The Top 17(ish) Books I Read This Year

Plus! writing together in 2024 and a favor or two

Hi my friends,

We’re in the final stretch of AcWriMo! I’ll write up my thoughts about the experience next week, but today I wanted to share something a little different with you: the first annual list of great fiction books I read this year. AND some 2024 announcements. Come for the book recs, stay for ideas about how we can write together.

You should probably read more fiction!

One of my most dearly held beliefs is that we academics would be better writers if we read more popular fiction because those authors know how to play with language and tell a story. And reading is fun, and everyone should give themselves a break between semesters! So, in that spirit, here are some great books you should add to Libby or put on your holiday wish list.

I finished about 114 books outside of work this year (I started around 25 I didn’t finish—though a few I’ll come back to, and of course I read an uncountable number of amazing books for work-related purposes). But as far as fiction goes, here are my favorites. They’re more-or-less presented in the order I read them, because it’s too hard to pick a favorite.

1. Daisy Jones and the Six, Carrie Soto is Back, and the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - I’m counting these as one entry because I went on a Taylor Jenkins Reid deep dive in December/January last year, and loved every minute of it. No one else writing today creates complex female characters and historical moments like she does.

2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is kind of a love story, but about friendship. It’s one of those books that is so good I thought I should just give up writing.

3. Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park is the first book I’ve ever read set in Seoul, and it’s just such a fascinating look into “queer millennial life” (bleh-who says that?) in South Korea. I love stories that put me in the head of someone on the opposite side of the world, and this book does that.

4. The Changeling and Lone Women by Victor LaValle - these are both fabulous books. They both use fairy tales and mythology to explore bigger social questions, and are fascinating Did you know there was a group of Black women who homesteaded in Montana after the Civil War? How badass is that? (head’s up - The Changeling has some scenes that are upsetting).

5. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt made me happy. And one of the narrators is a sentient octopus. It’s really a lovely book. Look at that cover!

   

6. On the topic of unusual protagonists, The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer features a main character who is a death doula. It’s an interesting, sometimes heartbreaking, but very funny meditation on how our culture deals with death.

7. Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by RF Kuang - this is the other book that made me feel like no one else had any business writing this year. Is she the best writer alive right now? I’m not sure, but it’s so good—history, politics, a little magic, and just a great story. If you read one book on this list, I’d probably make it this one. And the cover art is stunning:

   

8. The Last Word by Taylor Adams. I started this book at 7:30 pm one night when I was putting a kiddo to bed. At 3 am I turned the last page. It’s THAT kind of suspense book. 10/10 recommend when you don’t have any meetings the next day.

9. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. I also loved The Great Believers, which I read a few years ago so probably belongs on some other list. Makkai was born in 1978, so she’s just a few years older than me, and I feel like she captures the weird cultural cusp of being a late Gen-Xer really well. And she is willing to write through cultural ambiguity in a way I appreciate.

10. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and its sequels. Just delightful. A bunch of old folks in a retirement community get together on Thursdays, bake brownies (fight with the French club for access to the common room) and then solve murders. Totally and completely cozy-mystery-charming (though the latest book in the series had me openly weeping).

11. People We Meet on Vacation is a sweet rom-com, but I’ll read almost anything Emily Henry in like a day (Book Lovers and Beach Read are my two favorites, but I didn’t read them this year, so again don’t count).

12. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister is a time-travel book that actually works, and will make your brain feel funny as you track the mystery back through time. So good!

13. The Personal Librarian by Maria Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. This is based on a true story! About the personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, who was a Black woman forced to pass as white, concealed her identity, and made some of the most stunning book deals of the century. This book is fascinating, and I loved learning about the Morgan library.

14. Lights from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki Is a little more sci-fi than I generally read, but it’s wacky and sweet (and complicated) enough that I loved it. Who doesn’t love a book about violin prodigies who unknowingly sell their soul to the devil…but aliens?

15. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. People. How did I go twelve years without reading this book? It’s stunning. And she wrote the first draft during NaNoWriMo, so, you know—squad goals.

16. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. If you read Hamnet, you’ll love this book—it’s set in Renaissance Italy and based on what little we know about the short and troubled life of Lucrezia de’Medici, who was probably killed by her husband and no one cared.

17. If you’re in the mood for something lighter than the murder of aristocrats, Talia Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy is really enjoyable. Eve, Dani, and Chloe are all great characters in their own rights, have relatable relationship dynamics, and it’s very fun they each get their own book.

