The Vibes of 2024...As Told Through the Books I Read
Edition 05 ~ December 2024
2024 has been the most adventurous and exciting year I’ve had in, what feels like, a very long time. (2020 was quite exciting and adventurous too but four years of the opposite is quite the age to wait.) If I was to describe it’s ~ vibe ~ based on the books I read this year, I’d start with Funny Story. No, I wasn’t dumped by my fiancé (don’t have one), nor did I find a boyfriend who cooks pesto pasta. However, I did spent a lot of time going to libraries, drinking chai, swimming in the ocean and chaotically trying new adventures with friends.
On the nerdy side, Divine Rivals captures the joy and exhilaration I found in writing, while The Friend had brilliantly accurate one-liners about studying creative writing at uni. The Midwatch is set in a similarly-inspired world to the two big projects I’ve been marinating in, while The 113th Assistant Librarian mirrors the world of bookselling - yes, books can be dangerous (they never want to stay on the shelves or in their piles) and some customers can be a little…frustrating…
However, to be a smidge serious, I often found myself feeling like the protagonists from Wishtress and Shy. This was balanced by the same epic-ness as Crescent City: if you believe in the Biblical idea that there is a spiritual war going on, sometimes life does indeed feel like an epic-fantasy-space-opera tale (just without the multi-worlds idea because, um, I don’t think it really worked).
Nevertheless, Thanks For Having Me grounded the jet-setting-ness of 2024: really, I was just doing life in idiosyncratic Wollongong.
Favourite Book
Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin. A nerdy tome dissecting the contrasts and intersections between Biblical concepts and cultural philosophies, and the ways in which the Bible improves upon those philosophies. It’s conversational, nuanced and a sweeping; a sensitive demonstration of Christian cultural engagement. It’s the two things I love most in one: Jesus and (loosely) narratology.
The shortlist includes: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas; The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern; Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross; Red River Road by Anna Downes; Shy by Max Porter and The Midwatch by Judith Rossell.
Favourite Book Cover
Reading fantasy tends to elicit gorgeous covers. This year, it was a draw between two: The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson and Wishtress by Nadine Brandes. As a bonus, both were fun reads too. (Wishtress in particularly was cozily atmospheric.)
There is no shortlist. These two were undoubtably the prettiest.
Want to see more? Watch my bookish Spotify Wrapped on Instagram.
Favourite Writing Routine
Aside from my usual Sunday routine (beach; scalding shower; sit in the sun at home with a hot breakfast, coffee and a project), Thursdays in Autumn session induced a particular kind of restorative creativity.
I would start with a swim at the uni pool - it’s heated, has the perfect amount of chlorine and is bordered by palm trees. Then I would buy a coffee from Piccolo Me (best coffee on campus), find a spot in the sun at my favourite study area and work on a creative writing assignment. At 11:30, a creative writing lecture with the enthusiastic, spreads-contagious-excitement Shady Cosgrove (look her up, she’s a ~real~ writer), lunch with friends and a two-hour tutorial with Shady whereby we would discuss life and workshop our short stories.
I mirrored this routine on some other days during spring - these mornings were often my favourite of the week.
Favourite Writing Project
Most writing hours this year were spent scraping up words and ideas. It was a relief, therefore, to decide to finish the current draft of Project Phoebe and the first 5000 of Project Gaheris, and then let them sit in a drawer. I’ve now turned to a side project that has been stewing in my brain since 2018. I worked on it fastidiously during those initial years, but then shoved it away when Phoebe pushed herself into my life. This old project has helped me to enjoy writing again. I’m not sharing it’s code name just yet, but this small-scale, high fantasy story is where all my smiles are currently coming from.
The shortlist includes: Project Gaheris and a murder mystery-style short story about the death of a 1950s Hollywood actress.
Want to read about all my writing projects in 2024? Check out their silly one-liners on my Instagram page.
Favourite Film
First Watch
You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah (2023, star. Adam Sandler). An accurate (without being overbearing) representation of typical teenage girl drama. Hilarious and contemporary.
The shortlist includes: Tropic Thunder (2008, star. Robert Downey Jr. & Ben Stiller); Bill (2015, the Horrible Histories crew).
Rewatch
Oppenheimer (2023, dir. Christopher Nolan). The gravity of this film is phenomenal. Everything - the acting, score, story and cinematography - carries so much creative weight. Watching it on the big screen was one of the greatest cinematic experiences of my life.
The shortlist includes: Lady Bird (2017, dir. Greta Gerwig); Little Women (2019, dir. Greta Gerwig); JoJo Rabbit (2019, dir. Taika Waititi).
Comfort Cringe
The Princess Switch (2018, star. Vanesssa Hudgens). I couldn’t refuse. It was The Princess Diaries x The Parent Trap with the cringe of Princess Protection Program and starring Gabriella from High School Musical. Literally my entire childhood movie experience rolled into a 90-minute Netflix Original.
The other contender: Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. (It’s just takes itself so seriously.)
Favourite New Girl Episode
These end-of-year wrap up posts tend to include favourite TV shows. However, considering I’ve only watched one this year, I’m sharing my favourite episode from that show: ‘Glue’ (S5 E15).
The fact that Jess and Nick get high on the glue they use to self-publish The Pepperwood Chronicles is hilarious to me. Watching the episode also involved a lot of internal screaming because Jess is clearly WAY MORE invested in Nick’s writer career than Reagan is. I mean, the woman self-published 30 copies of The Pepperwood Chronicles using her craft kit.
The shortlist: ‘Virgins’ (S2 E23) and ‘Elaine’s Big Day’ (S2 E25).
Also, a shout out to all three Gavin & Stacey Christmas specials. Christmas was instantly more exciting.
And finally, my favourite thing(s) that have made me smile this year: Dan Cash and Tim Collins on Instagram. Not only are their parody and satire skills are unparalleled, but Dan cannot shut up about Taylor Swift and Tim has the utmost empathy for retail workers. Legit probably one of the only reasons why I go on my private Instagram account (that and for the Harry Potter memes).
Happy nerding. See you at the end of January 2025.
Jess :)
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