I am so excited to sit down and write this post! My final “Best of” posts are all about my reading life (my reading stats will be up next week!), and I always start with my favorite reads. I’m going to do things a little differently this year. This time around, I’m giving you my top 10 books of the year as well as a handful of bookish superlatives. This will be a long post, so let’s get into it.
My Top 10 Books of 2024
10) The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley – This story touched my soul so deeply. The characters are forever imprinted on my heart. It’s about two kids who are sent away from London to escape WWII and find solace in the home of a woman who never wanted children. It’s sweet and heartwarming, but the subject matter can be dark at times. (2015, middle grade, historical fiction)
9) Cover Story by Susan Rigetti – This is one of those polarizing books, you either love it or you hate it. And I loved it. I remember coming to the end of the book and gasping out loud because I didn’t expect that ending. I thought it was genius, but YMMV. When Lora becomes a ghostwriter for Cat Wolff, she discovers the shady world Cat is really involved in. (2022, contemporary fiction)
8) Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera – I devoured this thriller, and that’s saying something because I listened to it on audio and I usually take my audiobooks slowly (an hour a day). But this one, I stopped all podcasts and listened to the audiobook nonstop until I finished it. It’s about a woman who has been accused of killing her best friend but was never charged because of lack of evidence. A true crime podcast takes up the case five years later, and she decides to help figure out who did it. The audiobook is exceptional because the podcast excerpts are performed like a real podcast (intro music and everything!). (2024, thriller)
7) White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad – I didn’t read as many racial justice books this year as I have previously, but this one was a standout. It is not for white women who get their feelings hurt easily when women of color challenge their perspective. This book was insightful, powerful, and pushed my boundaries, which I definitely need. Ruby Hamad talks about everything from slavery to politics today, and it’s a book that has stayed with me all year long. (2020, nonfiction)
6) Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa – This was such a beautiful love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented immigrant. It’s about family and queer love and what it means to be a citizen. It’s about art and food and culture. Ander and Santi are characters I haven’t stopped thinking about since I read this book. Their story has stayed with me. (2023, romance)
5) All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – This was a hard book to read. I listened to the audiobook and could only handle one hour a day because I was so distraught by what was happening to my beloved characters. It’s a book about friendship, about death and grief, and about what you’ll do for your family. It follows two teenagers, Sal and Noor, who are best friends until a fight causes a rift in their relationship. I loved it so much, and I think Sabaa Tahir is a genius. (2022, YA)
4) Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez – I was hesitant to read more books by Abby Jimenez because her earlier book series, The Friend Zone, was terrible. But everyone was raving about her new book so I picked it up, and I am so glad I did. In this book, there is a character with social anxiety and Jimenez captured the difficulty of having this type of anxiety so well. I was so touched by the care she gave to this character. What also touched me was the character who didn’t have social anxiety and who went to great lengths to help him. His social anxiety wasn’t seen as something silly or something he needed to “just get over.” The crazier thing was that this character was named Briana, and I have my own Briana who goes to great lengths to make me feel comfortable in social situations. I loved this novel, and I loved feeling so seen in a character. (2023, romance)
3) The Wedding People by Alison Espach – This one may be recency bias, as it’s one of the last books I read in 2024, but I just loved it. It’s about a woman who goes to a fancy hotel to kill herself, only to be mistaken as one of the guests of the week-long wedding happening at this hotel. And that’s all you really need to know about it! The writing is top-notch, the character development is outstanding, and the book moves along at a great pace. I had high hopes for this novel as so many other trusted sources have loved it, and every expectation was met, which was a delight. (2024, contemporary fiction)
2) The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – This book was a masterpiece. It takes place on a summer camp when a girl goes missing. The problem is, the girl is the daughter of the owner of the summer camp whose brother went missing from the same place fourteen years earlier. I love the way Moore incorporated the present and past storylines, I loved the setting, I loved the characters, and of course I loved how propulsive this novel was. I read the last 100 pages sitting on my couch in my sweaty workout clothes. I had just come home from a workout class and the minute I got home, I plopped right down and cracked open the book. I was losing daylight, but I didn’t even get up to turn on the light because I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from the book. I couldn’t get enough of it! (2024, mystery)
1) The Women by Kristin Hannah – There could be no other book to be my favorite of the year. This book was incredible. Meticulously researched, thoughtfully written, and incredibly heartbreaking at times. It is the first book I’ve ever read about the Vietnam War, following Frankie, a 20-year-old nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps and ships out to Vietnam. When she returns home, though, is when the real battle begins. I couldn’t get enough of this story, of Frankie and her friends. I felt like I was right there with Frankie in Vietnam, the scenes were so visceral and vivid. Back then, there was no support for soldiers coming home from war (and especially no support for women because, “there were no women in Vietnam,” as Frankie heard over and over again when she sought help). There wasn’t a diagnosis for PTSD. This is a story that has stuck with me and I’m continually in awe of Kristin Hannah. (2024, historical fiction)
2024 Bookish Superlatives
1) The most disappointing DNF: Family, Family by Laurie Frankel. I have loved everything Laurie Frankel has written… until this book. I found the kooky family just a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. It’s possible I just wasn’t in the right mood for the book at the time.
