In 2024 I read 75 books. For me, this is a lower final count
than the past couple of years but 2024 has been busy with advanced family
history courses at BYU-Idaho and weekly service in the temple. Plus, 75 books a
year averages 1.4 books a week which is still a lot of reading!
I finished a series that I’ve been enjoying for a year and a
half: the Hamish MacBeth series by M. C. Beaton. The final couple of books have
been authored by another person (R. W. Green) but he has done a great job with the
beloved main character. The audiobooks are a joy to listen to with the reader’s
Scottish accent. Hamish is funny, loyal, reckless, and a fool in the area of romance.
My favorite nonfiction books of the year (there are too many
to pick only one) include “The ONE Thing” by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan which
was truly inspiring. I love the invitation to dream big; I’ve made some big
ones for myself! My favorite books to read are true crime novels that are
solved with genealogy and this year I read three excellent ones: “The Forever
Witness” by Edward Humes, “The Seven Daughters of Eve” by Bryan Sykes, and “I
Know Who You Are” by Barbara Rae-Venter. I just can’t get enough of the subject.
It is so fascinating! If I really wanted to, I could become a forensic investigative
genealogist. It’s a possibility…
My favorite fiction books include “Ordinary Grace” by William Kent Krueger and his follow up “This Tender Land.” These are excellent books full of interesting people, a little mystery, and a lot of drama. I read several of William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series this year which are also very good. “Genesis” by Robin Cook is one of a medical thriller series which I enjoyed very much. I listened to “The Secret of the Old Clock” by Carolyn Keene on audiobook with Maggie and we both loved it. How have I never read Nancy Drew books before?! After watching “The Hunt for Red October” with Matt and Klaus, I read “Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy and thoroughly enjoyed it. I plan to read more Jack Reacher books in 2025. A children’s classic that will make you laugh out loud is “Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume. One of my favorites from 2024 was "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver. This book will move through you; you won't be able to forget it when you're finished. It's gritty and rough, sad and difficult. These are adjectives that usually describe books I don't like but this book was different. I couldn't stop listening as I had to find out what happened to the main character.
Another noteworthy and inspiring nonfiction from this year was
“Ultra Processed People” by Chris Van Tulleken. Even my dad was inspired by
this author to make changes to his diet. I actually plan to read it again in
2025. Oh, and here’s another good nonfiction: “Furious Hours” by Casey Cep which
is about Harper Lee’s interest in writing a true crime novel about mysterious
murders in Alabama that she never ended up writing. Oh, and here’s one more! “The
Stranger Beside Me” by Ann Rule; it would be unbelievable if it wasn’t true!
Books I didn’t enjoy: “Nellie Bly, Ten Days in a Madhouse,”
(boring) “The Irish Inheritance” by M. J. Lee (uninteresting), and “The Frog
Princess” by E. D. Baker (too fluffy).
I read a biography of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson which
taught me a lot about the man who is now a celebrity. There was a lot of
swearing but I was able to overlook that, and I learned a lot about the principles
Elon Musk is committed to.
What were your favorite books of 2024? I've already started some good ones in 2025!
1 comment:
Hey! Good to "see" you here! I'm going to put some of your book on my TBR list. I don't know how you didn't read Nancy Drew as a kid, either! I read ALL of them over and over and over again as a kid. How could only 5.5 years separate us so much??!
I don't have anything to offer you at the moment. My reading list was sadly small (for me) this year. But I can say I really liked Ainsley Arment's books about homeschooling and being outdoors. Maybe you'll like them, too, now that you have kids asking to be homeschooled again!
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