54 books in 2024
Hello everyone! Hope you have all had a wonderful 2024!
Here is my annual, reading wrap up post where I tell you what I read this year. I read 54 books in 2024.
This was the year I had fun with my reading. I read so many ridiculous over-the-top thrillers, I ventured into cowboy romance (*gasp*), and I read way too many books about a woman trying to find herself (don't think too much about it). I gave out 26 5/5 stars this year and 18 4/5 stars, meaning that I had a great time with 44 out of the total 54 books I read this year. So overall, great reading year.
It appears that this year I had two moods going on with the books I read. Either I wanted complete chaos, over-the-top and ridiculous fun. Or, I wanted inner growth, hopefulness, and heartwarming feelings. There was virtually no-inbetween. You'll see what I mean in my reviews down below.
As I do with all of these end-of-year posts, I list out each book with my rating and review. I highlight the ones that I think are worthy of your time. All book titles are linked to their Goodreads pages, and books featured on the UDBC podcast have a (🎙) emoji that links to the respective podcast episode. The genre breakdown is Literary Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Short Stories, Horror, Romance and Non-Fiction.
This is a long one so grab a nice hot drink, sit back, and enjoy the read!
The Rating Legend
🙅 - Equivalent to anything less than 3/5 stars, so I probably shouldn't have continued reading it.
😐 - 3/5 stars - Nothing special to write home about.
🍪 - 4/5 stars - I had a nice time, but it just did not have that certain je ne sai quoi.
🍦 - 5/5 stars - Fabulous. Amazing. Stunning. Other similar adjectives.
🎙 - Featured on the Useless Doctor's Book Club Podcast
☕ - My review, aka "The tea"
* - Worthy of your attention
Literary Fiction
☕ : So...this promised to be heartwarming and cute. I can assure you it was neither. We follow a man-child protagonist, Wallace, who experiences little to no growth in a story that is supposed to be all about growing. It felt like the author got too carried away attempting to make the main protagonist quirky and instead Wallace became an insufferable, self-obsessed idiot who we are supposed to be rooting for? I found this book to be overrated and void of any real substance. Continuously shoving messages about life and grief down the reader's throat in a Hallmark-esque fashion is not really 'good writing'. BookTok, this is your fav? Really?
☕ : The third installment in Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan series that follows the complicated friendship of Lenu and Lila in 1970s Naples. While I found the first two installments excellent (read in 2023), the series becomes tedious as it goes on. Ferrante does not shy away from making her characters struggle and fight against the soceital expectations placed on them. While I appreciate the messaging, reading 4 books with 500 pages each of this is laborious. Can they be find solace for a brief moment? Regardless, Ferrante's writing is amazing and I'm very happy to have continued reading.
☕ : The fourth and final installment of Ferrante's series. Similar to my note about the third book in the series, the story of Lenu and Lila's friendship becomes grading as we move from their early adult life to their lives as parents. Things became repetitive and I found myself struggling to continue. However, as noted before, I absolutely love Ferrante's writing, and by the end, the writing was really what powered me through. I would implore you to check out the series because, WOW. Would highly recommend.
☕ : Blue Sisters follows the story of the Blue sisters after the tragic passing of their fourth sister, Nikki. Mellors does an excellent job fleshing out the personalities of all three sisters and their relationships with each other and others in their lives. Each of them is distinct and we get glimpses into their lives as they attempt to move forward after Nikki's passing. My one major gripe with this book was it's length. This book felt overwritten and could have been cut down 100 pages to make the exact same point. But because it's length, the plot just became circular, negatively impacting the growth of each character. It took a very long time for each character to come to their self-realizations. However, despite this, I did enjoy how the narrative facilitated their growth as people. The ending was bittersweet and I thought it fit perfectly with the rest of the book. Will definitely be checking out more of Mellors in the future.
☕ : Chaotic and funny, but honest to god frustrating. A novel that had me face-palming more than once. The plot of this book broadly follows a young named Rachel living in Cork as she navigates the ups and downs of her college life. Rachel is an idiot and I found her overly co-dependent friendship with James questionable at best. Their poor decision making made me want to scream, but it was a train-wreck you just can't look away from. This felt very much in the vein of works like Normal People by Sally Rooney and Luster by Raven Leilani. Books with highly relatable but frustrating characters who are in the process of figuring out themselves and their place in the world. Books that, for some reason, I just can't get enough of. If that is your cup of tea also, then I'd recommend checking this one out.