2) The most disappointing book I read: The Husbands by Holly Gramazio. What a stinker of a book. I had such high hopes, but this is one I definitely should have DNF-ed.
3) The book I was surprised to love: Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe. I picked this up after so many bloggers raved about it, but I wasn’t sure if it would work for me. A book about a new mom starting an OnlyFans? Not really my thing, ya know! But this book was wonderful and heartfelt and I feel like a part of me was healed reading about the relationship between Margo and her dad.
4) The book I thought I would love more than I did: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Everyone raves about this book, but I found it to be a bit hard to follow. There were so many characters and I couldn’t keep everyone straight, and I found the mystery to be convoluted.
5) Most deserving of the hype: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. This was a nominee in the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards and I had seen many rave reviews before I read it myself. I loved every minute I spent with this book, and can confidently say it was worth the hype.
6) Least deserving of the hype: What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. This earned a nomination in the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards and was named as a Book of the Year finalist for Book of the Month. I thought this was a very poorly written thriller and the ending totally jumped the shark for me.
7) Book I loved that other people hated: Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale. This has a 3.56 rating on Goodreads, but it was a solid 4-star read for me. I could really identify with Cassandra, and I loved the way the author incorporated time travel into the novel.
8) Book I hated that everyone loved: The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley. This book has a 4.04 rating on Goodreads, but goooood, I did not like it. I gave it 2 stars. I just didn’t think the characters were all that well-written and the mystery was convoluted.
9) Most memorable character: Vera Wong from Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers. Is there anyone like Vera Wong? She’s unpredictable and kooky, but also lovable and sweet. I don’t think I’d want her as a mother, but maybe as a mischievous aunt.
10) The book that made me gasp out loud: You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Listen, there’s a twist in this book that I was not expecting and I remember gasping out loud in my car when I listened to the scene. Whew.
11) Best audiobook narration: Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan. Nobody does audiobook narration quite like Julia Whelan and in this book, she gets very meta (since the main characters are narrating an audiobook together!). The way she can do a male voice puts all other audiobook narrators to shame.
12) Favorite fictional couple: Eve and Shep in Ready or Not by Cara Bastone. Oh, they were such a sweet couple, the best friend and the best friend’s brother. A friends-to-lovers romance will always hit me in the feels!
13) The underrated gem of the year: White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck. With just over 2,200 ratings, this book most definitely qualifies as an underrated gem. (It was published in 2021.) This book challenged me, instructed me, and made me want to be a better ally.
14) My least favorite character: The father in The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith. I know I have my own “daddy issues” that I probably brought to this book, but damn, this father was terrible and his actions were incredibly triggering. I am still so mad that the author tried to redeem him when he didn’t do anything to deserve redemption.
15) Favorite reading experience of 2024: Reading Funny Story by Emily Henry while waiting out Hurricane Milton. I picked up this book the Saturday before we evacuated because I knew I needed something light-hearted to sink into when I needed to be distracted from my racing thoughts. I finished the book the night that Milton hit Florida. It was sweet and romantic and the perfect distraction.
What was your most disappointing DNF? What’s a book you read that was definitely worth the hype?
Well, I read The Wedding People back in October and I still have all the feels for it, so I don’t think it’s recency bias. I think it really was that good!
The Women was my favorite “this book has been overhyped so I’m not going to read it” book that I had to get over myself to read and was glad that I did. Last year’s winner was Hello Beautiful. I’ve already told this story, but Beautiful made me cry so hard, and I’m not talking sniffles. I’m talking big loud ugly sobs and a box of kleenex. That’s how good of a book it was.
Loved reading this, Stephany!
God of the Woods was a disappointment to me — not that it wasn’t a page turner and highly readable! I just didn’t LOVE it like everyone else did, which makes me sad. Funny Story was also a DNF for me, but I want to give that one another try. Same with The Berry Pickers — it just didn’t do it for me, but everyone else seems to adore it, so I want to pick it up again some other time.