This year, I lost my e-reader and had to replace it. As a result, I have to dig in my own memory a bit to remember what I read in the first half of the year. Not having made a list for 2024, there could be some cross-over.

Prophet Song was the book that impressed me the most. Its story is a modern-day 1984, set in Ireland. Long having forgotten the optimism that reigned the world for a few decades after the fall of the Berlin wall, I didn't need to read more about a society slipping into totalitarianism, but certainly don't regret having done so with this novel. Hauntingly good.

Magali is the book on the list that could have been better. The investigation into a femicide gives the author the opportunity to go back to the region he grew up, both temporally and physically. Doing so, he puts a spotlight on a forgotten murder and a society that allows that to happen. It didn't fully work for me as it's a little too much focused on the author himself.

Special mention for Het Verdriet van België, which manages to truly bring to life what growing up in Flanders during the second World War and post-war period was like. No idea how it translates, but in Flemish it is an absolute classic. I can simply here the people talk while reading, as if I'm observing them in real life.