Five Fantastic Book Recommendations for 2024
I had the good fortune to read 63 books in 2023 and some fiction books are so good, they deserve to be shared and celebrated. So, if you are looking for some fantastic books to start off your 2024 reading list, maybe you have a new years resolution to read more, look no further than this list of five books that will keep you engaged and immersed. These were the books that even months after reading, I could not stop thinking about. In no particular order, here are my top recommendations.
1: Y/N by Esther Yi (2023)
“Surreal, hilarious, and shrewdly poignant — [Y/N is] about a Korean American woman living in Berlin whose obsession with a K-pop idol sends her to Seoul on a journey of literary self-destruction.”
This story reads as if the writer was writing a literary thesis on the philosophy on art criticism, purely through the aesthetic of Korean boy bands. The main character has a very strange para-social relationship with a K-pop idol that feels entirely disturbed, yet elucidating, as she carefully dissects her emotions and actions. This book is thoughtfully written and has a ton of humour, which will either make you laugh out loud or cry a little inside. I really want to read more by this original writer.
Favourite line, “What I feared most wasn’t death or global cataclysm but the everyday capitulations that chipped away at the monument of seriousness that was a soul; my spiritual sphincter stayed clenched to keep out the cheap and stupid (2).”
2: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022)
“Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida — war photographer, gambler, and closet queen — has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him.”
This book has some incredibly strong writing and imagery. The feeling of supernatural terror is clear and distinct even as it mixes with geopolitical events and conflicts. The dialogue was especially well done, and I felt like I could tell who said what just by reading their sentence structures and word choices. A well-deserved winner of the 2022 Booker Prize.
3: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) (2016)
“A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.”
This story has some incredibly strong character writing as it deals with the theme of societal pressure on individuals, and about accepting yourself, especially when neurodiverse. The strong voice of a unique writer makes me a forever fan of Murata, and although Earthlings, her other book, was interesting, I much preferred Convenience Store Woman. This book was the winner of the 2016 Akutagawa Prize.
4: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)
“Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organization was simple: To advocate for the world’s future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story.”
Such a creative and fascinating book, it begins like science fiction, but then gets deep into public policy discussions, which could have been boring, but the policies are so experimental that it jumps right back into science fiction. If public policy can be science fiction, this book has achieved that. So much going on this book. If you want to learn more about climate change and the environmental movement, but can’t get into non-fiction, this might be the perfect middle ground.
The opening scene, which describes a heat wave was truly horrifying. Very emotional and made me put the book down for a bit. I also loved the travelogue description on the airship near the end.
Definitely a few strange political and policy choices that are jumped over way too quickly, and the plot sometimes gets sacrificed for theory, but this book was original and creative enough for me to recommend and celebrate.
5: Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov (Translated by Angela Rodel) (2020)
“Through sharply satirical, labyrinth-like vignettes reminiscent of Italo Calvino and Franz Kafka, the narrator recounts in breathtaking prose just how he became entrenched in a plot to stop time itself.”
This book was really good. Very fun and clever, with a lot of great ideas about how nostalgia for the past will make people give up on the future (make X great again, or whatever). This book was the winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize. I recommend checking it out, especially if you like lines that are absurd but still insightful in a roundabout way, such as:
“Since nothing is happening in my life this year, I’m copying out my journal from last year day to day, a friend told me. Today, on November twenty-sixth, I’m copying down what happened to me last year on November twenty-sixth.
I’ve never heard of anything more depressing (271).”
“Somewhere in the Andes, they believe to this very day that the future is behind you. It comes up behind your back, surprising and unforeseeable, while the past is always before your eyes, that which has already happened. When they talk about the past, the people of the Aymara tribe point in front of them. You walk forward facing the past and you turn back towards the future (280).”
