Hello!
Here is my annual book review post where I summarise what I read and what I enjoyed the most. I originally got this post from my friend Janet who used to blog!
- Best book you read in 2024:
Overall, I would say,
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus or Delia Owens'
Where the Crawdad sing were my favourite or best books or
Little Fires everywhere by Celeste Ng.
I read 70 from this genre!!! This, choosing a winner may be somewhat more tricky! Pop was fantastic. It was one of about 30books which I picked up in an absolute bargain joblot on Vinted. I think I got 27 brand new, new release books for about & £19 in postage. It told the story of a brand of highly addictive fizzy drink with a secret recipe. Only two employees know the secret recipe and each one only knows half. They end up crashing into each other's planes and end up on a desert island together. They put the ingredient lists together and put them into an empty McTonic bottle which is then found by a boy. The race is on to recreate the recipe or find the boy who found the recipe. The book was bonkers but brilliant!
I only read 9 crime books this year! Often this has been my most read genre. The Enigma of room 622-by Joel Dickers was a real onion of a crime book with layer upon layer of deception and redherrings. I was led up garden path by garden path. The book was told with a constantly changing timeline and I loved the Switzerland (mostly) setting. I picked this up in the 2nd hand bookshop in Felixstowe.
I only read 2-4 classics this year (Does Agatha Christie count as a classic?) It ends with Revelations by Dodie Smith was the best. I love DS as an author. This book was really beautifully written and I didn't know how it was going to end. One of/THE revelation(s) WAS unexpected to me and I'm not sure how on earth I didn't realise or expect it, given the setting of the story ?
I read 12 non-fiction books this year (over 10% of my total!!). My favourite was Words of Happiness by Susie Dent. I love words and this book really included some joyful words, beautifully illustrated and explained in such a gorgeous way.
I only read 3 that might count as YA. I would say Benjamin Zephaniah Refugee Boy might count. I recognised the East London setting and also the empathy and chance to see what life might be like for a young refugee was really powerful. It really helps empathy for the reasons refugees might end up somewhere and what they've given up to make a move. The book was sad but had hope it in which is important.
I only read 2 Dystopian fiction books
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forma and
Alebrijes by
Donna Barba Higuera. Both were really well written. I thought
Alebrijes was really imaginative. I loved the idea of the children taking on the bodies of these drone animals - it was so clever. Perhaps I liked it more as a children 'a book that there wasn't so much overt violence or death compared to the YA or adult Dystopian fiction I usually read.
- Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2024:
Running out of time by Simon Fox was really clever and had an unexpected ending! It had a really interesting timeline for the story (in fact, that's crucial to the story!) I only bought it as a job lot but it was superb and had a great insight into people smuggling too! There was a lot that was surprising about it!
- Book you read in 2024 that you recommended most to others:
I did quite a lot of Children's Book recommending in 2024 to children at school from my personal library. I recommended
Saffiya's War by Noor Hiba Khan, which is a fictional account based on real life help which was given to Jewish people in Paris during WW2 from the Mosque in Paris. It was a really beautiful story and I thought it was written so well. I also recommended Pop to several pupils and
Spylark by Danny Rurlander which was a great book written about a child who hurt his leg and now lives life through his drone to be able to travel around. He encounters a terrorist plot which he and a new friend manage to foil! I recommended and lent these books to N, one of my sad frog crew. I really miss her particularly and the other avid readers in that class who I could enthuse to about the books I loved. They would read them so quickly and we would chat about them. She read Pop in one night!
- Best series you discovered in 2024:
I didn't read loads of new series this year and I'm not so sure I'm that enamoured by any of them really. I would say out of the lot, the one I would most be interested to read more of are the Miss Read
Thrush Green books and I didn't realise they were a series until I saw my Insta/blog friend Janet do her year review (I originally got THIS post from her when she still blogged) and she said that this was her favourite series she discovered this year. My penultimate book of the year was Christmas at Thrush Green which I really loved (it's actually a reread from 2 years ago but I didn't remember it at all!) . Now I know it is part of a series, I would probably like to read the books! They are so gentle and hark back to a gentler time, a simpler pace of life. The Christmas book reminded me of childhood.
- Favourite new author you discovered in 2024:
No one immediately sprang to mind that was a NEW author this year so I looked through my list and I think that I really liked the books
Songwalker by Zillah Bethel and
One Chance Dance by Efua Traore and I already bought another book by Efua Tratore to read. I have really enjoyed books by Nigerian heritage authors in the past couple of years and she is another great Nigerian author who writes very well about that country! I also loved Zillah Bethel's book too so perhaps her also!
- Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn't:
Death and Croissants by Ian Moore. I thought it was going to be a good old whodunnit but it was very muddled and rather TOO cosy for a Whodunnit! My sister had exactly the same reaction to it too!
- Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you:
I bought a job lot of books from someone on Vinted and I picked
Roar by Cecilia Ahern. It was a series of short stories about women at difficult times in their life. Each short story is almost a woman living out on idiom or a metaphor "The woman who was swallowed by the floor" - weird and whimsical. They cover all sorts of issues such as abortion, stereotypes, gender, politics, what women should be like It was a magical realism book where all sorts of whimsical and strange things happen. Very odd but strangely compelling through the imagination. We never even learn the names of any of the women in the story!
- Book you read in 2024 that you're most likely to read again in 2024:
I'm likely to reread my friend Kate Wakeling's poetry books,
Moonjuice and
Cloud Soup so perhaps either of those. Also, I have recently acquired the first book in the Suriya trilogy by Jamilla Gavin and my headteacher has the 2nd, so I may reread the third book -
The track of the wind - so I might better understand it. I didn't fully understand it when I read it, given that I hadn't read the first two books! The setting is post-partition India which I found fascinating!
- Favourite book you read in 2024 from an author you read previously:
I loved Sylvia Bishop
s 44 tiny secrets which I read last year and I only read her
The Secrets of the Night Train a week ago which I thoroughly enjoyed and I think she is a brilliant author!
- Best book you read in 2024 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else:
My sister gave me Delia Owens'
Where the Crawdads Sing. This was a devastatingly beautiful story which was SUCH an evocative setting, beautiful characters, extremely emotional and so compelling.
- Favourite cover of a book in 2024:
Susie Dent's
Roots of Happiness or
The wonders of Nature- Ben Hoare were both contenders- Both were pretty! However, I think it has to be Melissa Harrison's
By Rowan or Yew
- Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2024:
Hmmm, not sure if any of the books had a huge impact although I would say Nancy Birtwhistle's
Clean and Green has had an impact on me in that it made me make my own cleaning products, I spent a Sunday obsessively cleaning and descaling my toilets with her Pure Magic and I made my own conker washing liquid! Any time I do cleaning or see something dirty, I think about how Nancy might approach it!
- Book you can't BELIEVE you waited until 2024 to read:
I have perused my list and I can't really find anything to fulfil this criteria as most of the books went in and out of my life very quickly. However, if I HAD to name one, it would be Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell as I rescued it from the recycling bin in the school library as it was missing the front cover and the first two pages (it still made sense without reading the first few pages!) . It has been sitting on my bookcase for a couple of years and I wanted it gone!
- Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, a epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc). Be careful of spoilers
Hmmm, well, I was SUPER keen to discuss the two linked Lisa Jewell thrillers
The Family Upstairs and
The Family remains that I read that my sister gave to me after she had read them! They were really compelling and sinister and I had a good old catch up with my sister about them after I read them!
- Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2024 (be it it romantic, friendship etc):
I loved the relationship between Lena and Alexandre in the
The Circus Train by Amita Parikh but also between her and her father Theo. I also loved the relationship between Sunshine Phillips and her Grandfather in
Meet Sunshine Phillips! Such a beautiful relationship!
- Most memorable character in a book you read in 2024:
Elizabeth Zott in
Lessons in Chemistry was a superb character! I also loved the DOG, Six Thirty!!!! on the subject of dogs, Cosmo, in
I Cosmo, was a brilliant narrator!
- Genre you read the most from 2024:
As previously mentioned, I read 70 books from Children's Fiction (from the 9-12 age range mostly!). I think this was my most read genre last year too! The reason for this is because I had a lot of luck in the charity shops and Vinted finding brand new contemporary Children's fiction books and I have been trying to read them to vet them for the school library to check they are suitable and also so I can recommend them!
My old blogging friend,
Sarah Ziman, her blog name was
Lakota, Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping, published her first full children's poetry book
Why did my brain make me say it? this year. She has SUCH a way with words and is very witty and brilliant at exploring poetic form in its many diverse types. It's short and sweet and very clever. I could think of lots of kids who would love this book. As there are lots of short poems (as well as longer ones), it would feel easy to read and not arduous for reluctant readers and it might encourage them to reread old favourites! I could see a lot of mileage in this book in a Guided Reading session with a mixed ability group of children and I have loaned my copy of the book to our new Literacy lead at school, recommending she buy a set, particularly as we have had more of a focus on poetry these past two years. The book is roughly following the school year and there really is something for everyone.
