Ok, now that was a weird year for reading, and it didn’t quite go the way I expected. If you read my book review posts, the one I wrote last year was all about my self-imposed book buying ban. Well, on January 1, 2024, the book buying ban was lifted! And do you know when I bought my first book of the year? Not until October! I’ll get back to that weird fact in a bit. For now, let’s dig into the books that made it onto the list this year and what I thought about some of them. Are you ready?
The Reading Challenge
The challenge I set myself for 2024 was to read 50 books. I’d not quite made it in 2023 but it was close enough that I thought I could give it a go. Sadly, I wasn’t anywhere near close this year. Not quite sure why that was but hey-ho! It is what it is! Here’s how it did pan out.
The Facts & Figures
According to Goodreads, I logged and read 34 books. I reduced my goal to 35 when I could see I definitely wasn’t going to hit 50 sometime around October. I read 10,094 pages and the average book length was 296 pages.
Reading List Breakdown
I read:
- 16 novels
- 1 book of short stories
- 3 books about neurodivergence
- 3 business books
- 4 books about writing
- 2 memoirs
- 2 collections of essays
- 3 general non-fiction
Notable Mentions
As per usual, there were too many books to talk about every single one of them, but I’ll share a few that really stood out for me.
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
I read a couple of books by Laura Bates this year and I have to say I hated and loved them both in equal measure. Not because it was badly written, but because the book topic was so hideous and anger-inducing. Honestly, I spent most of the time reading them completely furious with men. I will say that this one was, for me, the stronger of the two I read this year and I believe it’s a necessary read for all.
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
This is a book that comes with a very specific trigger warning, and with good reason. Stephanie Foo delves into her experiences that led to her experience of C-PTSD, which is totally necessary to then understand the process of healing that followed afterwards. I tell people that this isn’t an easy book to read, for that reason. But it is so worth it.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
After some heavy reading material earlier in the year, I got recommended this book by my lovely friend, Kerrin, and I whizzed through it in about a week. It was such a fun, light and easy read and it’s stuck with me for that reason. I adored the premise. A woman comes home from her friend’s Hen Night to find she has a husband living in her flat. It doesn’t take her long to realise that when she sends him up into her attic, a new husband comes down! And so the fun begins. A totally fun read!
The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West
2024 seems to be the year I properly discovered essays and this compilation of essays by Lindy West was the first one that pulled me in. Honestly, I was swayed by the book title. After reading the Laura Bates book earlier in the year, I was ready for something empowering and where the women fight back! I wasn’t disappointed. This was a great collection of essays and I loved Lindy West’s writing style.
All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell
Another book where the title and cover grabbed me. But when I read the blurb on the back and learned it was about the people who work with the dead, I was excited to dig in and I wasn’t disappointed. Hayley Campbell is a journalist but this book, based on meetings and interviews with various people who work with the dead (such as funeral directors, a man who creates death masks and an executioner), was written both factually and poetically. It was a beautiful piece of writing to read and there were times where she drew me to tears with her words, thoughts and descriptions. This is a book I won’t forget.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
I first discovered Alice Hoffman quite by accident when I read the third book from this Practical Magic series, Magic Lessons. I’d picked it up from my favourite second hand book fair because I liked the look of the cover and the raw edge pages. But when I started reading it, I fell in love with the writing and story too. It took me a minute to realise it was a prequel of Practical Magic, which I’d only seen in movie form many years before. Of course, when my friend bought me this book (the first in the series) for my birthday, I had to make it my next read and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m excited to read the other two books in the series now!
I’ll Just Be Five More Minutes: And Other Tales from My ADHD Brain by Emily Farris
Here comes another book of essays but this one was very much centred around the writer’s ADHD experience, which is something I’ve been wanting to read more of this year as I slowly keep learning about how it impacts me and my brain. Emily Farris writes super relatable pieces that had me laughing and shaking my head all over the place. I loved her writing style and there were many times I found myself whispering “me too!” as she described things her ADHD made her do. I basically wanted to high five her the moment I finished this book.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
I knew about this book. I’d heard about it many times. And yet I hadn’t picked it up for reasons completely unknown to me. But my lovely friend, Andrea, recommended it in one of her letters to me and so I made the time to read it. And I’m so glad I did. It was just the most beautiful story and so simply written. In fact, it came at just the right time as I was lamenting about the simple writing style of my own novel. Once I read this, I stopped worrying about that any more! If you’re one of the few people yet to have read this book, I urge you to give it a try.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
This was another book sitting waiting on my list to be read for so long. I’d already seen the film ‘A Man Called Otto’ which was based on this book, so I knew the story and knew what to expect (there are attempts of suicide, so fair warning if that’s a trigger for you). What I hadn’t expected was the beautiful way in which Fredrik Backman writes this surly, grumpy character. So much so that I fell in love with him as I read the story. Another cherished read that I’ll likely read again at some point.
A Final Word
So yes, it took me until October to buy any new books for myself but it honestly didn’t matter. I had so many books waiting to be read that I had a great time digging through them all and deciding what I would start on next. I think I really embraced the whole “did not finish” thing this year too. I have way too many books to want to read all of them so giving myself that permission slip to let a book go if it wasn’t grabbing me or filling me with joy was the right thing to do.
I do think that the number of DNFs was what slowed me down this year and is why I didn’t hit my goal of 50 books. I didn’t record it, but I pushed on with some of those books for longer than was needed to decide I wasn’t going to finish it so some time was lost in that area. But still, I’m happy with what I did achieve and I’m excited to aim for 40 books in 2025!
I do love a reading log and I’m signed up to 3 now. If you’d like to connect with me on any of them, the links are below!