What We’re Reading: Winter 2024 Edition

Grace Keane

As ever, Mum, if you’re reading this, please don’t. I visited the bound bookshop in Whitley Bay last week, which has become one of my favourite Christmas shopping traditions. I ended up choosing The Fraud by Zadie Smith for my dad, who I know is a fan of her work (who could not be) and who I think will really enjoy her first foray into historical fiction, which is inspired by an extraordinary Victorian court case. For my mum I bought one of my favourite reads of last year, Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan. This is such a gorgeous little book. Although it ostensibly centres around a high-profile crime, it triumphs in its deft and quiet vignettes of an Irish family across the twentieth century.

If anyone’s shopping for me, I’m dying to read All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. I’m always looking for well-done literary thrillers and his previous novel, We Begin at the End, blew me away when I read it a few years ago.

Helena Davidson

For Christmas, I love to give copies of Sarah Winman’s beautiful novel Still Life. I think it’s just the perfect book for every occasion and reading interest. If you want to escape to sunny Florence when it’s -1 degrees outside, bask in the characters’ cosy family Christmas traditions, or read about heartwarming coming of age, queer, historical stories, this book covers all of the above.

Over the holidays I’m super excited to read a proof of Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis, about academic Nadia who forms a connection with teenage ISIS-bride Sara over a shared love of Dairy Milk and rude pick-up lines, which I’ve been seeing rave-reviews of all over social media. It’s not out till the end of February so keep your eyes peeled for this – I think it’ll be a popular one! I’ll also be reading through our Northern Bookshelf Live authors’ books; Sarah Brooks’ novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands is a vividly escapist Victorian historical fantasy novel and has me hooked! 

Tess Denman-Cleaver

Maybe the best book I read in 2024, which I am planning to gift to friends this Christmas is George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. I was amazed at how immersed I was in the world and story of this book, and how fun it is, despite its experimental form and challenging emotional themes. I still miss all of the peculiar characters that populate the cemetery where it is set.

The book I am looking forward to (hopefully) receiving is Katrina Palmer’s The Touch Report, a follow up to The Dark Object written as part of a residency at the National Gallery. Palmer’s book shares an audit she undertook of the Gallery’s collection, looking at depictions of violence, subjugation, and physical tension in the images. The exhibition accompanying the publication takes the form of a reading room, designed by Palmer, for the sole purpose of visitors reading her book. I love this idea for presenting writing in a gallery or museum. Not a festive read, but a brilliant writer and artist who I am always excited to see new work from.

Claire Malcolm

I have read some great books this year and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the following as stocking fillers, or indeed the main event of any present giving: All Fours by Miranda July (will make menopausing women hoot), The Horse by Willy Vlautin (will make Dads act like they have grit in their eyes), Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan (will make anyone feel cleverer), Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane (read a novel that none of your friends have yet) and You Are Here by David Nicholls (love, joy, weather and maps, just gorgeous).

This year I was delighted to discover the Italian writer Natalia Ginzburg – Daunt Books have a full collection of her work that I’m working my way through (perfect for the Ferrante lovers in your life). For the friends who are heavy readers, who are difficult to buy for (thinking of myself here, obvs) may I recommend a book about a hopeless book addict? Nicholas Royle’s Shadow Lines is a joy. A memoir of sorts about his obsessive pursuit of second hand books and the stories that their ownership and sometimes the things left behind in the pages inspire. This is a book for anyone who is secretly overjoyed when they buy a second-hand book, and it has a shopping list, a postcard or an interesting inscription hidden within it. I respect Royle’s obsession, but I would not like to dust his house.

Margot Miltenberger

I will be giving A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders to a writer in my life. I picked this up recently, and I know I’m incredibly late to the party, but I now want to give it to all the writers and readers I know. Sanders takes you through some of the best Russian short stories and explains what makes them work. Whether you are a writer yourself or just appreciate good craft, this book is unexpectedly gripping and fun to read.

I’m hoping to receive The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which has been on my list ever since I read an excerpt in LitHub this summer. The camp setting might be more of a summer vibe, but it’s been described as ‘unputdownable’ which is just what I want for those long days by the Christmas tree when you can become absorbed and lose track of time.

Carys Vickers

One book that cut through my ongoing reading slumps in 2024, and that I would highly recommend for Christmas gifting, is Northern Writers’ Awards alum Eirinie Lapidaki’s debut novel The Wives of Halcyon. Beautiful and sensitive prose sweeps you away into a masterfully crafted world, following three women in a religious cult in remote Scotland. The questions it poses about faith and truth have stayed with me since reading (I followed it up with Tara Westover’s memoir Educated), and I was lucky enough to interview Eirinie for more insight earlier this year.

My favourite Christmas presents to unwrap are those gorgeous special edition hardbacks that feel too indulgent to buy for myself. This year I’d be delighted to receive The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (an illustrated short story from the author of my beloved Piranesi), the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga box set by Hayao Miyazaki (the source material for the criminally underrated Studio Ghibli movie of the same name), or the new illustrated edition of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (because I will never get bored of returning to this story).

Rebecca Wilkie

I love getting stuck into a good memoir or biography over the Christmas period and this year I’m hoping to receive Neneh Cherry’s memoir A Thousand Threads – the story of her bohemian childhood in Sweden and New York spent surrounded by musicians and artists, and her own incredible career as a musician. I also have Adelle Stripe’s forthcoming memoir Base Notes: The Scents of a Life on my festive reading pile. In this book Adelle writes about growing up in Yorkshire at the end of the 20th century, through the prism of the perfumes that have shaped her life. It’s out in February.