Reasons my sister Cried this week is hilarious and
Pre-emptive Strike is brilliant, particularly as it reminds me of an action that my old blog friend Chris at the Chrlog did once when he
photographed himself licking his wife's chocolate muffin whilst she went to the bathroom! (read the post, it is GLORIOUS!) She and my friend Kate Wakeling, both of them, have inspired me to return to writing poetry which is something I have enjoyed doing in my spare time since I was young (ever since I read Fatty in the End Blyton
Mystery books' poems!) but do very sporadically (as you can read from my Poetry label on the blog). I took part in an online workshop that Kate ran but Sarah has been my constant reminder on Insta of the joy of manipulating words over the past few years! Her word craft inspires me daily and I absolutely recommend this book for anyone wanting to buy a book for a child but not sure what they would like or what they have already read.
- Book that was the most fun to read:
Sarah Ziman's book was so much fun to read! I've reread it several times. I love her witty poems. I also found that
Race to Imagination Island by Mel Bessant-Taylor - was brilliantly imaginative! That was also fun!
Operation Nativity by Jenny Pearson was hilarious too!
- Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2024:
The aforementioned Delia Owens book and
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson made me sad and cry!
- Book you read in 2024 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
I always find this book very difficult to answer as I don't engage much with 'bookerati' but I think
The wonders of Nature by Ben Hoare is a superb non-fiction book for children- each 'natural item' is a double page spread with a large picture of each item with an easy to read description. I bought this new from Oxfam Books but I've never seen anyone refer to this book at all and I think it is a corker!
- Total number of books read:
109. Last year, I read 91 so I managed to increase my total by 18! I am very pleased to have got back to my previous levels of reading, even if a lot of them were children's books of a mere 250-300 pages or so. Someone who I know, who loves reading, told me they read 20 books last year, and it made me realise that I am lucky to have the time to read on my commute and be able to read so fast!
The List of Books in reverse order
2024:
December:
102. Before Green Gables - Budge Wilson
103. Operation nativity - Jenny Pearson
104. The Family Remains - Lisa Jewell
105. The House by the Sea - Louise Douglas
106. Five steps to Happy- Ella Dove
107. The Secret of the Night Train - Sylvia Bishop
108. Christmas at Thrush Green - Miss Read
109. The wonders of Nature- Ben Hoare
November:
94. The Shadow of the Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafon
95. The Italian Girl- Iris Murdoch
96. Planet Omar- Accidental trouble magnet- Zanib Mian
97. Planet Omar- Unexpected super spy- Zanib Mian
98. Planet Omar- Incredible Rescue Mission - Zanib Mian
99. The Summer I robbed a bank - David O'Doherty
100. The movers and shakers of Victorian England (English Heritage publication) - PJ Harris
101. The year that everything changed - Cathy Kelly
October:
87. Why did my brain make me say it? Sarah Ziman
88. Getting better- Michael Rosen
89. A dog called Midnight - Ben Miller
90. Moonjuice - Kate Wakeling
91. Alebrijes - Donna Barba Higuera
92. Cloud Soup - Kate Wakeling
93. Race to Imagination Island- Mel Bessant-Taylor
September:
77. The Lamplighters- Emma Codex
78. Black Maria - Diane Wynn Jones
79. Benjamin Zephaniah- Refugee Boy
80. Time Hunters- Egyptian Curse - Chris Blake
81. Time Hunters- Knight Quest - Chris Blake
82. The Runaways of Haddington Hall - Vivian French
83. Onyeka and the heroes of the Dawn- Tola Okogwu
84. The Incredible Talking Machine- Jenni Spangler
85. The day I fell into a fairytale - Ben Miller
86. By Rowan and Yew - Melissa Harrison
August:
