Nicola Dinan, author
I enjoyed Pretentiousness: Why It Matters by Dan Fox. I am a guilty user of the word pretentious, which the book methodically rebukes over its hundred-and-something pages. Art moves forward because people aspire to things they are not (I certainly feel this as a writer). It’s also a word with deeply classist roots, made even worse by the fact that its meaning is often unclear. Instead of saying pretentious, I now think of other words that more accurately describe why I dislike something, such as vapid, poorly written or ugly.
I hadn’t really thought about “climate fiction” as a genre until this year, but like many others at the moment I loved Orbital by Samantha Harvey. Private Rites by Julia Armfield was also one of my favourite reads of 2024 – wet, sad and spooky. What more could you want!
• Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan is published by Doubleday (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
***
Anne, Guardian reader
I read A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel recently and it is one of the best books I have ever read. Having previously been put off due to its length (800 pages) and subject matter (French history), I finally decided to begin and then found I couldn’t put it down. A must-read for all Mantel admirers and everyone else who likes to learn and be enraptured.
***
Eromo Egbejule, Guardian writer
On a recent journey across the southern Nigerian cities of Port Harcourt and Warri, I had the pleasure of reading the brilliantly researched Fireflies on the Lagoon by UK-based Nigerian author Tunde Leye whose niche is historical fiction.
It is a lush retelling of how a medley of strong characters help shape the course of 19th-century Lagos, Badagry, Abeokuta and Dahomey, neighbouring cities that are in today’s Nigeria and Benin.
I have also read Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape, a short-story collection by Rwandan-born Namibian author Rémy Ngamije.
The riveting read sparks nostalgia with its familiar musical but unconventional literary A-side and B-side arrangements about a world of cassettes that has since been subsumed by streaming. On the first side, we follow the stumbling dreams of Rambo, a young aspirational artist in the Namibian capital of Windhoek who has to circumnavigate tragedy to fulfil his dreams. The second side is an anthology of stories about everything from heartbreak to Namibian independence and teenage mischief.
And I picked up Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi after it was recommended to me – a debut novel about three women and the revolving ghost of a fourth, beginning from a riot over jollof in a Nigerian boarding school.
***
Matt, Guardian reader
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner exemplifies the author’s ability to weave a rich and textured narrative. The novel examines the uneasy coexistence of nature and human intervention, reflecting Kushner’s interest in the ways power and ambition reshape landscapes, both external and internal. The prose is lyrical, precise and witty; her characters are deeply flawed yet profoundly human. I found the subtle critique of modernity’s discontents particularly striking. The lake, a product of human engineering, becomes a metaphor for the fragility of control and the unintended consequences of progress. Yet Kushner resists easy moralising, instead offering a nuanced exploration of the tensions between creation and destruction, permanence and impermanence.
