, and it was so much fun to see this book gain momentum among readers all year long, culminating in being a finalist for the National Book Award, and in any non-James year, definitely would've won. This is my favorite novel of the year.
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, by Hanif Abdurraqib -- This is, simply put, the best sports book I've ever read. And it's only partly about sports -- it's also Abdurraqib's most autobiographical and political book, and it's unlike any sports book (or memoir) you'll ever read. My most overused phrase to tell people about this book was "reading Abdurraqib is a wholly unique experience" and it truly is.
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