Great Reads 2024 Edition
According to goodreads, I’ve read 112 books in 2024, to date. (I expect I might be missing a couple I listened to on audio and will probably squeeze in a couple more before the year ticks over.)
I think, if I were to sum up my reading in 2024 in one word, that word would be “escapism.” It was kind of a tough year, and I definitely spent some time hiding in cozy mysteries and haunted house novels. You know the kind that don’t overtax the brain, can be read in an afternoon, and the reader knows, from page one, that everything will be resolved by the end of the book, whether that’s the bad guy caught, or the wandering spirits put to rest.
Many of us, I am sure, were looking for happy endings and closure this year. While these kinds of books are a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, none of them were exceptional literature or the kind of immersive tale one is quick to recommend to a friend.
That being said, I did read a bunch of five-star books that I would recommend. Picking a favorite is impossible, so here’s my list of twelve outstanding reads, in no particular order.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown, dystopian scifi
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, thriller
Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles: book 2) by TJ Klune, LGBTQIA+ fantasy
Still the Sun by Charlie N. Holmberg, fantasy
What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier Series: book 1) by T. Kingfisher, LGBTQIA+ horror
bonus book: What Feasts at Night (book 2 in the series)
Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield, historical fantasy
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, southern gothic horror
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy: book 1) by N.K. Jemisin, fantasy
bonus books: The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods (books 2 & 3 in the series)
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods, magical realism
The Woods All Black (novella) by Lee Mandelo, LGBTQIA+ horror
Butcher the Doll (novella) by Charlie Rogers, LGBTQIA+ scifi
Obviously, my tastes run towards speculative fiction. Of the twelve, seven were written by women, four were LGBTQIA+ fiction, but only one written by a person of color. I’ll definitely be looking to expand that for the 2025 TBR pile. What did you read in 2025 that you think we should all add to our lists of “must reads”?
