Matt's Books and Music

One of the things that I didn’t do this year when this blog was dormant was update my Bookish Hall of Fame posts. For those who haven’t followed the blog from the beginning, this is my evolving list of my 100 favourite books of all time. So, with 2025’s reads knocking at the door, it’s past time I bring 2024’s into the fold.

The basic guidelines are:

• 100 novels or story collections, divided into four tiers topped by my twelve-title Bookish Olympus
• Books that fall out of the top 100 due to inclusion of new reads or changing tastes are considered ‘Emeritus Hall of Fame titles’

When I last updated it, I tackled it thematically, but enough time has passed that this time I’ll go through the list in full, starting with Emeritus titles, but will comment only on specific books.

Hall of Fame Emeritus

These are all titles that fell out of my top 100 this year. This is in no way a criticism of them. I still love these books and HEARTILY recommend each and every one of them!

• Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson (2014): This is an amazing YA novel in verse that made a huge impression on me (it was number 44 in my initial Hall of Fame rankings), but that impression has just been steadily fading. (63 → n/a)
• September, Rosamunde Pilcher (1990): (66 → n/a)
• The Wars, Timothy Findley (1977 🇨🇦): I was both surprised and not surprised to see this Canadian classic fall out of the Hall of Fame. As much as I love Findley’s writing and this contains some intensely memorable scenes, there’s some unnecessary playing with form here that didn’t land for me. (74 → n/a)
• Mary Jane, Jessica Anya Blau (2022): A fantastic YA coming-of-age story, I’m glad it made it into the Hall at all. (76 → n/a)
• Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Kevin Wilson (2022): (78 →n/a)
• Dinosaurs, Lydia Millet (2022): (79 → n/a)
• Husband Material, Alexis Hall (2022): This peaked at number 46 in the first year I did the rankings, largely on the strength of the conversations it was having about queer relationships that felt real to life and not things I generally see in books. Yes, it fell hard — it’s hard for genre books to maintain their place here — but this was a wonderful, timely, and thought-provoking read. (83 →n/a)
• The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon (2007): A fascinating speculative noir novel by one of my favourite authors, I’m sad to see this drop out. (84 → n/a)
• Calling for a Blanket Dance, Oscar Hokeah (2022): (85 → n/a)
• The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller (2011): This is still one of the best retellings out there, but as the years pass, the more I remember its flaws and so I’m not surprised it’s fallen out. (89 → n/a)
• Rachel’s Holiday, Marian Keyes (1998): (90 → n/a)
• The Guncle, Steven Rowley (2021): This fell rapidly from 57 to out of the top 100 in two years. It’s a sweet story, but hasn’t held up as well in my memory. (94 → n/a)
• The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield (2006): (95 → n/a)
• Sleeping Giants, Sylvain Neuvel (2016): (96 → n/a)
• The King of Infinite Space, Lyndsay Faye (2021): This Hamlet retelling failed to make it into the Hall in its first year of eligibility, then surprised me by sneaking in last year, before falling out again (97 →n/a)
• The Sweet Taste of Muscadines, Pamela Terry (2021): (99 → n/a)
• Happiness Falls, Angie Kim (2023): (100 → n/a)

Hall of Fame – Ground Floor (100-73)

Note: +/- simply records how many places a book has risen or fallen. The ‘adjusted +/-’ judges it only against the books that were previous year, providing a more accurate reflection of how my feelings about it have changed year over year.

100. No Great Mischief, Alistair McLeod (1999 🇨🇦): (87 → 100 (+/- -13; adj. +7))

99. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty (2023): (77 → 99 (+/- -22; adj. -2))

98. Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (2020): While its previous ranking of 55 was probably inflated, I’m surprised to see that it fell this far and will be interested to see if it rebounds at all next year (55 → 98 (+/0 -43; adj. -23))

97. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, Michael Chabon (1988): (71 → 97 (+/- -26; adj. -6))

96. The Nest, Kenneth Oppel (2015 🇨🇦): It says a lot about this title that my favourite horror novel of all time was written for a middle grade audience. (82 → 96 (+/- -14; adj. +6))

95. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (1951): My impressions of this classic improve every year. (n/a → 95)

94. Sweet Sorrow, David Nicholls (2019): (86 → 94 (+/- -8; adj. +12))

93. In Winter I Get Up at Night, Jane Urquhart (2024 🇨🇦): The first fresh read to make the list, this is a great example of how we might move forward in telling more accurate and inclusive versions of our nations’ histories. (NEW!)

92. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (2016): (58 → 92 (+/- -34; adj. -15))

91. Peacocks of Instagram, Deepa Rajagopalan (2024 🇨🇦): This is a beautiful collection of short stories from the Karalan diaspora. (NEW!)

90. The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune (2020): My feelings about this one have swung considerably, having been number 59 the first year of the Hall of Fame, to dropping out in the second, to jumping back in this year. (111 → 90 (+/- +21; adj. +39))

89. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995): This Gen X classic has really held up, not only over the decades, but also in my estimation of it. (92 → 89 (+/- +3; adj. +21))

88. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers (2021): This final volume of Chambers’ iconic Wayfarers series is a beautiful exploration of the challenges and possibilities of peace (NEW!)

87. Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (2017): (91 → 87 (+/- +4; adj. +21)

86. Mink River, Brian Doyle (2010): (56 → 86 (+/- -30; adj. -13)

85. Carry On, Rainbow Rowell (2015): (67 → 85 (+/- -18; adj. -1))

84. All My Puny Sorrows, Miriam Toews **(2014 🇨🇦): (80 → 84 (+/- -4; adj. +13))

83. Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry (2004): This simple story of the slow hollowing out of rural life over the 20th century is as thought-provoking as it is beautiful (NEW!)

82. Leaven of Malice, Robertson Davies (1954 🇨🇦): (46 → 82 (+/- -36; adj. -20))

81. Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir (2021): (68 → 81 (+/- -13; adj. +3))

80. The Empire of Gold, S.A. Chakraborty (2020): (69 → 80 (+/- -11; adj +5))

79. Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel (2009): (88 → 79; +/- +9; adj. +25))

78. Talking at Night, Claire Daverley (2023): (65 → 78; +/- -13; adj. +3))

77. Enlightenment, Sarah Perry (2024): A 2024 release whose sumptuous writing and spirtual themes hearkened back to a previous era of literature. (NEW!)

76. The Mirror & the Light, Hillary Mantel (2020): (72 → 76 (+/- -4; adj. +11)

75. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley (1932): (51 → 75 (+/0 -24; adj. -9))

74. The Other Valley, Scott Alexander Howard (2024 🇨🇦): This unique take on a time-travel story continues to make me think. (NEW!)

73. Starter Villain, John Scalzi (2023): I enjoyed the reading experience of this so much, I’m not surprised it got a bit over-elevated in my previous ranking. (51 → 73 (+/- -21; adj. -7))