And just like that, 2024 is over. Thank you 2024 for all the memories and the lessons. We’ve successfully completed a 365-day revolution around the sun. As the old adage goes, with every end comes a new beginning. 2024’s conclusion comes with the opening of a new door. We are provided with 12 new chapters with 365 blank pages ]upon which to paint new memories. I hope that we will paint these blank canvasses with memories that we will cherish for a lifetime, may it be with the people we love or all by ourselves.

As has been the tradition in the past few years, I will be kicking off the new year by looking back to the previous year, its hits, and of course, its mishits. It is also an opportunity to take a glimpse of how the coming year is going to shape up. This book wrap-up is a part of a mini-series that will feature the following:

  1. 2024 Top 20 Favorite Books
  2. 2024 Book Wrap Up
  3. 2024 Reading Journey by the Numbers
  4. 2024 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part I)
  5. 2024 Most Memorable Book Quotes (Part II)
  6. 2024 New Favorite Authors
  7. 2024 Beat the Backlist Challenge Wrap-up
  8. 2025 Books I Look Forward To List
  9. 2025 Top 25 Reading List
  10. 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge
Catching Up

2023 has been a very tedious reading year with its own rewards. With 130 books completed, it was my most prolific and diverse reading year. On the downside, the excitement of 2023 was undone by my growing reading backlog. As such, to open my 2024 reading journey, I resolved to read books that were published in the current decade; I originally planned to read books published in 2023 but I realized that I have quite a lot of books published between 2020 and 2023 that I have yet and I have been meaning to read. I spent the first two months of the year immersing myself in recently published works; in a way, it is a part of my Beat the Backlist challenge.

This journey introduced me to new names and reintroduced me to some familiar names. Each book brought a different literary experience that transported me to different parts of the world. Some even transported me to the future, such as Paul Lynch’s 2023 Booker Prize-winning novel, Prophet Song, Stephen Markley’s The Deluge, and Lidia Yuknavitch’s Thrust. These are names I was unfamiliar with until 2023 but each provided me grim pictures of the future. In a way, these works provide caveats should we not clean up our acts. These works are also rife with thinly-veiled political commentaries. Speaking of politics, Miguel Syjuco’s I Was the President’s Mistress!! – the first novel by a Filipino writer I read during the year and a part of my 2024 Top 24 Reading List – is a snide exploration of the contemporary Philippine political landscape. I guess I had too much expectation of the book.

The past is also prominent in the books I read. This is true not only in the first two reading months of the year but all throughout the year. In fact, nearly half of all the books I read during the year are works of historical fiction. Not only did these books transport me to the past but they also transported me to various parts of the world. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s latest novel, Dust Child, was set in Vietnam. Tan Twan Eng’s latest novel, The House of Doors, took me to Malaysia.  Juhea Kim’s Beasts of a Land is set in her native South Korea. Leo Vardiashvili’s debut novel Hard by a Great Forest, meanwhile, took me to Georgia. Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Velvet Was the Night, on the other hand, is set in Mexico. Each book provided me glimpses into some of the seminal historical events that shaped these countries’ modern landscape.

Expanding my Reading Horizon

In 2023, I crossed the 1,000 mark in total novels read. It was a breakthrough moment. In the same year, I reached 1,100 total novels read. In 2024, I crossed the 1,200 mark. This is in part because I kept pushing the envelope even when I thought I reached my limit. Further, the inner reading adventurer in me has an insatiable appetite for new worlds. A testament to this was how I closed out my 2024 reading journey. Typically, I would set a theme for the month, e.g., Japanese literature or European literature month. However, from September to December, not one month did I have a single theme. It was tumultuous. But in the tumult, there is also beauty, as I have realized many times. By sitting back and not thinking much about what reading theme to pursue, I opened myself up to different possibilities and experiences.

In this manner, I was able to expand my reading horizon. I ventured into parts of the literary world that I hadn’t been to before. I jetted across continents and visited various countries, not literally. I have been to Norway through my first Karl Ove Knausgård novel, The Wolves of Eternity; Ethiopia through Maaza Mengiste’s The Shadow King, a book I have been looking forward to for quite some time; Trinidad and Tobago through Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s When We Were Birds; Malaysia through Tan Twan Eng’s latest novel, The House of Doors; Brazil through Jorge Amado’s Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, my third by the highly-regarded Brazilian writer; Portugal through Nobel Laureate in Literature Jose Saramago’s The Cave; and even the Gulf region through Abdelrahman Munif’s Cities of Salt, among others.

