my 2024 reading recap

welcome to my 2024 reading recap including stats, reviews, and my favorite/least favorite reads from the year!

this year i dealt with a lot of change and growth. i graduated from college, moved to a new state, started grad school, and i got two jobs that i'm currently working to pay help for all of this (lol). reading was a really great escape for me but i also found myself watching a lot more movies and television as opposed to reading. at first, i felt really guilty for not reading more, but then i remembered to give myself grace and reminded myself that reading is a hobby i enjoy, not a competition. as a natural internally competitive person this was difficult for me. but near the end of the year i accepted that it's okay to read easy books, take time for yourself, enjoy what you're reading, and not compare your stats to anyone. i want to make it clear: it's okay to read one book, it's okay to read ten, and it's okay to read 100 (that is wildly impressive if you do). 

so before we get into the stats i want to remind everyone that reading is something that comes easy to me. i basically see a movie in my head while i'm reading. but this is not the case for everyone and sometimes people have a harder time finishing a book, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. finishing a book is awesome and a big accomplishment. so as we go into 2025 remember to be kind to yourself, read books that interest you, and take your time! 

with all that being said, let's talk about the new book tracking app i just started using! i was using goodreads for the longest time to keep track of and rate my books. listen, goodreads is a classic, but i was starting to feel like the software was a little outdated for my taste. i was really looking for another app that would fit what i wanted and had a little more depth. i started using fable, which is basically book social media. it's super colorful and fun and i loved the vibes. i know a ton of people love it, but it just wasn't exactly what i wanted from an app. finally i decided to give one more app a chance and stumbled across storygraph. i love the format of storygraph because it shows a ton of reading stats which i found really interesting while looking at my 2024 reading recap. i just wanted something that would keep track of how many books i read and this app really goes above and beyond. storygraph has a very simple/minimalistic style, is easy to use, and super informative so it was a great fit for me. i also loved that you can edit what book cover will be displayed on your profile while reading the book, so it can match up to the same cover you read/own. both storygraph and fable let you transfer all your goodreads data to their software which is great and makes it super easy to make the switch. if you're looking for an app to keep track of you reading, try out a few and see what fits with what you need!


now let's get into my 2024 reading recap!

my reading stats

this year i read thirty three books! every year i make it a goal to read over thirty books because i feel like that's a very attainable goal for me. some of you might think this is crazy but when i first saw thirty three i felt a little disappointed because i've read more books in the past. in 2022 i read 54 books! like what! i feel like that's lowkey an insane amount of books. but i've also seen some readers that read over 100 which i think would be absolutely impossible for me. so that's why i really tried to adopt that mindset of everyone reads at different paces and some years are going to be harder than others to find time to read. but looking at it now, thirty three books is a great number! let's take a look at some of my storygraph stats from the year. 

my main mood this year was emotional, which definitely makes sense for the books i like to read. some books in this category included if he had been with me by laura nowlin, the bell jar by sylvia plath, betting on you by lynn painter, happy place by emily henry, fourth wing by rebecca yarros, beautiful world where are you by sally rooney, and more. i feel like a lot of books in general fit into this category so that's probably why it was so big for me! my next mood was adventurous and this was because i read a lot of fantasy books this year. i read the caraval series, once upon a broken heart series, fourth wing series, powerless series, and house of flame and shadow.  
i read mostly medium-sized books this year between 300-499 pages. about twenty one of the books i read fell into the medium category, while i read five in the 500+ category, and seven in the <300. the largest book i read this year was house of flame and shadow by sarah j maas which had 838 pages and the smallest book i read was a novella called powerful by lauren roberts (part of the powerless series) which had 140 pages. 
my most read author this year was stephanie garber because i read both the caraval and once upon a broken heart series which is six books overall. the series is a ya (young adult) fantasy that is easy to read and contains a lot of descriptive world-building. i read these books so quickly because stephanie garber is an extremely talented writer that knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole book. my second most-read author this year was lauren roberts because i read the powerless series which is two books and a novella. i'm not the biggest fan of powerless, i think there are a lot more interesting fantasy books out there, but if you're looking for something easy to read, you can look into this one and see if it's something you'd be interested in. my third top author was lynn painter and i read three of her books this year. i love lynn painter books and think they are so cute and fun! this year i read the do-over, betting on you, and nothing like the movies (the sequel to better than the movies). i think my favorite out of those was betting on you because i love the characters so much! but it's really hard to choose a favorite from her books. if you want to read a quick and cute ya romance book, i definitely recommend lynn painter. 

