Three Books Published in 2024 That Made it to My Top 3

I read a lot of great things this year, but here are my top three books…

1/3: Top three books: intermezzo by sally rooney

Before reading Intermezzo, I’d only read Normal People by Sally Rooney. Since I have mixed opinions on that book, I went into Intermezzo with low expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised.

What really made this novel shine for me was the character of Ivan and his romantic entanglement with Margaret. His point of view and the chapters following them were exquisite, and I loved them. 

I still enjoyed the other protagonist, Peter, but less than Ivan. His story was a little weaker, and I didn’t wholly love the resolution of it. 

Many scenes were emotionally poignant, as well as emotionally interesting. Rooney excels at emotional poignancy, which really came through in this novel.

I gave it 4 stars. 

2/3: Top three books: funny story by emily henry

Emily Henry is now a household name for her romances. I have now read all of them apart from People We Meet on Vacation, but with varying levels of enjoyment. I did like Funny Story, and think that it is certainly in my top 3 of Henry’s romances. 

This book was compulsively readable. I think part of what killed this book for me, though, was that the plot did not follow the exact trope I expected — when I heard fake dating, I thought it would be actual fake dating, with all the wedding shenanigans taking place. The novel’s premise is that Daphne, our protagonist, has been dumped by Peter for his best friend. Peter’s best friend was dating Miles before in turn dumping him for Peter. Daphne and Miles are the love interests in the novel following these events, though it is of course a slow burn. So upon hearing that they would be together and that the book would centre around fake dating, I naturally assumed it would take place at the wedding they get invited to by Peter and his new fiancée. 

In any case, that did not happen. The whole wedding conflict was thrown out of the window and as a result I think there was less explosive action than I expected and hoped for. And while this is not wholly disappointing, as I still liked the direction it took, I think it missed me there. I wanted more of a feeling of resolution that I did not end up getting. I feel I might have gotten that if there had been a large, dramatic scene at a wedding. Outside of this, the plot was predictable, though still enjoyable.

I do like Emily Henry’s writing and I think that saved the book for me. I will definitely be reading more from her.

3/3: Top three books: hypericum by manuelle fior

I got an ARC for this book and it was a really interesting read. Half of it follows Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, a must-read for any history buff. The other half though, parallels the discovery with a complicated love affair in Berlin between Teresa and Ruben. 

Hypericum is a graphic novel, a genre I don’t tend to dip into very often. Despite this, I found the read enthralling and gripping. It didn’t take long to finish, but it will stay with me for a while.

I would give this read 3.75/5. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but perhaps towards more avid graphic novelist fans and to people who are interested in learning about Carter’s discovery.