The Reading Nook: 2024 Roundup
~This post contains affiliate links. If you’re interested in any of these books, please consider purchasing through the link provided. It gives me a little bit of Jeff Bezos’ filthy, filthy lucre because writing full time is expensive, and he doesn’t need the money for more joyrides in space. 
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I did really well, this year. I read a lot of books, way more than my average- 23!
Bridgerton Series, by Julia Quinn (all 8)
I doubt that by the Year of Our Lord 2025, I have to explain the Bridgerton series. Especially if this isn’t your first encounter with my content, you know what Bridgerton is. When she was still around, Breanna had read the books and advised me, under no uncertain phrasing, not to read the books. She was convinced that I would not like them.
She was largely right, romance is not my thing. But the tv show never lasts long enough, does it? That said, I did enjoy Benedict’s story (come on, Season 4!) and Gregoy’s next best. Though to be fair, Daphne’s still holds up, and Eloise’s has so many details that were teased in SEASON 1, I was actually pretty impressed with Shonda Rymes, which is not something I concede often.
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
AGAIN
I read Northanger Abbey again. Nothing new to report, but I did read it, so it goes on the list. If you want a full review, please let me know. I actually really want to do one.
I did read it because I like it, but also, I’m working on a thing.
Continuing my efforts to finish the Jane Austen canon before passing judgement, I took a bite out of Emma. I usually enjoy the movie adaptations, so I had high hopes, but was ultimately disappointed.
*NOTE TO ADD YET AGAIN* Not every piece of media is for everyone. If you are a big Jane Austen fan, that’s great, you are in the majority. I’m not shitting on her as a person, a woman, an author, a satirist, a trailblazer; nor am I shitting on her work. I just don’t like most of it. Just not my thing.
THAT SAID, I didn’t hate Persuassion. Probably the next best after Northanger, in my opinion. High drama, a relatable protagonist, an awkward brooding hero who doesn’t get under my skin the way Darcy does.
8/10
Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
I did hate Mansfield Park. Dreary, boring, relentless.
Official Ranking of Jane Austen Books, According to Avon Van Hassel and No One Else:
Northanger Abbey Persuassion Emma Sense and Sensibility Pride and Prejudice Mansfield ParkI have not read Lady Susan, The Watsons, or Sanditon. I will get to them eventually, but I think I have all the data I need already.
Now, Ridiculous!. I got this from BookBub a thousand years ago, got a few pages in, liked it, but then forgot about it. Came back this year during my Bridgerton withdrawal, and, you guys.
It’s a bit Twelfth Night, right. A woman is widowed and she and her three daughters find themselves destitute, so she throws herself on the mercy of a wealthy relative. He takes them in but forces them to be his servants. Then he dies, and the plain-Jane eldest daughter fakes her own death so that she can assume his identity and use his money to look after her mother and sisters. On her way to check out properties, she encounters a duke and his sister in a carriage crash on the road. She falls in love with the duke, but oh no! She’s supposed to be a man! So she has to keep it locked down. Meanwhile, the sister falls in love with her!
Chaos ensues. I love it.
Tone shift.
This book is DEVASTATING. It cooked my brain, and I love it. To be clear, I didn’t enjoy it, it’s horrible. But it is fascinating.
I buried the lead, lol. The Five is the story of the Canonical Five victims of Jack the Ripper. Record and testimony-based evidence about their lives and who they were, and how they likely came to cross paths with the most notorious serial killer, arguably, ever.
Rough read.
This is a genderbent, paranormal, modern high school AU retelling of Northanger Abbey. I was excited, but to be honest, it fell a little short, for me. It didn’t really go all the way in any of its premises: some characters are genderbent and others aren’t, some characters keep their original personalities and some don’t. It is paranormal, but the bits that are paranormal are a departure from NA. I think it couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be. Still fun, though.
Death Comes to Pemberly, by PD James
I tried, guys. I keep trying to like Pride and Prejudice. I read Death Comes to Pemberley, I watched the show. I have read P&P, watched the 1995 and 2006, read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, watched the movie. I’ve even listened to an audioplay, hoping that the narration was the part I don’t like.
Nope. I don’t like Lizzie, Darcy, or the story lol. I like Jane and Bingley. I want their spinoff.