66. Small fires everywhere - Celeste Ng
67. Fatal crossing- Tom Hindle
68. Voyage of the Sparrowhawk - Natasha Farrant
69. Where the Crawdads sing- Delia Owens
70. The river whale - Sita Brahmachari
71. Peak Peril- Sharna Jackson
72. Snap - Patrice Lawrence
73. The Enigma of room 622- Joel Dickers
74. Uncle Gobb and the Green sheds - Michael Rosen
75. Rebel Girl rock and roll- 25 tales of women in music.
76. Dangerous Game- Malorie Blackman
July:
60. The cosmic atlas of Alfie Fleet - Martin Howard
61. The Time travel diaries - Caroline Lawrence
62. Fire Boy - JM.Joseph
63. The Lightning Catcher -Claire Weze
64. Nine perfect strangers- Liane Moriarty
65. Death and Croissants- Ian Moore
June:
51. Stories for South Asian Super Girls- Raj Kaur Khaira
52. Peter Raven under fire - Michael Molloy
53. Saffiya's war- Noor Hiba Khan
54. Danger gang - Tom Fletcher
55. Trouble Twisters- Garth Nix and Sean Williams
56. Spylark - Danny Rurlander
57. The family upstairs - Lisa Jewell
58. Shackleton's journey- William Grill
59. Pop! - Mitch Johnson
May:
37. Percy Jackson and the lightning thief - Rick O'Riordan
38. Beast Keeper (Beasts of Olympus Book 1) - Lucy Coats
39. The History Keepers- The Storm begins - Damian Dibben
40. Winner takes Gold- Ellie Clements
41. Socks are not enough - Mark Lowery
42. Lightning Strike- Tanya Landman
43. Madeleine L'Engle - A wrinkle in time
44. Into the sideways world- Ross Welford
45. Prince of Fools- Sebastian Darke
46. The Haven- Simon Lelic
47. The track of the wind - Jamilla Gavin
48. Running out of time - Simon Fox
49. The Black Curriculum Places - important sites in Black British History- Melody Triumph
50. The Greatest Inventor - Ben Brookes
April:
27. Meet Sunshine Philips- GM Linton
28. It ends with revelations - Dodie Smith
29. Roar - Cecilia Ahern
30. I, Ada - Julia Gray
31. Kite Spirit - Sita Brahmachari
32. On your marks, get set, GOLD! - Scott Allen
33. The Middler - Kirsty Applebaum
34. Umbrella Mouse - Anna Fargher
35. A sprinkle of sorcery - Michelle Harrison
36. Orion Lost - Alastair Chisholm
March:
17. Musical World - Jeffrey Boakye
18. The Circus Train - Amita Parikh
19. Bobby Dean and the Golden Egg - Aled Jones
20. The Wishkeeper's Apprentice- Rachel Chivers Koo
21. Rumaysa- Happily ever after- Radiya Hafiza
22. Mother Theresa- her life, her work, her message - Jose Luis Gonzalez-Balado
23. Songs of Freedom- Eileen Mitson/Steve Goss
24. Clean and Green - Nancy Birtwhistle
25. One Chance Dance - Efua Traore
26. The Star outside my window - Onjali Q Rauf
February:
10. The Gilded Ones - Namina Forma
11. The Stormkeepers' battle - Catherine Doyle
12. I, Cosmo - Carlie Sorosiak
13. The secret of Haven Point - Lisette Auton
14. Sangu Mandana - Kiki Kallira breaks a kingdom
15. The Song Walker- Zillah Bethel
16. The Body in the Blitz - Robin Stevens
January:
1. Radio Boy - Christian O'Connell
2. Roots of happiness - Susie Dent
3. When the light fades- Agatha Christie
4. Rainbow Grey and the Battle for the skies - Laura Ellen Anderson
5. The company of eight - Harriet Whitehorn
6. Cats and Curses - Elen Caldecott
7. Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
8. Friends and Traitors - Helen Peters
9. A Head full of Magic - Sarah Morrell
Here are the questions if you want to join in:
- Best book you read in 2024
- Children's fiction:
- Crime fiction:
- Classics
- Non-fiction:
- YA
- Dystopian fiction
- Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2024
- Book you read in 2024 that yu recommended most to others
- Best series you discovered in 2024
- Favourite new author you discovered in 2024
- Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn't.
- Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you.
- Book you read in 2024 that you're most likely to read again in 2024.
- Favourite book you read in 2024 from an author you read previously.
- Best book you read in 2024 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else
- Favourite cover of a book in 2024
- Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2024
- Book you can't BELIEVE you waited until 2024 to read.
- Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, a epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc). Be careful of spoilers
- Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2024 (be it it romantic, friendship etc)
- Most memorable character in a book you read in 2024
- Genre you read the most from 2024
- Best 2024 debut
- Book that was the most fun to read.
- Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2024
- Book you read in 2024 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
- Total number of books read
Here are my insta posts with my reads:
