New year, new list of things to help me avoid book decision paralysis.
(Good luck with that.)
Look, the cool kids were doing all hashtag 24 for 24 yolo and stuff at the end of last year, but I’m old and suitably tired that I didn’t get in on that. Well, more accurate would be the admission that I didn’t get this list out of my Notes app, where it’d been percolating, in time for hastaggery/douchebaggery.
(This is probably also because I was lacking physical copies of a bunch of the books mentioned, and taking a photo of my Kindle and gesturing “See! See!” at it probably wasn’t going to cut the mustard.)
Anyway, here’s the 24 for 2024. Will I read them all? Probably not: I managed to read about 16 from last year’s list, and that was a good effort. I read a lot more books in total than are listed here: this is just a nice-to-get-into kind of selection: a Whitman’s Sampler of my bookshelves, if you like.
(This list is not in any form or preference. If the idea of reading any of these interests you, then hit me up on TheStoryGraph and let’s do a buddy read!)
- Stephen Dixon: Frog
From the jump this appears to be just the type of tedious wank – chapter-length paragraphs, jumps in voice and a narrative assembled from arty patchwork – that I’m impressed by. But will it be on the Pynchon or the Wilson side of Maat’s scales? - Peter Ackroyd: Hawksmoor (reread)
One of David Bowie’s favourite books is also – I found out later – one of mine. The first Ackroyd I read, and a much creepier occult psychogeographic fever dream than I’ve found in Sinclair, I am keen to see if it holds up. (Christ Church in Spitalfields remains one of my favourite/eerie places in London.) - Luis Goytisolo: Antagony
This collection of four novels seemed to be pretty well received by the sort of book wonks I follow online, so I figured I’d give it a go. I think I’m gonna have to brush up on my Franco, my knowledge of whom is patchy, to be charitable about it. - Marguerite Young: Miss Macintosh, My Darling
My reading of this book is based on the assumption that Dalkey actually release the reprint this year. Publishing in March, so it seems: I’ll believe it when I’ve broken my wrist trying to lift the bloody thing. - Louis Nowra: Sydney – A Biography
Making a note here that I should also read his Kings Cross book. I figured it’s been a long while since I read something about Sydney: I think Carey’s book about his flying visit was the most recent thing I read, with Birmingham’s filleted Leviathan being the next. This one’s meant to be good, anyway. - Djuna Barnes: Nightwood
The copy of this I’ll be reading was bought for one of my university courses and then was never read. I’m not entirely sure why: I think it was an optional thing and I neglected to take up the option. Better late than never, I suppose. I’m hopeful that I’ll lament my poor historic reading choices after I finish. - Amanda Lohrey: The Labyrinth
I know this won pretty much everything going when it came out and I suspect that if I read much more about the book I’ll spoil it. The blurb (regret, mysterious construction, memory) piqued my interest and that’s good enough for me. - Alexis Wright: Carpentaria
In which I attempt to rectify the fact that I’ve never read any Alexis Wright. I bought this and Praiseworthy in the snazzy Giramondo editions, and the reviews I’ve read have been uniformly glowing. It’s time. - Miquel de Palol: The Garden of Seven Twilights
Another Dalkey brick. Seems to have a bit of a modern Decameron vibe to it, if Barcelona in 2025 is where the Decameron took place. It could be a bit much but on balance I’d rather have too much of something than not enough. - David Peace: the Red Riding quartet
Four books about it being grim up north, largely because of the Yorkshire Ripper? I’ve meant to read these for years now, and I can already hear my friends who’ve read ’em exhorting me to do so so perhaps this will be the year? - Don DeLillo: White Noise
Curiously, I’ve never read any DeLillo. I guess if you’re gonna begin, might as well start with the big one first, right? I very much hope this isn’t Infinite Jest II in I-shoulda-read-this-when-I-was-younger-as-I-would’ve-enjoyed-it-then terms. - David Keenan: Monument Maker
Queer romance and world history in one sprawling novel? The word “hallucinatory” gets chucked around quite a bit with Keenan, so I’ll be interested to find out if it’s warranted, or if it’s like “incendiary” in Almost Famous. - Mary Beard: SPQR – A History of Ancient Rome
At university one of my courses covered Greek and Roman history, albeit in a pretty truncated way. I never did as much external reading as I should’ve, so my knowledge has remained patchy. I’m hopeful that Beard’s book will provide an eminently digestible version of the story. - Olga Tokarczuk: Flights
This is purely because last year saw me read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead which I absolutely loved. I want to make sure that wasn’t a fluke. - Ian McGuire: The North Water
Is this going to be just a murder mystery on a boat? Look, if it’s gruff enough IDGAF. It is reportedly bleak as hell which is already a big tick for me. - Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (partial reread)
I say this is a partial reread because I read the first three books in the series when I was a kid, around the time the TV show came out. This version collects all five novels, and I figured it really was time to see whether it’s held up. - T.C. Boyle: Water Music (reread)
I remember being blown away by this to the same degree as I was by Thomas Pynchon and John Barth when I first read something by them. Basically, a kind of hey colonialism is fucked eh? book, I’m excited to revisit it. - Michael McDowell: Blackwater
Six volumes in one. I’m picking this small-town saga because it’s meant to be grim as fuck, and because I really enjoyed Gilded Needles and The Elementals, the only other of McDowell’s works I’ve read. I expect creepery. - Umberto Eco: Foucault’s Pendulum (reread)
Or, The Da Vinci Code For Pseuds. I remember feeling impressed and smart when I completed this (again when I was much younger) and I’ve meant to reread it for a long time. Will this be the year? (Also, will I actually get to see the Pendulum when I’m Paris next? I hope so!) - Norman Mailer: Ancient Evenings (reread)
I last read this about 25 years ago and I think it’s still the only Mailer, outside magazine articles, that I’ve read. Egyptian rootery and potentially oversauced and overblown lit? Let’s see if younger me was more impressionable than Old Man me. - Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings
Based on the reviews upon its release (which I have conveniently forgotten, as well as the spoilers floating around at the time) this is exceedingly my thing. Attempted Bob Marley assassination, whodunnit and crack wars? Yes please. - Alan Moore: Promethea
Yeah, I guess thousands of pages about Northampton wasn’t enough for me, so it’s time to see what else is up the old wizard’s sleeve. (At least until he finally puts out that how-to-magick thing I keep hoping will turn up someday.) - George Mann: the Newbury and Hobbes series
I’ve had these steampunk detective things on my actual shelves for far too long by now, so it’s time to give them a whirl. I hope I haven’t invested in a shithouse series. - Ronald Hutton: The Witch
Rounding out the list with some history: witchcraft, mass hysteria and perhaps some tangential Fiona Horne content? Who’s to say?
Outside this list, which forms a kind of framework for the year, I’ll read a bunch of other things. As ever, there’s always the items listed on my TBR page – they’re just begging to be read, some from years back. (Everything on this list will eventually be added to that page as well, to enable easier review access.)
Some other ongoing reading plans include:
- The Bible (still) and The Qu’ran
- More of James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse
- Further tarot and Lenormand texts
- More Christopher Buehlman
- More cheesy horror (in general)
- Random classics
- Grimoires? Grimoires.
That should be enough to be going on with, right?
(I’m also planning on pushing out reviews in five-book lots, assuming I can’t get it together enough to make per-book posts. We’ll see.)
Yeah nah. 