It’s the final day of the year already and this means that it’s time to fix the final things for 2024. Reading the final pages of the year (I hate to start a new book at the last day of the year or having to take a book with me to the new year), but this also means time to look back on the year that is behind us. In this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, it’s time to put our favourite books of 2024 in the spotlight. I decided to choose a favourite book from each month and therefore my list contains 12 books instead of 10. I have been tough to myself, I only allowed myself one choice. No runner ups, second bests or anything else. So, what books were my favourites of the year? Let’s take a look!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
- January: Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai – It was tough, because I had four candidates for favourite book of the month. However, one was a reread and two books aren’t available in English, so these were excluded. This book however was raw, tough, tense and emotional, exactly how I like them. There are a lot of trigger warnings, but for me this means that I’ll most likely have a good reading experience since these books tend to go so deep with serious themes. This is a story about the Vietnam war and its aftermath, which is interesting to read about.
- February: House of flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas – This is a no brainer, because I love this series and this was my most anticipated release of the year. It delivered and I actually wasn’t afraid it wouldn’t. This is a final book in a series, so please be careful when clicking on my review.
- March: Dearest Clementine by Lex Martin – March had several serious candidates as well, but this book really surprised me a lot. This was collecting dust on my digital shelf since 2019 and I even wanted to DNF it a few pages in. I’m glad I pushed through, because the character development of the main character is sublime.
- April: Jade War by Fonda Lee – I read the first book in this series back in March, and I’m usually not reading series instalments so soon after one another. However, I really couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next.
- May: The Women by Kristin Hannah – This book was so hyped and I wanted to get to it earlier. I couldn’t until May and wow what a book! I finished it in one day, because I just couldn’t stop listening. I think this is, alongside The Nightingale, the best book I’ve read by this author so far.
- June: Before I let Go by Kennedy Ryan – This month was quite average, but this book stood out to me. It’s character driven, which I prefer. The emotions are present, raw and real. The book has many trigger warnings, all the reason for me to enjoy it.
- July: Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee – I thought Jade War was nerve-wrecking and heart-wrenching, but I hadn’t read the final book in the series yet. Oh dear…
- August: The entire “Lady of Darkness” series by Melissa K. Roehrich – Well, I made the rules so I’m allowed to break then, aren’t I? Because this month, I read one entire series almost back to back and these were the books that stood out to me. Don’t get me wrong, I read more good stories, but these ones were just the best. Lady of Darkness, Lady of Shadows, Lady of Ashes, Lady of Embers and Lady of Starfire..
- September: Where Time Stands Still by N.S. Perkins – September was quite average in terms of books, most of these got 3.5 or 3 stars. If I really have to choose a book, I choose this one because of the themes. However, the execution is not was I was expecting, but loved it nonetheless.
- October: The Right Move by Liz Tomforde – Okay it was really tight between this one and Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, so it comes down to execution. I found the execution of this book just a little better, since there was huge character growth which is really important to me.
- November: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – This month was bad in general, but this book stood out and got the highest rating of the month. It was not hard to choose since I only read 5 books and really disliked two of them. Fun fact, this was a very quick DNF earlier in the year.
- December: Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B.B. Alston – I didn’t manage to finish this book in November, so I had to take this with me into December. I really like this series and especially the character growth Amari shows. This is no different in this book. I just hardly could put it down and therefore it’s my final favourite of 2024.
I had a pretty good reading year if I’m being honest. I hit my reading goal of 50 books in May already and definitely read a wide variety of books and genres. I think my reading has been quite diverse, but I can always do better. Picking favourites was quite tough sometimes.
What are your favourite books of 2024?
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