2024 Books
For the first time ever (!), I’m keeping a list of the books I’ve read this year. It includes an indication of whether I read the book in paper or in audio. If I recommended the book in a newsletter, I’ll include the date of that post. For some entries, I may add notes (e.g., if I didn’t finish a book and why).
January
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - audio - January 4
North Woods by Daniel Mason - audio - January 18
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell - audio - January 11
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor - audio
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan - paper
The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson - paper
Ladies Lunch and Other Stories by Lore Segal - paper
Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott - paper
Come to Me by Amy Bloom - paper
Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser - audio - January 25
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly - audio
A Short History of the World According to Sheep by Sally Coulthard - audio - February 8
The Reversal by Michael Connelly - audio
February
The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin - audio
The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly - audio
Portal: San Francisco’s Ferry Building and the Reinvention of American Cities by John King - audio - February 15
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon - audio - February 15
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray - paper [I didn’t finish this one. It’s 640 pgs and I simply ran out of steam about 450 pgs in. I didn’t care what happened to any of these people, so I bailed out.]
Absolution by Alice McDermott - audio
The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly - audio
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks - audio - Feburary 22
The Crossing by Michael Connelly - audio
Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly - audio
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman - audio
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - audio - February 29
March
Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World by Victoria Finlay - audio - March 7
End of Story by A.J. Finn - audio
Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Lee - audio
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston - audio - March 14
Erasure by Percival Everett - audio - March 14
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kye Chayka - paper
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar - audio
Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - audio
The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman - audio
Madly, Deeply: the diaries of Alan Rickman - paper - April 4
The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne - audio
The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel - paper and audio
The Hunter by Tana French- audio
April
James by Percival Everett - audio - April 11
The Searcher by Tana French - audio
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - paper
The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden - audio
Inverno by Cynthia Zarin - paper [I didn’t finish this one. After 50 pages of stream-of-consciousness from a woman standing in the snow waiting for the phone to ring, I was bored.]
Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo - audio - April 18
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel - paper - April 25
The Divorcees by Rowan Beaird - audio
Piglet by Lottie Hazell - audio
May
American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home by Steven Kurutz - paper - May 9
The Body in Question by Jill Clement - audio
Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller - audio
Here is New York by E.B. White - audio
Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner by Natalie Dykstra - audio
The Morningside by Tea Obreht - audio
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - audio
Fourteen Days - paper [I didn’t finish this one; I bailed out after 100 pages. It was a collaborative project by the Author’s Guild of America. Interesting concept, but didn’t hang together and I lost interest.]
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams - audio
Circle in the Water by Marcia Muller - audio - May 23
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver - audio
The Getaway by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen - audio
The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian - audio
The Ever-Running Man by Macia Muller - audio
Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman - paper
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan - audio
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan - audio
Camino Ghosts by John Grisham - audio - May 30
June
Learned by Heart - Emma Donoghue - audio
Reboot by Justin Taylor - paper
The Other Significant Others by Rhaina Cohen - audio - June 20
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan - audio
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue - audio
The Couple at Number 9 by Claire Douglas - audio
What Happened to Nina by Dervla McTiernan - audio - June 27
Where Echos Live by Marcia Muller - audio
Burn Out by Marcia Muller - audio
People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd - audio - July 4
Locked In by Marcia Muller - audio
The Sisters by Claire Douglas- audio
Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York by Barbara Weisberg - paper
The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden - audio
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin - audio - July 4
July
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier - audio
Laundry Love by Patric Richardson - paper
At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier - audio - July 11
The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas - audio
City of Whispers by Marcia Muller - audio
The Whole Staggering Mystery by Sylvia Brownrigg - paper [I didn’t finish this one. Halfway through, I just wasn’t interested in continuing.]
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - audio - July 18
There is No Ethan by Anna Akbar - audio
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Ruff Thorpe - audio
All Fours by Miranda July - audio
The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby by Ellery Lloyd - audio
You Are Here by David Nicholls - paper - July 25
The Cliffs by J.Courtney Sullivan - audio
Long Island by Colm Toibin - audio
August
The Winner by Teddy Wayne - audio
The God of the Woods by Like Moore - audio
Listen for the Lie by Ay Tintera - audio - August 22
The Bluestockings by Susannah Gibson - audio
The Collector by Daniel Silva - paper - August 22
The Blue Maiden by Anna Noyes - paper
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc - audio (I didn’t finish this one)
Coming Back by Marcia Muller - audio
Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths - audio - August 29
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - audio - August 29