My favourite books and media of 2024

Also pretty sure my 50% off sale is about to end (can't confirm, squarespace confuses me)

I’ve been so busy promoting my own book this past week, I forgot I had a black friday sale… it either turns off today or friday! I honestly can’t remember :) #amie

Okay, let’s get into this years books, podcasts, people, art. What have I fallen in love with this year?

Fiction:

Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders - This man is my favourite author. I laugh and I cry. I am completely obsessed with the way his sense of humour is infused into his books. I hate that I didn’t write this book. Ridiculous, terribly British crime. INSPIRES ME TO WRITE.

Emily Henry: I read every single one of her books this year. My favourite was Book Lovers. Obviously, I am late to the Emily Henry train. But I decided this year would be the year I read a lot of romance, as it’s a genre I am interested in writing. I know there’s a lot of Emily haters out there, but for me, these were some of the best books I’ve read ever... I also made James read them with me, and he fucking loved them.

I read every single Bridgeton novel this year, one after the other, except I dnf’ed the last book, I think I had just over done it. They were so easy to consume. I can’t remember anything about them. But I had a lot of fun and was deeply soothed by the gentle, silly, predictable nature of it all. If you want to be gently taken away to Georgian England, and not do a lot of thinking, go indulge.

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. James suggested I read it to help me as we wrote our SCIFI novel together. I was so fucking emotionally moved by this book. If you’re not used to the genre, this is a beautiful place to dip a toe in. It’s Aliens. And space. And high tension mechanical failures. And I WEEPED. Despite there being no romance, to me, it was a love story.

Matt Haig, The Life Impossible. Like a delicious, slightly bizarre dream. Matt is a phenomenal author, and this was his best book. You know those books that leave you with a lingering aura? It’s so whimscal, magical and delightful and those feelings followed me for weeks after finishing. The book follows 72-year-old retired math teacher on a journey to Ibiza. There are mysteries, there is the inexplicable, there is magic.

Non fiction:

Florence Given’s new book: Women Living Deliciously. Biassed. I chaired her book tour and love Flossy with my whole heart. But also, it was a book that bought me home to why I love being human. It reminded me that every minute of my life is an opportunity to indulge and truly delight. It gave me ideas about how to curate a life of joy.

Lewis Howes book: The Mask of Masculinity. I’ve been reading a lot of books about the “male malais” this year because I want more men making art. I need to be educated and informed as I start ideating about how we get men creating, and so I’ve read a lot of books looking at the crisis of masculinity. Lewis’s book is just so fucking sensitive and beautiful, giving space for people to deconstruct so many of the myths of what it “means to be a man” and give space for people to discover what makes them themselves.

Africa Brooke’s book: The Third Perspective. If you want to take up space on the internet, or really in anyway in your life, read this book. We are being raised in a culture of censorship. But we need you uncensored, entirely you, free to make mistakes and be bold. Get your permission slip from Africa.

Ruby Warrington: Women without kids. This was the first book I read this year. As someone who has felt very very lonely for not wanting kids, Ruby felt like a friend I desperately needed.

Podcasts

The Rest is Entertainment. Richard Osman, and Marina Hyde. Ah fuck I love these two. I highly recommend this podcast for anyone who is in entertainment, from writers, actors, musicians, journos. It’s just a fucking good behind the scenes look at what’s happening that week. They’re incredibly bright, but will also talk absolute shit. The perfect combo. I particularly liked the episode: How to Publish a Bestseller.

Easy A: A brand new find because it’s a brand new pod. Alexis and Allie are besties, and sometimes I just want to sit and listen to the girlies have a good fucking chat. There’s something about the intimacy of their friendship that makes me spellbound. To find love like that… I loved their podcast with Jay Shetty on his podcast too!

Specific Episode: Optimising life for maximum fulfilment, Bill Perkins on the Peter Attia show. Bill has his whole book on this topic “Die with Zero” which I have now read and enjoyed, but I especially loved this conversation. It seriously got me thinking about how I spend my money, and how I want my life to look.

People I’ve become obsessed with

Scott Galloway. The ‘I don’t give a single fuck’ energy is magnetic isn’t it? Always disagreeing with him, and I love when it happens. I first listened to him on The Colin and Samir Show, “No bullshit business advice for Creative People.” and have been listening to his podcast, following him on socials etc since. He makes my brain light up with ideas.

Film and Tv

Industry - It’s about British investment bankers and I can’t look away. Incredibly well cast. Fucking well written. I feel voyeuristic… and somewhat smug for not ending up in that industry…

Oh my god… what the fuck else did I watch this year? The Goodplace for the 7th time? The office? A weird amount of true crime??

Did I even watch a movie in the cinema?? James isn’t responding to me because he’s writing and he literarily just ignores me when I try to talk to him mid novel writing.

Substacks:

Neghar Fonooni’s Chronically Chill.

I’ve been following Neg’s writing for nearly a decade. She has writing that sets me alight. It literarily sparkles with magic. She speaks into hard, challenging topics such as chronic illness and you know *the state of the world* and she always leaves me thinking deeply and feeling aligned in my soul.

James Winestock

Yeah yeah yeah…

I just love his writing okay?

You know what, this wasn’t my strongest round up. I have forgotten so many goodies… maybe as they inevitably come back to me during the day, I’ll pop them in the comments :)

I love you, remember, art changes lives.

Always. A