☕ : Another book about a woman in her twenties trying to figure out her life. You see a theme here? I loved, loved, LOVED this book. Jessica George does an excellent job crafting the character of Maddie and her self-discovery journey. Maddie's slow but rewarding journey to becoming more open about her struggles with those closest to her had me teary-eyed in a few spots. I absolutely loved watching her grow into herself and become more comfortable with showcasing her vulnerabilities. I loved the conversations in here about the duty of children, womanhood, and illusions of strength. Will definitely be checking out Jessica George in the future. This was a fantastic novel. HIGHLY recommend.
☕ : As noted in the title, this book is about friendship. Specifically, a very complicated but interesting friendship between two women, Zahra and Maryam. Friends since their childhood in Karachi, Zahra and Maryam grow up to be highly successful women in London. At first glance, they appear to have not let their status and position influence their friendship, but under the surface, things are more tense. Shamsie does an excellent job exposing the layers of their relationship. She consistently builds a sense of tension that percolates through each layer of their relationship, which ultimately comes to a head in a very dramatic climatic scene. This was dramatic and entertaining, and while I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to a wide audience, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.
☕ : Told in parallel storylines, this book follows Akash and his mother Renu as they come to terms with their past lives and past loves while navigating their relationship with each other. I felt all the emotions reading this book. Akash struggles with coming out to his mother and brother, Bijal, while Renu is hounded with thoughts about what could have been had she chosen a different path all those years ago. When they are all forced back to Illinois as Renu decides to sell the house following the death of her husband, they are confronted with the task of reconnecting. The author invites you to empathize with the family and their flawed approaches to connecting with one another. I also really enjoyed the building of tension throughout, as we the audience come to undrstand the events that forced the family apart to begin with. I thoroughly enjoyed Neel Patel's prose and will definitely be keeping an eye on his work in the future.
☕ : A retelling of the Hindu epic, the Ramayan, told from Sita's perspective. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this retelling told from the perspective of someone who, despite being central to the narrative, we never hear from. Divakaruni humanizes Sita, drawing attention to her motivations, desires, and the reasoning behind her decisions. I'd recommend if you enjoy mythology and retellings.
☕ : This book is not necessarily something I'd recommend to a wide audience, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jean Swinney is a local newspaper writer just casually living her life when she gets assigned to investigate the story of a young woman who claims to have had a virgin birth. This then begins a string of events that change Jean's life forever. I love books that are about the simple pleasures of mundane everyday life and this book is exactly that. There are characters and plot things obviously happen, but the real pull of this book, in my opinion, is how it showcases the miraculousness of things as ordinary as falling in love. The ending is definitely polarizing, but I didn't care. This was a quiet charming book about the small little ordinary pleasures of life and I absolutely loved it.
☕ : Ghosts is a story about a woman who is ghosted by a man she met on a dating app at a pivotal time in her life. Despite being successful and financially independent, Nina is consistently reminded that she is a single woman in her 30s by all of those around her. She gets on a dating app, meets a great guy, and then is ghosted by him. For some reason, I went into this book thinking it would be lighthearted or romantic. It was neither. Ghosts is about a young woman reconciling with her changing status in her friends' lives, her parents growing older and experiencing major health problems, and society's distaste for childless cat ladies. I had a great time.
☕ : This book follows a young woman, Isabel, during her final semester of college as she begins an affair with her married professor. The year is 1998 and as the story of Monica Lewinsky emerges, Isabel reckons with her relationship with her professor. This book is complex and offers no clear answers or opinions. It's almost clinical in its explanation of Isabel and her experience with her professor. I found Isabel not necessarily unlikable, but very difficult to understand. Also what was that ending? It went comically off the rails, like what was Florin thinking? Regardless, I found Isabel's journey into adulthood satisfying to read, and I'd recommend this book with caution given the sensitive subject matter.
