The December Nutshell

The best novels I read in 2024 matched with my best bird photos

Dear Reader,

For Christmas 2023 my partner bought me my first camera: a Nikon Coolpix P1000. At the sight of it I cried, knowing at once that its sole purpose was for bird photography: a box of pure delight that caught me off-guard. This gift said to me: keep doing what you love, for no other reason than that you love doing it. A thought-provoking concept for someone whose career is doing what they love.

You see I’d been taking terrible and numerous photographs of birds for about four years using an iPhone you can’t buy any more. And I am no photographer; I have no eye. This gift said: so what? Do it anyway.

If like me you know next to nothing about cameras, I can tell you that this is the one to get should you find yourself (a) in middle-age, and (b) suddenly obsessed with birds, and (c) with no discernible photography skills, but (d) determined nonetheless.

It seemed a fun and fitting idea for my final newsletter of 2024 to combine favourite books with favourite bird photos from a year of the Coolpix. I’ve seen this done with book covers and Oscar outfits. I’d made my book list already, and a couple of birds sprang to mind as being good matches so I launched into it without further planning, as I tend to do, wondering if I could find birds in my photo library for all 10 books and enjoying the thrill of not knowing. Inevitably some are more successful than others.

Under each one I’ve added a podcast or piece that tells you more about the novel. And at the end I’ve shared my own piece on birds and the creative process.

Thanks for reading Voracious this year — a warm welcome if you’ve recently subscribed. If the newsletter is truncated in your email, click "View entire message".

L: my beloved bookcase, R: taking photos on a beach in Queensland, October 2024

A brief note about the list because lists are controversial, imperfect things: my reading year was unusual. I judged a book award, which took months of reading, and haven’t included those books. Some of my close friends published incredible books; I haven’t included those. This year I read far less children’s & YA than I normally would so I’ve gone proportional and chosen only 2 for this list of 10. The book order is random. I took these bird photos in suburban London, inner-city Melbourne, and the Daintree Rainforest, Queensland.

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1. Trespasses by Louise Kennedy (2022) & Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo

Listen: ABC Conversations, Louise Kennedy on Belfast, bombs and a disastrous pav

Read: my piece on Trespasses for Voracious in which I share a family story about the murder of one of my Irish ancestors: A Mind is an Attic.

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2. Held by Anne Michaels (2023) & Superb Fairy Wren (female)

Watch: The Booker Prize 1-minute interview with Anne Michaels on Youtube.

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3. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (2023) & Golden Whistler

Listen: Paul Murray in conversation with Michael Williams at the Melbourne Writers Festival 2024

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4. Excellent Women by Barbara Pym (1952) & Red-backed Kingfisher

Listen: The Slightly Foxed Podcast, Barbara Pym and Other Excellent Women

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5. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (2024) & Superb Fairy Wren (male)

Read: The Paris Review, Loving the Limitations of the Novel: A Conversation between Sally Rooney and Merve Emre

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6. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (2022) & Sacred Kingfisher

Listen: 20-min interview on NPR ‘Fresh Air’ with Julie Otsuka

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7. Stoneyard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (2023) & Grey Butcherbird

Listen: Read This (podcast) — Charlotte Wood Thinks Restraint is Underrated

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8. Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville (2023) & European Robin

Listen: 15-min author interview on ABC Radio

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9. To and Fro by Anton Clifford-Motopi (2024) & Laughing Kookaburra

Listen: ABC Conversations — Anton Clifford Motopi on finding his full name

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10. Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough (2024) & Azure Kingfisher

Watch: a 1-min video in which the author introduces her novel

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Finally.

For any bird-lovers out there, or just bird-curious will do, I invite you to read my piece Birds Are Like Ideas: how our non-writing hobbies feed our understanding of the creative process.

Please feel free as always to leave a comment, or reply to this email.

Thank you for reading Voracious. Merry Christmas. X

I’ve worked in the children’s book industry for 25 years in various roles: in-house editor, consultant to a literary agent, children’s book buyer, reviewer, freelance manuscript assessor, and as a writer-in-residence in a high school library. My writing includes the Young Adult novels Girl, Aloud (2009), Steal My Sunshine (2013) and I Am Out With Lanterns (2018). For late primary/early high school readers: The Other Side of Summer (2016; a companion novel to I Am Out With Lanterns) and Aussie Stem Stars: Gisela Kaplan (2021). Eliza Boom’s Diary books 1 & 2 (2014) are for emerging readers aged 5-9. My latest novels are Elsewhere Girls (2021) and Outlaw Girls (2024), with Nova Weetman, and The Goodbye Year (2022), for readers aged 10+.