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In 2024, I read about the wind, about music, about being far away from home, and about Asia (dedicated guide here).

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Ratings below include (subjective!): ⭐️ = overall quality from 1 (minimum) to 5 (maximum). 🪶 = writing from 1 (minimum) to 5 (maximum). 💎 = something special

Light from uncommon stars Ryka Aoki

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶🪶

You follow a young trans musician as she mingles with aliens and The Devil on her path to greatness.

This book was utter wholesome chaos, and I really enjoyed it.

It was my first time reading a book mixing sci fi and fantasy, so the novelty factor was strong, but I still think it's worth it.

Cloud Atlas David Mitchell

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶 💎

This book is a masterclass on story telling, a real treasure. From a traveling diary, to telling a story by the fire, going through movie script, religious scriptures, and the tension of a good thriller, it’s a ride.

From what I have heard from friends, it’s a hit or miss: either you love it, or you don’t finish it. So try at your own risk!

When I started reading it, I wrote “cloud atlas is an evilish intertwining of stories, mixing mid-sentences. i think it will be fantastic.” and I think it sums it up nicely.

The pursuit of love Nancy Mitford

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶

The bizarre story of a English upper-class family, following dramas of the mind and the heart. The book came out in 1945, and might have felt like a relief back then, but it’s not really my cup of tea.

La horde du contrevent Alain Damasio

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶 💎

I had wanted to read this book for 5 years, and was not to sure how to feel after finally reading it!

This books is the story of a Horde, walking for decades against the wind, to find its origin. The story is told from the perspective of the horde rather than singular characters, making the storytelling quite unique.

I know it’s supposed to be a masterpiece, and there’s a lot that I loved about it (specifically the psychological aspects or going through something as physically demanding as walking against the wind for decades).

But I felt the book didn’t age well as the male characters are allowed to go around and have fun, while the female characters are called “whores” for doing so, and it didn’t really serve the story. Same, it’s a classic case of male characters not being described at all, and female ones (or rather: their breasts and vulvas) are described in great details.

The shadow of the wind Carlos Ruis Zafón

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶

The shadow of the wind is tenderness made of words. It’s a coming of age story, guided by books (relatable).

It makes you think about the moments that defined your life, that make your story. Not the big steps and the big decisions, just the precious connections and heart breaks that shaped how you feel.

It’s cheeky and tender, with beautiful wholesome characters.

Dune Frank Herbert

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶

Dune is about the battle for the planet Arrakis, host of the precious Spice. To me, it’s quite a unique Sci-Fi sctory because it takes a much more emotional angle (not that common in the 60s!). I also particularly enjoyed the arc on the manufacture of religion, much stronger than in the movies. The last part of the book is a bit more strategy-focused, but still a nice read overall.

Ways to escape one’s former country Baltensperger + Siepert

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶

18 stories of migrants’ journeys into Switzerland. Not romanticised, not dramatised, just real stories. The kind of book every Swiss person should read.

The house of doors Tan Twan Eng

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶

When I went to Malaysia, I was craving books with human characters, humans with their nuances and dissonances, and this book gave me quite a bit of this. Beautifully written too.

It’s set in the early 1900s, following the life of a British woman in Penang, as she experiences the limits of her righteousness, in the midst of the 1911 Chinese revolution and a murder trial.

The book also challenges the racist, sexist, or homophobic common stances at the time. And some beautiful excerpts on doors with history. I cried a lot.

As i was reading the book, i was wondering how it may feel to a Malaysian writer to write such realistic racist characters…

The naked don’t fear the water Matthieu Aikins

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🪶🪶🪶