These books provided me glimpses into various regions of the world, including their people, traditions, and culture. This is also one of my recent goals: to explore the world beyond what I already know through literature. In 2024, I managed to visit countries I hadn’t been or had rarely been to before. This includes Mozambique which I learned more about through Mia Couto’s Woman of the Ashes, Algeria through Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History, and Libya through Hisham Matar’s My Friends. I am quite cognizant that these are African nations, underlining how underexplored this region is personally. The prospect of learning more about the world and its denizens is one of the reasons why I keep pushing the boundaries of my reading. My reading appetite, to say the least, is insatiable.

Tumult and Disarray

My reading months are usually organized, or at least they follow a certain theme, say a month dedicated to reading the works of Asian writers or reading books that have been nominated for the Booker Prize. This was how 2024 started. In line with International Women’s History Month, I read works written by female writers in March; I did start this in mid-February. I ended the year with more books written by women than by men; 61 to 60 and the rest were written by queer writers. In April and May, I traveled to a more familiar territory: Europe. However, I did start this journey by reading the works of European Nobel Laureates in Literature, in the same manner I commenced my foray into the works of African writers back in 2023.

It is, without a doubt, that Europe has produced the most Nobel Laureates in Literature. In fact, there are still several laureates whose oeuvres I have yet to explore. In 2024, I read my first novels Doris Lessing (The Grass is Singing and The Good Terrorist), Knut Hamsun (Hunger), Imre Kertész (Detective Story), and Patrick Modiano (Paris Nocturne and The Black Notebook). These are on top of familiar writers such as Herta Müller (The Appointment), Hermann Hesse (Narcissus and Goldmund), Halldór Laxness (World Light), and Jose Saramago. Narcissus and Goldmund is a special case because it has been seven years since I read my last novel by the German writer. Later in the year, I read Olga Tokarczuk’s latest novel The Empusium.

Among works written by non-European Nobel Laureates in Literature I read during the year are Yasunari Kawabata’s The Rainbow, Kenzaburō Ōe’s Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age, Orhan Pamuk’s The Black Book, and Gabriel García Márquez’s controversial posthumous novel, Until August. These works, while not always stellar, are reminders of why their works were lauded by the Swedish Academy. Speaking of awards, I also managed to read all six shortlisted novels for the 2024 Booker Prize. This is just the second time I was able to do so after being able to do it in 2021. Interestingly, three books in my 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To made it to the shortlist, with Percival Everett’s James making it all the way to the shortlist. I was rooting for James but the moment I read Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, I just had the gut feeling that it would win the Prize because it has all the Booker Prize elements.

Translated Literature

Expanding my reading horizon entailed reading translated works. In early 2023, when I organized my reading statistics, I learned that works originally written in English top my reading list by a mile. Nearly 80% of all the books I read were written in the world’s most spoken language. This is the reason why in 2023 I made the conscious decision to read more translated works. This is to reduce this glaring dichotomy. 2023 was the first year since I started reading that I read more translated novels than those that were originally written in English. However, the momentum stalled in 2024 as the numbers flipped although not by much. Works written by American writers also lead the list, also by a mile.

Interestingly, it was my goal to read more translated books in 2024 but I failed on this one. I guess this is in part driven by my failure to host a Japanese literature month for the first time in a year. Japanese literature has been a staple of my annual literary journey. From a high of 24 books written in Japanese I read in 2023, I only managed to read eleven books written in Japanese in 2024. This is not bad all things considered but when compared to even 2022 and 2021, my 2024 output is lagging behind; I read thirteen books each in 2022 and 2021. The highlights were my fifth novel by Yukio Mishima (Thirst for Love) and Haruki Murakami’s latest novel, The City and its Uncertain Walls. I also added new Japanese writers to my read list: Kiyoko Murata (A Woman of Pleasure) and Asako Yuzuki (Butter).

Despite this small setback, there were still some small wins. In 2024, I was able to read eight novels originally written in French, six in German, and three each in Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swedish. These are the most I read in a year for these languages. I also tied my best output for books originally written in Arabic, Italian, and Korean with three books each. Although there are several facets I could have improved, I am still happy with how 2024 shaped up. With this, my goal ni 2025 remains the same. I will read more translated novels to reduce the language gap. I guess I am starting on the right note because I am reading works written by East Asian writers. In comparison, I opened my 2022, 2023, and 2024 reading journeys with reading catch-ups which entailed reading more works written in English.

In terms of my reading goals, I am glad I was able to complete nearly all of them before the year ended. This is uncharacteristic of me in fact. Usually, I would scramble toward the end of the year. It has been my practice, albeit without design, in the past years to put ahead reading books that are not part of my reading goals and challenges and then make up for lost time as the year draws to a close. 2024 is not the same. I guess this is partly because I started reading books that are listed on my 2024 Top 24 Reading List, including Paul Lynch’s Booker Prize-winning Prophet Song, as early as the first quarter of the year. By the end of the quarter, I already read eight books from this list. This is, in a way, an anomaly because I would usually pick up books from this annual list by the second quarter of the year.

