The best books of 2024!
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One of my New Year's resolutions to myself is to read more in 2025. I always find excuses not to read and I'm going to make it my business in 2025 to start reading more books.

And to take us through some of the books that maybe I should be reading in 2025 or the top books from 24, I'm joined by News Talk's own Ciara Tracy. Ciara, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. So let's go through some of the books that you reckon are the top books around. The Wren by Anne Enright. Tell me a little bit about it. Yeah, so you have a big selection here, but The Wren, The Wren is a story about a fictional woman

famed Irish poet who abandons his sick wife and two young daughters. It's a book that really explores intergenerational trauma and it's naturally very poetic throughout but also very funny and I found it extremely relatable especially it's set majority in Dublin so as a young woman in Dublin I feel like it was something I could really connect with and relate to.

Okay, now your next choice is Stuart Turton and The Last Murder at the End of the World. Sounds interesting. It really is. You know, this is a mixed bag as well. It has a sci-fi element. It's a whodunit. It's set in a post-apocalyptic future on an idyllic island with 122 villagers and three scientists, but it's not what it seems. It's very dark at times. I sped through this. It was one of those reads where it was just so compulsive I had to finish it. It was really...

really good. I would actually really recommend that to whatever you're into reading. This is a good one. OK, The Last Murder at the End of the World. Now, one of the most talked about sports books in recent weeks and months has been Johnny Sexton's Obsessed. For anybody who hasn't touched on it, what does he cover in it? So it covers from his childhood to the present day, essentially just goes into the makings of the man. So we get a

a lot of insight because I always see Johnny as such an enigmatic character. He doesn't say a lot, you know, when he's in the press. But this really goes into it as photos of his family. It talks about his dad and all the influences he had. And, you know, it talks about the ups and the downs because he still wasn't kept for Ireland at 24, which is surprising given, you know, how big he is now. So it really does look at

what he went through, how his kind of thought process works. And that's kind of why it says obsessed. He's obsessed with the game. He always wants to be the best version of himself on the field. Do you get a sense of his personality? What sort of a guy he is? Yeah, you know, he is funny, but I suppose he can be quite dry perhaps.

But it is really insightful. I was actually lucky enough to go to a night with Johnny Sexton as the book was coming out. And that was really nice to kind of see the colour, you know, in person because it does reflect the book.

Yeah, he actually hated writing it, but it's a good book nonetheless. Very good. Now, next we have Sinead Gleeson, Hagstone. What's this about? So this is set on a remote island off the Irish coast. It's about a novel. It's a novel about an artist, sorry, who takes on a project for a mysterious secluded community of women.

The book explores a lot of themes, particularly art, community and loneliness. And I think that particularly runs true when we look at loneliness for people who are on the remote, like Ackle Island in a shmore. You know, it really does kind of look at the lonely nature and the tourism, how it is so seasonal and the tough times, as well as the picturesque times as well. OK, so that's Hagstone. Then next we have Christine Ann Foley, Bodies. Yes. So this is her debut book.

It's extremely dark. It's very powerful. It looks at identity, particularly for young women, and also, you know, the body's autonomy, especially, again, for young women. I found it probably one of my favorite books of the year, I'd say. Very...

Very dark and full of surprises, but a gripping, compelling read. An enjoyable read? Absolutely, especially for young women. I don't know if you've ever seen the film A Promising Young Woman, but it kind of follows those lines. Yeah, it's really, really interesting. I don't want to give too much away. Okay. Now, next we have The Ministry of Time by Callie-Anne Bradley. Yes. So this, again...

This is also up there with my top book of the year because it has so many different kinds of dramas in there. It's a sci-fi romance. It's a thriller. It's a comedy. It's a historical fiction. It's all about a civil servant in the not so distant future in a mysterious new government ministry in the UK. And it's gathering expats from across history.

to test the limits of time travel. So you have a guy from the 19th century who's an Arctic explorer and he actually becomes a love interest to the civil servant. And it's so interesting to see the, not even just culture shocks, but like the temporal culture shocks of him being landed in the 21st century. It's just absolutely brilliant. That sounds brilliant. Again, it really is. And it shows so much about how society's changed and it challenges, you know, preconceptions that we still hold to this day.

Okay, now next, Sarah Rhys Brennan and Long Live Evil. Yes, so fantasy series are massively popular, probably more so now than ever, I'd say. And this is all about a young dying woman who enters the world of her favourite fantasy book. And she plays a villain in it and she has a chance to escape her fate. She's dying with cancer and she has the chance to, you know, if she comes out of this task in this book alive...

she could survive in the real world. And it's really interesting. I do believe a second book will be coming out to follow this, but it ends so interestingly as it is, but it's just so interesting. Again, we never see things from the villain's perspective, but this is really good. Gillian Anderson then, and Want is our next book. Tell me about this. Yes. So Gillian Anderson is the curator of Want. It's a collection of anonymous letters from women who tell us about their sexual fantasies. It

It's a fascinating and liberal read and it features some brilliant commentary from Gillian Anderson throughout. So obviously she's so famous and she has her own experiences, you know, in sex education. She plays a therapist and it's,

It's really, really interesting. Liberating really is the word for it because it explores so many different genres from women across the world. And what was her motivation for pulling this together? I think it was her experiences in all these different acting jobs she's played. And she has been called a sex icon throughout her career. So I think that was a big part of the exploration and looking at all the taboo and the stigma around women talking about sex. It really puts the power aside.

in women's hands. And I think it was just a really empowering read. Very good. Now, Brat, a ghost story by Gabriel Smith. What can you tell me about this? So this is a debut novel from Gabriel Smith, and I'm dying to see what he comes out with next. I actually read this over Christmas, which I don't know. It wasn't quite an Ebenezer Scrooge type ghost story, but it's very bizarre, but brilliant and funny. It follows the protagonist grappling with grief, inheritance, and the ghosts of his past. So naturally, it's a bit of a haunting read.

but it's full of paranoia and I found myself you know sitting at home kind of looking over my own shoulder reading it because it is dark it's in this big house and he's just trying to figure his own life out he's a young man and he's a he's a brat he's an absolute brat he's quite an unlikable protagonist but it's

Very interesting and just really weird. But if you're not into kind of gory stuff, I'd maybe give it a miss. Okay, it's called Brat, a Ghost Story by Gabriel Smith. And then finally, Carol, what are you reading at the moment? So I'm currently reading, I have it here with me in studio. It's Butter by Asako Izuki. And it's a Japanese thriller inspired by a true story of a female serial killer who seduced her victims with her cooking.

So I'm only, I'm not too far into it yet, but I'm already gripped. That's why I've actually had to bring it onto my commute today because I'm dying to get through it.

So it's an international bestseller and Waterstones' book of the year. It follows a journalist who's trying to get a scoop on the serial killer's case and starts by swapping recipes with her in prison. And she finds out there's actually a lot more in common than she thought. But more than just a thrilling story, it does really explore misogyny and fatphobia in Japan. And I can't even lie, my mouth waters when I'm reading this book. The way the

The author writes about food. It's just so beautiful. And it's made me reflect my own cooking. Even though, again, it's all about a serial killer. But it's a fascinating read so far. Brilliant. Once again, that's called Butter by Asako Yusuke. Very good. Ciara, thank you very much indeed for all of those suggestions. The Hard Shoulder with Ciaran Cotterhey. With the MG Hybrid and Electric range. Weekdays from 4pm.

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