Best and Worst of 2024

[Janice, Moderator]

I just got an email from Goodreads with my year in review. I'll take that as an indication that it's time for us to share our top 5 and bottom 5 reads of the year.

[Marnie]

Best
There Are Rivers in the Sky
The Underground Library
The Will of the Many
The Evolution of Annabel Craig
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent

Worst
How High We Go in the Dark
Forever, Interrupted
The Heirloom
Ladyparts
The Blackbird Oracle- most disappointing

[Roz]

I love this time of year. It gives me an opportunity to look back at what I read and remember. I also like to see what others have read and what I can add to my tbr or avoid.
I've left out series books even though I loved some of them.

Best (all 5 ⭐)
The Women
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The River We Remember
All the Colors of the Dark Wonderful
A Calamity of Souls

Worst
Hum The absolute worst, for me
The Orphan Train
The Leftover Woman
The Phoenix Crown
Home Safe

[Janice, Moderator]

Marnie wrote: "Best
There Are Rivers in the Sky
The Underground Library
The Will of the Many
The Evolution of Annabel Craig
[book:Shakespeare: Th..."

I'm glad I didn't get How High We Go in the Dark then, and I was curious about the Blackbird Oracle. Nix to them both.

[Janice, Moderator]

For the 5 stars:

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
A Hard Day for a Hangover
All the Broken Places
Only the Beautiful
The Nature of Fragile Things
How the Penguins Saved Veronica

For the worst of the worst:
The Dry Grass of August
Tumbling
The Preacher
Murder at Queen's Landing - the narrator's fault
Crow Mary

I think Pretty Girls that I'm reading right now will find it's way close to the bottom.

[Janice, Moderator]

And I can't count obviously!

[Saar The Book owl]

My best books:
Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries (and the other books in the series)
Pax, Journey Home
The Salt Path
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
Clytemnestra

And many more!

My worst books:
The Happy Cat's Detective
Predator X
The Memory Police (DNF)

Only 3 of them. That's good :)

[Jayme, Moderator]

2025

Book Love:
Stoner
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
There Are Rivers in the Sky
The Frozen River
The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle

Why Were They Written?
Rhapsodic - this book angered me so much (older man/younger girl, predator, grooming - all ok because that's what they do in the paranormal world?!)
The Winter Lodge
This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together
The Sisters of Glass Ferry
The London Séance Society

[Kristie, Moderator]

I always love looking at everyone's lists in this thread. But, I have a very difficult time creating my own.

[Janice, Moderator]

This could be a dangerous thread. The favourite reads tend to end up on my wishlist.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "This could be a dangerous thread. The favourite reads tend to end up on my wishlist."

Absolutely.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Jayme wrote: "2025

Book Love:
Stoner"

I also loved The Frozen River and gave it 4 stars. I hadn't read such a good historical fiction in a while...

[Sandra, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I always love looking at everyone's lists in this thread. But, I have a very difficult time creating my own."

Same here. I feel I'm being unfair with so many books!

[Sandra, Moderator]

The Best
I had a really good year, with 14 5-stars books. This is very unusual. And I am counting only novels, since I also read many short stories this year and quite a few got 5 stars too. It was really hard to pick only 5, but here they are:

Fight Club
The Martian Chronicles
Into the Wild
Homeland
Society of the Snow

The not so good
I only have three to list, since I rated everything else 3-stars or higher. I guess that is a good thing.

Salt Fish Girl -> 1 star. I hated it.
Hang the Moon -> 2 stars. Bland and boring.
Long Island Compromise -> 2 stars. Disappointing.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "And I can't count obviously!"

I love the first person to break the very loose rules was you :D

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "I always love looking at everyone's lists in this thread. But, I have a very difficult time creating my own."

I agree. I also wait until I finish all my yearly reads, so am always one of the laggers.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "I only have three to list, since I rated everything else 3-stars or higher. I guess that is a good thing."

Sounds like a great reading year!!

[Janice, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "The Best
I had a really good year, with 14 5-stars books. This is very unusual. And I am counting only novels, since I also read many short stories this year and quite a few got 5 stars too. It was..."

This was a great year for you. I had 6, so just listed them all.

[Janice, Moderator]

Rusalka wrote: "Janice wrote: "And I can't count obviously!"

I love the first person to break the very loose rules was you :D"

Obviously, I don't follow directions well, even when they're my own.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Was a wonderful example of "do what I say, not do what I do" :P

[Sandra, Moderator]

The way I see it Janice is reinforcing the rules. She is saying "doing this is breaking the rules and don't think I won't notice if you break them because I will know right away".

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL!

[Heather]

Fun thread! My five favorite reads for the year are:

Margo's Got Money Troubles
Listen for the Lie
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Demon Copperhead
and an older publication (2018) A Place for Us

Five that were big L's for me:
The Au Pair Affair
Iron Hearted Violet
Not in Love
Sandwich
Nathan Coulter

[Sarah]

Definitely a dangerous thread. I haven't read a huge amount of books this year so this will be both easy and hard to compile.

Best:
The Hidden Queen
Whispers Under Ground
Holly
The Midnight Library
The Beggar King
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
these were all 5 stars for me

Worst:
Travel by Bullet but I still enjoyed it and it rounded the series of novellas off nicely

[Amanda]

Best
Ordinary Grace
Shark Heart
Holy Sister
Starling House
Daisy Darker

Worst
The Resort
The Busy Body

I had a really good reading year! There were a lot of 5-star books to choose from, and the two listed are my only 1- and 2-star books.