☕ : Mercury is a story about a family held together by their daughter-in-law, Marley. But when a dark long-held secret is revealed, it threatens to break the entire family apart. This book was almost great. We first see how Marley arrives to the town of Mercury and finds herself involved with the Joseph family. She dates the eldest son, marries the middle son, and becomes a surrogate mother to the youngest son. The authors skillfully shows us how Marley quickly becomes the glue that holds together the Josephs after the passing of their mother. However, the plot is lost by the end. What began as an interesting exploration of a struggling family turns into a who-dunit that is so unecessary. Furthermore, the author seems to be on a mission to make every male character in this novel unlikeable. That aside, I did generally enjoy the first half of this book and would read more from this author in the future.
☕ : Another book that was almost great. This book follows a young woman who goes to her five-year college reunion and is confronted with 'what could have been' had she done a few things differently. The setup was excellent and I truly was hooked in the first few chapters. However, this book quickly devolved into a self-pity fest that was tedious to read. Charlotte, the main protagonist, felt one-note and frankly the only things you learn about her throughout the whole novel is that she is bisexual and she hates her job. I implore you to go read something else.
☕ : So I picked up this novel after reading Ann Napolitano's intriguing Hello Beautiful last year. Boy was I surprised. This was...not what I was expecting, and after several chapters I finally realized that this was written twenty years ago and thank god Ann Napolitano has significantly improved upon her craft since then. My biggest gripe with this book is that it promises to explore the dysfunctional relationship between multiple generations of women within one family, but it fails to make me care about any of them. The author fails to create a sense of empathy for her characters. Despite this, it's evident that Napolitano is a skilled writer and while I did not enjoy this novel, I know I will be reading her work in the future.
☕ : This book is not for everyone. I know for a fact many will find the main protagonist completely insufferable, but for some odd reason, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Our main protagonist, Maggie, is recently divorced at the ripe old age of 29 and is STRUGGLING (all caps). This book had all the makings of a book that I would not have liked. An insufferable main protagonist with lots of self-pity and whining. But I don't know man, I liked Maggie. She's relatable in that way where you can see how desperation and grief move someone to act in ways they would not have otherwise. Her self-destructive ways were cringey, but were clearly motivated and made sense. Regardless, I still think most would find this book annoying and while I enjoyed it, it's not something I'd widely recommend.
☕ : This novel took me a few attempts to get into, but once I was in, I was hooked. We're following the Garrett family from the 1950s to 2020, as they enter a cyclical pattern of drifting apart and then coming back together. Similar to my note above about Small Pleasures, the pull of this book is in it's ability in making the mundane, compelling. Tyler's prose is simple and straightforward. She's almost terse with her descriptions of characters and their emotions, but its effective in conveying the distance that exists among members of the Garrett family. The first scene of the novel, where we see the extremly awkward accidental meeting of two cousins in a train station deftly sets the stage to show how strained relations are in this family. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
☕ : If you read my post from last year you may know that I am a certified Ann Patchett fan girl. I've read many Patchett novels, all of them five stars, and her latest novel Tom Lake was no exception. The novel takes place during the 2020 pandemic, with the main protagonist, Lara, telling the story of her past life as an actress to her three adult daughters as they quarantine together on the family cherry farm in Michigan. I love the storybook charm this book evokes; a mom telling her children the story of her life before she was married. I was wary that this would turn into a 'pandemic book', but Patchett is skillful in presenting the details of the pandemic without letting it consume the entire narrative. Overall, thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend checking it out.
☕ : Listen. No one is surprised that I did not love this book. However, I am the most surprised that I didn't hate this book. Fourth Wing is an adult fantasy novel that reads like a young adult romance novel. It's fast-paced, over-the-top, a bit cringey, and I will admit, a lot of fun. There is a reason this book is extremely popular. The story follows a young woman, Violet, who is pushed into a very dangerous life or death situation and must rely on her wits to realize who is a friend and who is a foe. Oh and there are dragons, a cute friend group, and an annoying love interest. Will I read the rest of the series? No. But would I recommend this to anyone for a fun, fast-paced, adventure story? Absolutely.