and finally my top genres of the year! my number one genre was romance with a whopping twenty-three books (omg lol). but as i'm looking through the books included in this category, i realize that the app also includes books with a romance subplot so that might be why this number is so high. for example, i wouldn't really consider beautiful world where are you, house of flame and shadow, and if he had been with me romance books but they are placed in this category. so that would make sense why it's so high. my next genre was young adult with fifteen books falling into this category. as i'm getting older i've been gravitating away from young adult books. i find that i can't relate to books with high school age main characters anymore, but i do occasionally read one here and there. most of the ya books i read this year had characters who were about twenty years old or above so that did make it easier to relate to the content. my final two genres were fantasy (thirteen books) and contemporary (eleven books). 


my favorite books from 2024

now that we've recapped my stats, let's get into my favorite books from the year! all of these summaries and reviews are spoiler free. 

1. funny story by emily henry

i read this book back in april when it first came out. when emily henry announced she was writing a new book i was so excited because her books are always so good. i literally bought this as fast as i could. all her books have a coastal and summer vibe which i enjoy reading. she also does a great job at developing her characters but also keeping the plot interesting so the book doesn't solely rely on one factor to keep it moving forward. my favorite book of hers is book lovers and i genuinely thought this book could not come close to being as good as that one, but funny story has moved to a very close second in my emily henry book rankings. 
summary: funny story is about a girl named daphne whose fiance, peter, leaves her for his girl best friend, petra, only a few weeks before their wedding. devastated, daphne needs to find a new place to live and decides to become roommates with petra's scorned ex-boyfriend, miles. both daphne and miles are mourning their lost relationships as they try to rebuild the broken pieces of their lives, while also navigating being roommates with one another. 
review: i really think this concept is so interesting and i've never seen another author write something with this plot before. miles and daphne are super funny and realistic characters so i found them very endearing. i think i liked miles so much because he genuinely reminds me so much of nick miller from new girl. he's super funny, a little disheveled, but overall a very good person. daphne was also extremely relatable to me and has become one of my favorite emily henry characters. while this book is a romance, it also tackles a lot of important topics like self-discovery and independence. daphne was really startled by her fiance leaving her, but she also had the opportunity to discover her identity and what she wants from life. i really, really enjoyed reading this book and rated it 5 stars! 

2. the seven year slip by ashley poston

i read this book relatively recently, back in november, and i was not expecting it to be as good as it was! i read a novel love story by ashley poston and i thought it was pretty good (i liked it until the end) so i thought i would pick up another book by the author. this one exceeded my expectations for sure! i really like her writing style and how unique her plot concepts are. i always appreciate when a book is not the same as every other book in the genre, and her books really have a creative angle to their world-building. the two books i've read contain both realistic and magical elements, and i think her writing is a great combination of the two. 
summary: after her aunt passes away, clementine inherits her apartment. the apartment that her aunt claimed was magical. clementine's aunt was known for her elaborate stories and big personality, so clementine doesn't take her stories too seriously. until one day there's a random man standing in her kitchen. a random man from the past. seven years go. 
review: the concept of time travel can be really complicated and needs to be done correctly for me to enjoy it. but i love this book's perspective of time travel and the attention to detail in the plot. clementine is also a really funny main character and i enjoyed reading about her. while this is classified as a romance book, and there are elements of that in the plot, it also deals a lot with grief, loss, and family dynamics. i thought the story was the perfect mix of serious and funny which made me enjoy reading it. it's pretty short and the plot flows in a really interesting way (moving back and forth between past and present). i think if you're looking for a romance book that is different from the rest, you'll really enjoy this one. i rated this one 4.75 stars!

