I finished this year having finished the most in several years, 92 total including audiobooks. I feel like I’m getting pickier in my ratings, where 5 stars is a lot harder to come by. In random order here are my top reads of 2024. Please share your favorites too. Happy New Year!
I also had some favorites on audio!
While I didn’t read as many as usual because of an out-of-state move and working in an office full-time, it was still a standout year for reading.
Seems I leaned heavily into lighter romcoms. These were books I read this year, not necessarily published this year. Here’s my Top 12 in no particular order.
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What were your favorites for 2022? Happy New Year!
Another great year of new releases in all categories.
Rather than break my top reads into categories, I am sharing my Top 15 of the year. I’m sharing these in no particular order, just my absolute favorites.
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Please share your favorites of the year. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
It’s a longer list than normal this year. So many outstanding reads broken out into 4 categories, plus 2 surprises I highly recommend preordering for 2020. These are books I read in 2019 — they may have been published earlier. For more information on each book, click directly on the image.
I’d love to hear what you considered favorites this year. Leave me a comment below and have a happy, healthy, and safe New Year!
I am someone who has the hardest time suspending disbelief, especially when reading or watching something contemporary. Then I got my hands on 11/22/63 by Stephen King and sped through all 849 pages at a pace I couldn’t believe. Last year I read The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain and thought it was her best book to date.
Cantor, like King, manages to create not only a love story involving time travel, but kept historically accurate by writing about real events, just using fictional characters. Readers, suspend your disbelief, because this is a book you too will end up loving.
Yes, it’s a love story between Max and Hanna. But it’s also a love story between Hanna and her violin. I can’t say classical music generally gets me giddy and excited but I felt the love for this instrument. It brought the characters peace and in one case, was the difference between life and death.
When I first read Margot by Cantor, I knew I’d be a huge fan of hers moving forward. She is able to be inventive while holding true to history, all of which can be said with her newest story.
If you like historical fiction, characters that come alive off the page, and books where the pages keep turning, you’ll want to make this your next read.
My thanks to Get Red PR for the review copy.
I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader. U.S. only, please. Enter on the Rafflecopter. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Usually with historical fiction, you have your story set in another place and time, and follow the events that happened. The story can be outstanding, as you are transported.
Jane Healey truly blew me away with this novel. Not only was it a new story attached to World War II, which is so hard to do these days, but it was filled with romance, adventure, laughter, and most importantly, a story of friendship.
She tells the history of the Clubmobile Girls, women who joined the Red Cross towards the end of the war, who showed up making doughnuts and coffee and provided a morale boost to those fighting on the front lines. Sometimes they were there to dance with them, and other times they brought them mail.
I’m not sure how close these girls got to the front lines necessarily, but in this fictionalized version, they sure did. I loved the connection between Fiona, Dottie, and Viv. I wanted to join their trio because they seemed like such a fun bunch. Fiona, the leader and level-headed one, whose intention to travel to Europe during the war really served a different purpose. Dottie, whose shyness worked well as a schoolteacher back home, but needs to find out how to fit in now. And Viv, ready to offer a dance or a smile to anyone who might need it. This courageous group’s strength and stamina were tested during the war.
You’d be surprised, but I often found myself smiling through this book. At times it was a difficult subject matter but Healey managed to make it a heartwarming read and teach me about these girls, a part of history I knew nothing about. I cannot wait to pick up her debut now.
My thanks to Get Red PR for the review copy.
It seems as though every year the caliber of writing only gets better. The storylines, more gripping. I am separating my favorites into categories. This way, if you’re looking for a specific type of book or want to give a gift, it’s easier to sort through the choices. I wish I had time to read everything, but these are my favorites from what I did read.
You can click directly on the book images to get to their Amazon page.
Which of these have you read this year and loved? What are your favorites not on this list? Please leave me a comment. Happy 2019!
This is a book I’m keeping on my keeper shelf because I know I’ll reach for it time and time again. It’s a great resource and reference for any parent or educator who is frustrated with screen time and is just out of ideas on how to proceed.
When presented with the opportunity to read this book, I wasn’t sure right away as I saw it was written for middle schoolers and adolescents. I have much younger kids but still see them on a screen way too often. And as someone who works full-time, I admit that occasionally it becomes a babysitter while I’m in a meeting or have to finish a task. My 6-year-old has lost his love for toys now that he has an iPad available at all times. But at the same time, I don’t want to shove a book in his hand and take away his willingness to want to read. So I figured it could be adapted to the younger crowd.