☕ : An excellent exploration of womanhood, Blackness, and inequality in Britain. We follow a cast of 12 characters who are all linked to each other either directly or indirectly, with each character's narrative speaking to this larger idea of how we as a society discuss and think about inequality and marginalization. It's fast-paced, highly readable (I finished it in a 3 hour train ride), and raises a lot of interesting questions about feminism, generational divides, gender identity, and the immigrant experience. It's no surprise that this book won the 2019 Booker Prize. Brilliant. Would HIGHLY recommend.
☕ : This book was weird. Very, very weird. But fun. There are some witchy vibes, some commentary on womanhood, and a lot of...crows. Told in parallel storylines, the book follows three women at different points in time (1619, 1942, and 2019) who are part of the Weyward family. While I appreciate the larger messages that this book wants to convey, I found Hart's writing style uninspiring. This book was long but somehow managed to tell me little important information. Description after description, and yet I was left with virtually the same amount of information I started with. However, the last 15% of this book was excellent. Incredibly action-packed, tense, and had me on the edge of my seat. If you want to hear more about this book, I'd suggest checking out our podcast episode on this.
☕ : The central question of this book is 'What happened to the person you were supposed to become?' Didn't expect to get hit in the jugular today, did you? I went into this book with the 'EXPECTATION' that I'd love it, but it didn't pan out that way. The friendships that move the narrative forward were a mess. Not one friend of our main trio of protagonists was likable. Normally, I'm one to enjoy a good messy friendship and unlikable character. But the author did not foster any empathy for these people. Despite all of this, the author does a good job of keeping the question of the book central to the narrative. The trio consistently reckon with the question of 'What happened to the person I was supposed to become?' and their journey to answering this, despite the unlikeable personalities, was incredibly interesting to watch.
☕ : I...loved this book. Madeline Gray writes an incredibly witty and hilarious main character, Hera. And yes, Hera is a mess, annoying, delusional and makes every wrong decision you can make. But she does it in a funny way, so it's fine. Obviously. Yet another book about a young woman in her twenties trying to find herself, and ends up having an affair with a married man. Don't read this if you have a problem with frustrating, morally gray, self-righteous main characters. Do read this if you like Sally Rooney-esque, unlikable, frustrating main protagonists who are highly relatable but you want to shake them out of their stupidity. By the way the 'green dot' is the green dot that appears on Instagram when a user is online. Yeah. This one is for the GenZ-ers.
☕ : Another Ann Patchett novel that I loved. I will be honest, this one took me a while to get into, but it ended up being excellent. The story follows Sabine, a woman who was assistant to a famous magician, whom she later married. When her husband suddenly passes away, Sabine realizes that much of what she knew about her husband's past was a lie. Not only is her husband's name not really his name, but the family he told her had passed away is still very much alive. This book is about second chances, what it means to be married, and grief. Not just the grief of losing someone, but the grief of realizing that maybe you didn't know the person as well as you thought you did. A heartwarming, cozy read that will definitely jump some tears.
☕ : Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author known for writing readable, exciting, entertaining books. This was no exception. Told in interview/transcript format, the story follows a young singer Daisy and her journey to becoming a rock & roll legend, particularly her collaboration with Billy Dunne, the leader of the band The Six. Daisy Jones & The Six is addictively entertaining. Every character is fleshed out, the plot moves along quickly without giving you a chance or desire to put the book down, and each chapter leaves you wanting to know what happens next. This book isn't suspenseful and plays out pretty much exactly how you think it might. But, good god was I entertained. So much fun, would definitely recommend.
Mystery/Thriller
☕ : Easily one of the best books I read this year. I cannot recommend this book enough. It had a solid mystery. It had a great main protagonist. It had excellent BANTER. And on top of all this, it was so godammned hilarious. Had me laughing out loud in public. The story follows a woman named Lucy whose quiet life is overturned when a true crime podcast decides to investigate a cold case murder for which she was the prime suspect. She returns back to her small Texas town and decides to investigate the crime alongside the podcast host, Ben. This was so much fun! Lucy's relationship with her grandmother was a highlight of this book. I also loved how Amy Tintera wrote Lucy to be so unapologetically herself. I enjoyed this book so much that I read it twice this year. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
☕ : One of the most famous mystery novels of all time, The Secret History follows Richard who is reflecting on the murder of his friend Bunny and the impact it had on his friend group and himself. I can appreciate this book for what it is, an excellently written reverse mystery novel. But this book is a dense, laborious read. It's 500+ pages of tedium, with characters brooding and pondering and pontificating over things that frankly are irrelevant to the main plot. However, despite the overwritten nature of the book, the plot and characterization are excellent. The slow build-up of tension and paranoia among the friend group is incredible to read. It is not surprising that this is many people's favorite book of all time. Would highly recommend.
