Just Giblets

Almost to the top — and in after a brief anomaly in 2023 where two of my top 3 books were non-fiction (and both Tracey Thorn memoirs to boot) we are back to the standard top books being fiction. What is interesting, perhaps is the fact that all three of my top books of 2024 are written by authors that I am reading for the first time. The authors of my #’s 2 & 3 book of the year were both born outside of the U.S. (where my #2 author still lives). They are all quite different, which is fun, and other than the fact that all three were written by women, I can’t really draw any parallels between them!

#3 – All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (2022)

Set in Milwaukee, Sarah Thankam Mathews’ debut novel explores the life of twenty-two year old Shena, Indian-born, who came to America with her family as a child. When upsetting circumstances force her parents to return home, Sneha forms her own life in America, snagging a successful job as a consultant right out of college during a recession, and exploring her new home in Milwaukee. She chases women, hangs out with friends, and develops an unexpected crush on a dancer named Marina.

Written in bold, fresh prose, Mathews explores so many issues, from childhood trauma, to the unexpected impact the recession has on a successful young woman, and how quickly someones life can change. While this novel sets the reader up to become invested in the potential romantic relationship between Sneha and Marina, I was profoundly moved by how the ultimate central theme emerged as friendship, and the importance of the bonds we make with our closest friends.

#2 – What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

A lovely collection of intertwining stories about a group of unrelated folks who are at a crossroads in their lives who find subtle direction from an unusual librarian at the community library. The characters are from a variety of backgrounds, all at different points in their lives, who lack purpose, or who are dissatisfied with their lives. Author Michiko Aoyama beautifully tells their stories without melodrama or heavy-handedness to develop moving portraits of finding purpose and satisfaction with ones life.

Apparently there is a subgenre of novels in Japan featuring libraries and cats, of which this book falls. While definitely filled with charm and a dose of sweetness, Aoyama ably skirts anything that could be considered cloying, deftly examining the inner lives of her protagonists. Also, a brisk, quick read that makes you feel good.

No, you’re not experiencing Groundhog’s Day… I did already do a post with this very title. And now you can’t find it, you say? That’s correct, because I messed up and the two books I posted about a week or sho ago, Sister of Sorcery: A Marvel Untold Novel and The Flick were actually my #’s 5 & 4 books read in 2024! I mistaken skipped over #’s 7 & 6. My sincerest apologies, but we’re getting back to them now. It’s an important pair though, because here we find the highest ranking in 2024 in the female pop/rocker memoir category (but don’t worry, this genre will reappear in 2025) and another novel to take note of. So here we go before diving back into the Top 5 of 2024!

#8 – Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia by Tracey Thorn (2019)

Singer/Songwriter, author, Tracey Thorn tackles her boring teenaged years growing up in suburban London in her third memoir, Another Planet. While the books gets off to a slightly slow start, with Thorn commenting on the monotony of her journal (how can that not translate to the memoir?) it’s all in service of the point Thorn is making about her life during those years. She details the food she ate, the clothes she did or didn’t buy, and the television shows she watched, as well as the boys she got off with and the rows with her mother. Yet, as a mom in her 50’s when she wrote the book, she allows herself the observations of an adult looking back, and that’s where Thorn’s power as a writer excels.

As always, Thorn’s strength as a writer elevates her subject matter, along with her insightful eye and self-deprecating humor. Now after four memoirs, I wonder where she will go net? Perhaps motherhood? It doesn’t matter to me, I will be there to read.

#7 – Real Americans by Rachel Khong (2024)

Rachel Khong’s multi-generational saga explores what makes us who we are, our DNA and our our lived experiences. The story starts with May, the family matriarch, born and raised in a village outside of Beijing, struggling through the political unrest of the 60’s and eventually fleeing to America to become a scientist devoted to her fascination with genetics. May’s daughter Lily, born in America, is struggling to find her place as an adult in the early 2000’s, and feeling like a disappointment to her mother. Finally, Lily’s son Nick, raised by his mother in an isolated island town off the coast of Oregon, separated from his father, with an unknown heritage behind him that could alter his future.

Khong’s characters and their extended families each navigate challenges over the course of their lives, making choices that don’t always turn-out well. Some of these choices are tinged with both science fiction and fantasy elements, from the (near?)-future reality of gene manipulation to the potential wish-fufillment powers of the lotus seed, that Khong uses sparingly to tell a powerful saga that is ultimately about forgiveness.

Moving into the Top 10, I’ve got another memoir, but this one moves into the world of film, thanks to The Brattle Theater’s Podcast. An episode from lat year featured filmmaker Susan Seidelman talking about her memoir detailing her life as a woman creating films in the 80’s to today. Thanks for the tip, Brattle pals! Another genre that I’ve alway enjoyed throughout my life is science fiction. Yuma Kitasei is a Japanese-American author whose second novel has made a respectable showing on this year’s list.

#9 – Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls by Susan Seidelman (2024)

Susan Seidelman, best known for directing DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, has written a lively, entertaining, memoir that incorporates growing up in a suburban bubble during the 60’s, then spending most of her adult life in New York City, seeing the evolution of Manhattan from a gritty, urban proving ground, to the gentrified wonderland it is today. Her story focuses on the struggles of being a woman in a man’s world — the world of making movies — and the challenges she face creating both independent films and Hollywood studio pieces. She comes across as smart, fun, and independent. The weaving of various themes into her personal story is masterful.

#8 – The Deep Sky by Yuman Kitasei (2023)

Yume Katiasei’s debut science fiction novel is a space faring journey where a crew of specialized young people who are capable of giving birth are sent as a last hope from Earth to Planet X to create a new civilization. The book bounces back and forth quite nicely between the academy where these young people are trained and tested, where representatives from each country (number based on population or political clout) compete for a spot on the flight, and the ship after ten years of deep sleep, where those selected to go must deal with an unexpected emergency.

Asuke, half Japanese/half American, wants desperately to honor her younger brother who always wanted to go to space, but was killed in a fire. Asuke’s mother doesn’t want her to go. Asuke lives in a perpetual state of underestimating her skills and doubts herself every step of the way. Even after she makes the cut (not a spoiler, you know that immediately) her doubts continue to plague her as does the turbulent relationship with her mother who she left behind on Earth.

The rest of the crew are filled with varied personalities that make the story interesting and fun. The tension is high, as this crew must deal with an emergency, potential sabotage, and maybe even a traitor in their midst. Kitasei keeps the drama and the suspense ever-present, and Deep Sky provides an action packed, emotional roller-coaster of a ride for a fun space suspense story.