3. fourth wing by rebecca yarros

there is obviously a ton of buzz around these books right now with the new release of onyx storm (the third book in the series). i first started reading fourth wing in september because i'd been putting off reading another fantasy book for a while. it took me a quick minute to get really into the plot and storyline because there is a ton of world-building. but once you really start understanding it, you get sucked in. i'm thinking after i read onyx storm i'll do a whole post on this series so we'll definitely go more in-depth in the next few weeks. i'll try my best to give an easy-to-understand synopsis for everyone right now.
summary: in this universe, when you reach a certain age, you must pick what quadrant (aka job) you want to join. violet sorrengail was planning to enter the scribe quadrant (librarians, basically) until her mother forced her to join the dragon-riding quadrant. violet is extremely weak and has chronic health conditions, so being sent to the dragon-rider training college is basically a death wish for her. but she has no choice but to try and survive all the tests to become a rider. all the while, she's trying to avoid being killed by her professors, her classmates, dragons, and the college courses. 
review: fantasy books can be really hard to get into if it's not your thing. i've always been a big fantasy reader because i like the world-building and escapism that comes with it. i know fourth wing has been a great series for people who liked acotar and throne of glass to enjoy because there are lots of similar aspects. i think these books are very popular and well-known for a reason, they are extremely well-written and really make you feel like you're in the world the author created. the characters are really interesting, the plot is relatively unique (which is rare in fantasy), there are a ton of moving pieces, lots of action, romance subplot, and there are a lot of conversations about fictional politics and history. i always say that this book reminds me a lot of game of thrones (without the incest) so if you enjoy tv series like that, you would probably really enjoy reading this. as i said, we'll do a whole thing about this series so don't worry, i'm not done talking about it. i rated this first book 4.75 stars. 

4. if he had been with me by laura nowlin

this book is a ya contemporary that i had discovered on tiktok. everyone said this story was extremely sad, and based on the cover design, i guessed that that was an accurate assessment of the book. and the tiktok people were correct. this is the only book series laura nowlin has ever written so i had no idea what to expect when i picked this up. this book is very easy to read and the plot moves relatively quickly. but please be warned this book ended up emotionally destroying me. 
summary: autumn and finn are next-door neighbors and childhood best friends, but when they get to high school they grow apart. they both start dating different people and run in different social circles. autumn becomes the weird girl who doesn't care what people think, while finn becomes a soccer star who everyone adores. but both of them miss the days when they were friends and when they occasionally cross paths, it's obvious they miss one another. they understand one another in ways no one else does. but both of them feel like they have all the time in the world to rekindle their friendship. 
review: guys. ouch. this book is heartbreaking. even if the ending seems obvious, it's still gutting in ways you don't expect. autumn and finn are such sweet and complicated characters. they are in high school, so they're a bit young and immature, adding to the drama of it all. miscommunication is a huge trope in this series, which i normally hate reading, but it works in this story. i really like how the plot moves and the realism of the characters. i would love to see this series turned into a movie/show but i don't think i can experience the heartbreak again. i recommend this with caution (make sure you're ready for the pain) and i rated it 4.5 stars. 

5. the caraval/ouabh series by stephanie garber

my next top book(s) from the year were the caraval and once upon a broken heart (ouabh) series! this one is a little harder to rate/review because this is basically two interconnected series by the same author. each series contains three books, so the whole thing is six books overall. in my opinion, you have to read caraval to understand ouabh, so i feel like you have to read the first series. i've heard some people just skip the first one but i feel like you wouldn't get a full grasp on the world if you did that. but guys stephanie garber is a crazy good writer. like i will never understand how the concept of this just came out of her brain. this book is a ya fantasy series, and sometimes i feel like ya books aren't as detailed as more adult books, but these are super thorough. i also think the plot concept is so unique it's literally insane. 
summary: scarlett and tella have never left their home island before, trapped alone with their unhinged and cruel father. both of them always dream of an escape, like seeing the once-a-year game/performance of caraval. the opportunity finally arises when a sailor offers to take them to the perfromance. but when they arrive at caraval, tella is kidnapped, and scarlett must win the game to get her back. 
review: this book is fantasy and mystery wrapped into one super interesting story. everything is so elaborate and well though-out, and her characters are super fun to read about. you never really know who to trust or what is real until the very end. there are so many elaborate twists and turns throughout the duration of the story, it's literally insane. i read the entire six book series within a month because these books were so good. they're easy to read and i really think they're a great introduction into the concept of fantasy if you're interested in starting that! i highly recommend these books and rated the first one 4.5 stars. 

