2024 Reading Wrapup

[sandrylene]

Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 144

Authors were 80.92% female, 12.5% male, .66% non-binary, 5.92% anthology/mixed.

The average rating was 4.2

Number of Re-Reads: 40 (I did this massive reread of Nalini Singh books for the new one that came out this year when I was like "wait. What all happened again?")

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2024?

• Shortest: Victoria Goddard - The Glass Blower at 36 pages


• Longest: Nalini Singh - the first five books of the Psy-Changeling series which I took out as one compilation at 1396 pages


• Average Length for the Year: 352 pages

Superlatives

• Best Book You Read In 2024?

Picking just one is ridiculous. Some favorites are:



• Andy Weir - The Martian


• Brandon Sanderson - Tress of the Emerald Sea


• Martha Wells - Death of the Necromancer





• Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Jill Bearup - Just Stab Me Now
I didn't dislike it, but the associated YouTube shorts were more fun than the book itself. The book was just "well, this is okay and interesting-sh."


• Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2024?

Maybe weird to say it, but - Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express. Yes, I read this for the first time this year. No, I did not see the actual ending coming at all.


• Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2024?

Uh. Well, I guess given we bookclubbed it, it'd be Emily Tesh - Some Desperate Glory. Generally people found it a rocky start (understandably), but general feeling seemed to be "yes, this was awesome, we're glad we read it" when we got to the end.


• Best series you started in 2024? Best Sequel of 2024? Best Series Ender of 2024?

Marie Brennan - A Natural History of Dragons. Really enjoyed this series, but haven't quite finished yet. (The BPL doesn't have an eBook copy of the last one. ALAS.)
For sequel, I'd go Lois McMaster Bujold - Demon Daughter. I love the Penric and Desdemona stuff *so much*.
Since it was literally this year, and I adored it - Courtney Milan - The Earl Who Isn't. I'm sad we won't get more in this series. Honorable mention for Sharon Shinn - Whispering Wood, the end of the Elemental Blessings series which I loved all of, but technically came out a year ago (November 2023).


• Favorite new author you discovered in 2024?

I'd give this to Intisar Khanani. Have loved the three I've read this year, will look forward to reading more.


• Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I guess I'll give it to Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow, in that non-fiction is not a super popular category for me, and this was my favorite of those I read this year.


• Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Maybe Intisar Khanani - Thorn? I spent a bunch of time quite worried for people in this book.


• Book You Read In 2024 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Frankly no idea. I don't usually plan rereads.


• Favorite cover of a book you read in 2024?

Absolutely no idea, like usual.


• Most memorable character of 2024?

I might give it to Ruth Johnson in Rebecca Fraimow - Lady Eve's Last Con. She's memorably, enjoyably nonsense, with a chewy moral center. :P


• Most beautifully written book read in 2024?

Victoria Goddard - The Bone Harp. I really enjoyed the painting of the world that was and that currently is in the story.


• Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2024?

If I were a slightly different person, it'd be Fern Brady - Strong Female Character, which talks about being autistic but being told repeatedly you couldn't possibly be for not showing it "right". Even though I'm not that person, I can't think of anything more appropriate, so I guess I'll go with it anyhow.


• Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2024 to finally read?

Well, Murder on the Orient Express would be a good candidate. I should catch up on some more Agatha Christie, too.


• Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2024?

Since I'm still taking highlights, a sampling:



• “I am not stubborn.” Chloe folded her arms. “I am extremely open to suggestions that align with my moral beliefs.” - Courtney Milan - The Earl Who Isn't


• By early 878, things had deteriorated further. Wessex was almost entirely taken over by the Danes, and Alfred was reduced to hiding in the Somerset Levels – a harder place to hide than somewhere more undulating. I mean, anyone can hide in the Alps. The Danes must have been surveying the horizon for suspicious Alfred the Great-sized pieces of cover, like in that Monty Python sketch ‘How Not to Be Seen’. - David Mitchell - Unruly


