There's barely a week left in 2024 and while I'm still reading, and enjoying what I'm reading, it's definitely time to look back at some of my favorite reads of this year. Somehow, I've managed to read well for 80 pages this year. Yes, I understand that I read books on the smaller end, but that's still impressive for me when most days I have the attention span of a teaspoon. Maybe I'm just in my era where I want to curl up somewhere comfortable, unbothered, and read. The last few weeks the only time I've really turned on the TV is to put on some sort of Lo-Fi station to read to. Unless I'm working on the blog or doing house chores, I haven't had the desire to be talked out via the TV. But I digress, back to the books.
My favorite library discovery was Ripped From The Headlines! by Harold Schecter. He is one of my favorite true crime authors, so when I saw he had a book that combined true crime and movies, I was sold. My only issue with this book was that the audio felt rushed, and I had to backtrack several times to avoid missing facts in almost every chapter. However, I would love to have a physical copy of in my collection; it was a lot of fun!
This was also the year several of my favorite authors threw down books, to the point it was hard to keep up. Because some of them I haven't even gotten to yet. It's one of those so many books, too little time to read, situations. However, I did find time for J.W. Ocker's new book Cult Following because I knew it was going to be amazing. It, in fact, did not disappoint. J.H. Markert released a new book, Sleep Tight, which I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy. It's still twisting my brain sideways, but in that way, I kind of want to read it again because I feel like I missed something. Which is about the run of things when I read Markert's work. I get so focused on one aspect that I know there's something I missed that will scar me more on the second read. Lastly, Therese Oneill published a new book this year! Which by the way, I was not calm about. I adored her first three books, I adored this, and it was immediately snatched up by Aunt after I finished it!
Not let's talk favorite books that Kindle Unlimited threw my way. I don't think I've ever devoured a series quite like I devoured the Judge Dee series. In fact, nothing would give me more joy to find out we were getting another one in 2025. This is a novella series I'll never get tired of, it's so much fun, and I love the covers. I have very rarely dipped my toe into the romance genre of any kind, it's generally not for me, but this romantasy genre has kind of sucked me, and it all started with Tavia Lark and this Prince and Assassin series. Again, the first half of this series was in my trance and I read one book right after the other. One of my goals for 2025 is to read the last three books in the series. Like I said, bad attention span, and I just now realized I never finished this series.
To keep on the slight romance train, on the recommendation of my best friend, who never let me down, I picked up Dowry of Blood. Again, something a little out of the realm of things I read, but I fell in love with this. This was one of those books that always caught my eye, but because it wasn't my wheel of the house of things I read, I sort of never picked it up. But, I'm grateful she had me read this because I loved it so much. Just the prose of the writing style blew me away, it was just beautifully written.
Lastly, I have to give it up to NetGalley this year because I approved some amazing books this year. In fact, I only DNFed two of the books I was approved for. Travels of Terror was one of the top books I was approved for. It's not just filled with the creepy places you should visit, but it also talks about places to eat, where to stay, what to avoid, and hidden gems you should stop and shop. This was one I will be adding to my physical collection and be using when I travel. I'm thinking of going to Salem in 2025, and this book had some most go places that are on my list.
These are only eight of eighty-odd books I read this year, I'm sure I could have written my own book on the books that loved this year. But, these are the ones that still live rent-free in my soul, that I want to read again, that threw me for a loop, or brought a new love for a genre that I avoided for so long. It's been an interesting reading year, with a rough start at the beginning of the month. But, now that we're closing out the year, I managed to read some pretty awesome books. I have some amazing ones still sitting on my TBR waiting to be picked up in 2025!
HAPPY READING!!