As the old year draws to a close and a new one begins I am finally typing out my list of Top Ten Books I read in 2024!
I made a list in 2023 but it was much more difficult for the sole reason of I read 300+ books. A) I am never doing that on purpose again, it was too stressful to try and hit that goal and B) it made narrowing it down to ten books extremely difficult. However, somehow narrowing the 146 I read this year was just as if not more difficult because a lot of them could have made this list. The ten that made the cut are the ten books that have stuck with me the most, that at least once every other week or so something from them will pop into my head. Or, in the case of number one, I am still trying to figure out how I went from absolutely fine to bawling like a baby in the last five pages.
One more thing: each heading is linked to the books page on The Raven Bookstore based out of Lawrence, KS, one of my favorite independent bookstores.
Without further ado:
AwkwardAdorable's Top 10 Books of 2024
10) A Gentleman and a Thief by Dean Jobb
I picked this book up at the library on a whim, because well, I love a story about morally grey people and their lives, so a nonfiction book about Arthur Barry, a cat burglar who was so polite to his victims that a few of them even felt guilty testifying against him with a strict code of his own? Yes, please. Even his love story, while it definitely isn't perfect reads like something out of an old Hollywood movie.
9) A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
One of my favorite books of all time (and I'm not even going to call it a guilty pleasure, because I don't care if you think it's cheesy, it makes me swoon and cry every time I read it) is Ashley Poston's The Dead Romantics. She writes magical realism love stories that are just...ugh, so perfect. And A Novel Love Story is another nearly perfect one. Anders, the male lead, was obnoxious at first, but, as I have been told, like Mr. Darcy, he isn't as nasty as he wants Eileen to believe. But most importantly, who among us hasn't wanted to spend time in the settings of their favorite novel?
8) The Mayor of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham
7) Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
The sequel to Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone puts Ern and Juliette on a train for a writer's tour. Which is going very very wrong for Ern. When one of the headlining author's keels over, it's up to Ern to figure out who did it. This book is more hilarious and twisty than the first. But the amount of times I was face palming and groaning at Ern is what put it on this list.
6)We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Steve Wheeler just wants to lead a quiet life. His daughter in law Amy does not. And somehow they end up solving a murder together with the help of a...let's say, eccentric author named Rosie. Osman is a master at weaving hijinks and hilarity into his mysteries but it's the way he writes people that makes every book memorable. And if I could ever request a book from him it would be having Rosie meet the Thursday Murder Club.
I will say the amount of side characters was a bit...off putting, but once I got through figuring out who was who, it was definitely one of my favorite books this year.
Toto is finally telling you exactly what he wanted to during the Wizard of Oz and let me tell you. You're probably going to agree with a lot of it. From wondering why so many munchkins are singing again. To saying "To heck with all this poop" this wannabe bad dog should offer commentary on horror movies as well, so at least someone is telling the characters how stupid they are.
This book made me laugh, cry and go "oh hell yes, someone gets it." Because Jacob has severe anxiety and finds it easier to talk through the written word. And so he apologizes to Brianna in a letter and their love story begins. This book really got what it meant to feel completely out of control when "normal" people think you should be having a good time and I love it for that.
3) Never a City So Real by Alex Kotlowitz
2) Sorry We're Dead Series by Angie Bee
A vampire and a werewolf are partners in a private detective agency. The world knows about magical creatures who live among them and it's exactly what you expect that situation to be like in the early 1900's. The characters and story are so unique and real it feels like you are there and the second book had me quite literally on the edge of my seat because holy crap that ending.
It also comes with the added bonus that Angie Bee puts in all of her books: character pages, so you get background on all the characters!
1) The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Sylvia Sivinski
Triplet sisters in the late 19th century Chicago (I'm sensing a theme suddenly), are psychics who run a tearoom on State Street, where ladies come to sip their magical brews and have their tea leaves read with usually 100% accuracy. Anne, Beatrix, and Violet live together in a house with a personality of it's own in relative happiness until one day everything changes. Something or someone is trying to pull the sisters apart. And what makes it harder for them is they are each, finally, starting to come into their own person.
I loved this book so much, but it was a slow burn and I wasn't sure what to think at first. And then in the last five or ten pages, I found myself feeling so many emotions, mostly good ones, and as soon as I closed the book I burst into tears. Easily the best book I have read, not just this year but in at least the last five years
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