Nothing more and nothing less: You must read these 7 books in 2024

How many books do you read in a year? If you manage to read a book every month, you're ahead of most people. We'll be honest: Even seven novels in one year can be challenging, depending on the topic and thickness of the book. But it's doable, and that's why we agreed on seven books that dominated the book market and BookTok this year and were the topic of conversation in general.If you want to have a say about Christmas and the small talk at the New Year's Eve party, you should at least have read these seven novels.

You've probably seen this book cover many times in the last few weeks. Because the author Martina Hefter won with her novelHey, good morning, how are you?on October 14th the German Book Prize 2024. Theis about a protagonist in her mid-50s who earns little money as a performance artist in Leipzig, cares for her husband who has MS and chats at night with a Nigerian love fraud. There really doesn't need to be any more reason for this book than the award it won. But it delivers two handfuls. The story is intense, a chamber piece, perfectly orchestrated, and ultimately the question arises: Who is actually exploiting whom in this story?

Sally Rooneys neuer RomanInterludeis about the brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek, who live with their family after their father's deathbattle. Peter, a successful lawyer in his thirties, is trying to navigate his relationships with two women: Sylvia, his first love, and Naomi, a younger student with an easy-going nature. At the same time, Ivan, a 22-year-old, socially awkward chess player, is developing, a complex and intense connection with Margaret, an older woman. Both must find their way to real love and real grief. Don't expect thumping suspense from this book, but rather an extremely interesting and modern character study.

What is a life worth? That is the question that hovers over 256 pages of this award-winning novel. In the center oftrophystands Hunter, a rich American and avid hunter who loves to extinguish lives with his rifle. He has already killed almost everything, only one rhino is missing from his bucket list - and one day his friend Van Heeren will offer him the opportunity to shoot one. So he travels. But the dream is shattered when his plan is thwarted by poachers. Then his friend asks him if he has ever heard of the Big Six. But the sixth trophy is not an animal. An incredibly radical and provocative novel that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you into a moral depth from which there is no escape.

The vegetarianby Han Kang from 2007 is a disturbing and fascinating work that delves deep into the depths of the human psyche and deals with the themes of identity, freedom and rebellion in an incomparable way. It tells the story of a woman who decides to stop eating meat - a seemingly harmless decision, but one that completely disrupts the lives of those around her and ultimately her own. Han Kang's sharp, poetic language and uncompromising view of social expectations and personal freedom are unique. That's why it was awarded in 2024excellent. There's no better time to be captivated by the power of her words, right?

Gabriel García Márquez was also a Nobel Prize winner for literature; he died ten years ago. The novel now went from his estateSee you in Augustout. Even if this was not the author's intention, the sons published the work posthumously. Every year on August 16th, the protagonist Ana Magdalena Bach goes to the Caribbean island where her mother was buried. She places a bouquet of gladioli at the grave and spends the night in the hotel. This time, however, she meets a man. The following year she meets him again, and from now on there is a new reason to go to this island once a year. Year after year she returns to her husband after the journey. Nobody expected a posthumous work by Márquez - but it is always an absolute must on a reading list.

After their successful debut22 lanesCaroline Wahl continues the story of protagonist Ida. Afterher mother, she feels forced to leave her hometown. She gets on the train that is supposed to go the furthest away and eventually finds herself on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. There she finds care with a kind of surrogate family. From now on she lives an easier life, but it is always punctuated by pain. Wind Force 17 is definitely one of the most successful novels of the year. Not the best of the year, we'll be honest, but such a resounding success is worth talking about. And above all, you have to be able to have a say.

One could say that it is good manners to read Saša Stanišić's new book. Even if it also has the furious titleIf the widow wants to be spoken to, she places the watering can on the grave with the spout facing forwardthen this is definitely a must. Stanišić himself finds it difficult to classify his book and describes it as a chimera - a kind of hybrid creature. There are, all of which are magically connected through the book's leitmotif: rehearsal space for life. The theory of life's rehearsal room is mentioned in the book's lead story. What if you could try out a part of your life in the future, like in a rehearsal room? You notice that the book is difficult to grasp, but makes sense as soon as you read it. You should at least read it, because the author's typical style combines melancholy with cheeky humor, sadness with humor. That's good for everyone.