The Haunting of Bryn Wilder, by Wendy Webb
I discovered Wendy Webb a couple of years ago with Daughters of the Lake, which was very good. The Haunting of Brynn Wilder was less to my taste. I think I just like Kate better than Brynn. Brynn is a bit brooding, a bit suggestible, a bit cow-eyed. She has just lost her mother and that’s why she has gone on holiday, and that’s relatable. She goes on about it a little too much for my taste, but everyone handles grief differently, so I can forgive that. But she herself is a bit too Good and willing to believe the things she ought to be skeptical of. She is described as skeptical and curious, but her actual actions are too credulous to me. And a lot of the other characters are too earnest for me. I need a bit more conflict. It’s a bit Hallmark.
But that setting detail, though. Wendy Webb really shines through her love of the town and the hotel and the Great Lakes area.
Y’all, my sister wrote a book! She worked on this for years, so please give it a look.
Durante Melias is a gifted but struggling chemist when he meets Urania, Eldest Sister of the Muses (dedicated blog post coming, but check out this post,) who decides to take him under her wing. Meanwhile, the Goddess of Luck, Tyche, falls under a curse of greed. Chaos ensues, throwing the entire Greek pantheon to the whims of their wildest traits. Think Disney’s Hercules meets BBC’s Atlantis meets the Everworld series? Did you guys ever read those?
Obstreporous! is the sequel to Ridiculous!, focusing on the main characters’ little sisters and their summer spent together, looking for husbands and adventure. It takes place immediately after the events of Ridiculous! It is a bit Northanger Abbey, actually, with a holiday to a haunted abbey, awful suitors, complicated girl friendships, and overly adventurous girls.
The Wyrd Sisters, by Sir Terry Pratchett
My 1.5 forray into Terry Pratchett. I KNOW, I KNOW. I should have read Sir Terry years ago. I didn’t, ok? No reason, I just didn’t. But now I have to because I used to be a massive Neil Gaiman fan, and he turned out to be a creep, so I have to slide to the Pratchett fandom if I want to carry on loving Good Omens, which is a pillar of my identity.
Anyway, I started with this one because it was recommended to be because of my witchy inclinations, but also because it is a retelling of Macbeth, which appeals to me, as Shakespeare girlie.
So fine, I’m a Terry Pratchett girl, now. Obviously, the witches are the main draw here, and I did really enjoy their Maiden/Mother/Crone and Wiccan/Wise Woman/Wicked Witch archetypes. It feels like Sir Terry really did his research and approached it from a respectful place. As someone who has lived all of those aspects, I didn’t feel mocked or dismissed, more I enjoyed the gags as someone who gets it. They each have their distinct personalities, inner lives, strengths and weaknesses, interpersonal interactions. I think they were handled really well. I enjoyed it.
Witches Abroad, by Sir Terry Pratchett
Whoo boy, this one was a whirlwind. It’s a bunch of fairytale references in a trenchcoat, including the Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, the Princess and the Frog, Through the Looking Glass, and the Thursday Next series. The premise is that stories are kind of like fate, they are sentient in a way, and will impose themselves wherever they are allowed. We have a new witch archetype, the Godmother, as well as the fairytale trope of Good and Evil Sisters. We explore even more of the witches’ personalities, the ethics of magic, and a very New World brand of witchcraft that adds a sort of AHS flavour. If you know, you know.
Hollow, by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, and Berenice Nell
So, while most of the books on this list were audiobooks, this one is a graphic novel! It was gifted to me a couple of years ago because my friend knows what a Sleepy Hollow nerd I am (dedicated blog post coming later this year!), and I love it. This is a genderbent (ish), sequel-retelling queer coming-of-age high school au lol. It makes sense in a way that Ghosted! doesn’t as much. It’s very cute and fun and has a hell of a twist that I in no way saw coming.
The Tale of Halcyon Crane, by Wendy Webb
I loved Daughters of the Lake, but this one is a very close second. It has everything you want in a spooky story- witchcraft, hauntings, repressed memories, family secrets, false identities, illicit affairs. It’s The Others meets Practical Magic meets The Secret Garden meets that one Marple with the poppies and cornflowers- you know the one. Halcyon Crane finds out that the mother she thought was dead her whole life only recently died, leaving her a house on a remote island. She returns to find out why she was taken away so young, and uncovers some very dark family secrets. It’s a fun spooky ride, I recommend reading it in the bath.
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So there you have it, the 23-ish books I read in 2024. Have you read any of these, do you have any thoughts on them? What did you read?
