2024 | A Year in Review

It’s that time again in the year, the end of the year where I look back and see how much I’ve read during the year. The only place I track my reading is on Goodreads so this is what Goodreads says I’ve read:

I read 181 books last year and this year just 134 (3 books were read by my daughter) and I am very happy with that. My goal was to read less, so I don’t burn out and I did a good job! *pats myself on the back**.

Of course a Sarah J. Maas book is going to be the longest one I’ve read this year! lol not a surprise at all. As for the shortest book? Well my daughter read that one and since my kindle app is linked to my Goodreads, it picks up the books she’s read. And a 385 page book sounds like a dream – I’m glad that’s the average length of a book I’ve read this year!

I finally read Verity and I’m excited to see how they adapt it into a movie. My least shelved book is from an indie author who asked me to read and review her book called Spindleheart. My rating average basically stayed the same from 2023 which is interesting.

This was my first review of the year….

And supposedly my last review…this was a good one!

Here are some stats of how I rated books this year. I have a lot of 4 star books only because if I give it a 3.5 rating, I round up since Goodreads doesn’t allow us to do half stars.

I didn’t do many blog tours this year – very, very few:

BLOG TOUR} The Summer Swap by. Sarah Morgan | Book Excerpt

Blog Tour} The Catch by. Amy Lea | ARC Review

As for some personal favorites of mine this year:

The Women by. Kristin Hannah

The Last Bloodcarver by. Vanessa Le

Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth #1) by. Kristen Ciccarelli

Funny Story by. Emily Henry

Not Another Love Song by. Julie Soto

The Thirteenth Child by. Erin A. Craig

The Songbird & the Heart of Stone by. Carissa Broadbent

Quicksilver by. Callie Hart

How was your reading year? Did you reach your reading goals? What was your favorite books of 2024?

Looking Back on 2024: Books on the Backlist

I did read some books from the backlist this year. I’m not good at trying to clear my TBR list EVER…I just try to get some books I’ve been wanting to read from the online library so if my backlist titles are few…that’s why. Let’s take a look at the backlist titles I read in 2024.

Books on the Backlist

The Endless War (The Bridge Kingdom, #4) by. Danielle L. Jensen
The Great Alone by. Kristin Hannah
Nettle & Bone by. T. Kingfisher

The Fine Print by. Lauren Asher (Dreamland Billionaires, #1)
Heart of the Sun Warrior (The Celestial Kingdom, #2) by. Sue Lynn Tan
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

Verity by. Colleen Hoover
King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3) by. Ana Huang
Check & Mate by. Ali Hazelwood

A Fire Endless by. Rebecca Ross
The Unmaking of June Farrow by. Adrienne Young
The Ever King (The Ever Seas, #1) by. L.J. Andrews

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by. Megan Bannen
Butcher & Blackbird by. Brynne Weaver

Let me know in the comments!

Looking Back on 2024: New to Me Authors

I feel like I read a bunch of new authors this year – let’s take a look!

New to Me Authors in 2024

If I Promise You Wings by. A.K. Small
These Deadly Prophecies by. Andrea Tang
The Summer She Went Missing by. Chelsea Ichado
Snowglobe by. Soyoung Park
Compass and Blade by. Rachel Greenlaw
The Half King by. Melissa Landers

The Last Bloodcarver by. Vanessa Le
Nettle & Bone by. T. Kingfisher
The Fine Print by. Lauren Asher
So Let Them Burn by. Kamilah Cole
The Poisons We Drink by. Bethany Baptiste
A Winter Wish by. Emily Stone

Spindleheart by. T. I. Avens
Beautiful Villain by. Rebecca Kenney
Curious Tides by. Pascale LaCelle
Just for the Summer by. Abby Jimenez
Warm Hands of Ghosts by. Katherine Arden

Flawless Girls by. Anna-Marie McLemore
The Calculation of You and Me by. Serena Kaylor
Dungeons and Drama by. Kristy Boyce
A Magic Fierce & Bright by. Hemant Nayak
This Summer Will Be Different by. Carley Fortune
Not Here to Be Liked by. Michelle Quach
A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang

Birding with Benefits by. Sarah T. Dubb
All Roads Lead to Rome by. Sabrina Fedel
The Girl with No Reflection by. Keshe Chow
Castle of the Cursed by. Romina Garber
The Monstrous Kind by. Lydia Gregovic
Happy Medium by. Sarah Adler

Filthy Rich Fae by. Geneva Lee
Dishonestly Yours by. Krista & Becca Ritchie
Fledgling by. S.K. Ali
Deja Brew by. Celestine Martin
Fear of the Flames by. Olivia Rose Darling
Road of Bones by. Demi Winters
House of Thorns by. Isabel Strychacz

Eleven Houses by. Colleen Oakes
The Wren in the Holly Library by. K.A. Linde
Bloodguard by. Cecy Robson
Truly, Madly, Deeply by. Alexandria Bellefleur
Cloak of the Vampire by. Sapir A. England
Darkly by. Marisha Pessl

I read from 45 new-to-me authors this year! 👏🏽 My favorites that I would definitely read from again are:

Vanessa Le, Marisha Pessl, Demi Winters, Geneva Lee, Sabrina Lee, Lydia Gregovic, Sarah Adler, Serena Kaylor, T. Kingfisher, Emily Stone, Kristy Boyce

How many new to you authors did you read in 2024? Or who is your new favorite?

Let me know in the comments!

Looking Back on 2024: Series That I Started or Finished

I did a similar post last year to see what series I started and finished during the year. It’s very interesting to see if I stick to a series or not. It’s so hard sometimes to get back into a series after waiting so long for the next book since I don’t re-read a lot of books anymore.

