Our 2024 picks: General fiction (International)
It's that time of the year - the time for best of lists! We've put our heads together here at Wellington City Libraries, and here are our Top 20 international, non-genre novels of 2024.
Some quick notes... This list is by no means comprehensive, in fact we're sure our picks definitely won’t feature all the best fiction titles of 2024, but they do feature some of our favourite reads of the year and we hope to present you with some great fiction read choices to add to your summer to-read pile. Have a browse!
Our Top 20 are...
Honourable mentions
These last two didn't make our Top 20 list, but we thoroughly enjoyed them and couldn't quite finish up without bringing them to your attention - enjoy!
Only here, only now / Newlands, Tom
"Fife, in the blazing hot summer of 1994. Cora Mowat's mates don't understand her, but then Cora Mowat doesn't understand herself. She's stuck on a seaside council estate full of dafties, old folk and seagulls, with a million dreams and a restless brain that won't behave. She's dying to escape but unsure of what the future holds, if it holds anything at all for a girl like her. When her Mam's weird boyfriend moves in, tensions rise in their tiny house. Gunner means well, but he's dodgy, a shaven-headed shoplifter with more than a few secrets stashed under the bed. As their attempts to forge a makeshift family unravel, Cora rails against her small-town existence in search of love, acceptance and a path to something good. But sometimes you can't move forward until you find your way back." (Catalogue)
Dogs and monsters : stories / Haddon, Mark
"Mark Haddon weaves ancient fables into fresh and unexpected forms, and forges new legends to sit alongside them. [...] From genetic engineering to the eternal complications of family, Haddon showcases masterfully how we are subject to the same elemental forces that obsessed the Greeks. Whether describing Laika the Soviet space dog on her fateful orbit, or St Anthony wrestling with loneliness in the desert, his astonishing powers of observation are at their height when illuminating the thin line between human and animal." (Catalogue)