Best Books of 2024 (so far!) 📚

Let's talk about my top ten favourite books of the year... so far! xx

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MY BOOKS:

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Things mentioned:

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WHO I AM

Hello, I'm Jen Campbell. I'm an award-winning poet and bestselling author of twelve books, spanning short stories, poetry, picture books, and nonfiction.

My books for adults include Please Do Not Touch This Exhibit, The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night, The Girl Aquarium, The Bookshop Book, and The Sunday Times bestselling Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops series. My picture book trilogy Franklin and Luna, and my middle-grade book The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers, are published by Thames & Hudson. I've won both an Eric Gregory Award and the Jane Martin Poetry Prize, and my books have been translated into twenty languages.

I've worked in the publishing industry for over fifteen years, initially as a bookseller, and now as a freelance editor, content creator and disability advocate. I review books online, in print and on the radio. I run a Youtube channel where I talk about books, the history of fairy tales, and the representation of disability and disfigurement. I also offer online writing workshops and editorial services, give talks at schools, publishing companies, universities and book festivals on a variety of topics, and I run a book club for TOAST clothing.

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Where to find me:

This contains no sponsored content. Any books marked with * were kindly sent to me for review.

#Booktube #FavouriteBooks #BestBooks

[jenvcampbell]

Have you read any of these? What are your favourite books of 2024? x

[joelharris]

You deserve a raise Jen, such is your invaluable service dispensing the joys and merits of contemporary literature. Props for providing a space to children's literature. I 👁 you

[CionMohler]

I’ve been puzzled as to why I enjoy your videos so much since I don’t read books anything like the books you read. I’ve just started reading an article in NYRB about Rachel Kushner’s book Creation Lake and a lightbulb has gone off in my head and I now think I SHOULD be reading the books you read. I’m 81 years old so I tend to Trollope, Dickens and Austen but you are never too old to learn and change. Thanks Jen!

[benreadsgood]

Yay, a new video! And with so many books here I have also loved.

Soldier Sailor was one of my favourites last year (although I did not read it under the same circumstances as you 😅) and Pet was such a revelation for me. What a story!

[debbiejefferies]

Thank you, Pet just jumped up on my TBR list and ordered Notes of a Scandal! Great way to start my day.

[elizabethquintana]

My favorites of 2024 (so far):
Why God is a Woman by Nin Andrews (thanks, by the way)
The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
A Horse at Night: On Writing by Amina Cain
Homegoing by Yaaa Gyasi
The Little Virtues by Natalia Ginzburg
Death as a Side Effect by Ana María Shua
Peter and Alice by John Logan (thanks again 😂)
Ongoingness by Sarah Manguso
Happening by Annie Ernaux
Our wives under the sea by Julia Armfield
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au (so beautiful, glad you recommended it 🥺)
The details by Ia Genberg
Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds

It has been a good year, no complaints. I'm currently reading Breasts and Eggs and Burial Rites and I'm sure that both novels are going to be favorites too. A big hug from Cuba

[gamewrit]

I've been having trouble reading books lately, but off the top of my head, I remember loving an FK Lukens novel earlier this year, where a young price falls for a merman he doesn't know isn't human. 🥰

I've recently gotten into playing/reading visual novels, especially Japanese Otome ("maiden" games), which are like digital choose your own adventure graphic novels, often with a romance focus and several branching routes and alternative endings (good, bad, or tragic) with different romancable characters.

Some have complicated gameplay, but my favorites so far just have dialogue options. I love listening to the Japanese dialogue and reading the English subtitles. Love the art and music. My favorite trope is found family, and my favorite games/visual novels tend to focus on that more than romance. I especially love historical fiction games with a touch of fantasy or magical realism, like Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (about the Shinsengumi in 1863-1869) and Nightshade (a Shinobi girl is framed for murdering the nation's leader and goes on the run).

[kdove]

Twin toddler mom here! I appreciates you so freakin much and am sending all the best vibes ur way, new momma! :) i love your inclusion of children’s books in this video, as well as the warnings if a book may be a lil “too close to home”. I’ve def found im a little more sensitive in my literary taste in this period of my life. I’ve only just starter to venture back into the more gutsy, emotional reads. Lots of cozy lit and fantasy haha

[SarahV-sedb]

So happy whenever I see another video from you in my feed ❤ 📚

[adillaafiani]

I have pregnancy brain. I will come back to this video in the future 😅 would love the children book recommendations, Jen! Looking forward to it!

[azu_rikka]

You've done brilliantly! I have added four books to my tbr and will check out Mouse on the river for a present😊.
....and Foster's ending made me sob in public- beautiful❤!

[lauravdartel]

Oh Jen thank you so much for your children’s books recommendations 🙏🏽🍎 my kids love dumplings so that’s a no brainer 😂 but they all look like great ideas for upcoming birthdays thank you 🥰

[onourpath]

Oh, lord -- Grief is the Thing with Feathers -- what a book! It's one of my forever favorites now, and I'll always buy his books; I don't care what they're about. Yes, I loved Soldier Sailor the same way, even though my son is 29. She just describes that place so perfectly, and I was exactly there so many times, (and apparently, these feelings stay with you for the rest of your life.) Oh, boy, Pet! Also a book that is on my forever favorite list, and the author is now an auto buy. In fact, my library just notified me that my hold on her new one is now mine -- I'm so excited! Lots of great stuff this year: I Who Have Never Known Men, Monstrilio, everything I've read by Claire Keegan, Hello Beautiful, Prophet Song, Open Throat, Sleeping Giants, plus I read The Midwich Cuckoos on your rec, and adored it!

[HeatherB]

Foster made me cry cry cry during several parts, but especially the end… ah, the simple love that couple showed her 😭😭😭😭

[bookishfairygodmother]

My goodness so many books straight onto the tbr! Also I would LOVE if you would do the picture book video!

[samanthabonnes]

So so pleased that you loved Pet, it was a highlight of my reading last year. Have you tried The Axeman’s Carnival by the same author yet? I can highly recommend it also ☺️

[sandeesandwich]

I don't have a list, but one of my favorite books I've read this year is What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher, which explores PTSD as an underlying theme.

[karenmoore]

I have had Pet on my bedside table for ages. I will take it on holiday with me I think. Love your videos Jenxx

[loxee]

Thank you for this lovely video! I haven't gotten around to any of these yet, but some are on my TBR (especially Foster, Pachinko Parlor, and Enter Ghost).

I've had a rather slow reading year so far, my favourites are these:
- Island by Siri Ranva Hjelm (I don't think you've read this, but I discovered it through one of your older videos! Thanks for that!)
- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
- Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Bunny by Mona Awad
- Unscharfe Bilder by Ulla Hahn (no english translation unfortunately)
- Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

I'm doing a pretty good job of focusing on women writers this year, which I'm v happy about!

[blackraven]

Hi Jen, thank you for the recs. I just wanted to say thank you for your book The beginning of the world in the middle of the night. I am not sure if you remember me asking for recs for books similar to the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry and the YA work of carlos ruiz zafron?? I found your book in my bookshelf as a surprise. Well it left me with that same feeling of just staring out my window and just feeling. Beautiful work. Thank you Jen💝📚🥲🧘‍♀🧜‍♀