Series That I Started or Finished in 2024

Here’s what I started:

A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1) by Hafsah Faizal
Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1) by. Kristen Ciccarelli
A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1) by. Danielle L. Jensen

Snowglobe (Snowglobe Duology) by. Soyoung Park
The Last Bloodcarver (The Last Bloodcarver) by. Vanessa Le
The Veiled Kingdom (The Veiled Kingdom) by. Holly Renee

Curious Tides (Drowned Gods) by. Pascale LaCelle
When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall) by. Sarah A. Parker
Heavenbreaker (Heavenbreaker) by. Sara Wolf

The Ever King (The Ever Seas Series) by. LJ Andrews
Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy) by. Brynne Weaver
Heir (Heir Duology) by. Sabaa Tahir

The Dagger and the Flame (The City of Fantome series) by. Catherine Doyle
Dishonestly Yours (Webs We Weave series) by. Krista & Becca Ritchie
The House at Watch Hill (The Watch Hill Trilogy) by. Karen Marie Moning

Fledgling (The Keeper’s Records of Revolution series) by. S.K. Ali
A Fire in the Sky (A Fire in the Sky series) by. Sophie Jordan
Fear the Flames (Fear the Flames series) by. Olivia Rose Darling

The Road of Bones (The Ashen series) by. Demi Winters
The Games Gods Play (The Crucible series) by. Abigail Owen

Filthy Rich Fae (Filthy Rich Fae series) by. Geneva Lee
Fangs for Nothing (The Nevermore Murder Club & Smutty Book Coven) by. Steffanie Holmes
The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak and Holly Cycle series) by. K.A. Linde

Zodiac Rising (Descendants of the Zodiac series) by. Katie Zhao
The Half King (The Half King series) by. Melissa Landers
Bloodguard (Old Erth series) by. Cecy Robson

The ones I won’t be continuing are:

Snowglobe (Snowglobe Duology) by. Soyoung Park – from what I remember it was intriguing but don’t know if it’s enough for me to read part two.
When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall) by. Sarah A. Parker – this first book was SO long, but I pushed through. I don’t know if I have the patience to read a book two.
Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy) by. Brynne Weaver – read this because of the hype and this was entertaining but not interested in the rest of the series.
Fledgling (The Keeper’s Records of Revolution series) by. S.K. Ali – entertaining dystopian read but would have to be in the right mood to read it.
Fear the Flames (Fear the Flames series) by. Olivia Rose Darling – I liked this one but didn’t love the flow and wasn’t connecting to the characters.
Fangs for Nothing (The Nevermore Murder Club & Smutty Book Coven) by. Steffanie Holmes – this was fun but no interest in continuing unless I have nothing else to read
The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak and Holly Cycle series) by. K.A. Linde – bought this because the book cover was pretty but ugh, I didn’t love the story, wanted more from the story.
Zodiac Rising (Descendants of the Zodiac series) by. Katie Zhao – interesting world building but didn’t love.
Bloodguard (Old Erth series) by. Cecy Robson – another pretty cover but story was okay.

Here are the series that I finished:

I finished 12 series this year! Many were duologies which makes it easier to finish.

Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment series) by. Rebecca Ross
Destroy the Day (Defy the Night series) by. Brigid Kemmerer
The Prisoner’s Throne (The Stolen Heir Duology) by. Holly Black

A Fire Endless (An Elements of Cadence series) by. Rebecca Ross
Ghostsmith (House of the Dead series) by. Nicki Pau Preto
The Mirror of Beasts (Silver in the Bone series) by. Alexandra Bracken

Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies series) by. Lynn Painter
The Blood Orchid (The Scarlet Alchemist series) Kylie Lee Baker
Wisteria (Belladonna series) by. Adalyn Grace

Fangs for Nothing by. Steffanie Holmes

The Whispering Night (The Luminaries series) by. Susan Dennard

The Darkness Within Us (The Shadows Between Us series) by. Tricia Levenseller

What series did you start or finish in 2024?

Let me know in the comments!

Book Tag | Reading Firsts – 2024 Edition

I haven’t done a book tag other than the birthstone covers in awhile! I saw this one on Leslie’s blog Books Are the New Black and thought it was super short and easy to do. I’m all about easy book tags! It was originally created by girlxoxo.

First Book Read in 2024

Ruthless Vows by. Rebecca Ross was the first book I read even though it came out in December 2023 – there was just so much going on in that month I couldn’t get to it until January 2024 and I loved it! It is such a great duology!

first review of 2024

I don’t know what the first book of 2024 I read but this is the first book review I posted! It’s The Atlas of Us by. Kristin Dwyer. It was pretty good and I rated it 3 1/2 stars!

first debut read of 2024

I loved this debut called The Last Bloodcarver by. Vanessa Le, it was a 5 star read for me!

First “new to me” author of 2024

I’ve never read a book by this author, but this book If I Promise You Wings by. A.K. Small was really interesting! I’ll definitely read a book by this author again.

First Book of 2024 that Slayed Me

The Women by. Kristin Hannah is the first book that totally slayed me in 2024. 5 stars for sure!

First Book of 2024 that I Wish I Could Get Back the Time I Spent Reading it

I tried to read this one, The Book of Azrael by. Amber Nicole, because it’s so popular on Kindle Unlimited. I got 11% in and stopped because it wasn’t holding my attention. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to finish it but for now…it’s a DNF.

First Five Star Book of 2024

Yup, The Women by. Kristin Hannah, it slayed me and like I said, it was a 5 star. The first one of this year!

I tag ALL OF YOU!

Top Ten Books on my Spring 2024 TBR | TTT | 3/19/24

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. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!