Four Favorite Books From 2024
My reading habits in 2024 took a meandering path to say the least. While I read a lot of great books, both fiction and non-fiction, in early spring my reading became dominated by pregnancy, birth, and early childcare books. I read a some really great pregnancy and birth books, however I’ve kept them off this list. Now that I’m at the end of my pregnancy and my brain seems willing to focus a little better once again, I hope to dive into some of great books that have taken up residence on my ‘to be read’ shelf for way too long.
As always, I love any book recommendations you’d like to send my way! Shoot me an email at erin@erincookston.com
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernadine Evaristo
This is a difficult book to summarize because it is so unique. It is a book of vignettes, a collection of interwoven short stories, that all point towards a similar theme, womanhood. I’ll stop there and just say, Read it!
The writing is brilliant. The stories are incredibly entertaining. The characters are full of life.
If you are in a bit of a reading lull, or just in need of a book that will get your reading ‘out of the box’, look no further, this books is for you!
James
Percival Everett
James is by far one of the best books I read in 2024. Everett took the character of Jim from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and created a new book, a fresh story, gripping narrative, and wild adventure from it. Reading James feels a little like magic: familiar yet completely unknown.
With humor, grace, and honesty this book takes you into history, but it also brings you more truly into the present. It’s not historical fiction, nor is it a retelling of Huck Finn. James is its own creation. I’m hesitant to say anymore about it for fear that I’ll plant too specific an expectation…
So let me just say this: No matter what kind of reader you are, you will enjoy this book! It is objectively, undoubtably, irrefutably, that good.
Highly recommend!
Song of Solomon
Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon is a story about identity, purpose, family, dreams and the mythologies of the past that inform the way we live in the present. I also is a book about despair.
Toni Morrison’s writing is flawless, as close to perfect as can be, and her storytelling is incredibly intense. The characters are real, their lives are filled with beauty and sadness, and this book is worth its weight in gold.
I read it for the fist time long ago in college, and rereading it this year was every bit as moving and good and inspiring and heartbreaking as I remember.
If you are new to Toni Morrison’s cannon, this is the perfect book to begin with. And if you know her work well but haven’t yet ventured into the pages of Song of Solomon, what the heck are you waiting for?!
Read on!
Normal People
Sally Rooney
I read all four of Sally Rooney’s books last year; Normal People was the first and it is my favorite of all of her books. I’ll be honest though, her writing takes some getting used to. It’s smart and faced paced, but there is a casualness to it, an informality to it, that requires a level of focus from the reader. Total honestly: I didn’t care for her writing style at first. It through me off and seemed clunky. That said, once I warmed up to her voice and style, about 20 pages in, there was no looking back.
Normal People follows the volatile relationship of two high school seniors as they adjust out of high school and into college. I found the characters interesting and their love story both heartbreaking and charming. As a whole the book is a fast and good read, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this book checks those boxes.
Full disclosure: there is a good amount of sex in all of Rooney’s books, so if that’s something that turns you off of a book, her stuff might now be for you.
