What I Read in 2024

Literally today, as I sat down to write this post I saw these words on a Substack (paraphrased and will be linked when I re-find it):

How to be a successful reader: just read. That’s it.

A few years ago, I set a goal to read 100 books in a year. Another year, I set a goal to read within certain categories. This year, I set no goals whatsoever. I just read what I wanted when I wanted.

The List

1. Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson)

2. Wildwood (Colin Meloy)

3. 5 Minute Therapy (Sarah Crosby)

4. A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K Le Guin)

5. The Tombs of Atuan (Ursula K Le Guin)

6. The Farthest Shore (Ursula K Le Guin)

7. Tehanu (Ursula K Le Guin)

8. Tales From Earthsea (Ursula K Le Guin)

9. The Other Wind (Ursula K Le Guin)

10. The Only One Left (Riley Sager)

11. The Man Who Died Twice (Richard Osman)

12. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson)

13. Tress of the Emerald Sea (Brandon Sanderson)

14. Ghost Walk (Rebecca Stott)

15. The Chalice of the Gods (Rick Riordan)

16. The Night Gardener (Jonathan Auxier)

17. A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking (Ursula Vernon)

18. A Flicker in the Dark (Stacy Willingham)

19. The Bullet Journal Method (Ryder Carroll)

20. Murtagh (Christopher Paolini)

21. The Hangman (Louise Penny)

22. A Fatal Grace (Louise Penny)

23. The Dictionary of Lost Words (Pip Williams)

24. Redwall (Brain Jacques)

25. The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)

26. Hallowe’en Party (Agatha Christie)

27. Closed Casket (Agatha Christie)

28. Haunting at Hill House (Shirley Jackson)

29. The Mercies (Kiran Millwood Hargrave)

30. The Hollow (Agatha Christie)

31. Colour Out of Space (HP Lovecraft)

32. After the Flood (Agatha Christie)

33. The Mysterious Benedict Society (Trenton Lee Stewart)

34. Mysterious Benedict Society: The Perilous Journey (Trenton Lee Stewart)

35. Accidental Magic (Iris Beaglehole)

36. Experimental Magic (Iris Beaglehole)

37. Combustible Magic (Iris Beaglehole)

38. Celestial Magic (Iris Beaglehole)

39. Delectable Magic (Iris Beaglehole)

40. The Small and the Mighty (Sharan McMahon)

Thoughts On My Reads This Year

• Speak is a must read and even more important in today’s climate.

• Ursula K Le Guin was a genius. I enjoyed The Wizard of Earthea when I first read it and then I fell.in.love. with Ursula when I read her author’s note. The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu are beautiful.

• I just love the Cosmere and Tress was such a fun Sanderson work that made me want to jump back in.

• I wasn’t expecting The Historian to be about vampires, but I was thrilled when it was.

• I had to put down The Mercies while I had a bit of a crisis. It stretched me and haunted me.

• I’ve never considered myself overly “patriotic,” but The Small and the Mighty had me crying throughout.

Goals for Next Year

1. Read more of the books I already own.

2. Read.

3. Buy what I want.

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I’d love to hear what you read this past year, what your goals were, what your goals are, or just what your thoughts about your current reading life are in general!

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