And it was. I love how it’s written for parents who have no background in education. I mean, I’m a book blogger and refuse to fall asleep unless I read first. My daughter has started to do this too. My son is harder to get through to. Now that he has started learning to read and can get through Dr. Seuss and Mo Willems, it’s more common but I still would like less screen time.
There’s a ton of recommended books that Newton provides no matter what subject matter or interest the child has. I even wrote a few down that sounded right up my alley. And she definitely provides outside-the-box strategies for encouraging reading at all times, even when driving in the car or there’s a group of kids together.
This book can easily be read in 2 hours and will even give you ways to encourage speaking about reading and gives gift suggestions. It can also appeal to those who love screens by making a movie date out of a book that is just recently adapted. I definitely recommend having it available or gifting it to a special teacher for the holidays.
About the author: Kaye Newton lives outside Nashville, TN with her husband, three kids, and two lively dogs. “Incision Decisions”, her first book, won a silver medal at the 2017 Readers’ Favorite Awards.
My thanks to the author for the review copy and for providing a copy for a giveaway. U.S. only, please. To enter, leave a comment answering “What is your struggle with screen time?” One random commenter will be chosen on Sunday, October 28.
This could easily be my favorite YA novel of the year. While it deals with heavy subjects including mental illness, acceptance, and animal conservation and abuse, it also features a kick-ass protagonist who grows through the novel and becomes a woman who puts her life second, behind saving the one creature she’s grown to love.
It is cliche to say you will laugh and cry while reading this book but it’s absolutely true. T. Lily Decker is a high school senior who is terrified of developing schizophrenia, just like her mother. While interning at the local paper, she heads out on assignment to cover the story of a new baby elephant born at the zoo. As Lily knows firsthand, being abandoned by your mother is not easy. So when the calf, Swifty, is rejected by its mother, Lily learns she can’t quite give up the story or the animal.
I loved how through her journey, Lily learned that the world was bigger than just her and her fears. Not only that, but she was able to inspire others to fight for her cause. When the story ended, I had a hard time letting go of these characters. I could have easily followed them for months longer.
Please don’t skip this just because it’s classified as YA. It only is because some of the main characters are in high school. If you enjoyed The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman or All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven, you will also love this novel. This book will have you laughing one minute, crying the next, and aching for a Swifty of your own.
My thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
About the author: Nancy Richardson Fischer is a graduate of Cornell University, a published author with children’s, teen and adult titles to her credit, including Star Wars titles for Lucas Film and numerous athlete autobiographies, such as Julie Krone, Bela Karolyi and Monica Seles. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy to give away to a lucky reader. U.S. only, please. Enter on the Rafflecopter.
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Mix together The Help and Erin Brockovich and you are presented with Lisa Patton’s newest tale, taking place in 2016 at the University of Mississippi during sorority rush.
When I was in college, I personally chose not to pledge. However, many friends did and reading this book gave some clear (and fun) insight into how the process works. It was entertaining to see it from the point of view of the pledges, as well as sorority staff and pledges’ parents.
I love how this book is told through the viewpoints of Miss Pearl, longtime African-American housekeeper of the Alpha Delts house; Cali Watkins, a new freshman trying to find her way; and Wilda, Cali’s dorm neighbor and close friend’s mother. Through their viewpoints, we meet the remaining staff of the sorority house as well as other pledges and their families. You’ll find a character you love to hate, always a pleasure.
This book will translate so well to screen. Miss Pearl just came alive off the page. As I was reading, I felt as if I was watching the movie in my head. We may as well just call Viola Davis right now, save the casting director a step.
If you want to relive your college days or are just looking for the next great Southern novel, I recommend you stop the search because you’ll find it in Rush. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts after finishing.
My thanks to the publisher for the review copy.
About the author: Lisa Patton, best selling author of Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter, Yankee Doodle Dixie, and Southern as a Second Language, is a Memphis, Tennessee native who spent time as a Vermont innkeeper until three sub-zero winters sent her speeding back down South. She has over 20 years experience working in the music and entertainment business, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. The proud mother of two sons, eight bonus children, and eleven grandchildren, Lisa lives in the rolling hills of Nashville with her husband and their four-legged furry daughter named Rosie.
Thanks to the publisher, I have one finished copy to give away to a lucky reader. U.S. only, please. Enter on the Rafflecopter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