6. just for the summer by abby jimenez

this book is so wow where do i even start. i ate this uppp. this is the first abby jimenez book i've ever read and i immediately purchased another one of her books after reading this. she does a great job creating believable characters and making you completely understand them. the story also moves at a great pace, not too slow and not too fast, so it feels very realistic. 
summary: justin has a curse where every person he dates ends up meeting their soulmate after they break up. he posts about his curse on the internet and receives a message from emma, who has the same curse as him. so they create a plan to date each other with the hopes that when they break up, they'll each find their soulmates. emma travels to justin in minnesota and they start their fake-dating plan to break the curse. 
review: the plot of this book is just so funny and unique that i knew i would love it before i even read it. justin and emma are great characters with realistic problems. while their relationship is the main focus of the book, there are so many other things that happen. the characters both have super complicated home lives and family dynamics that result in them have to bear a lot of individual responsibility. but they balance each other out very well in ways you don't expect. i just absolutely loved reading this book. if you want to read, i definitely recommend reading this during the summer. i read this on vacation and it made reading it even better. if only you read one romance-themed book this year definitely make it this one! i rated this book 5 stars. 

7. love does and everybody always by bob goff, mostly what God does by savannah guthrie

my final top book(s) of the year are by bob goff and savannah guthrie. these are christian books that have just helped me so much this past year! if you are a christian looking to grow in your faith or just want to read some interesting christian literature, i definitely recommend these. bob goff is an amazing person and writer, he has really helped me learn a lot about how to be a more loving and kind person. similarly, savannah guthrie's book is really amazing, especially for women, and she provides some great insight into faith. i can't really give a full, comprehensive summary and review of these books, but just know i rated them all 5 stars and absolutely loved reading them!


my least favorite books from 2024

this is a list of my lowest rated books from the year. reminder that everyone has different taste in books so if you do like these, that's totally okay! these reviews and summaries are all spoiler-free. 

1. magnolia parks by jessa hastings

when i bought this book i was looking for a simple, easy to read series that would help me get out of a reading slump. for those who don't know, a reading slump is when you go through a period of time without reading/unable to get through books. it happens to the best of us. however, this book did not help in ending my slump. i obviously got this recommendation from tiktok because it's extremely popular on that platform, and i'm sometimes wary to pick up books recommended from tiktok for this reason. this is the first book in a very elaborate series but i don't think i'll be purchasing any more of the books. 
summary: magnolia parks is a rich girl in love with her ex (whose name is literally BJ, no i'm not kidding) and she basically dates other guys to make him jealous. their whole friend group is a very dysfunctional group of super rich kids (cue frank ocean) and they all are in love with/hate each other. 
review: okay guys listen. firstly these characters were just all terrible people. and not in a "they're so interesting because they're so terrible" way but in a "i don't care about these people anymore because they're so terrible" way. magnolia is manipulative, bj is so dumb, and the rest of their friends are just constantly getting in fights with one another. i heard people comparing this book to gossip girl but at least the gossip girl characters were interesting. secondly, there is no plot. the plot is magnolia dating guys to make bj jealous, bj gets jealous, they try to make their relationship work, he fails, and they start the vicious cycle again. i was so bored. the whole thing just felt very obvious to me. i think maybe if i read this in high school or something i would have a different perspective on this but reading it in my twenties i was just like omg please when will they just all talk to one another. however, these books are easy to read and trying very hard to be dramatic, so if you want that from a book you can look into it. i was just super bored with it all. 

