by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
We've reached that "best of the year" time, so I've been looking over my list of books read and considering my favorites. (Here's my mid-year list, and be sure to check out Ashley's list, too!) I always agonize over these picks, knowing that I'll leave out some books that deserve praise and reconsider every choice in mere days. But, for now, these are the books that have made it to the top.
I'm composing this list on December 15; so far this year, I've read 358 books, and I have loved so many of them (218 of them have earned 4.5 or 5 stars . . . which may just mean I rate things too high?)! In narrowing down my options, I eliminated anything that was a main pick on the podcast and anything that I'd read previously. I also tried to offer a variety that's representative of the types of reading I love to do.
I will say that I was so tempted to include Percival Everett's James and Hannah Ritchie's Not the End of the World on my list again—I re-read both of those 2024 releases again this month and felt even more strongly the second time around about both. And I'll second Ashley's pick Moon of the Crusted Snow and add that I read the sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, and loved it just as much!
Okay, enough pontificating. On to the list.
Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - It had been a while since I read any Arthurian literature, and Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword was the perfect way to re-enter the world. The book approaches the story from an interesting angle, focusing on aspiring knight Collum, who arrives at Camelot just after Arthur's death, as the dreams of the Round Table seem to be ending.
Grossman makes excellent use of characters and history from a variety of sources, so Lancelot and Guinevere and Morgan le Fay make appearances, as do an array of more secondary characters. I loved the adventure of the story and the way that Grossman's take is both a tribute to its source material and a consideration of just how dreamy Camelot really was.
This is a book that will immerse you, one of those that takes you away from the world for a bit. I loved it.
Ann-Helén Laestadius's Stolen, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - I listened to Stolen (narrated by Jade Wheeler) as part of the Decolonize Your Bookshelf Reading Journey 2024—there's a category "Book by a Sami Author" that took me a while to complete. I definitely had never read a book by a Sami author before, nor did I know much about Sami culture. This book is such a revelation.
The book begins with a young girl, Elsa, witnessing the murder of her reindeer calf. Elsa and her family are part of a collective of Sami reindeer herders whose lives and culture are threatened by climate change and by the discrimination of their neighbors. When Elsa sees her dead calf, it sets off a chain of events that will last years, affecting each member of her family, her neighbors, and the murderer himself.
I learned so much from Stolen and felt so much in response to this moving novel. It's such a testament to the virtues of a good reading challenge, of reading translated works from different cultures, and of the power of excellent storytelling.
Trung Le Nguyen's The Magic Fish (Bookshop.org) - Trung Le Nguyen's The Magic Fish is a magical graphic novel with fairytales at its center. It's a celebration of the ways that stories can serve as comfort, as a lens through which we can understand our world, and of the way that stories can change depending on what we need them to do for us.
Thirteen-year-old Tiến's parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam. One of their cherished activities together is reading fairytales, which—in addition to enriching their souls—help his parents to become more fluent in English.
Tiến's life is rich: he feels supported by his parents and his best friends Claire and Julien . . . but there's a truth that he hasn't been able to share with them yet.
As Tiến tries to find ways to share the fact that he's gay, three fairytales offer solace, advice, and inspiration.
The Magic Fish is an incredibly beautiful story in so many ways, and Nguyen's author's note and discussion of his artistic choices illuminate even more the depth of the connection between our lives and the stories at their center.
Note: Sadly, this novel has been challenged or banned in several states.
Rainbow Rowell's Slow Dance (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Every Rainbow Rowell novel is cause for celebration for me, and Slow Dance lived up to all of my hopes. This story of a years-long friendship between Shiloh and Cary, of the potential romance simmering beneath the surface, of the ways that they save each other, swept me away.
It's hard for me to articulate the common thread of Rowell's books, which span YA and adult, contemporary realism and fantasy. Yes, my love for her writing is about the plot and her deft touch with characters, about the way she writes about promise and disappointment, about the ways we dream and how we react when our dreams fall short. But there's something else intangible that means I devour every book with a sort of breathlessness anticipation to see where the story goes and also trepidation because I know it will be over all too soon. I'll be re-reading Slow Dance. Probably soon.
Javier Zamora's Solito (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) - Zamora's memoir recounts his experience, as a nine-year-old, migrating from El Salvador to the United States to be with his mother and with the father he has never met in person. Zamora's attention to detail, the way he shares every element of the story, from the mundanity of waiting in motels for the right time to move to the next city to the horror of being caught by ICE, captured me completely.
Looking back from his perspective as an adult, Zamora is able to recognize the care and sacrifices of other migrants, adults who took care of him, sometimes at great cost to themselves. It quickly becomes apparent that he was in no way prepared to be independent and yet, somehow, he found the resilience and had the fortune to make it to his family despite a number of obstacles that seemed like they would immediately end his journey.
I highly recommend this book on audio—Zamora reads it, and it is a truly special listening experience.
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