The best books I read in 2024.

Plus, an update on Things I'm Obsessed With.

When I sat down to write this newsletter, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have much to put in it. For most of last year, I wasn’t able to read or write much — two of my greatest joys in this life.

At the start of last year, I experienced what used to be called a ‘nervous breakdown’. On the first of January, as other people were jotting down their new year’s resolutions and excitedly planning for the year ahead — I was gripped by panic, fear and anxiety.

I couldn’t sleep or eat, my hair was falling out in clumps, and my heart was beating so fast I thought it might rip open my ribcage and fly away. I didn’t know exactly what was wrong with me but I knew something was terribly wrong.

So, I moved back to the country and went to ground for a year. I found a lovely GP, a brilliant psychologist and an empathetic psychiatrist and I focused most…