Happy Tuesday everyone! Whew! Just like that, we are already halfway through 2024. How time flies! Today is the last Tuesday of June and within a couple of days, we will be welcoming a new month. With June dwindling down, I hope that the remainder of the year will be filled with blessings and good news. Nevertheless, before we could wave goodbye to June, let me cap it with my last Top 5 Tuesday update for the first half of the year. Top 5 Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm but is now currently being hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads.

This week’s topic: Best Books of 2024… So Far

So far, I have completed over 60 books this year, way above my target. I originally planned to complete 80 books this year but at the rate I am going, I had to recalibrate that. As such, I have adjusted my reading target to 100 books as early as now; I usually adjust it later in the year when it is a foregone conclusion. If it happens that I end the year with 100 books, it will be the third year running that I will achieve such feat. Among the 62 books I read, there were several that stood out, really stood out. This makes it a little challenging to pick which ones to include in this list. I bet I will be having the same struggles when I try to list my top ten outstanding books for the year. Nevertheless, here are some of the books that stood out for me.

Title: Devils
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
Translator (from Russian): Constance Garnett
Publisher: Wordsworth Classic
Publishing Date: 2009 (1871-1872)
No. of Pages: 694
Genre: Historical, Literary, Political, Psychological

Here is a snippet from my review:

Beyond its political overtones, Devils was also an examination of the waning Russian spirit; this is another quality of Dostoyevsky’s works. In his searing and evocative novel, Dostoyevsky attributed the declining Russian spirit to the rise of the aforementioned political ideologies exacerbated by the rejection of religion. Both were drivers in the disintegration of social structures. The various subjects and themes were explored through an eclectic cast of characters, with each representing different political ideologies and schools of thought. Dostoyevsky yet again fascinates with how he painted and delved into the psychological motivations of his characters; apart from being a prophet, Dostoyevsky is renowned for being the quintessential literary psychologist. Their contrasting beliefs, desires, and conflicts rendered the story interesting textures.

Without a doubt, Devils is a literary masterpiece. Albeit complex and dense, it is a literary work that transcends time and borders. In its timelessness, it remains an integral part of contemporary political and literary discourses. It is a multifaceted and multilayered cautionary tale, a social and political commentary, and an in-depth psychological study. In a nutshell, Devils is a complex work that highlights everything great about Dostoyevsky’s prose. It encapsulates Dostoyevsky’s literary legacy, consolidating his place among the literary greats. For sure, Devils belongs to the vaunted halls of literary classics.

Title: Beartown
Author: Fredrik Backman
Translator (from Swedish): Neil Smith
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publishing Date: February 2018 (2016)
No. of Pages: 415
Genre: Literary, Sports Fiction

Here is a snippet from my review:

With Backman’s masterful strokes, the resilience of the human spirit was captured. As he has accomplished in his other works, Beartown was a soaring and incisive exploration of the intricacies of human nature. He has an innate understanding of the contours of the human soul and spirit that allowed him to confront inconvenient truths about ourselves and the people around us. Through familiar and flawed yet distinct characters, he provoked the readers’ minds and provided them a deeper understanding of our capacity for both darkness and light. Backman strikes a balance by embedding into the story his trademark humor. This texture was enriched by philosophical maxims conveyed by an omniscient narrator.

Beartown is the hallmark of everything that makes Backman’s prose and storytelling soar, further underlining his status as one of Sweden’s, if not the world’s compelling writers. He ventured into the depths of the human spirit to provide a thought-provoking and insightful story about the intricacies of communities sent spiraling by a scandal. In turn, he delved into what makes individuals tick. Beartown is a dynamic and multifaceted story masquerading as a sports story. As various elements converge and diverge, what emerges is a coming-of-age story that doubles as a study of moral failure and a sly social commentary riddled with moments of affection and tenderness, despair, and Backman’s signature humor.

Title: The Deluge
Author: Stephen Markley
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 2023
Number of Pages: 880
Genre: Speculative, Dystopia

Here is a snippet from my review:

While it was not without its flaws, The Deluge is nevertheless a timely read. Markley’s sophomore novel is a thought-provoking literary masterpiece about climate change. It is ambitious in scope, covering subjects a wide array of political, social, and ecological subjects. It was unsparing in its vision of the future and its examination of the forces that propel the world’s descent into an inevitable pandemonium. Climate change is a critical driver in the collapse of critical institutions. Capitalism, greed, and corruption permeate every stratum of our political and social systems. Not only is it a labyrinthine work backed up by exhaustive research but it is a satire of our current realities brimming with evocative social and political commentary.

Early in the story, Markley already provides a premonition of how he envisions the future is going to be should things not drastically change, or at least a glimpse of how he sees the future. He mentioned Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a Pulitzer Prize-winning book that also provided a grim portrait of the future. The book, however, does not hold all the solutions for this growing concern. Markley himself is not a scientist. The book nevertheless is a powerful reminder, an urgent wake-up call. Climate change is a global concern that requires collective action. Lest we forget, it is our future that is at stake. Should we fail to act immediately, Markley’s grim vision is just a matter of when.

Title: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
Author: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publishing Date: 2021
No. of Pages: 797
Genre: Literary, Historical

Here is a snippet from my review:

Without a doubt, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is an ambitious literary masterpiece. lush ecosystem where the past continuously collides with the present. In looking back to the past and capturing the interior lives of African Americans, Jeffers was able to vividly capture their resilience in light of the changing cultural landscape and historical moments. It is, first and foremost, a novel about the Black African experience but it also captures the intersection of the indigenous American and African American lives and the thorny legacy of colonialism and slavery. While it is steeped in history, it was also an evocative coming-of-age story that tackled trauma, abuse, racism, discrimination, and academia. Beyond its historical and bildungsroman overtones, the novel is a vivid portrait of modern America. It is a story about love, healing, activism, and inconvenient truths buried by history and memory. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is as ambitious as it is grand, a triumph of literature from a gifted writer.

Title: Buddenbrooks
Author: Thomas Mann
Translator (from German): H.T. Lowe-Porter
Publisher: Vintage Books
Publishing Date: May 1984 (1901)
No. of Pages: 604
Genre: Literary, Family Saga, Historical

Here is a snippet from my review:

Interestingly, despite the novel’s resounding success, particularly after its second print, Mann prefers to have his other works, such as The Magic Mountain, be cited by the Swedish Academy. Despite the writer’s reservations, there is no doubt that Buddenbrooks is a soaring literary masterpiece. It is an exemplary debut that sets the tempo for Mann’s succeeding works. It laid out what would be a successful literary career. At its heart is a family at a critical juncture of their lives. Traditions made them but it was also the unraveling of these traditions that was slowly undoing them. They had to sacrifice personal pursuits to uphold the values of the family. But will they be able to survive the advent of modernity and industrialization?

Buddenbrooks paints an intimate portrait of the bourgeoisie in 19th-century Germany and is a testament to Mann’s enduring talent. It casts a net over a vast territory of subjects that range from personal sacrifices to death, and ultimately decline. It is an intimate family saga, a subtle work of historical fiction, and ultimately a literary classic that transcended time and physical boundaries, catapulting Mann to global recognition and literary immortalization. It is a hallmark of Mann’s literary heritage deserving of all the accolades it has received and a fascinating feat rarely witnessed in the ambit of literature.

Here are other books that captured my interest during the year.