Books Read 2024!

2024

Alright! Don't hate me too much with these reviews. I'm a fickle, mood-driven creature. Also, I am terrible with spoilers, so if I spoil something, I'm sorry.

January: 

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Audible)

I thought it was well written. It hooked me from the first sentence. The action was gripping and the worldbuilding was intriguing. I liked Poppy enough to stick with her. The romance, though…I think I’m moving away from unequally yoked couples. Casteel, being hundreds of years old, gave me an eye-roll. His controlling behavior was starting to get on my nerves, and honestly, he’s why I’m not very interested in continuing with the series. Maybe I’ll pick the second up eventually.

A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley (Kindle)

 DNF: the chemistry was off… And I just felt nothing. No tingles, no racing heart. Just bored.

Kindred by Octavia Bulter (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

Uh, like, wow. I mean, wow! There’s a reason Octavia Bulter is a powerhouse of a writer. That ending!

February:

Crescent City #3 House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas (Kindle)

DNF: I got really annoyed at how insufferable and holier-than-thou Bryce got.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Finland Friends bookclub) *read again* (Audible)

I love Naomi Novik, and even though this was a reread, I enjoyed rediscovering the world and the characters.

March:

 The Women by Kristin Hannah (Audible)

I mean, holy cow. I was in rapture with this book. I thought it was a tad too long, but otherwise, it was a fantastic book.

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (Kindle)

Cute and enjoyable. 

Chickenhawk by Robert C Mason (Audible)

DNF: I will finish later

April:

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher (Audible)

I really enjoyed the cozy fantasy of this book.

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher (Audible)

I wanted to know more about the grandma, like what made her turn into a hoarder, what she was like as a person, and why she was mean. I did enjoy the book, though. It was fun.

Bride Ali Hazelwood (Kindle)

I loved everything up until that stupid’ we can’t be together ‘for reasons,’ which made zero sense. It was apparent she just needed a break-up for the ‘plot.’

The Lying Woods Ashley Elston (Finlan friends bookclub) (Audible)

Can authors stop lying to the readers with their misleading titles???

May:

Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Business of Being in Love by isthisselfcare (Phone)

DNF will probably finish later. I think the thing is that I’m not a huge fan of fanfic. I’m the type of person who gets inspired by other works and then comes up with something new that I can play around with. Plus, with well-established characters and a specific voice and tone (the author's writing style), it's hard not to want to read those same things. I also can’t get past the fact that this particular fanfic would’ve made an excellent book in its own right if the author had just come up with their own worldbuilding instead of using Harry Potter. I can see why it was getting recommended on Reddit so much. I like the storyline, trying to figure out the mystery of what Hermione is doing and Draco being the main POV.

I think it’s also the pacing…and not much is happening. Hermonie doesn’t seem to be in danger yet (I’m on chapter 10, and there are 36 chapters…ugh) to warrant Draco's need to protect her. Sigh. Like I said, I don’t read fanfic. This is the first one I’ve read since I was in high school or college. I don’t really remember, but it’s been a while. So maybe I’m putting publishing industry standards onto this. And I was reading this on my phone, which I hate to do. So I lost my place. Like I said, I’ll probably come back to this.

To Sir Philip, With Love by Julia Quinn (Kindle)

Finished this just in time for the new season!

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

I'm glad I've read it. There's a reason it's a classic. I could never be able to write stream of consciousness. And I'm grateful for the chance to have read it. 

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden (Kindle)

This is a cute and slightly spooky middle-grade book that I rather enjoyed. The scarecrows reminded me much of what I decided to do in my book.

June:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Finland Friends bookclub) (Physical book)

Fantastic! I am absolutely in love with this book. And the ending! Eek. I was on a fun ride and ate up the atmosphere, the characters, the imagery.  I’ll be picking up more from this author.

The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong (Physical book)

I got this book at the Tennessee Williams Festival in NOLA. The author is local, and she was on a panel. Her premise sold me the book and made me want to read it.  I forced myself to finish just to find out who’d done it. The characters, however, felt very flat to me and I didn’t care. There was a bi-romance thing going on in the book, which I was okay with, but none of the romance was flushed out or acted upon, and I found that disappointing. Like, come on, give me something, please!

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (Audible)

 

July:

Horror Movie by Paul Trembly (Audible)

DNF: I was hoping for a cursed film…or a cursed production. Or more ‘horror movie’ tropes, but instead, I just got annoying characters. And a weird manuscript/ script that I couldn’t see being a film. Like do they turn the Thin Kid into a monster? Ugh…I guess I just wanted more supernatural elements, but instead, I got a pretentious young adult trying to be edgy. And I wasn’t invested enough in the characters to care.  

Funny Story by Emily Henry (Audible)

Cute. I thought this was very sweet and well-written. I just wanted more sex, haha. 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry (Physical book)

DNF: Poppy was super annoying, and I got too pissed at them having feelings for each other and then just not…getting together? But also, is it about “people you meet on vacation”? I feel like the title is super misleading, and that annoyed me, too.  I will probably finish this grudgingly later because everyone talks about it.

The Inheritance Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Kindle)

DNF: I just felt like the entire story wasn’t about the FMC. But who knows? I’ve been in a weird mood. I’ll probably finish it later.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (physical book)

Dang, this book is so different from the movie. I saw the movie first so that clouds by judgment. However, that said, I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting and had a cool premise. The realization that everything in the infected area was once a human, but it is now something else, gave me so much existential dread. The lighthouse and the realization of the journals were disquieting and horrifying. So many expeditions! Having the psychologist as the bad guy, too, was interesting. She’s a much more sympathetic character in the movie. I look forward to reading the next two in the trilogy. 

