Happy 2025! I hope it will be a gentle year for you, filled with literary treasures.
— Can’t start the year without rounding out the old one of course! Besides all of our Staff Top 5s to fluff up your TBRs, here are the best books of 2024 according to The Guardian (in handy categories beyond Fiction and Nonfiction!), LitHub (their classic take), LitHub again (the actual new releases from last year), and NPR.
— If you have some time and want to delve into the reading lives of authors (favorites and new-to-you), have a look at the A Year in Reading 2024 collection on The Millions. Authors and editors take you through what they read in the past year, and why. Absolutely brilliant and rabbit-hole-y. You’re welcome?
— The Guardian has a fun little interview with everyone’s favorite fantasy novelist Brandon Sanderson. I love his take on epic series being more accessible nowadays because of the internet and the ease of finding summaries and maps and whatnot to help you along as you start on your reading journey!
— They also have a lovely interview with a personal hero of mine, Maggie O’Farrell, who goes into how her stammer has shaped her (writing) life. Also, early notice, but a film of Hamnet will be out in the fall, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and I can’t wait.
— Some news to make some of us feel quite old: all the pop culture characters, movies, books and music that have become public domain as of January 1st.
— Lists! Short stories on the power of words, and 7 Queer Books with Messy Endings.
— A different kind of literary quiz: which author eats what lunch? I got 6 out of 7 right.
— And finally, here are some of the most anticipated books of 2025, according to LitHub, BookRiot, and The Guardian. The caroussel below has a selection of them, in case you want to pre-order!
