Merry Christmas Eve! I imagine most folks are visiting friends and relatives and/or enjoying a perfectly normal December weekend, but my post for today is all about the best books I read this year. I'll have another post later next week with all of my book stats, but here are the ones I talk about the most.
I had sixteen (SIXTEEN) five-star reads this year, so I had to really narrow down the field to get to my top ten.
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan - Perfect. My only note here is that this book was made for a dog.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau - What a great little coming of age novel. I've recommended it to many diverse readers and everyone who has read it has loved it.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - I wasn't looking for a Snow White retelling, but I loved the one I got.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - I think you all know that this is my number one favorite book, right? I also think reading it this year with all of you in the Cool Bloggers Book Club made it even more fun.
Dog Songs: Thirty-Five Dog Songs and One Essay by Mary Oliver - You know it's good when I give it as a gift to multiple people for a holiday present.
1619 Project: A New Origin Project, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones - Such a beautiful, ambitious project. It was not an easy read, but it was thoughtful and important.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - Another poetry collection on my list! That's a record, I think. Lyrical writing about a young girl growing up in a tough neighborhood.
Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes) by Travis Baldree - This is the pinnacle of what is the new microgenre of cozy fantasy. It's escapist fantasy and perfect if you just need a quiet, fluffy read.
Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay - An epistolary novel about a developing friendship between two women. Huge thumbs up from me!
The Comeback by Lily Chu - I debated between this one and The Stand-In by the same author (both five stars!), but gave it to this one because the fourth chapter of this book is the funniest thing I have read in years. I was chortling the entire time. I really like Chu's writing and can't wait to see what she does next.
What's on your Best of 2024 book list?
Mary Jane and ATGIB are on my best of the best for this year. What do these books have in common...let me see...oh yes I read both of them because of you!
ReplyDeleteI have an Excel file somewhere that I can't find at the moment where I've started trying to quantify my reading. I believe that 25% of the books that I read this year were my version of a five star rating - knowing me I think I've labeled them with three-cat-heart-eye emojis. It was an epic year for reading for sure.
I'm so glad you read some good books because of me. I do read a lot of so-so ones, so I like to really shine a light on the good ones.
DeleteYour spreadsheet must be a thing of beauty!
Yes, Engie... I agree with Birchwood... I've read some great books because of you (Babel, Mary Jane, more I'm forgetting). I might even pick up the Lily Chu although it's not usually a genre I frequent. (Not the Legends and Lattes--that's going a bit too far. LOL)
ReplyDeleteBabel! I gave that one 4.5 stars, but I sure do think about it a lot. The power of language!
DeleteLegends & Lattes really just feels like hanging out in Stars Hollow (the Gilmore Girls town) with orcs. Very chill.
Oh my gosh I ADORED Nora Goes Off Script. It completely changed the way I think about the entire genre and set me on a romance binge that has been a delight.
ReplyDeleteI read a LOT of great books this year, though most were backlist. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was one of my faves. I also thought The School for Good Mothers was heartbreaking and exquisitely sharp about motherhood and societal expectations about mothers. I reread Broken Harbor by Tana French, which is a book I have been thinking about for nearly a decade since I first read it, and it was even more perfect on the second read. Fates and Furies was so beautifully written and I loved the symmetry of the structure. I am sure there are others but those are the four that pop to mind.
I really want to read the Lily Chu based on your review, but my library doesn't have it as an audiobook argh!
My library doesn't have the third Lily Chu book, so I don't know what I'm going to do about that. Maybe buy it? Is that a thing I could do?
DeleteI am laughing over your love of Broken Harbor because all I remember is that the setting was great, but otherwise it was a meh book. Different books for different readers!
Nora Goes Off Script was definitely one of my favorites this year! I also really enjoyed Love & Saffron, and Thornhedge. My other good reads were practically all fantasy: I really dove into Ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher this year, and enjoyed it all. Isn't reading a good book the best thing?
ReplyDeleteT Kingfisher is absolutely my new favorite! I have yet to read a miss from that pen name. I'm reading one on my ebook right now and loving it.
DeleteI loved Nora Goes Off Script, too! That is one of my all time favorite romance novels.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting until next week to post my top books of 2023. I want to make sure I don't read something really amazing in the final weeks that should have made the list. But so far, my favorite book is Hello Beautiful which I know you did not care for!
Yeah, I hesitate to put out a Best Of list before the actual end of the year, but I am seriously running out of idea for what to post! LOL. Nora Goes Off Script is such a good book! I didn't love Hello Beautiful, but it is ending up on a lot of lists, so I don't think you're alone.
DeleteI adored 1619 and use it in 2 of my classes (well, chunks, anyway)
ReplyDeleteYes, I can see how a lot of the chapters could relate to a lot of subfields.
DeleteSixteen five star books is so amazing. Within your ten tops I have only read two – Nora goes off script and ATGB. I will put Thronhedge on my TBR for 2023.
ReplyDeleteAnd since I haven't reached out yet otherwise. Your card did arrive exactly Christmas Eve and I was so happy. Thank you.
Yay! I'm so excited that international mail worked!!
DeleteI need to look and find out how many books I gave 5 stars to! I wait until the beginning of January to even START looking at my book stats because I never know what 5-star read will slip in at the end. (And that happened this year, as one of my favorite books of the year is one I finished on 12/28!)
ReplyDeleteMary Jane will forever hold such a special place in my heart. As will ATGIB - especially the reread since I got to do it with such a fantastic group of bloggers!
I actually did read one more book in 2023, but I just added it to my 2024 list. LOL. No one will care, will they?
DeleteMary Jane is SUCH a good book. Everyone I have recommended it to has loved it, too. Very versatile.