Alright my friends, that’s what I loved reading in 2023. (and yes, my list does overlap with Reese Witherspoon’s picks to an unsettling degree, and yes I’ve read Nabokov and I think Olga Tokarczuk is brilliant…but this is what I have fun reading). I’ll also say that this is a more diverse list, genre-wise, than I would written last year because, while I love mysteries, I have been trying to avoid books with a lot of gratuitous violence or copaganda, which makes finding a good mystery harder.

What should we read in 2024? Help me make my list! Comment or email me and I’ll share it next time! NK Jemisin is on the top of my pile.

Crowdsourcing for My Book!

I am almost done (maybe) with my book! So I have two shameless asks for you. First, could you help my little newsletter get over 1000 subscribers before I start trying to find a home for the book? I’m so close, and it would be an amazing goal to reach by the end of the year. If you have writer/scholar friends, could you pass this on to them?

Also! Over AcWriMo I compiled a list of books—from poetry to kids books to memoir to fiction to scholarly work—that can make us smarter about activism and protest. And it has a nice list of books Florida has banned to help you pick out a gift for that special kid in your life. It’s nowhere near complete, and I want to add to it over time.

I have a few other things to show you about the book later, but for now—if you have any ideas about what should be on my book list, let me know! You can email me, or use this form to submit your suggestions. Thanks for making me smarter!

Writing Together next year—FAQs about the 2024 Writers’ Circles

In exciting news, we finally have times established for the Spring 2024 writers’ circles. One circle will meet from 1130-1 pm eastern on Mondays, and the other one will meet from 12-130 on Tuesdays, and then there will be a shared cowriting session on Fridays from 11-2. There are two seats left in the Monday circle and one in the Tuesday circle, so if you’ve been waiting to see if these fit your schedule now is the time to apply! They will begin the week of January 21 and end the week of April 1.

Here are some questions people have asked:

Q: Why Writers’ Circles (and not coaching or editing or just hanging out on Slack): Weekly meetings with the same people, every week, all semester, are magical. They give you a community to try out new ideas, who know you and your work, and who are rooting for you to succeed. The structure of meeting at the beginning and end of the week also mean that you are in touch with your research multiple times a week, and it doesn’t fall into the crevices of teaching and service.

Q: What do you talk about? This year, we’ve talked about imposter syndrome, creating research pipelines, collaborating with co-authors, managing teaching, service, and teaching obligations, book proposals, grant applications, keeping up a writing agenda with heavy administrative/service duties, and more. The circles have been a place to make writing better, but also to talk about everything surrounding writing.

Q: What happens during the critique session? A lot of people choose to pair the writers’ circle with one-on-one editing, where I give you feedback on your draft. In the writers’ circle, you’ll have 30 minutes each month that is yours to use as you wish. Maybe you need extra eyes on your tenure letter or conference proposal. Maybe you have a problem you want to talk out (How do people manage to pivot when their to-do list goes to hell? How do you structure co-authoring relationships? How do you edit your own work?). Maybe you have a neat trick you want to share with us (look at how Scrivener changed my life! Here’s a fancy spreadsheet that organizes my lit reviews!).

Q: Should I do this if my teaching/administrative load is bonkers? Yes—if you’re planning to maintain a connection to your writing, this is a great way to carve out that time, even with competing priorities.

Q: Should I do this if I’m on sabbatical/not teaching and should be able to structure my time on my own? Also yes! It’s hard to get things done without an anchor on your time. These help, and provide you a community along the way.

Q: I travel on Fridays—is that okay? Of course! The co-writing sessions are for you, and aren’t mandatory or expected. Use the time as works for you!

Q: Should I join? I will tell you that the writing circles this semester were the bright spots of my week (which is why I’m hosting them again!) I’d love to have you join us!

Q: What will we do in April? Glad you asked! Keep reading.

…Sneak Preview:

If you’re already feeling sad about AcWriMo ending, now is the time to pencil in ApWriMiniMo (I’m workshopping the title). Save the date for an April pop-up writing group from April 15-April 30, where we can write every day together and then take a break. And for those of you who like hanging out together all day, we’ll have a minimalist writing retreat on April 19. Get all the things done before finals and summer! As always, this will be free to everyone who wants to join.

Final Announcements

My friends, you keep writing brilliant books and giving me the honor of editing them. If you have a book in the works that needs another set of eyes, I’m now booking mid-April and onward (so it’s not too early to reserve a summer spot). I still have space in February and beyond for smaller projects (grants, articles, job/tenure materials, etc)—but as you wrap up work for the year, now is a great time to get on my calendar for 2024 so we can meet your deadlines and get your work into the world!

Enjoy the last few days of November!

Kelly