[Lilisa]

I didn’t have as many favorites this year as in years past. I gave five stars to only four books. I snuck in a fifth best because I really liked Akmaral as a high four stars.

BEST:
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

The Opium Prince by Jasmine Aimaq

My Friends by Hisham Matar

A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City by Edward Chisholm

Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh


WORST:
Weyward by Emilia Hart

The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche

[Janice, Moderator]

Lilisa wrote: "I didn’t have as many favorites this year as in years past. I gave five stars to only four books. I snuck in a fifth best because I really liked Akmaral as a high four stars.

BEST:
..."

I have There Are Rivers in the Sky on my wishlist. I've read 2 of her books and enjoyed both.. I didn't care for Weyward either. It was such a disappointment.

[Lilisa]

Janice wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "I didn’t have as many favorites this year as in years past. I gave five stars to only four books. I snuck in a fifth best because I really liked Akmaral as a high four stars.

BEST:..."

Janice - I hope you enjoy There Are Rivers in the Sky when you get to it. I see it made Marnie’s and Jayme’s Best list too, yay! Weyward - I was so surprised when I learned it won two Goodreads Awards in 2023 - Historical Fiction and Debut Novel. Wow, it was not for me…and you either!😊

[Janice, Moderator]

I don't give any heed to the Goodread's awards any more. For them to be accurate, one needs to read all the books nominated in a category to make an informed vote. But, I suspect people are voting for the book they've read or the book they want to read. I like following them to see what books are nominated.

[Sarah]

I had been looking forward to Weyward but perhaps I'll leave it after seeing the comments here

[Almeta]

5 stars
Bump in the Night
A Certain Hunger
Becoming the Boogeyman
I Am Not a Serial Killer

Hissy-Fic
The Pecan Man

Fantasy
Shark Heart

Get a Room
The List (I'm sooo ashamed!)

2 stars
The Ginger Man (Don't get Irish humor, apparently.)
When You Are Engulfed in Flames (My final try at David, no more)
The Bachelors (Not fond of Muriel either, but I keep trying.)
Here We Go Again: My Life in Television (Love Betty but not her books)

1 star
Waste of Space (and time )

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Okay! Finished my 2024 reading. I always wait on this until the new year, as I seem to either end the year with a best or a worst.

Best:
Only two 5 stars for me this year
One Hundred Years of Dirt
Broken Harbour

4.5 reads
Broken Homes
Uprooted
HHhH

Worst
No 1 stars this year, but a couple of 2 stars
Nightlife
The Passport
The Final Passage
The Wind Knows My Name

Edit: I forgot I abandoned/paused a book. I am not sure if I will go back to it... I don't know if I was the problem or if it was. Anyway, it is Crystal Rain

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Almeta wrote: "1 star
Waste of Space (and time )"

Bwhahaha!!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sarah wrote: "I had been looking forward to Weyward but perhaps I'll leave it after seeing the comments here"

Oh bugger, I gave this to my Mum.

[Sharon]

Best 2024 (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Skin of the Sea, Natasha Bowen
The Lioness, Chris Bohjalian
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon
The Story of Arthur Truluv, Elizabeth Berg


Worst Books 2024 (⭐️)

Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, Sara Gran
Caramel Macchiato Murder, Laura Pauling
Secret Legacy, Carissa Andrews
Death Trap, Charles J. Thayer

[Sandra, Moderator]

It seems THE FROZEN RIVER was a favorite this year.

[Fiona]

Best
Butcher & Blackbird
The da Vinci Code
Five Survive
A Court of Mist and Fury
The Alchemist

Worst
Surviving Year One
Wolf Hollow
The Other Woman
The Unmothers
Skating On Thin Ice

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "It seems THE FROZEN RIVER was a favorite this year."

I didn't create a list, but I think it was my favorite of the year. I narrowed it down to top 10 and then just gave up. lol

[Sandra, Moderator]

It would have been in my favorites list if it wasn't only 5 books! I had to decide! But it was really good.

[Roz]

I read The Frozen River after I posted my list. It was one of my favorites for the year. I've recommended it to several friends.

[Jayme, Moderator]

I'm hosting my Face2Face book circle this month, and we will be discussing the Frozen River. I loved that book.

[Sandra, Moderator]

It was also a book club pick for me, Jayme. We discussed it in November, I think. I was very interesting. We all agreed it had a great sense of time and place, which many of the new historical fiction novels lack of.

[Almeta]

Rusalka wrote: "Okay! Finished my 2024 reading. I always wait on this until the new year, as I seem to either end the year with a best or a worst. ..."

Yeah, I should have waited! i gave group read James 5 stars on 31 Dec!

[Margo]

Sarah wrote: "I had been looking forward to Weyward but perhaps I'll leave it after seeing the comments here"

Ooh, I already own Weyward and The London Séance Society! I'll give them a go but disappointed to see them on "worst" lists.

[Margo]

Jayme wrote: "2025

Book Love:
Stoner
..."

Yay! I loved Stoner. It sounds like it's going to be really dry but it is so engrossing. I love a good character study.

[Margo]

BEST
Skyward Represents the entire series!
We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast
Scenes of a Graphic Nature
Glorious Exploits
Clytemnestra


WORST (not terrible but disappointing, 2 or 3 star)
Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman
The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
All the Broken Places
The Blurred Lands

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm looking forward to Skyward. I've plugged it into my list challenge somewhere.

[Margo]

It's really good. I don't usually enjoy YA but Sanderson is the exception!