I guess this is the key to easing pressure toward the end of the year. I have to start early on my annual Top 20-25 reading lists. Over the years, I have also tried streamlining my reading goals and challenges so that they can overlap. Some books are part of this list and other reading lists and goals. This way I can hit two or even three birds with one stone (no matter how harsh that sounds). For instance, Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks and Joyce Carol Oates them are part of my Top 24 Reading List and Beat the Backlist Challenge. They are also listed among the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die; it is my goal to read at least twenty books from this list but I fell short by three books. This will still be my reading strategy this 2025.

In contrast to my 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die goal, I was able to read seventeen new books; new books refer to books published during the year. This is two books above my target of fifteen. I believe this is the first time I was able to meet my goal. There were so many wonderful new books released during the year such as Kristin Hannah’s The Women, Chigozie Obioma’s The Road to the Country, and Colm Tóibín’s Long Island. These are on top of the books that I listed on my 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List. Unfortunately, I ended 2024 without completing this list although I came very close to completing it. I was just one book short; Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s The Tree Doctor was elusive. This is just the second time I have been able to complete nine of the ten books on these annual lists. I am hoping that 2025 will be the first time I complete this list.

I can go on and on about the different achievements I had during the year. This only underlines how 2024 has been yet another stellar and memorable reading year. It is a testament to my progress. I am more than satisfied with how my 202 reading journey shaped up ad ended. Several books stood out and astounded me beyond words. There were new words I explored for the first time. Pleasant surprises and a drizzle of disappointments here and there made the journey a very meaningful and enjoyable one. This is the beauty of reading. To reiterate what I wrote last year, we are never sure of what to expect. We just let the words, the stories, the characters wrap themselves around us. I understand that no book is perfect but every book has something to offer. They never fail to open doors to different dimensions beyond our imagination. As has been the case in the past years, books were my escape from my tedious quotidian realities.

2025 in Perspective

2022 reminded me that the impossible can be made possible through persistence. But more than believing, one has to work hard on it. This has been my mantra since the pandemic and it has paid off. I managed to fulfill a long-time dream. Not only was I able to do it once but I was able to do it three years in a row. It is at the back of this newfound confidence that made me resolve to build on this momentum. Rather than setting my reading goal to a conservative level I already set my reading goal to 100 from the onset. At the start of the year, I usually set my goal to an ideal and achievable number like 70 or 80 books and then recalibrate my goal as the year moves forward or once I already crossed these numbers. While there are still some apprehensions, I have become more confident. I know I will be able to replicate this feat but then again, I have to work hard on it.

On the other hand, because of the sheer volume of books I read in the past few years, my book review backlog continues to grow. I have over 100 books pending for review. Thankfully, I was able to make a dent in 2024 although I also increased the backlog further. In 2024, I published 89 book reviews, the second most reviews I published in a year after the 107 reviews I wrote in 2022. In fact, I still have over sixty books I read in 2023 pending review. More than reaching my reading target, my goal for 2024 is to reduce my growing book review backlog. The mantra, however, remains the same. I am going to take it one step at a time. If the past three years are any indicator, the first month of the year is usually the slowest one because it is the busiest time for me. Nevertheless, I will work hard to pick up the pace as the year moves forward.

In terms of reading, my goal for the year remains unchanged. I will keep on pushing the boundaries of my reading by exploring worlds that I haven’t been to before while, at the same time, visiting old reliable. Speaking of old reliable, I have kicked off my 2025 reading journey by reading works of East Asian writers. This is driven mainly by my inability to host a Japanese literature month in 2024, the first time in a while I failed to do so. Han Kang’s awarding of the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature was also a major factor in this decision. Kang is also releasing a new translated work early in the year. I am looking forward to reading the book. Lastly, Chinese literature, despite its vast expanse, is a part of the literary world that I have rarely been to.

I have quite several books I want to read. This has not changed. It seems that the more I expand my reading boundaries, my reading list grows by at least ten books. Why are there too many good books out there yet too little time? Regardless, I will consume as many books as I can. Through these, I am hoping to expand my horizon and my understanding of the world and the people that inhabit it. I have already built momentum ironically during the pandemic; the past five years have been my most prolific reading years so far. These years were also marked by huge strides and milestones. I just have to sustain this momentum. If I work hard enough, I might just even break more barriers in 2025. Here’s a toast to an amazing, healthy, and safe 2025! May it be a great year for everyone, may it be in terms of reading or not. May we all achieve all our goals this year. As always, happy reading!