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Books Reviewed in 2024

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This is a list of the books I read and reviewed in 2024. I started off at a terrible pace because of my brain surgery in January but by April I was making up for it and did okay. Read lots of good stuff.

Each link takes you directly to my review of that book. Happy New Year!

2024 Reviews

  1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  2. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
  3. Telephone by Percival Everett
  4. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
  5. Honor by Thrity Umrigar
  6. Census by Jesse Ball
  7. One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day
  8. Extinction by Douglas Preston
  9. House of Cotton by Monica Brashears
  10. The Summer Club by Hannah McKinnon
  11. The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
  12. You Like It Darker by Stephen King
  13. The Search Party by Hannah Richell
  14. Clear by Carys Davies
  15. The Mothers by Brit Bennett
  16. Devils Island by Midge Raymond & John Yunker
  17. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  18. The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
  19. Same as it Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
  20. How the Light Gets In by Joyce Maynard
  21. Sandwich by Catherine Newman
  22. All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
  23. James by Percival Everett
  24. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
  25. Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
  26. Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
  27. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
  28. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
  29. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
  30. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
  31. So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
  32. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  33. I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
  34. Orbital by Samantha Harvey
  35. Pete and Alice in Maine by Caitlin Shetterly
  36. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
  37. The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore
  38. Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
  39. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
  40. Burn by Peter Heller
  41. All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall
  42. 1984 by George Orwell
Book Review

Review: 1984

4 Comments

1984

1984
By George Orwell
Signet, 9780451524935, 1950 but originally in 1948, 352 pp.

The Short of It:

Prophetic and terrifying.

The Rest of It:

I’ve read 1984 three times in the past but the details didn’t’ stick with me. With our recent election, parts of the book kept coming back to me so I was curious to see how the book would hold up now.

Let’s just say that not only does it hold up, it mirrors certain recent events and beliefs. I found it to be absolutely terrifying and disturbing this time around.

Winston Smith is a Ministry employee. There are four ministries:

Ministry of Truth (news and entertainment, education)
Ministry of Peace (war)
Ministry of Love (law and order)
Ministry of Plenty (economic affairs)

None of these ministries are what they claim to be. Ministry of Love focuses on interrogation and torture. Ministry of Peace exists solely for the purpose of perpetuating war. Everyone must worship Big Brother, the eye in the sky that sees and hears everything via telescreens placed all over Oceania. The Ministry of Truth’s sole purpose is to destroy recorded history and to rewrite new history for consumption. The results of a war? Into the memory hole it goes and a new war is created.

Citizens are kept poor and hungry, are forced to work long laborious hours, and cannot even think a negative thought without the Thought Police breaking down their door. They are only allowed two minutes of hate a week, where all hate must be directed to one particular person. The joining of men and women can only be for procreation purposes, not as a result of desire. Children attend schools where they are taught spy tactics and are encouraged to turn their own parents in if the need should arise.

Everything goes sideways when Winston meets Julia. Could there be another person like him, who wants to fight the system? Could these people exist? Could they make a difference if they joined forces? These are all ridiculous thoughts and loosely concealed ones once Julia enters the picture.

Clandestine meetings can only go on for so long, and with so much risk. The way the story is told, you are on the edge of your seat every time they meet because Big Brother is everywhere and Julia’s lofty ideas about rebellion seem a little too perfect.

No one can be trusted which is why it’s so surprising when Winston befriends O’Brien. To Winston, O’Brien is the answer. O’Brien is the man who can save humanity. Winston bets everything on this.

Without completely ruining the ending for you, I’ll say that it’s impossible to read this story and interpret it in one way. It can go many different ways based on what stands out for you. Sayings, here and there, tiny hints and intentions tip you off and send you down a path of distrust. There are some aha moments but only when you compare the story to today’s politics.

I mean, if I thought that other party were big readers, I’d say they used 1984 as a playbook. Since they are going after books in schools, history, critical race theory and the like, it’s not hard to believe at all.

I read the final pages of this book four times and it can be interpreted two different ways. I won’t say which way I went with in case you all want to read it, but I do share my opinion in the read-along recap for Part 3.

1984 – Part 1
1984 – Part 2
1984 – Part 3

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.