Best Books of 2024 So Far

plus new albums from Cassandra Jenkins & Remi Wolf, interviews with Sheila Heti & Sarah Gerard, new music from Raavi, an excerpt from Halle Butler's new novel, and more

2024 has surprised me with a plethora of brilliant debut novels, thought-provoking story collections, and transportive nonfiction.

These are the books I have loved the most so far this year.

All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz

Tomas Moniz’s All Friends Are Necessary is one of the most moving novels I have read in years, an evocative exploration of grief and the restorative power of friendship.

Amina Gautier’s luminous collection The Best That You Can Do brings together the personal and political through the everyday lives of women.

City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter

Temim Fruchter’s novel City of Laughter is my favorite book published this year. A profound and ambitious debut that spans over a century, this is a multigenerational epic that melds magical realism, queerness, and folklore into a book I think about every day months after reading it.

Daughters of Muscadine by Monic Ductan

The linked stories in Monic Ductan’s collection Daughters of Muscadine, set vividly in a small Georgia town, make up an auspicious debut.

An Evening with Birdy O’Day by Greg Kearney

Greg Kearney’s novel An Evening with Birdy O’Day is the most moving book I have read all year, a heartbreaking and clever portrayal of two gay men over a 60 year period of their lives.

Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg

In a year filled with amazing debuts, Emma Copley Eisenberg’s Housemates is one of the best, an unforgettable novel of friendship, love, and art.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Akbar’s novel Martyr! is inventively told, marvelously complex, and easily one of the most unforgettable debuts I have ever read.

Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other by Danielle Dutton

Danielle Dutton’s collection Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other is modern creative nonfiction at its best, a collection of original and inventive pieces that defy literary categorization.

Worry by Alexandra Tanner

Debutiful stated that Alexandra Tanner’s novel Worry, “could very well be the Great Millennial Novel.” I’ll say that this debut is funny and moving and possibly the Brooklynest book I have ever read.

Ninetails by Sally Wen Mao

Sally Wen Mao’s Ninetails is a truly epic collection of fables drawn from East Asian folklore that span centuries.

We Were the Universe by Kimberly King Parsons

Kimberly King Parsons’s novel We Were the Universe is a surreal and transcendent examination of grief, sex, motherhood, and sisterhood, and one of the year’s best books.

What is your favorite book of the year so far?

Largehearted Likes:

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1. Halle Butler’s brilliant millennial comedy of manners Banal Nightmare.

2. Greece
   Just returned from two weeks in Greece, where I was overwhelmed by good food, great company, and a wealth of bookstores.

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3. Caffe Panna
   New gelato place in our neighborhood impresses with EVERY flavor.

A Playlist of the Week’s Best New Music (11 albums, 103 songs, 6 hours and 9 minutes)

This week’s new music includes releases by Cassandra Jenkins, Remi Wolf, Color Green, Brijean, Font, Clairo, Johnny Blue Skies (AKA Sturgill Simpson), Cigarettes After Sex, Lifeguard, Jake Xerxes Fussell, and Chris Cohen.

Largehearted Book & Music Links:

1. A new podcast from Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw!
   The pair’s newest undertaking is Reckon True Stories, a podcast that homes in on consequential nonfiction (contemporary or otherwise) and the writers behind the work.

2. Nate Chinen
   ’s list of the best music books of the 21st century.

   The 14 Best Music Books of the 21st Century

3. An excerpt from Halle Butler’s novel Banal Nightmare.

4. Camera Obscura’s World cafe interview and performance

5. For Laura Van Den Berg, the Fantastical Is the Best Way to Describe Reality
   It wasn’t until I was working on this novel that I made the connection between working with fictional temporalities and an unarticulated desire to restore my own understanding of time—which is probably beyond the capacities of fiction, but I actually think fiction has given me something even more powerful.

6. “If It’s Not Grueling, It’s Not Worth It”: John Cale, in Conversation With Michael Sheen
   The lockdown took over about a year-and-a-half ago and I just shut the door and took precautions and got on with some work. When I came out of that, there was an album already. At the end of the day, I had 80 songs. This is about finding poetry in the strangest places.

7. “Grief Has No Timeline:” Writer Sarah Gerard, in Conversation With Leslie Jamison

   As a writer, I’m really addicted to story, and I try to write poetry, but it doesn’t come out very well. So I see fiction and nonfiction as being like conjoined twins, I suppose. They kind of emerge from the same place of story, but they have different minds.

8. New music from Raavi

9. Granta’s podcast interview with Sheila Heti.

10. “DRUNK IN THE AUGUST SUN - SUMMER INDIE/ALT-ROCK CLASSICS, a two hour set of crowd pleasers from several generations of alternative rock”

11. It Took 22 Years for Kevin Barry to Unlock His First U.S.-Set Novel
    How have your reading tastes changed over time?

    Hardly at all. I was first flung to the wall by a piece of literature when I was 10 years old — I was home from school pretending to have the flu and I picked up “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Brontë, and was soon moaning with lachrymose pleasure. I remain a capital “R” Romantic, as a reader and as a writer both.

Last Week’s LHB Feature Posts:

August Thompson’s playlist for his novel Anyone’s Ghost

Ed Simon’s playlist for his book Devil’s Contract

Shome Dasgupta’s playlist for his story collection Atchafalaya Darling