The Best, The Worst, & Everything In Between

2024 in my books could be defined as: a circus in need of a dictionary. But despite all of that I still managed to read 45 books! After last year, when I surpassed my reading goal in June, I said that I was going to try and read bigger (longer) books this year to, in a way, slow myself down. Did I really read bigger books? Not really. Did it slow me down? Also no, not really. But I read some big books, I read some small books; I loved a few books, and hated some others. Without further ado, my 2024 reading wrap-up.

The Almost Favourites

Starting off with books that just didn't make it to my favourites. These are generally 4 star books, I only give 5 stars to the best of the best and it's tough competition to get up there.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I still sometimes think about this story. I read it last January, and especially now that it is winter again, I can't help but still think about it. A lot of my almost favourites are like this, books that stick with me, and like some (not all) of my other almost favourites I think on a reread this has the potential to become a favourite.

The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Circe by Madeline Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mythos by Stephen Fry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Lady's Guide To Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Careering by Daisy Buchanan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Haroun and The Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Our Maud: The Life, Art, and Legacy of Maud Lewis by Ray Cronin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Language of The Night: Essays on Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy by Ursula K. Le Guin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, the Flesh, and L.A. by Eve Babitz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirley Jackson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sex & Rage by Eve Babitz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Almost Horrible

Next we have the best of the worst, if you will. These are generally 2 stars (with some low 3 star) books that I didn't hate but I would never really go to reread or recommend to anyone... ever.

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon ⭐️⭐️

I feel like one way to describe this book is "so basic it hurts". Like it was a book. It is a thing that I read. And I didn't completely hate it... but... it wasn't good. I think I feel this way especially because it was a murder mystery and it has such a basic plot line. I was really hoping that it would have a fun twist, but no. BASIC!

The Ruthless Ladies Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner ⭐️⭐️

The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde ⭐️⭐️

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ⭐️⭐️

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Women by Kristin Hannah ⭐️⭐️

The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada ⭐️⭐️

Selected Poems by Sylvia Plath ⭐️⭐️

Nightcrawling by Lelia Motely ⭐️⭐️

The Worst of 2024

I hated these. 1 Star. Bad bad bad bad bad.

The Middle Stories by Shelia Heti ⭐️

My "official" review of this book was "go girl, give us nothing" like that one tweet about Dua Lipa's old performances, and I wrote that because literally there is nothing of substance in the many, many very short stories in this collection. I just bought it because there was a mermaid on the cover but I regret spending like $14 on it (or whatever it was).

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ⭐️

The "It's Giving Mid"

What can I say other than these are some mid books? Didn't love them. Didn't hate them. Would be open to rereading them.

My Antonia by Willa Cather ⭐️⭐️⭐️

There is no better book to represent this category than My Antonia because I literally had no feelings towards this book. I felt so extremely neutral on this book. I read it with one of my bookclubs, and when I was asked how I felt there was really not much I could say (which everyone pointed out was quite out of character for me because I always have A LOT to say about books).

Mind The Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levitham ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Looking For Alaska by John Green ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again: Women and Desire in the Age of Consent by Katherine Angel ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brother by David Chariandy ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Best of 2024

5 stars. The loves of my life. There are five books in this category but I will admit that 3 out of the 5 are rereads that I knew I loved (and were already 5 stars).

Vanity Fair by Willam Makepeace Thackery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

However, Vanity Fair was not one of the rereads. Listen, it is a LONG BOOK, my verison was 719 pages, and for the first 50ish pages I wasn't super sold. But it is good! It is literally laugh out loud funny, and the writing is incredible. I also love Captain Dobbin, he's my fave <3 This was also my last book of the year, and I think it was a great read to close out 2024.

The Night Parade by Katherine Tanquary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Gods We Can Touch by Aurora Aksnes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Other

I've never not rated a book until this year. The following three books I gave no stars for a couple of reasons but all under the umbrella of "I don't know how I feel about them".

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

Every Single Second by Tricia Springstubb

Want to Read More?

Here are some of my other articles of the year that feature reviews for some of the books mentioned above.

books-that-feel-like-a-movie

got-the-post-bridgerton-blues

notes-on-confessions-of-a-jane-austen-addict-by-laurie-viera-rigler