Books I Read and Loved in 2024

This year I read whenever I got a spare moment, as it was an incredibly busy year with comedy, dance, and writing! I discovered books through my work book club, a book bin at Starbucks, and at the Annette Street library in the Junction. Here are a few of my favourites:

Casting Lots: Creating a Family in a Beautiful, Broken World by Susan Silverman – I found this book on a shelf at a yoga studio that was shutting down and giving away free books. It is about the quest of a woman who wants to build a family and puts complete trust in her intuition to lead her to the children that are destined to be hers. Sparked by a family tragedy, Susan has a deep fear of anything and everything going wrong especially losing her loved ones, but that doesn’t stop her from building the life she dreams of. For those who love intensely, the fear of loss is not enough to stop them from living and growing and expanding. As a young girl Susan announced to her mother, “Mommy, when I grow up I’m going to adopt a hundred children, one from every country.” This fervent wish guides her intentions and her multicultural family grows one by one (“We produce girls and import boys”). It was neat realizing halfway through the book that Susan is the sister of comedian Sarah Silverman.
The Country That Lives Within Me by Nina Trifan – I was lucky to get a signed copy of this novel from Nina, who I met in flamenco class. Like me, Nina completed her creative writing certificate at U of T, and we even shared the same lovely mentor for our final project! On our drives home from dance class, I learned about Nina’s writing process as well as the post-publishing world in this current landscape where the author takes on the primary role of marketing and sales. Nina launched her book recently in her home country of Romania where the book has been a big hit! Nina sees herself as a stream-of-consciousness writer, that exploratively discovers her characters’ paths. This makes for some surprising twists and turns! The novel alternates between Toronto and Romania, and follows the life of Ana, who courageously navigates her world of relationships and newcomer experience. I’m so glad that Nina overcame her self-doubt to bring us this fascinating book.
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff – Inspired by the real life of bandit queen Phoolan Devi, this rollicking read brings us a cast of unforgettable women, propelled by their friendships and need to protect one another. The main character Geeta is a woman who is both feared and revered – her husband disappeared years ago and everyone suspects that she killed him. Geeta enjoys her bandit status, and is surprised when women in the village approach her with the request of conveniently disposing of their no-good husbands as well. In an interview, Parini mentions that her father read the book and was surprised when she discusses it with him, exclaiming, “Oh it was supposed to be a comedy?” The book’s willingness to explore caste dynamics and the exhausting oppression of women (is this really still happening in 2025?) is brave and accomplished in a clever way that makes it accessible and digestible. Reading this book reminded me of an upcoming documentary that my friend Gillian is working on about Phoolan Devi, a legendary figure that seemingly lived nine lives in her extraordinary one.
Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education by Sola Mahfouz and Malaina Kapoor – I discovered this book at Another Story Bookshop in Roncesvalles. I knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to truly process it so it sat on my bookshelf for awhile before I began reading. The very first line sets the stage of fear in a once-beautiful country: “I began to grow up the day my mother warned me to stop laughing.” This is 1996 and it parallels the current situation in Afghanistan – one can only imagine what it is like for women and girls in that country right now – women are not even allowed to speak in public! In Sola’s journey, the intensity of the chilling grip of the Taliban is matched only by her determination to escape oppression and pursue her dream of education. She is brilliant and cannot be stopped. From age 16 when she doesn’t even know how to add or sutract, she teaches herself calculus and physics online through the Khan Academy, and eventually even meets its founder Salman Khan. She encounters vicious disappointments so unfair that they would cause anyone to give up completely, which she sometimes does in spirit but never through inaction. Sola eventually sneaks into Pakistan to take the SAT and then to the US where she becomes a quantum-computing researcher. Truly anything is possible.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb – I loved this book, which made me laugh often and opened my eyes to the fascinating behind-the-scenes world of therapists, and that loosely defined line between client-patient relationships. Lori describes her personal heartache when her boyfriend suddenly leaves her and she is left scrambling trying to make sense of it (one guesses because of her profession she pushes herself even harder to cope with resilience and grace, and ends up doing quite the opposite). Her vulnerability and willingness to share the messy and embarrassing parts of her journey is what makes this book really shine – it’s within these revelations that the reader really discovers something new about the therapeutic process. I now have more appreciation of what my therapists experience, and relish those break-the-fourth-wall moments when they momentarily put down their professional hats.
Walk Through Walls by Marina Abramovic – This ferocious memoir is one I’ve been meaning to read for awhile, ever since I heard about the epic way Marina reunited with her former lover Ulay. They started walking from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China and met in the middle, a symbolic reunion of a crumbling relationship that was resurrected maybe one too many times. Marina is one of the world’s most powerful performance artists – her tolerance for pain and distress and willingness to transform it into art for the benefit of others (and for the sheer endurance of torture as a personal triumph). I loved reading about her most famous live art event The Artist is Present in New York City, where she sits silently in a chair for hours and days, while stranger after stranger sits opposite of her, basking in her open heart and focused presence, often brought to tears for no reason at all. Her life is proof that art is activism, art is fire, and occasionally art even allows you to walk through walls.
Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley – I read this book in the summer at the U of T campus on my lunch hours, marvelling at Sarah’s honesty and willingness to examine all the imperfect and painful parts of her life. I’d listened to Sarah speak in an interview at Harbourfront, and was struck then by her eloquence and intelligence, which gleaned in every page of this memoir. Her re-examination of her child self as an actor was so compassionate and carried over to a larger mission, to ensure that other child actors did not experience the same neglects. Like others, I was dismayed by her experience with Jian Ghomeshi, and saddened by the state of our justice system which does not support survivors of sexual abuse enough in coming forward. There is so much at risk to put yourself at a mercy of a system that does not even pretend to aim to protect you. But even so, Sarah’s words serve as a starting point for something much better.