There are lots of books I’d recommend for gifting this year. Percival Everett’s James deserves every bit of the praise it has received – this retelling of Huckleberry Finn told from the enslaved Jim’s perspective is a work of genius, told with Everett’s wry humour and piercing insight. Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time is a page-turning mixture of speculative fiction and romance – I loved it. Anna Jones is my favourite food writer and her latest book Easy Wins is full of delicious vegetarian recipes and beautiful food photography. It would make a perfect Christmas gift.

Will Mackie

The Wrong Person to Ask by Marjorie Lotfi traces her childhood in Iran through to her life in the US and, later, in Scotland. It’s an elegant and ambitious debut by a brilliant poet that I’d recommend for anyone. Ruin, Blossom by the late John Burnside, one of my favourite poets whose writing across genres enlightens, moves and informs me, is a gift that I’ll be giving myself to read in the quieter post-Christmas days. This year, I spent many entranced hours reading one Nina AlIan novel after another – The Silver Wind and The Dollmaker a couple of standouts – and will be hoping for one or two of hers that I haven’t yet read. I will have to be on my guard this Christmas Day in case my dog gets his teeth into any new books (or socks… or anything actually) I’m lucky enough to receive. I’m hoping to stop him from eating Questlove’s Hip-Hop is History – or at least to hold off until I’ve finished it.

Anna Disley

Books I want to catch up on this Christmas include Rare Singles by Benjamin Myers – his North East epic Cuddy was one of my books of 2023. Rare Singles is about a forgotten Northern Soul musician from Chicago who headlines a soul weekender in Scarborough and finds connection with a local woman. Ben’s work is so eclectic, but always has such humanity and generosity at its heart, which is why I love it.

I have heard so many good things about Rita Bullwinkel’s Headshot, which has been longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, so I’ll be picking that up. Similarly, Colin Barrett is a name I keep hearing, so his dark caper set in small town County Mayo, Wild Houses, is on my list. I also haven’t yet read Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan – I’m not sure why as it’s so up my street. I will be asking for Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame and the Rise of the Right by Arlie Russell-Hochschild which draws on her research in Eastern Kentucky, a Donald Trump stronghold, and uncovers ‘the pride paradox’ which explores what cultural and economic loss can to do pride. I think after all that I might be in need of some cosy crime…

Joe Baumber

One of the books that I’ll definitely be gifting this year is one I actually received for Christmas last year, and that’s Stoner by John Williams. This book is a must for anyone who studies literature or likes reading – it’s beautifully written and a great character study of a story. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is another book I’ve been banging on about all year; if you were a fan of The Bee Sting, and particularly PJ’s perspective, you’ll love this. It’s about a young boy in New York who goes on a scavenger hunt of sorts trying to make sense of his Dad’s death (jolly, I know). I thought this was fantastic.

To add to the pile of books I haven’t read yet, I’m hoping for a copy of Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad which follows an actress that returns to her homeland of Palestine and joins a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Grimmish by Michael Winkler is another book I’ve had my eye on for a while, a genre-bending novel about a boxer that deals with themes of masculinity and pain (again, super jolly).

Matt Forster

This year has produced many contenders to gift at Christmas including Andrew O’Hagan’s Caledonian Road, Toby Lloyd’s Fervour, and Amor Towles’ Table for Two, but Yuval Noah Hurari’s Nexus tops my list for 2024. AI has travelled so far, so fast. If you feel that you’ve lost the plot Nexus will get you up to speed. Christmas is a reflective period and Hurari puts the AI revolution into context, connecting it to the industrial and information revolutions that preceded it, using history to assess where we are now and where we could be heading. The book is a wake up call, sharing some genuinely worrying examples of AI algorithms fuelling racist hatred and AI pretending to be human to complete a task. As a story teller, I loved his previous works Sapiens and Homo Deus because they position story at the heart of progress. Again Harari puts narrative centre stage and asks whether humankind is in danger of handing control of our narrative over to a non-conscious powerful alien intelligence in the hope it will save us with a brilliant idea or miracle technology.

Sara Lloyd

I’ve only really been able to talk about one book all year, Booker-shortlisted James by Percival Everett. That is because the book was at once so deeply enjoyable to read and so deeply profound that it has stayed with me probably longer than any book I’ve ever read. Percival has magicked up a retelling of the American classic Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of the enslaved Jim, and delivered it so deftly that you have to pause deliberately to admire its literary genius just as you turn the pages to devour the book in one bite. He has shone a light on the history which still resounds today through such a deeply personal lens that it hits you in the gut. It’s a book that deserves to be read and re-read. It’s a book that made me laugh out loud, then gasp in shock and – honestly – throw the book across the room. Everyone should read this book. Everyone.

I’m a big fan of Elizabeth Strout and so my other recommendation published in 2024 is her new novel Tell Me Everything. Some of the characters from her previous novels re-emerge and converge in interesting ways in this breathtaking exploration of the human heart, all the ways we can love other humans and all the ways our hearts can be broken and rebuilt. Elizabeth defies conventional thinking by enabling us to go into her characters’ inner minds, revealing those moments of self reflection and clarity when we stop lying to ourselves and gain a deeper understanding of who we are. Her characters are whole people who we can still love despite their flaws because of their humanity. Her writing is so spare but conveys so much. Another genius.