☕ : I've read many Riley Sager novels, but I have to say, this one may be his best. Completely over-the-top and ridiculous, but so entertaining. We're following a home-health aid, Kit, who is assigned to care for a woman named Lenora Hope. Lenora is infamous in their town for being the prime suspect in her family's murder, but she was never convicted of it and has never spoken about it since. When Kit meets her, Lenora is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. She uses an old typewriter to communicate with Kit, and as they grow closer, Lenora decides that she wants to tell Kit what actually happened the night her family was murdered. This book definitely requires the reader to suspend their disbelief, but it really is so much fun. If an over-the-top mystery thriller is your thing, I would highly recommend.
☕ : This year seemed to be the year of the over-the-top thriller because I have yet another one. Just the Nicest Couple is not Kubica's best work, amongst those I've read, however, it was entertaining nonetheless. The story follows two couples, Jake & Nina and Lily & Christian. The couples' lives are upended when Jake goes missing and Lily seems to know something about it. Kubica establishes a cat and mouse dynamic between Nina and Lily, as Nina continues to search for Jake, and Lily and Christian work to obstruct her ability to do so. While I enjoyed this in the moment, I did find it largely foregettable. The characters and plot didn't stick with me, but thats not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you're in the mood for a fast-paced entertaining thriller. This is just that.
☕ : I saw someone describe this book as a 'popcorn read', which is exactly how I'd put it. Fast-paced and entertaining, but entirely forgettable (similar to Just the Nicest Couple above). This book follows a psychologist Chloe Davis, who is attempting to escape a dark past. Twenty years earlier, Chloe's father went to prison for the murder of six young girls in their town. In the present, Chloe struggles to deal with her past, and when multiple teenage girls begin to go missing around her, she feels like the past is happening all over again. Grab some popcorn, read this book, be entertained and then forget about it afterwards.
☕ : After I know what Riley Sager is capable of, I found myself dissapointed by his latest release, Middle of the Night. Ethan Marsh's best friend Billy disappeared while they were camping out in his backyard. No one sees Billy ever again. Thirty years later, Ethan is back at his parents house and he keeps seeing mysterious signs of Billy everywhere, causing him to reinvestigate what happened that night. Ethan is a nice enough protagonist, but this was dull. The plot moved slowly, the cast of characters was uninteresting, and the book was too long for how minimal the mystery was. Sager is capable of building great atmosphere and tension in a mystery (seen in The Only One Left), hence my dissapointment over how lacklustre and boring this was. Will definitely be checking out Sager's next work, but would not recommend this one.
☕ : If you're reading Mary Kubica, expect over-the-top mystery thrillers. Two women and a young girl go missing from a small community. 11 years later, the young girl returns reigniting an investigation into what happened all those years ago. We follow multiple perspectives both in the past and the present as the community attempts to reckon with what happened. Highly entertaining, fast-paced, and full of plot twists galore. The ending was ridiculous, requiring me to suspend all of my disbelief, yet I enjoyed it thoroughly.
☕ : Loved this! Lisa Jewell is an author who I've always enjoyed and her latest release was a solid 10/10. I absolutely loved the narrative structure of this. The book tells the story of Alix and Josie and their growing friendship. Alix is a podcaster and through a series of events begins to interview Josie for her podcast. The book begins at the end, where we the reader understand that something horrific has occurred between these two women and the podcast, and the rest of the book slowly reveals what happened. Josie and Alix are complex people and the slow-buildup of unease and tension in their friendship was fantastic to read. I would highly recommend the audiobook version of this book because the little podcast elements inserted were so much fun!