• We want to imagine that people are consistent, steady, stable. We define who they are, create descriptions to lock them on a page, divide them up by their likes, talents, beliefs. Then we pretend some—perhaps most—are better than we are, because they stick to their definitions, while we never quite fit ours. Truth is, people are as fluid as time is. We adapt to our situation like water in a strangely shaped jug, though it might take us a little while to ooze into all the little nooks. Because we adapt, we sometimes don’t recognize how twisted, uncomfortable, or downright wrong the container is that we’ve been told to inhabit. We can keep going that way for a while. We can pretend we fit that jug, awkward nooks and all. But the longer we do, the worse it gets. The more it wears on us. The more exhausted we become. Even if we’re doing nothing at all, because simply holding the shape can take all the effort in the world. More, if we want to make it look natural. - Brandon Sanderson - Tress of the Emerald Sea




• Book That Shocked You The Most.

This is going to sound stupid, but. Alexis Hall - Boyfriend Material - for being driven by compelling characters, which is something I usually don't find in male authors.


• OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!).

...yeah, nothing here.


• Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year.

Let's go Hester and Cordelia in T. Kingfisher - A Sorceress Comes to Call. What a kickass replacement parental figure Hester is. <3


• Favorite Book You Read in 2024 From An Author You’ve Read Previously.

Hm. A lot of possible options in here, honestly. I'll pick semi-arbitrarily Richard Osman - We Solve Murders, because I was worried with it being a new series, that I wouldn't like the characters as much as the Thursday Murder Club ones... and it's possible I don't *quite*, but I was still really in to this.


• Best Book You Read In 2024 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody
  Else/Peer Pressure.

Andy Weir - The Martian. Got a lot of recs for it. I'm not usually a straight sci fi person, but this was so fun.


• Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2024?

Nope. No one. As per usual.


• Best debut you read?

I didn't read a lot of debuts, I don't think, but I did quite enjoy Hank Green - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing... though I am not sure I can make myself read the sequel after the end of this one kicked me in the gut. We'll see.


• Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

I absolutely love the worldbuilding in Malka Older's novellas, The Mimicking of Known Successes and The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles. The details about how thoroughly cultures from earth are mixed in terms of cuisine and language is so fun and interesting to me.


• Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Maybe Travis Baldree - Bookshops and Bonedust ? I liked that this one had no romantic agenda, just making friends, exploring the town, getting to know people. I dunno, it was low stakes, but lovely.


• Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2024?

This is *also* always a list... even though I also always forget bunches.
Ali Hazelwood - Love on the Brain
Patricia Briggs - Bone Crossed
Olivia Dade - At First Spite
Celia Lake - Silent Circuit
Courtney Milan - The Earl Who Isn't
...honestly I think these may just be the ones I remember from the last month or so.


• Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Aaaugh, what all is hidden? Do I even know? I finished the Elemental Logic series and enjoyed all of those and no one talks about those, that I hear? So Laurie J. Marks, I'll say, but those books aren't new.


• Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Celia Lake's trilogy with Enchanted Net, Silent Circuit, and Elemental Truth... usually her stuff is light and happy (even the ones around WWII and trauma related to it, which is mind-boggling). This one... really had to hang in there for the happy ending.


• Most Unique Book You Read In 2024?

Jill Bearup - Just Stab Me Now is probably a good candidate. Because genre-wise it's just difficult to categorize. I put it in my notes as "fantasy" in genre, but it also sort of very clearly isn't because nothing fantastical actually occurs. There's no magic, it might be alternate world, but it plausibly could happen in ours, it's just a metatext kind of thing.


• Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Well, Jenny Lawson - Broken (in the best possible way) spends some time talking about the foibles of the US medical system in terms of, you know, actually paying out for people to get the medications or treatments they need. So. /:

My list of Books I Finished Despite Loathing
This year I only have three disliked! And I don't think I would say I actively loathed any of them! A good year for me.
My dislikes were:
T. L. Huchu - The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle - I've liked the rest in this series, but I was so, so frustrated with this one.
Kelly Robson - High Times in the Low Parliament - extreme feelings of "do not relate".
Nalini Singh - There Should Have Been Eight - I knew going into it this was unlikely to work well for me. It's a thriller. I hate thrillers. Who knows why I stuck it out?