A few days ago I had a brilliant idea. Why not invite a few friends, bloggers, and commenters to recommend their favorite books of the year? And I am absolutely fascinated by their responses: some of these books I am barely familiar with; others are now at the top of the TBR list.

By the way, you are more than welcome to email your recommendations to mirabiledictu.org@gmail.com or leave a comment.

The Favorite Books of the Year

Tony, Writer of the blog Tony’s Book World

I actually had two favorite novels for 2024. Here they are.

The Son of Man by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo (2021) – This novel is built around a quite simple but profound premise. The human animal has struggled to survive for two million years. That long, long struggle to survive has shaped the human animals of today, not always in good ways. This is the kind of profundity that is rarely found in literature anymore.

The Most by Jessica Anthony (2024) – From its cover, I did not expect this novella to have such depth. Thus I was most pleasantly surprised. ‘The Most’ is a straightforward honest story of a modern-day marriage.

“A,” an “Associate,” writes:

Septology by the Norwegian writer Jon Fosse is my favorite book of 2024 by a mile.

This series of seven short novels is a journey through time and space, narrated by Asle, who is a successful elderly painter. It is the story of his entire life and also the story of the last seven days of his life. Along the way, we meet his friend, also called Asle, who has had less success as a painter and younger versions of the narrator Asle. Confusing? Not when you read this splendid book. The narrator’s voice carries us through to the end, like a river flowing into the sea.

Roger, a “Commenter,” writes:

As for my own reading, I discovered Percival Everett and – going by the two I’ve read so far- The Trees and Damned if I Do – he’s a writer I’ll look out for. I also read John Stubbs’s The Reprobates, a look at the Cavalier Poets of seventeenth-century England and why they became Cavaliers.

A couple of follow-ups from your own list: Frank Baker wrote another fine and interesting book, Miss Hargeaves, in which an imaginary character comes to life and visits her creators and Stories of the Strange and Sinister, interesting supernatural stories.

I mentioned Richard Jefferies’ After London in your post on The End of the Dream, his Amaryllis at the Fair fits well with Cousin Phillis (including wonderful food!) and the characters sound more like real English farmers of the nineteenth century than Gaskell’s. The two were published in one volume by Everyman, so should be cheaply available.

Liza Fields, teacher & hiker, writes:

This vacation I read Dorothy Whipple, Margery Sharp, Rosamond Lehmann and D. E. Stevenson. I am also rereading Great Expecs (for Eng lit class) and will soon glumly grade papers about Miss Hamisham (sic).

Go-go Guggenheimer, an “Associate”

Went to Sinclair Lewis’s house in Sauk Centre. Lewis book I recommend for 2025: It Can’t Happen Here. Favorite book by Lewis: Main Street. I am Carol Kennicott! I am Carol Kennicott! I am Carol Kennicott! I am Carol Kennicott!…