Educated by Tara Westover (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

Ok, I say this all the time. I’m always knocked off my feet with some of the non-fiction that I have read. And this was up there! I want to know more about what she is doing now! This book was crazy! The family, hot damn. I’m recommending it to everyone! My own family is borderline evangelical cultish, which I’ve turned my back on. But this was just next-level insanity and slightly triggering.

August:

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tosha Coryell (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

I enjoyed the fact that the FMC was unlikable. My book club all agreed that she was incredibly compelling and should probably be in jail or, at the barest minimum, therapy. We were all disappointed that she, in fact, didn’t turn into a serial killer, too. Feels like something she would have done.

I DNFed several books this month and then reread HPGOF for the millionth time. I think I’m depressed. Also, why haven’t I gotten a literary agent yet? (cry emoji, smallest violin finger motion).

September:

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, Brodi Ashton (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

I enjoyed this. I loved how the authors were able to write in the same voice. I thought it was funny, and Cleaver and the rewritten history was fun. It read like the female version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The same humor and narrator breaking the 4^th wall approach. They nailed it because I was surprised all the women were American.

The Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (Romance Bookclub) (Physical book and had to switch to Spotify)

OMG, what... garbage. How on earth did this book get published? Why on earth was I able to pick it up at Barnes and Noble? I feel slightly betrayed by the book company. This book felt like it was written by an 8th grader trying to write instead of an adult woman with a college degree.

I haven’t rolled my eyes and groaned out loud in a while. I felt like my eyes would bleed, and I kept falling asleep, so I had to switch to the audio, which also didn’t do the book any favors. I FORCED myself to finish this, only because I was the one who suggested it to the new book club that I had joined, and only because I had bought the paperback…Now I feel so bad for these women that I will meet them for the first time tomorrow. They are all going to believe I have terrible taste in books, and I’ve got to redeem myself.

I’m also writing a slow-burn romance, and I found myself writing in Maehrer’s voice. Then, I wanted to throw myself in front of a moving car. God, what is wrong with me? I need to read something good for a pallet cleanser. But man, good for this woman getting money and manipulating the populous of horny women with this book. I won’t read the second, but hopefully, her agent and editor will help her with her diction.

*footnote...all of this said, writing a book is complex and difficult and hard, and I feel like overreacted (as I read this over). This book was okay...  It was entertaining once I forced myself to stop rolling my eyes. 

October:

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Audible)

Loved it! It was sweet and cute and gave me cozy British vibes. The only thing, and I feel like this is nitpicking, but I wanted more…sexual tension between the FMC and MMC and maybe one other sex scene. I loved the diction. I thought her flow and diction were so beautiful. I could feel and see everything.

The September House by Carissa Orlando (Finland Friends bookclub) (Kindle)

I liked this book a lot! The slow reveal of her abusive marriage, the gaslighting of her sanity. It was all fabulously done. I just feel like she should’ve been the one to kill her husband! That’s all I wanted! Other than that, I love it when the ghosts are actually real.  

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Audible)

I was feeling pretty down at the beginning of the month and needed comfort. Harry always gives that to me. I literary cried once again at the end of the book. (I’ve read and re-read and re-read this book I don’t know how many times).

Slewfoot by Brom (Audible)

DNF: I will finish later. I'm just not in the mood for a city brother-in-law and the patriarchy right now.

November:

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (Audible)

I realized I’d read this before but in 2017. This was like a refresher course so that I could continue on into the series.

The Haunting Duke by Chaisty Bowlin (Romance bookclub) (Kindle)

So, I’m usually not a person who reads self-published works. I only pushed my way through this book for the romance book club I’ve joined. It was…ugh. It badly needed an editor near the end. The first 20 or so percent, I was like, oh, ok, this isn’t that bad, even though there was just something slightly off, and then when I started noticing the typos, I was like, oh, it’s self-published. But by the end, I feel like the author would’ve benefited from an editor.  Like characters started leaving the room and then becoming part of the scene or would be in the scene and then would end up rushing in later… that stuff annoys me. Then I felt (I have no idea if this was intended) that the twist at the end wasn’t appropriately foreshadowed enough, and I was like…what? It was like she decided this right at the very end of that book. Overall, it was a good premise, but it needed an editor to improve it.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas (Audible)

Wow, I’ve read this, too, and totally forgot about it. I think I read it in early 2018, or around the same time I read Throne of Glass. I know for a fact I haven’t read the third, so I’m going to continue with the series.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (Audible)

Epic and amazing!

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

After reading this book, it has become undeniable that I am addicted to social media… I’ve deleted YouTube Kids because the algorithm was becoming unmanageable. It was like every time I blocked a weird video, my son would somehow find a way to get it back. I was trying to use it for education videos for kids, but somehow, a family from Eastern Europe would pop up or creepy animation with songs about being afraid of the dark! It was awful. After reading this book, I deleted the whole thing because blocking wasn’t doing anything. And now I’m trying to model not being on my phone as much.

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire; I read a lot this month! Thank you, Audible.

December:

 Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas (audible)

I would like to see more romance between Rowan and Aelin. I enjoyed the plot. I’m excited to

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Finland Friends bookclub) (Audible)

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Netherlands by Heather Fawcett (Spotify)

I feel like an idiot not realizing how many audiobooks are on Spotify! I shouldn’t have bought all those audible books because I already pay for Spotify. Jeez. It took a friend to tell me Manacled was an audible book so I could even look around!

As for Emily Wilde, I loved these books. I read them back-to-back. The vocabulary I was totally nerd out over it. The diction. The beautiful imagery! Just her use of figurative language in general. OH MY GOD, it was just so fun and lovely. And I’ve always loved epistolary novels.