The end of the year means another roundup of the books I’ve read this year. I got the chance to reread some books on my shelf, review loads of underappreciated indie titles, and listen to popular audiobooks while I multitask.
As hard it is to select only 10 of the dozens of books I’ve read this year, both for this blog and for fun, just remember that you can always peruse my book review section for more reviews and recommendations. Also, follow me on Goodreads, and track my reading progress throughout the year! In the meantime, here are my top 10 books read in 2024.
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Miranda Fights by Gail Ward Olmsted
Synopsis
Miranda Quinn is working as a legal aid attorney when the daughter of an old friend turns up looking for her help after landing herself in some minor legal trouble. As she takes the young woman under her wing, they delve into the suspicious disappearance of several missing girls who Miranda has been counseling.
Why it’s great
Throw a rock and you can find a decent crime thriller that’s all plot and no heart. The Miranda Quinn series is all heart with a loveable hero who we get to see outside of work even more than at work, and that makes us root for her all the more, especially in Book 3 of her series in which her maternal side comes out. Come for the mystery, and stay for the multiple side plots, character interactions, and lighter tone than most books in its genre.
You can read my full review and author interview here!
The Decision: A Novel of Germany by Karen Wyle
Synopsis
A young boy named Hansi comes of age at the end of World War I and grows up to become a police officer at the beginning of World War II. Along the way, his life and worldview are shaped by both personal and world events. This culminates into a test of his morality when he intervenes after a bicycle accident between three Jewish boys and an elderly man.
Why it’s great
Page turning, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, this story based on true events gives you a different perspective of this time period and the world events surrounding it. Hansi is a sympathetic character who maintains his morals despite personal tragedy and influence from those closest to him. But those morals are tested time and time again as he grows to realize that the world is a complex place, and what he has been taught is not necessarily what’s true.
You can read my full review and author interview here!
The Black Magician by KayCee Jones
Synopsis
Slavery is all that George has ever known, but it’s also something that he does not want for him or his fellow slaves. So, he and his granny form a plan to escape from their Massa Smith using trickery, teamwork, and determination.
Why it’s great
Well written, inspiring, and with great characters, The Black Magician carries a hopeful message without downplaying the horrors of slavery in the United States and the terrible things that happened to the enslaved. George is a cunning hero with a very creative and intelligent way of thinking, finding that sneakiness and proper planning are the most successful methods of escape, and watching his plan being carried out is both suspenseful and triumphant.
You can read my full review and author interview here!
The In-Between by Hadley Vlahos
Synopsis
Hospice worker Hadley Vlahos shares the origins of her current occupation as well as incredible stories about her patients at the end of their lives. These stories include premonitions, visions of deceased loved ones, and other life lessons that have stuck with Vlahos and better shaped her understanding of life and death.
Why it’s great
I’ve been following Vlahos on social media for years, and she is constantly referencing the stories in this book. So, I borrowed the audiobook in order to hear her personal story firsthand and get the full versions of the patient stories that she has experienced. I’m fascinated by the afterlife and the journey leading up to it, and even though some of the moments in the book can be devastating, they’re also great learning tools and a comforting take on the unique yet unifying experiences that human beings have when they die, both for those who are dying and those who watch it play out from the other end of the bed.
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
Synopsis
This nonfiction true crime book details the lives of the five confirmed victims of Jack the Ripper from their births to their final moments. These stories help to dispel rumors about the victims and focus more on living conditions in Victorian England which led to their brutal, untimely deaths.
Why it’s great
I found this book in my Little Free Library this year at the height of my true crime kick, and I thought I’d just peruse it to see what knowledge it has to offer. It’s actually very engaging for a nonfiction book, filling in the gaps of these women’s lives with a detailed picture of the era and the individual twists and turns that each woman’s life took to end up where they did.
The book tramps down the rumors that these women were all engaged in prostitution and instead shows how mainly alcoholism and a series of misfortunes landed them on the streets and how, once you fell below the poverty line, society made sure that’s where you stayed. And one unknown killer took advantage of those conditions to prey on those who had already hit rock bottom.