☕ : This is a Victorian mystery comedy series with a dash of romance. And I loved it. Veronica Speedwell is an independent lepidopterist (a person who studies butterflies - don't worry I needed to Google it as well) who is just living her life when she finds herself being abducted but is saved by a mysterious Baron. Then the Baron is murdered, and she finds herself under the protection of another mysterious, but very handsome man named Stoker. They then partner together to find out who killed the Baron. Veronica and Stoker are your classic enemies to friends to lovers (?) pair. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them develop their relationship. The tropes are clichéd but I don't care okay, it was so much fun! The will-they/wont-they is deliciously slow-burn and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
☕ : While the first book in this series was fantastic, the second book took me a while to get into. The first half is too consumed with setting up the plot. It's overly descriptive and dull, especially for a mystery/thriller. The second half matches the energy we saw in the first installment of the series. The action picks up and we finally see Veronica and Stoker in their element. I enjoyed watching their detective partnership develop further. Raybourn does a great job providing us more insight into their respective pasts and their mindset. Will definitely be continuing in this series.
☕ : Plot twist, after plot twist, after plot twist. This book is an incredibly slow burn. As in, I restarted this book about 4 times before actually getting into the plot. Simon and Vicky are married, but Simon runs into a woman from his past that threatens the life they have built. This then begins a series of elborate lies they tell each other and other people. This book will definitely have you questioning who is telling the truth and who is lying. This is another book where you may need to suspend your disbelief. The slow start of this book doesn't do it any favors, as it takes way too long to get to the meat of the plot. Regardless, I think this book is a lot of fun and a solid mystery/thriller. The little you know beforehand, the better it is.
☕ : This book started off so great! And then went completely, utterly off the rails. And you know I love over-the-top, but this made me feel like I started reading a different book at the 60% mark. But the first half? So much fun. Our main protagonist Alex gets an opportunity to join a writer's retreat hosted by a famous horror author, Roza Vallo. But unfortunately, her former best friend, Wren, is also invited. The vibe at this retreat is offputting and Alex begins to think that something very sinister is going on. The tension and mysterious elements surrounding the house and the other writers are excellent. Also, the frenemies/slightly homoerotic vibe between Alex and Wren was deliciously entertaining. There is one scene that takes place in the middle of the night near a stair bannister that had my jaw on the floor. Then... it all goes kaput for the sake of a plot twist. Almost amazing. But alas...it ended up being ridiculous instead.
☕ : An unexpected gem that I came across in the library. Joe is a college student who, like most college students, is very behind on his assignments. He needs to write the brief biography of a stranger, and ends up at a local nursing home where he ends up meeting Carl Iverson, a former Vietnam veteran and convicted murderer who is on his death bed. But when talking to Joe, Carl insists that he is innocent and has been in jail for a crime he never committed. With the help of his neighbor Lila, Joe decides to investigate Carl's story. Thoroughly enjoyed Eskens' writing and I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this book before. Eskens does an excellent job bringing up larger questions regarding the American justice system and trial process. I also really loved Joe as a character, his partnership with Lila, and their determination to get to the bottom of this case. Would highly recommend.
☕ : Even though What Lies in the Woods contains a lot of elements of other thriller books I read this year, this book completely caught me off guard. In this book, we follow Naomi, who was attacked and stabbed 17 times as a child and survived. Her testimony sent a man to prison, but when he dies in prison, Naomi feels like there was more to the story and that she may have sent the wrong man to jail. She decides to return back to her town and look into what actually happened that day. The ending of this book made me want to throw it across the room (in a good way). Marshall keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your seat the entire time. There are some conversations in here regarding mental health and illness that make me a bit wary to widely recommend this one. So I would recommend, but cautiously.
Short Stories
☕ : An excellent collection of folk tales centered around love, retold in modern day. Bolu Babalola is clear in her motivations for choosing specific folk/mythological tales to retell. I enjoyed seeing a mix of Greek, West African, and Middle Eastern stories in this collection. Some stories are definitely more strong than others, but overall, would recommend the read.