2. reckless by lauren roberts

okay we kinda touched upon how i didn't love the powerless series earlier. when i read the first book i was like "okay this is fine i'm kind of interested in what's going to happen next" and then i read the next novella, powerful, and i loved it! the characters in that book were so sweet and well-developed and i was thinking "okay after that i'll definitely read the next book". and guys this book just did not sell me. the  majority of the beginning was slow and anticlimactic, and the big "plot twist" at the end was predictable to me. i understand that in a series most second books are for plot-building, but this was too slow. i'll give you a summary of the first book so i don't spoil anything just in case you want to read it. 
summary: there are people born with powers, the elite, and people born without powers, the ordinaries. the king makes being ordinary illegal and banished all ordinaries from the kingdom. but paedyn is hiding in the slums as an ordinary and poses as a psychic, when in reality she's just observant. when she saves the prince one day, she's selected to compete in a competition showcasing powers called the purging trials. 
review: if that summary sounded slightly interesting to you i'm begging you to read red queen by victoria aveyard. i love red queen. it's basically the same concept i described above but better and more well-written. and red queen was released in 2015 while this book was released in 2023. so people think powerless was a "rip-off" of red queen. the first book in the powerless series was like a giant mashup of every single fantasy book i had ever read, and i didn't know if i really enjoyed it that much. again, it was fine but i wasn't totally sold. the second book (reckless) was released only a little over a year after the first book and i really wish the author had taken more time to write the second. it felt rushed and the content was a little slow. after reading it i just felt like i didn't want to read any more and i probably won't be buying the next book in the series. 

3. girl in pieces by kathleen glasgow

the reason i'm putting this on my list is because i had to dnf (did not finish) it. i really need to start reading book summaries before i buy things because this was intense. i had no idea. it's classified as a ya book so i thought the content wouldn't be too graphic but it was. i'm the type of person that will read about blood and feel like they're going to pass out. i knew this book was going to be sad but i didn't know it was going to be as sad as it was. if you're considering reading it please read trigger warning beforehand. 
summary: charlotte davis is a seventeen year old in a mental institution because she's experienced a lot of tragedy in her life and she self-harms. she suddenly gets released from the institution and she's back in the world on her own again. basically that's all i got before i stopped reading. 
review: unfortunately this book was just too much for me. charlotte's life is so sad and tragic that i felt so sad just reading about it. the writing is intense, especially about the self-harm so please be warned about that. at the time i was reading it, i just wasn't in a place to be reading something so intense, so i had to stop. i don't dnf books often so i felt bad stopping it but i really just didn't want to read any more of it at the time. maybe in a few months i'll attempt to read it again just so i can see if charlotte gets a happy ending but i felt like i had to include on this list since i didn't finish it. if you're thinking about reading it just know this book gets deep and dark quick!

4. the bell jar by sylvia plath

on the topic of books being deep and dark i decided to read the bell jar this year. i like to occasionally read a book that is super famous or a classic because i like to know why these books are famous. let me start off by saying the bell jar is not poorly written, sylvia plath has a very interesting style of writing and has some super famous passages like the fig tree part. there were parts of this book that will stick with me throughout the rest of my life. however, i went into this book not knowing the content and the context. sylvia plath had a very sad life story and it really translates into her writing. i think i would really enjoy reading her poems as opposed to this book. i thought this was like a piece of feminist literature about being a woman but it was way different than i thought. 
summary: esther is an extremely accomplished woman who, throughout the duration of the book, slowly descends into madness. as she serves as the narrator, we as the reader don't really comprehend what's real and what's fake, so it feels like we're going crazy with her. 
review: hey so learn from me and read the synopsis of a book before starting it! i started reading that and i was like what is happening. i did not realize the main character was going to go crazy. once again, read trigger warnings before starting and be prepared for things to get dark pretty quickly. i actually attempted to annotate this book which i never do and most of my annotations are like "what is happening" and "we need to calm down" and "i'm scared". this is not a bad book at all, sylvia plath is a very accomplished woman and writer, but wow this is a lot. just be prepared because i wasn't.

so that concludes my 2024 reading recap! i hope you all enjoyed reading my reviews of the books i read this past year. i'm currently reading onyx storm by rebecca yarros and i'm hoping to finish that before next week so we can talk about it!


here's a full list of every book i read this year!

Comments

Post a Comment