60 Songs That Explain the 90s by Rob Harvilla
Synopsis
Serving as a transcript of the hit podcast, this book delves deep into some of the most well known and influential songs of the decade. Told from Harvilla’s personal perspective, the takes on each song are strictly celebratory and dive deep into the era, the artists, and the art of making music itself.
Why It’s Great
Aside from being a trip down memory lane, for those old enough to remember, reading the essays in this book is like reading editorials from a great rock critic and is a demonstration of the effectiveness and skill that it takes to write in your own voice. Funny, poignant, and well-researched, Harvilla knows how to draw in an audience and celebrate the art that he loves.
You can read my full review here!
The Cat Who Chased Ghosts by Nic Minnella
Synopsis
When Timmy Thompson’s parents inherit his Great Aunt Wilhelmina’s house in a new town, he himself takes ownership of an orange tabby cat named Whiskers. The eccentric old lady next door deems Whiskers as Timmy’s protector, and when supernatural events begin to occur in the home, Timmy enlists the help of both Whiskers and his new friends at school to help investigate them.
Why it’s great
A fresh, fun, and child-friendly ghost story, this book is one that I would have found myself devouring as its target audience as much as adult me devoured it on my Kindle. I love Timmy’s leadership, his new friends and the way they have his back, and the supernatural elements that lead to a very heartfelt resolution of the story’s conflict. Give me a haunted house, a team of determined kids, and a quirky old lady in their corner, and you have my loyalty and attention.
You can read my full review and author interview here!
Fashionably Fit, Fatally Flawed by Sharon Kay
Synopsis
Michelle Kilpatrick is back with another murder mystery, this time at her friend’s mom’s gym. Despite being on Christmas break from school, her hands are full with work, friends, family, and attempting to solve this murder.
Why it’s great
A Christmas pick on my list is very unusual for me who detests this time of year, but being set in the 70s, this novel really puts the reader in an idealized version of the holiday, one of more simplicity and a slowness that lets you take it all in, despite its busy plot. This sequel stands equal to its predecessor in both the quality of the writing, the unfolding of its mystery, and its characters.
Michelle is so likable, like a college-aged Lois Lane who plunges into her work headfirst, and, while she sometimes needs rescuing, it’s only so she can right herself and keep plugging away. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
You can read my full review and author interview here!
Wild & Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the 80s Changed Hollywood Forever by Nick de Semlyen
Synopsis
De Semlyen chronicles the tentpole comedies of the 80s which helped to shape the genre and the men who starred in them. Beginning with a fight between two famous comedians backstage at SNL in the late 70s and ending with the iconic films they made in the early 90s, the chapters flipflop between the journeys of the stars who you see featured on the front cover and the ups and downs that they experienced along the way.
Why it’s great
The 80s to me is the golden age of comedy. So, to get a behind-the-scenes look at who contributed to this era and how they pulled it off was a real draw.
I rarely buy books new, but this was sitting on a sale table at Barnes and Noble, and I couldn’t help myself. Semlyen concentrates his efforts on just a small collection of comedians, but they’re the ones you think of when you think of quintessential adult comedies of the 80s, a simpler time when it was a lot easier to laugh and people did it together in theaters or around their TV sets with friends and family.
Lights by Brenna Thummler
Synopsis
Set at Christmastime, this book wraps up friendly ghost Wendall’s arc by finally revealing his backstory and confronting his demons, both metaphorically and literally. Meanwhile, his friends Marjorie and Eliza navigate the horrors of teen girlhood while trying to remain loyal to their ghostly friend and each other.
Why it’s great
On a hot summer day, I meandered into my local comic book store and found the third and final installment in the Sheets series and found it calling to me. Wendall is Casper with the teenage angst that suits the YA graphic novel genre well.
Lights, like its title, has an airiness about it mixed in with its intense backstory that unfolds slowly as Wendall comes face to face with his past. The pastel Christmas aesthetic is refreshing and colorful. It helps to show how far they’ve come from the depressing yet equally gorgeous fall setting of Book 1. And it wraps up so satisfyingly with a lot of hope and heart.
What were your favorite reads of 2024? Leave your answers in the comments below!
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Awesome round up of books!
Thanks for reading!