2024, like 2023, was a bit of an odd duck reading year for me, where non-fiction dominated as I read eleventy billion (okay, 20) books on neurodivergence.
I also didn’t read much from late August on, because brain fog was a frequent companion of mine, and when I did have a Good Brain day, I tended to spend it writing, for, I think, obvious reasons.
I also just…kind of had bad luck? I did read less than previous years, but that was still over 100 books, and I had few standouts to speak of. But the ones I did were just as standoutty as ever, so here’s my top 5 reads of 2024.
Top 5 Books in 2024, in no order:
The Heat Will Kill You First - Jeff Goodell (non-fiction, climate) A depressing as fuck read. As it should be.
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennett (fantasy, mystery) This was probably my favourite book of the year. Definitely my favourite piece of fiction. From start to finish, it’s an absolute delight. And a mystery! It’s a genre I’m really picky about, but to me, nothing beats a good mystery.
77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin - Thomas King (poetry) If you read it once, then read it twice. But actually, though.
The Message - Ta-Nehisi Coates (non-fiction, current events) Should be required reading right now.
Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things? - Pierre Nouvellie (memoir, neurodivergence) This is escaping containment from the neurodivergence and self-help section below because a) it is a memoir, while those below are more practical non-fiction and b) Pierre Nouvellie and I are apparently the same person. Except he’s much funnier.
And then here's some ND/general self-helpy books I enjoyed and/or learned something useful from this year:
Extra Focus: The Quick Start Guide to Adult ADHD - Jesse Anderson
All It Takes Is a Goal - Jon Acuff
How to ADHD - Jessica McCabe
Looking After Your Autistic Self - Niamh Garvey
The Cure for Burnout - Emily Ballesteros
Self-Care for Autistic People - Megan Anna Neff
The Ultimate Time Management Toolkit…for Adults with ADHD and Chronically Busy People - Risa Williams
The Neurodivergence Skills Workbook for Autism and ADHD - Jennifer Kemp, Monique Mitchelson
Your Future ADHD Self - Jeffrey Rice
The Unmasking Workbook for Autistic Adults - Jessica Penot
The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control - Katherine Morgan Schafler*(reread)
How Not to Fit In: An Unapologetic Guide to Navigating Autism and ADHD - Jess Joy, Charlotte Mia
School-Live! is a pretty good anime. I mean it’s nothing mind blowing, but even changing the intro and the way it balances the moe, horror, and survival is very interesting to me. It’s one of those anime I don’t recommend spoiling yourself on, but I don’t wanna shove you in without the warning. It’s more than just a cute school anime. But I think it works pretty well. Plus it can really make you think how you’d handle the situation yourself -w- and you know I love survival. It’s an anime that doesn’t try too hard to be something more than it is. It isn’t trying to make some huge statement or to do something new- they just do a known concept very well. I respect that more than a lot of the failed ‘revolutionary’ anime these days. Solid 7/10.
Hello! Another writing question! Which word processor do you use? I've been relying on Google Docs, but want to upgrade. TYIA!
I've been using Scrivener for many, many years now. Like a shocking number of years, given I am the kind of person who picks up every new program or app with 'this will surely fix me' energy, only to discard them when they did not, in fact, fix me (or they stopped providing The Dopamine, or I started tracking too many things and things got too convoluted, or--)
Before I was using Scrivener, I was using Word (or an open source alternative, depending), and I use Google Docs for editing, but Scrivener, and its ability for me to have a work space that includes all my projects (they're all in one project called 'kitchen sink', unless it's a novel I'm prepping for publication, in which case it gets its own project). It's basically the ideal program for someone who flits from piece to piece, and it's insanely customizable, which is probably the reason I've never left for more novel pastures: if I change the way I want to work, I can alter it to suit.
If you're a one project at a time person, I still pretty heartily recommend it, because it has spots for ancillary bits that you need to have access to but don't necessarily fit in the main file (character profiles, a scene you cut but really like a few lines from, research, etc)
It can do a ton for you if you put the time into learning it (I not only write in it, but also format my books for publication within it), but you don't need to use all its bells and whistles.
Most exciting of all: you buy it once. Like. Seriously. Not even once per laptop or whatever, though I'd still be hyped about that.
They also have a really generous trial where you can use it for 30 days (not calendar, but days of use -- if you used it once a week, say, that'd be 30 weeks).
I'm genuinely really happy to stump for them because I use it like...every single day and every time I've had trouble with it, it's because of something I did or didn't do (say, forgot to set up auto backup) rather than a problem with the program. They've also been actively refining it and working on it the entire time I've had it. In a world that's gone all in on apps over programs, subscription based models over ownership, and general enshittification, it's a product that just...works. I love it. Could not more highly recommend at least giving the trial a shot. (it's available for Mac, PC, and IOS)
Apropos of absolutely nothing, Rainbow Kitten Surprise released the album 'Love Hate Music Box' a month ago, and a ton of the songs on it have been on repeat since. It's 22 songs that span so many styles and genres I'm pretty sure it has a song for everyone -- most notably, 36% of them (8!) have ended up on a 'RKS Robbie/Georgie' playlist I had to make after the album came out.
