Ali Smith's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Kid Congo Powers stands out in a sea of musical icons because of his honesty and humor. Leave the unchecked egos to David Lee Roth. Although Kid's played in three of the best bands of all time (the Cramps, the Gun Club, the Bad Seeds), he writes about his adventures with the open-eyed excitement of the young punk who headed up a Ramones fan club. That is to say, he seems unsullied and easy to fall in love with.

James Spooner's High Desert is a seminal read. Being a graphic novel memoir aided my ability to sit inside the life of this young punk of color growing up in the barren lands of American suburbia, with all the menace and terror and determination that comes along with that experience on full, constant display. Intense, meaningful and aesthetically beautiful.

No one writes like Maggie O'Farrell. It's in the swish of her walk, the pluck of her talk, the full embodiment of characters brought to life with ink for blood. A lesson in storytelling.