I read only one book this year that was published this year: a Canadian woman’s diary.
I usually read (and re-read) straight white male authors — many of whom are dead — so an experimental memoir written by Canadian writer Sheila Heti and published in 2024 was certainly new for me. Up front, I also haven’t read any of Heti’s other works, which include the novels “How Should A Person Be?,” “Motherhood” and “Pure Colour.” I had no expectations, only a vague understanding of who she was and what she was about gleaned from articles when I purchased her latest work, “Alphabetical Diaries.” I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.
Heti kept a diary for over a decade, jotting down sentences about her daily life. She wrote about banal things, like toothpaste, croissants and coffee. She wrote about friends, family and men. She wrote about art and writing….