☕ : I loved, LOVED this collection. Deesha Philyaw writes a brilliant collection of short stories that touch on Black womanhood, religion, and the role of the church within one's upbringing and sense of self. The stories, 'Snowfall', 'Peach Cobbler', and 'Eula' were all favorites among the entire collection. I actually even shed a few tears during 'Snowfall', so that should tell you how I felt. Excellent collection and would HIGHLY recommend.
☕ : A speculative short story collection in which the vibe is 'out there'. These stories are meant to make readers feel slightly uneasy and uncomfortable, and wow did I enjoy them. 'Big Sur' made me laugh out loud multiple times (think if Tinder just went off the rails), 'The Bone Ward' (a very O.Henry-like twist at the end) was so offputting, and 'Moist House' made me confused (positive). Out There is excellent. Would highly recommend!
☕ : Oh what a dissapointment this was. I went into this book with high expectations given the cover and the promise of feminist literary short stories. With the exception of one or two stories, much of the collection was not interesting. I respect the main themes and ideas behind the collection. It is evident what Marshall's intent with the collection was. However, surprisingly, I found myself bored through most of it. The collection felt repetitive, and while the intent to critique, question and challenge was probably there, it felt unclear, muddled behind attempts to generate shock and surprise. I will be checking out Jessie Ren Marshall's work in the future, however this collection was not for me.
☕ : I had never heard of Tessa Hadley before coming across this book when perusing the library. Who knew you could randomly discover authors and books when you peruse the library collection with no agenda? This short story collection follows everyday people and the small events that change the course of their lives. Each story focuses on one particular moment in their life that changes their perspective of themselves and the people around them. This was a quiet, charming read that focused on making the mundane, compelling. I would recommend and look forward to checking out more of Hadley's backlist.
☕ : Enjoyed this collection of short stories centered on the Indian American experience. While I did find a few of the stories repetitive, with characters and plot lines seeming to blend together, I generally enjoyed Neel Patel's writing style. Personally, I think his writing style seems to lend itself better to a longer format, evident from how much more I enjoyed his full-length novel (Tell Me How To Be). Regardless, enjoyed this collection and would recommend.
Horror
☕ : An absolute banger of a novel. This book embodies the phrase 'Good for her'. It's colonial times in Connecticut and Abitha is a young farmer whose husband dies under mysterious circumstances. Since it is colonial times, the townspeople cannot handle the fact that a young woman wants to own land and take care of her farm herself. In enters this magical, mysterious forest entity Slewfoot who agrees to help Abitha. The last 20% of this book killed me. I think about it at least once a week. When I tell you I screamed...I'm not exaggerating. Abitha? Legendary. Slewfoot? Legendary? Abitha and Slewfoot together? Say it with me. Legendary. 11/10 would recommend.
☕ : I read this during a thunderstorm and despite the chicken that I am, I was actually more focused on the chemistry between the Priest and the main protagonist than the thunderstorm. So that should tell you something. The Hacienda follows the story of Beatriz who has been married, against her will to Don Rodolfo Solórzano. Beatriz moves into her new home but feels something is sinister and offputing with the house. She turns to Padre Andrés, a new young Priest in town, to help her understand what is going on with the Hacienda. Listen... I liked Padre Andrés and Beatriz okay. Sue me. Sure the Hacienda is creepy and there are lots of problems with the Solórzano family and all of that is interesting, but the chemistry between Padre Andrés and Beatriz was off the charts. This book made me realize that I just want some romance with my horror. Is that so much for a girl to ask?
☕ : So Cañas has written a book I gave five stars and a book I gave two stars. Well...she's got range. Nena and Néstor are the best of friends, but after Nena was attacked by a monster and Néstor felt that it was his fault, he runs away for nine years. When he returns, Nena wants nothing to do with him. Then the United States attacks Mexico (shocking) and they are on the front lines of battle to defend their country, when these blood sucking creatures (vampires) randomly appear and start causing absolute havoc on everyone. This book, in theory, should've been up my alley. Old friends? One has secretely been in love with the other for years? But I didn't like this, at all. Nena was so utterly frustrating that I paused reading this book for 4 months. Their relationship was tedious to read about, and I couldn't care less about either of them. Will I be reading from Cañas in the future? Absolutely. But this was so not for me.
