Favorite Read of 2024

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Now that the year is coming to a close, do you have a favorite book you read this year? To be fair, I should answer that question myself, shouldn't I?

This was a tough call. It's either Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier or The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. I think when it comes down to overall love for the book from start to finish, it has to be Rebecca. It was so atmospheric and I felt so deeply for the main character.

How about a least favorite? Is that fair to ask? Or a book you were most disappointed in? For me that was The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. I think I expected too much from it. But in the end, I was just glad when I was done reading it! None of the characters resonated with me and I really didn't care what happened to them.

I look forward to seeing your favorites and least favorites!

[Louie the Mustache]

Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Now that the year is coming to a close, do you have a favorite book you read this year? To be fair, I should answer that question myself, shouldn't I?

This was a tough call. It's either [book:Reb..."

I read numerous really good books, but I have to say that The Stand, by Stephen King, has given me many hours of pleasure. This was a re-read for me; however. having read it in the aftermath of a once in a lifetime pandemic felt especially relevant. Another King novel that I had never read, 11-22-63, is an intriguing time travel horror novel that would have to be called 1A.

Insofar as worst books, I only had one book rated a one-star this year, The Legion of Super-Heroes: Millenium TPB #1. If you were a fan of the Silver Age team, Bendis wipes his butt with that continuity and makes me want to scream at the disrespect at what those masters built.

BTW, Happy Holidays, Theresa, and everyone else on this thread.

[Adrienne L]

My favorite book of the year was Bear Season and one of my runners up was Life at the Precipice (underappreciated books alert!). The latter was actually called to my attention thanks to your review, Theresa.

Most disappointing was definitely Diavola.

The Final Girls Support Group was a dnf for me this year. I'm sure it would have ended up being one of the most disappointing if I had actually finished it.

[Phil (Theophilus)]

Fave was:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Runner up:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

As for not so stellar books, there was a time when i would doggedly persist in reading a book regardless of how deficient i thought it was but that philosophy has since changed. Life is too short and there are way too many books in my queue to as of yet enjoy and so i have learned to use dnf for the duds.

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Louie the Mustache wrote: "Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Now that the year is coming to a close, do you have a favorite book you read this year? To be fair, I should answer that question myself, shouldn't I?

This ..."

I started The Stand at the very beginning of 2020. So, the world knew Covid was out there, but nobody knew what it would become. And as things got more intense in the book, things also escalated with Covid. It was a very surreal reading experience! One I never could hope to repeat in the rest of my life, for sure.

I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Christmas, Louie!

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Adrienne L wrote: "My favorite book of the year was Bear Season and one of my runners up was Life at the Precipice (underappreciated books alert!). The latter was actually called to ..."

Oh Adrienne! I'm so glad you enjoyed Life at the Precipice! The author has a brand new book out, The Girl with Autumn Eyes. I have it loaded on my kindle, ready to read. I'm just a little scared I'm not going to enjoy it as much as I did his first book.

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Phil (Theophilus) wrote: "Fave was:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Runner up:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2......"

Hey Phil, thanks for adding to the discussion! I've heard good things about The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. I may add it to my TBR for 2025.

A book that has had a huge impact on me, in relation to your favorite book, is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It is essentially a guide to having a prayerful heart no matter what you're doing. I've read it a few times over the past several years. I should read it again soon.

[Adrienne L]

Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Adrienne L wrote: "My favorite book of the year was Bear Season and one of my runners up was Life at the Precipice (underappreciated books alert!). The latter was ..."

Unfortunately for me, The Girl with the Autumn Eyes is a romance, and that's not a genre that I enjoy. I do hope you like it.

[Balthazarinblue]

My favourite book of the year was Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror by Mitchell Lüthi. I even splurged and backed the publisher's Kickstarter for a fancy gold-edged, faux leather bound hardback copy. I think it's mostly underappreciated for being a locally (South African) indie published horror. It's hard enough for authors to get word out about their books here, let alone be seen internationally. It is available for Kindle and has an audiobook on Audible.

A close runner up was Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, a collection of short horror stories by Chinese authors. What set it apart for me was the translator/editor/compiler's notes throughout. The whole collection is aimed at introducing foreign audiences to Chinese culture, folklore and traditions. She did such a great job explaining the context of why certain horror tropes are popular in China, and how the structure of traditional Chinese horror stories differs from Western horror. I found the whole thing fascinating and helped me appreciate Chinese horror more when I come across it. (Plus it introduced me to some great authors I might not otherwise have encountered.)

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Adrienne L wrote: "Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Adrienne L wrote: "My favorite book of the year was Bear Season and one of my runners up was Life at the Precipice (underapp..."

I don't actively seek out romance novels. It's probably my least favorite genre. But I'll still give this one a try because I enjoyed the author's first book so much. I'm hoping it isn't a disappointment.

[Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem)]

Balthazarinblue wrote: "My favourite book of the year was Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror by Mitchell Lüthi. I even splurged and backed the publisher's Kickstarter for a fancy gold-edged, fau..."

Thanks for sharing these books, Balthazar! I'm going to look into both of them. I love celebrating independent authors and I'm glad Pilgrim is available on KU. And the Chinese horror anthology sounds intriguing!

[Adrienne L]

Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Adrienne L wrote: "Theresa (mysteries.and.mayhem) wrote: "Adrienne L wrote: "My favorite book of the year was Bear Season and one of my runners up was [book:Life at the Precipice|1..."

Who knows? If you like it, I might even be tempted to try it! I do have exceptions to my no-romance policy - Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books. I'll keep an eye out for your review!

[Adrienne L]

Balthazarinblue wrote: "My favourite book of the year was Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror by Mitchell Lüthi. I even splurged and backed the publisher's Kickstarter for a fancy gold-edged, fau..."

It's great that you supported a local, indie author. It sounds like a beautiful edition. Some of the indie horror I have read has really blown me away and it's a great shame that some of these authors can't get into the mainstream to get more eyes on their work. One of my favorite books last year was Old Farmhouses of the North, which is a short story collection. I came across it through my KU subscription and have ordered a physical copy that I'm planning a reread of in the coming year.

I'm putting Sinophagia on my TBR. I've seen a couple of people reading it here and there, and it sounds terrific. Thanks for calling it back to my attention.

[ZeeZee]

Hmm, the two books that I really liked in ‘24 would have to be ‘Thirteen’ by Steve Cavanagh and ‘Funny Story’ by Emily Henry.
Reading them for yourself would be a better way to figure out why they were my top rated for the year haha.
(I’m using the gr app and unfortunately cannot add a link to these through it) :/

My least favourite ones would have to be ‘The Paris Widow’ and ‘The Boyfriend’ by Frieda McFadden:
The former because it started off on such a good start until the author didn’t know how to detangle the mess and then completed the book just because she couldn’t leave it undone. Also it’s a slightly unknown one, so I had higher hopes from it.

The latter because I loved ‘The Housemaid’ by her, and her writing to keep you hooked is something that I wholly appreciate. But the anomalies and the weird ending just didn’t do it for me. Not to mention how Frieda is such a huge name in the thriller genre, so that wasn’t expected from her.

There were other massive disappointments too, but since they’re majorly from the dark-taboo-mafia romance genre ( something that I already abhor and have zero expectations from), they’re not even worth mentioning.

It was an okay-ish year, with not many great books that changed my personality for a little while after reading them or kept me thinking about them for long after they ended. Hoping my (and your) 2025 is better!
Cheers!