2024 in Reading — And Otherwise
2024 in Reading — And Otherwise
2024 has been a challenging year on many levels that ended positively. On a global (rather than personal) level, the worst event was the election of Trump. I fear for friends and their children in the US. I fear for women in the US. As a queer man, I fear for the LGBTQ* community in the US (and worldwide). My thoughts and deeds are with you every day.
On a personal level, I’ve tried to learn, to listen, and to be a better person. As of 31 December, I’ve been married to the best person I’ve ever met for 25 years. And I keep discovering just how unbelievably awesome she is even after all this time. I love you, C.
Reading helped counteract the negative aspects of 2024 and enhanced the positive ones. Looking at my year in books, I’m especially amused by the stark contrasts: The great “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin was shelved by 2.5 million of my fellow readers, whereas “Dashing All the Way” by Chelsea Curto, a contemporary romance that I also greatly enjoyed was shelved by exactly zero people.
I’ve successfully destroyed fond childhood memories by re-reading some classic comics like “Tintin”, which—in general—turned out to be full of colonialist attitudes, xenophobia, and other ideas that I simply didn’t notice or understand as a child from Generation X. (And I’ve come to discover that I deeply respect Generation Z for much of their cultural beliefs. They take in stride what took me decades.)
In contrast to that, “Saga” remains the “gold standard” for comics for me. The unwaveringly life-affirming, inclusive, progressive, and simply kind ideas expressed in that comic, and its success give me hope. I wish there were more novels like it. In short: Discover Saga yourselves — it’s brilliant!
Apart from these individual books, there have, again, been many surprises: I read very few fantasy novels and mostly didn’t even enjoy those. Maybe the appeal of it has worn off? I’m going to find out in 2025! (For example by reading “Drumindor” by Michael J. Sullivan, whose style—writing and otherwise—and stories I’ve loved for many years.)
Scrolling over my year in books on Goodreads (which, despite all its shortcomings and changes by Amazon, is still my favourite social media platform for reading), I cannot help but grin at the wild ride it has been — and I very much hope it will be another one in 2025.
Happy New Year 2025!