Romance
☕ : So this was the year I ventured into cowboy romance. And boy was I pleasantly surprised. You know, once you get over the fact that the only term of endearment male protagonists use is 'sugar', it's not that bad. Here we are following Emmy who is a barrel racer (yes I needed to Google this) who has decided to return back to her small Wyoming town after an accident. She runs into her brother's best friend Luke and you know... sparks fly. I liked Emmy and Luke and their cringe dirty talk. They obviously had a lot of history, and their progression into a romantic relationship felt believable. Lyla Sage really took the phrase 'save a horse, ride a cowboy' to heart. Would recommend checking this one out.
☕ : So stupid, yet so fun. It's exactly what you expect. A woman moves into a new apartment and finds out that her mysterious, yet incredibly handsome, roommate is a vampire. I mean it's in the title. But this was so much fun and so ridiculous. I don't care that Cassie and Frederick basically fall in love in five minutes. Or that Frederick like barely has a personality. It was cute! I had fun! Bring back the unserious stupid romcom plz.
☕ : Every year, I come across a book that I hate so viscerally it causes me to have a complete meltdown on the podcast. This year, the book was The Rom-Commers. Listen, I have nothing against Katherine Center. This is the only book of hers that I've read. But wow, WOW, how has she managed to create such an annoying main protagonist and such a boring romance? Emma, an aspiring screenwriter, gets a chance to write a script with one of her favorite screenwriters, Charlie Yates. Emma absolutely loves romance while Charlie hates romance. Emma is also a self-obsessed know-it-all who loved to wallow in her own self-pity, while Charlie is a piece of cardboard. The misunderstanding trope was maxed out in this book because oh my god, Emma misunderstood everything. I despise when 30 year old adults act like 13 year old children. Hated this book.
☕ : A fantastic romantic comedy with one of my favorite tropes of all time and incredibly likable (and relatable) characters. Oh and the banter? THE BANTER. Excellent. Chefs kiss. I was sitting there blushing and giggling away watching Sewanee meet the mystery man of her dreams. The less you know about this, the better. Just know that a young audiobook narrator Sewanee Chester is working on narrating a romance novel while she finds a little romance for herself. Loved it.
Non-Fiction
☕ : This is a controversial opinion, so please hold on as I try to explain what did not work for me. Educated tells the story of Tara Westover as she recounts her childhood where she lived in the mountains of Idaho with survivalist parents, without any formal education until the age of 17. Westover recounts experiences of living with radical parents who did not believe in schools, abusive siblings, and learning how to function in the 'outside world'. My issue with this book was with how many important details were glossed over. Westover paints a picture of living in poverty and without access to many basic necessities. However, when talking about her childhood she talks of having multiple vehicles and living in a house with five bedrooms. She talks about visiting her family multiple times in a year when shes living in England as a PhD student, implying that she's doing an international flight multiple times a year on a PhD stipend. I do not doubt Westover's personal experiences with her parents and siblings, however, I personally feel that too many areas seem embelished for the sake of portraying Westover as an individual who grew up in abject poverty. Educated is an incredibly popular memoir with more readers who love the book than those who are questioning parts of the narrative. So despite my own misgivings about specific details of her financial background, I think Westover's experience is her experience and therefore not necessarily something to be questioned.
☕ : Ever read a book about a man describing his experience of almost dying? This is what this is. It is no secret that Salman Rushdie is one of the most celebrated novelists of his time, yet it took him almost dying for me to read one of his books. I guess I decided to start from his most recent. This book is heartwarming and hopeful and beautiful. It's about a man who has had an incredibly dramatic and horrific brush with death, reflecting on all that is good in his life. It's amazing and I loved it and I immediately went and bought the Satanic Verses (the book that essentially caused his brush with death in the first place). 12/10 would HIGHLY recommend.
What a reading year it has been. If you got this far, props to you for reading through all of this. Hopefully you had a fantastic reading year as well and I'll see you in 2025! Maybe I'll do 75 in 2025? Potentially 105 in 2025? Let's not get too ahead of ourselves 😅
Hope you all have a happy and healthy 2025!
