lou's library

I’m writing this post on 23 December, so technically I still have a week of reading this year ahead of me. So, in case I will find my absolute favourite book in the next seven days, I shall let you know in 2025. For now, here are my favourite reads of 2024 ❤

After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell

I started the year strong with this absolute banger of a book. After You’d Gone is Maggie O’Farrells debut novel and I still don’t understand how anyone can write a first book that is so outraegously good?! It was published in 2000 and I don’t know how much love and attention it received back then, but I’d love to hear more people talking about this book. It’s quite a simple love story and to me, its appeal lies in its protagonists Alice and John. They are so lovable and relatable and fun to read about. I cared for them deeply and just wanted them to be happy. I also couldn’t put this book down and would now like to thrust it into the hands of simply anyone. It’s my favourite Maggie O’Farrell book and I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. Please just read it so I have someone to talk to about it with.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

I still remember reading the first volume of Heartstopper in early January and immediately running to the library to get the other volumes. I know I was a bit late to the party, but Alice Oseman is so incredible at writing (and drawing) characters that are lovable and the Heartstopper world is one I love to get lost in. My obsession took on a whole new level when I finally started watching the Netflix show in September, and now I annoy everyone and their cat with my love for Nick Nelson (💘). I will never shut up about how healing and wholesome this book series is for young people especially, but actually, I think the entire world could do with a healthy dose of Heartstopper. If you haven’t read the novels, do yourself a goddamn favour and cuddle up with them under a blanket with some hot chocolate!!

I’m The King Of The Castle by Susan Hill

This was one of those modern classics I’d heard other people mention but when I started reading it, I actually had no idea what it was about. After about thirty pages, I knew I’m The King Of The Castle was going to become one of my new favourites. Susan Hill might be Queen of writing about the human conditions (particularly its nastier sides) with such skill it makes you wanna gobble up every sentence but also throw the book at the wall?! I loved everything about this book, but I also think it’s best to just go in knowing nothing, like I did. More than anything, the vibes are immaculate. Low-key creepy and high-key upsetting, let me tell you. I annoyed my best friend into reading it, because I HAD TO talk to someone about it. Honestly, this would make for an amazing book club pick!!

All Among The Barley by Melissa Harrison

Set between the two World Wars, All Among The Barley by Melissa Harrison explores life in the British country side through the eyes of a young girl trying to navigate around the hurdles society throws her way. It’s as much as a coming-of-age story as it is a historical novel about Britain at a crucial moment. Most of all, its written gorgeously and the descriptions of nature are a ten out of ten. It felt like it was its own character at times and it made me long for long walks in the middle of nowhere. Melissa Harrison managed to thread this underlying feeling of approaching disaster throughout the book that gave everything an edge of anticipation that made it difficult for me to put the book down. I definitely want to reread it soon, now that I know how it ends, so I can see what signs I can spot along the way.

Narziss und Goldmund by Hermann Hesse

Having a book by Hermann Hesse on my list of favourite books was not on my bingor card for 2024. Alas, Narziss und Goldmund (English title Narcissus and Goldmund) is a banger of a book and I was low-key obsessed with it over the summer. It’s one of the most approachable classics I’ve ever read, even though Hermann Hesse’s writing style is not exactly modern. I don’t know how, but it just works for the story and I found it incredibly easy to immerse myself in the Middle Ages world he builds. The novel is about the two protagonists, Narziss and Goldmund, meeting in a monastery school and striking up a friendship. They then go their separate ways and we largely follow Goldmund trying to figure out what he wants from life. This book is full of wisdom and even though it was written in the 1930s, still relevant today. I now want to read more books by Hermann Hesse, because if his other books are as good as Narziss und Goldmund, he has big new favourite author potential!!

Boys Don’t Cry by Fiona Scarlett

Boy oh boy, did this book make me S A D. Fiona Scarlett, you brilliant writer!!! Boys Don’t Cry is full of those characters who will sneak their way into your heart and then refuse to leave while slowly tearing out bits of it. It follows two brothers growing up in a broken family in Glasgow and deals with themes of illness, poverty and coming-of-age. Parts of it made me so sad I had to sit down while reading it on a train (would generally advise against reading this book in public). But the pain is so worth it for all the love that is just as much part of this book as the sadness!!

Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given

What a gorgeous, gorgeous book! If you’re a woman/girl/other, please read it. Florence Given is incredible at pointing out the restrictions society places upon us and then shattering them. Women Living Deliciously is a great read if you’re feeling a bit uninspired, a bit stuck or just very fed up with living in a patriarchal society. Also, it is illustrated so beautifully and would make a perfect gift (to yourself or someone lovely in your life). Florence’s writing style is so approchable, but also lyrical and she is meeting the reader at eye-level, which I adore. She seems like the coolest person ever and I will never understand how someone so young can be so wise and articulate?? Let’s all read this book and live more deliciously <333

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Oh boy, this book!!! Piranesi is unlike anything I’ve ever read and I think you have to have read it to understand what I mean. It’s fantastical and unique and short and yet so full of life and adventure and stories?! I would highly recommend carving out some time and reading it in one sitting. Don’t be put off if you don’t understand what’s going on at first, that’s deliberate and it will get better. In fact, it will get so mesmerizing you will not want the book to end (unless you’re my sister, in which case you will find the book too weird to get into, but then that’s your fault and not the book’s!!). I wish I could read Piranesi again for the first time, but I shall have to be content with rereading it soon.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

I read In Memoriam while on holiday in Italy, and read it in about two days. It’s set in Britain during World War One and centres on a group of privileged, upper-class boys who sign up to go to war and their experiences as soldiers. Sounds chipper, doesn’t it? Obviously, it’s tremenduously sad, but also beautiful and I became so invested in all these characters and their stories. I didn’t want the book to end because it was so well-written, but also because I was scared of how it would end. Alice Winn so very obviously put lots of love and care into this story and as I’m a sucker for war stories (looking at you, All Quiet On The Western Front), she had me enthralled from the very first page.

One Day by David Nicholls

David Nicholls, I will never forgive you for writing this book the way you did. YOU CRUEL MAN. One Day is one of those reads that will stay with you FOR AGES, because believe me, I’m still nowhere near over the love story between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. This book (and the Netflix series) became my personality for a hot minute this summer) and I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the characters feel as real as in One Day. It follows Emma and Dex over twenty years as they meet on the same day every year. Also, big bonus points for partially being set in Edinburgh!! This book is flawless and I will never get over it. Also, I shall never shut up about it, sorry.

All in all, I had a great reading year! Lots of sad books, but that’s just what makes me happy, hehe. Let me know some of your favourite reads of the year ❤