At the start of 2024, I ambitiously set out to read 100 books. Unfortunately, I only completed 34% of that goal, but why not reach for the stars?
Of those 34 books I read, one really stood out to me: The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World, by Laura Imai Messina. This novel covers the touching story of two people’s lives that had been greatly affected by grief—Takeshi, a widower, and Yui, a woman who had lost both her mother and daughter to a tsunami in 2011. One day, working as the host of a call-in radio show, Yui hears about the “Wind Phone”, an old telephone booth with a disconnected phone inside with which people can speak to their lost loved ones. Takeshi and Yui’s paths cross while seeking this “Wind Phone”, and together, they embark on a journey of healing, grieving, and learning to love again.
I began and finished this book over the span of two days. Sitting in the middle seat on an airplane, stuck between two strangers, I read the last few pages and just started to cry. Although being relatively brief in comparison to other books, it managed to take me on a deep exploration through grief and even joy, culminating in the most heartwarming and fulfilling resolution. I can confidently say that this has been the best experience I have had reading a book in a long time.
I decided to reach out to students and faculty at PCDS as well as my family members to gather a well-rounded list of the top reads of 2024.
Mia, a junior at PCDS, says that her favorite read of this past year is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Taking place in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the early 2000s, it follows two women recounting “all the good and all the bad of these women’s lives”. Mia describes this book as sad, but also extremely beautiful. While reading it she “felt as if she knew them intimately”. This book covers serious topics and finds deep, profound meanings in its stories. She also praises another one of Hosseini’s books that she read last year in English class: The Kite Runner.
Mr. Peacher, a PCDS math teacher, suggested two books for this list: Maniac, written by Benjamin Labatut, and a book series, The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, by Louise Penny. On the former, Mr. Peacher comments that he “read it over the summer and really enjoyed it”. This complex book follows the story of an intellectual in Europe during the rise of the Nazis as well, as the journey of a famous mathematician, John von Neumann. It concludes with thoughts about Go, the game, and even Artificial Intelligence. Despite the fact that it is a fictitious story, every fact used is verifiable. If you are interested in “well-written, lighter fiction reads”, he suggests The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, a collection of murder mystery novels set in the village of Three Pines with “fabulous recurring characters” and murder investigations.
Mx. Hogan, a PCDS English teacher, adds Babel by R.F. Kuang. This historical fiction novel set in 1828 follows tales of colonial resistance and language as a tool of domination over the British Empire. Winning many awards, Babel contains bits of magic and dark academia. Author R.F. Kuang is also famous for multiple books appearing on BookTok, such as Yellowface and The Poppy War.
Sydney, my fellow Book Club leader and Sophomore, says that her favorite 2024 read was The Naturals, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. She read the whole series that contained this novel within four nights, reading one book each night. Her favorite of the four is a murder mystery that follows a group of genius kids, working with the FBI to solve cases. Sydney praises that she “never saw the plot twists coming and it was so amazingly well thought out”. Barnes is more famous for her 2020 series, The Inheritance Games, which, like R.F. Kuang, was considerably popular on BookTok.
Lastly, my mother added two deserving books to the list. One of them, Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan, is a novel full of love, mystery, thrilling plot twists, and riveting suspense, covering the perspective of a beekeeper and her teenage son, who is being tried for murder. My mother said, “Mad Honey gave me perspective and insight into things that I have never questioned or thought of myself before”. This book weaves together a moving, elaborate plot with the most surprising twists that I have ever encountered.
The second book that she mentions is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, a Pulitzer prize winner and adaptation of David Copperfield that touches on the life story of a boy born to a teenage mother in Appalachia, exploring topics like love, loss, friendship, and addiction.
In conclusion, all of these books offer a wide variety of genres and perspectives. If any of these novels sound at all compelling, I definitely recommend giving them a read. Perhaps one of them will end up as your top book of 2025!