To make it easier on myself when and if I want to look this stuff up, and despite my not really blogging any more, here’s my list of books-I-read-for-the-first-time-in 2024:
- Don't Want You Like a Best Friend, by Emma R. Alban (Historical/Romance)
- Legends and Lattes, by Travis Baldree (SF)
- Long Live Evil, by Sarah Rees Brennan (SF)
- The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands, by Sarah Brooks (SF)
- The Book of Doors, by Gareth Brown (SF)
- Demon Daughter, by Lois McMaster Bujold (SF)
- The Children's Book, by A. S. Byatt (Historical)
- The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera (SF)
- The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P. Djèlí Clark (SF)
- Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, by Lex Croucher (Historical/Romance)
- Eleanore of Avignon, by Elizabeth DeLozier (Historical)
- Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, by Judi Dench (Theater)
- Sorcery and Small Magics, by Maiga Doocy (SF)
- My Shakespeare, by Greg Doran (Theater)
- Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett (SF)
- FIZ: and some Theatre Giants, by Eleanor Fazan (Theater)
- The Book of Will, by Lauren Gunderson (Play)
- The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street, by Jillianne Hamilton (Historical)
- Check & Mate, by Ali Hazelwood (Romance)
- Believing Is Seeing, by Diana Wynne Jones (SF)
- The Pomegranate Gate, by Ariel Kaplan(SF)
- Paladin's Faith, by T Kingfisher (SF)
- The Halcyon Fairy Book, by T Kingfisher (SF)
- Women's Hotel, by Daniel Lavery (Historical)
- Thieves' Gambit, by Kayvion Lewis (YA)
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo (Historical)
- Warcross, by Marie Lu (SF)
- Apprentice to the Villain, by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (SF)
- A Restless Truth, by Freya Marske (SF)
- Swordcrossed, by Freya Marske (SF)
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride (Historical)
- Forged by Blood, by Ehigbor Okosun (SF)
- How to Solve Your Own Murder, by Kristen Perrin (Mystery)
- Witchmark, by C. L. Polk (SF)
- The Stone Witch of Florence, by Anna Rasche (Historical)
- The Crescent Moon Tearoom, by Stacy Sivinski (SF)
- Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan (SF)
- A Ruse of Shadows, by Sherry Thomas (Mystery)
- Heroes (le Vent des Peupliers), by Gerald Sibbleyras (Tom Stoppard, trans) (Play)
- The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society, by C. M. Waggoner (SF)
First of all, it’s a lot fewer books than my average. I think that’s partially because I was in two plays this year (and have started rehearsal on another), so did more rehearsing than I do many years, but mostly because I co-wrote five stories in 2024, two of which were novella-length. So that’s more time writing and less time reading.
Now, for the genres: of the forty books, there were 22 that I count as Speculative Fiction, 9 historical (or historical/romance) novels, three theater memoirs (sorta) and two (published) plays, two mysteries, one ‘literary novel’, one Young Adult book I can’t call SF (and which I didn’t actually finish). A few of the SF books might be marketed as YA/teen, but I’m not really sure. One of the things about having switched to almost entirely digital formats is that I’m less aware of the marketing categories.
For the author demographics: there were, more or less, forty authors for these forty books, counting a translator as an author and not double-counting T. Kingfisher. Of those forty, 29 were women, 9 were men and 2 were non-binary (or otherwise neither male- or female-identifying); 31 were white and 9 were non-white. To further break it down, I read books by 24 white women, 6 white men, 3 nonwhite women, 3 nonwhite men, and one white and one nonwhite nobinary author.
I’m more interested in the authors who are new to me—in 2024 I read 28 books by writers whose works I had not read before (counting a playwright whose work I read in translation). Of those, 19 were women, 7 were men, and 2 were neither gender; 21 were white and 7 were nonwhite. 15 of these new-to-me writers were white women, 5 were white men, 4 were nonwhite women, 2 were white men, and there was one white and one nonwhite nonbinary author.
As usual, I basically avoided picking up anything by a white male writer unless there was some reason that I particularly wanted to read it (such as a recommendation or review or my having enjoyed his previous works). As usual, I wound up reading a fair number of books by white men anyway (18% of new-to-me authors), because, hey, the world we live in. As usual, and despite my rather vague and lazy efforts at diversifying, the overwhelming majority of books I read were by white writers. I should do better.
as for Faves… honestly, there were very few books this year that stood out to me as particularly great. I enjoyed The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, but I wasn’t knocked out by it. Judy Dench’s book was lovely, sure, and there were some good things about Gregory Doran’s. I enjoyed the Freya Marske books enough to keep reading them, clearly. There wasn’t anything on the list that made me want to grab people by the lapels and rave, though. Ah, well.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.