Books I Can't Shut Up About

My favorite books of 2024 so far.

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

Dear friend,

I am behind on my reading! And although I read quite a bit this year, most of the books were not new releases. Some had been languishing on my bookshelf unread for a long time (including new favorites like Commonwealth by Anne Patchett, The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe, and Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, which I’m told is now also a show and also fantastic). Some books were really old—I read some Zola and Maupassant and Wharton this year. And I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo last week. My reading life is a constant battle between shiny new books and books that I’ve been meaning to read for years. I have Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and All Fours by Miranda July sitting on my shelf to be read (December goals). So I have not made it through the new releases I hoped to read before writing this year’s edition of Books I Can’t Shut Up About.

In any case, of the new releases I’ve read so far this year, here are the ones I keep thinking about and recommending.

My favorite was an easy choice. James by Percival Everett was the book I most anticipated this year and the book I loved the most. I heard about it sometime last year and knew it would be good. When I finally got my hands on it, I couldn’t put it down. Mr. Everett had me by the throat from page one. I read it over a weekend, and when I finished it, I threw a celebratory fist in the air. It is so triumphant and gripping. It is peak American literature. It was easily my favorite book of the year. I sang its praises here: James review.

Forgotten on Sunday by Valerie Perrin is about a young woman who works in a nursing home in a small town in France. She befriends one of the residents, a woman who has a remarkable story, and solves some mysteries about, one of which is deeply personal. The book is so charming and haunting at the same time. I wrote about it for the paper here: Forgotten on Sunday review.

Margot’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe is another favorite I reviewed this year. The characters make terrible decisions and have very low-brow interests, such as professional wrestling and convenience store food. The protagonist, after having her married English teacher’s baby, starts an OnlyFans page to make a living. And the story illuminated something important about the experience of single working-class mothers. I wrote about it here: Margot’s Got Money Trouble review.

Morningside by Téa Obreht was a post-apocalyptic witch story. I always love her books because of the way she incorporates Eastern European myths and folklore. She writes incredible ghost stories. Unlike her others, which largely take place in the past, this one is set in a creepy future.

Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman is about a team of stock workers in a big box store. The drama revolves around plans to sabotage an annoying manager’s bid for a promotion that she totally doesn’t deserve. I love workplace dramas and heists. This book was both funny and illuminating (in the most entertaining way) about what it’s like to work in the degrading world of corporate retail.

God of the Woods by Liz Moore is an awesome, gripping mystery about weird rich people and family secrets and kids disappearing from a summer camp. It’s set primarily in the 1970s, and the detective is the first and only woman on the case, so she’s dealing with pressure and a lack of support from her family and coworkers. And, without spoiling it, the ending was perhaps my favorite ending to any mystery I’ve ever read.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams is about a jazz pianist who left sharecropping in South Carolina to become a musician during the Harlem Renaissance. An ex curses him with eternal life, and so a hundred years later, he meets Ricki Wilde, an eccentric florist escaping an oppressive family in Atlanta. This was definitely my favorite contemporary romance novel.

Also in contemporary romance, I liked Waiting for Friday Night by Synithia Williams. I had never read her before, but on a SCWA presentation about writing romance, she compared her books to soap operas, at which point I knew I needed to read them. This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan is amazing. She has a hopeful, compelling way of writing people who are going through serious shit. It’s the second in her Skyland Series, and I loved the first book too. Funny Story by Emily Henry also lived up to the hype. Her books are very popular and widely loved. I always read them, but I don’t always love them. I have strong opinions about her last one, but I’m going to keep them to myself because if I get started I probably won’t be able to shut up about it. Anyway, Funny Story was worthy of the hype.

For historical romances, which I read a ton of this year, I loved Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard. This was my first romance novel involving pirates, and it turns out I like pirates and adventures on ships. I also liked A Most Improper Duchess by Alivia Fleur, which was about a French ballerina/courtesan marrying an English Duke, and Bequeathed by Andie James, which is about an aristocrat and a widow who fake an engagement so everyone will stop talking about them.

Alas, I didn’t read much nonfiction. Like I said, I’m super behind! But I loved Filterworld by Kyle Chayka, which is about algorithms and their effects on culture. Grief is for People by Sloane Crosley, a memoir about losing her friend to suicide, was incredible. I tend to love everything by Sloane Crosley because of her humor; her writing about the hard things was quite powerful.

Of course, if we’re talking about books I can’t shut up about, then I have to include my own. The reason I’m writing to you a few days early this month is that I’m participating in the #RomanceBookBlast Black Friday sale. So, if you haven’t already grabbed it, the Kindle version of my book is available until midnight tomorrow for only $.99. And there are a ton of other fun, wild-looking romance novels included in the event, which you can check out here: #RomanceBookBlast Black Friday Sale.

I’ve already grabbed White Wedding by Carla Luna, because I love a holiday romance this time of year, and I’m still shopping. Because shopping for books is even more fun when they’re on sale!

If you read anything great this year, I’d love to hear about it. And happy holidays, readers!

XO,

Melinda