So, you know, good listening for reading the tandem (and in general!)
I missed a year, but I’m back with my books of the year. This year there was a pretty big dip in reading from me (75% of my reading in 2022, and only 60% compared to 2021), partly because, well, eye recovery, but also, you know. Life.
I’m just going to do a top 10 this year — unfortunately I hit a bit of a slump in how many standouts I read as well as how much I read, but I do heartily recommend everything in that top 10. They’re in no real order, except for the first, which is a cheat in the form of a series.
The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
So this is a weird thing where I rated the first 3 stars, but figured it was good enough to read the second, which got 4 stars, as did the third. Finally the fourth, which was my only 5 star novel of the year, and made me weep like a baby. So if you read the first and didn’t bother with the rest — this gets so much better as it goes.
The Trees - Percival Everett
This is actually the first book I finished in 2023, and it set a tone that the rest of the year sadly did not match. I mean, other than the tone of the book, which is razor sharp, over the top satire, which this year did, in fact, live up to. I just discovered Everett in 2022 with Telephone, which I also enjoyed, and am looking forward to going through his many works.
Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov
Really enjoyable literary fiction that reminds me of a lot of my favourite works to come out of Eastern Europe in the 70s and 80s.
How to Survive History: How to Outrun a Tyrannosaurus, Escape Pompeii, Get Off the Titanic, and Survive the Rest of History's Deadliest Catastrophes - Cody Cassidy
This is the kind of highly specific and irrelevant barring time travel information I need (not sarcasm).
Middlemarch - George Eliot
It took me like 5 months to read this monster and I enjoyed every minute of it. Eliot is so fucking good at characterisation. Absolute masterpiece of a book. Only thing that kept it from being 5 stars was, well, see; five months.
Doppelganger: a Trip into the Mirror World - Naomi Klein.
As surreal as it is fascinating.
Giovanni’s Room - James Baldwin
A reread. Still absolutely devastating. Still has some of the sharpest lines I’ve ever read.
Ultra-Processed People - Chris Van Tulleken
Should have changed my eating habits. Did not change my eating habits.
Strong Female Character - Fern Brady
Not much of a memoir gal, but this was an exception.
Gentle Writing Advice - Chuck Wendig
My favourite book of writing advice from a horror author. Genuinely a lot of shit that I needed to hear.
Speaking of advice, I read a whack ton of self-help adjacent books for various reasons this year, and these are a few standouts:
How to Keep House While Drowning, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control, Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity, Unbroken: The Trauma Response is Never Wrong.
Alright fam, I am at war with Spotify and Rainbow Kitten Surprise is at war with YT Music, it feels like (on two of their albums songs are secretly ~other songs), and boy is this an RKS heavy playlist because a) I listened to a whole bunch of them last year and b) they were perfect for it. Like a good quarter of their songs worked for them (and a quarter of the ones that don't work for Robbie/Georgie. It's been a thing)
So these links are just to Youtube, with lyrics if possible.
The Holden/James soundtrack that isn't canon anymore because these boys are fucking goobers:
Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie But Maybe
RKS - Cold Love
boygenius - Stay Down
SMYL - The War
Mt. Joy - Dirty Love
Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart
RKS - American Hero
Julien Baker - Even
Matthew Good Band - Hello Time Bomb
SMYL - BLACK TEETH
RKS - Shameful Company
Wolf Parade - Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
Yeasayer - O.N.E
And then, my song for the series after I chose the title:
RKS - Counting Cards
A couple of these probably still work (American Hero definitely still suits Holden, and I'm reluctant to give up Counting Cards), but yes. A great soundtrack I got a lot of enjoyment out of while I still had delusions of this hate sex thing working out.
The first of the month stuff is going to be delayed for at least a few days. I come with that news, and also a request!
I’m allowed to watch TV and movies while recuperating, and I have gotten...massively out of the habit. I’ve got a watchlist that’s big enough to be useless, honestly. So -- wholehearted recommendations for things to watch, please! You have a captive audience.
By all means, you are welcome to shoot your shot to have me fall headfirst into a fandom (Have started...and finished...Our Flag Means Death. Two thumbs up, Have Feelings About It) .
Don’t necessarily assume I’ve seen anything released in the last...while (except OFMD, I guess. Also Heartstopper! My 16 year old sister DEMANDED I watch) -- watching hockey and reading eat up the vast majority of my media time, and have for years now.
Leaning towards things that are, well, fairly undemanding at the moment, and likely right now shouldn’t be doing subtitles, but honestly, if there’s anything you really think I should watch, name it -- even after recovery, there’s still the offseason, which frees up a chunk of my time.
No limit on platform or network -- I can probably get it if I don’t have it, and getting a short term subscription is pretty good bang for my buck right now, considering the circumstances. (Except for Hulu, which isn’t available in Canada. Screw you Hulu)
