Wrapping Up: The Best of 2024

Another year has gone by, and just like every other December I wonder where the time went, but this year I also feel as though I lived two or three years in one. 2024 hasn’t been a bad year, but if I had to choose one word to describe it, it would be “tiring“. I’ve honestly been feeling quite drained for a while, but at the same time I’ve been weirdly re-energised in these last few weeks – it must still be the residual excitement from my blogiversary! I’m happy that I got some of my blogging mojo back in the second half of the year, and I look forward to keeping that up in 2025!

Reading-wise, I feel this has been a pretty average year. I read 52 books, with only 1 DNF this year. I have a fair few books “on pause” at the moment though, and it has been pretty common this year that I struggled to just finish a book, even though I was enjoying it. It hasn’t really happened to me before so it feels a bit weird but, hey, I’ll lean into the tiredness and give my brain the rest it so clearly needs.

I like that I kept up the genre variety this year! Fantasy is still my most-read genre, but I branched out to others too. Not many books managed to blow me away though… maybe it was a “me issue” but I only had four 5-star reads and five 4.5-star reads, and I gave some low ratings too.

I’ve also been a bit remiss in writing up my NetGalley reviews this year. There are four books I’ve read but for which I never posted a review, and they are definitely my priority for the next few weeks! One of my goals for 2024 was to clear some of my NetGalley backlog and improve my ratio, which sort of happened but not really… I had a 56% ratio in January and after 12 months I’m at 57%. Technically, I guess it did increase but I was hoping for a more significant improvement lol. Also, considering I had 149 books on my shelf at the beginning of the year and there are 166 now, I think it’s safe to say I still have some work to do there! So, improving my NetGalley ratio is back as a bookish goal for 2025!

All this will aside, which were my favourite books of the year after all, you ask? Let’s have a look at my top reads of 2024 right now! It’s a shorter list than other years but these books all hold a special place in my heart, really different as they are! Kind of a reflection of my deeply eclectic tastes…

These include a mix of new and backlist books, but they’re all ones I discovered for the first time this year. The link in the book’s title takes you to Goodreads, while the one in the text goes to my review. The books are listed in no particular order, and they’re the ones that stayed with me long after reading them, not necessarily the ones I rated highest shortly after reading.

Let me know in the comments if you read any of these or which ones (if any) are on your TBR!

Kavithri by Aman J. Bedi

Kavithri was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I discovered this through a blog tour, otherwise I doubt it would have been on my radar. Even though I had a feeling I’d enjoy it, I was surprised to love it as much as I did!
This brutal, South-Asian inspired dark fantasy is definitely not one to pick up if you struggle with explicit violence (I struggled with a few scenes) but if that’s not an issue for you, it’s definitely worth it for the rich world, satisfying plot and memorable characters. One of the best fantasy novels I have read in quite a while.

Ghostly by Kate Serzenta

A hot-shot lawyer hit by a major scandal rents out a big old house in a sleepy town with no intention of meeting anyone as he lays low for a few months. Except he’s not accounted for the house being haunted by a peppy Victorian ghost, nor for the fact that he would be the first person in over a century to be able to see and interact with her.
Ghostly is a cute, warm and fuzzy paranormal romance. It’s essentially a “comfort blanket” book: pleasant, reassuring, and the perfect defence against the bleak outside world. And boy, did I need one of these this year.

Daughter of the Seven Hills by Margaret McNellis

A female-centred historical fiction set in Ancient Rome, Daughter of the Seven Hills is an engrossing read masterfully using multiple points of view to convey the complexity and brutality of the historical context while exploring the unique voices of different characters, some of whom would risk being voiceless in a more canonical narrative.
I can hardly go wrong picking up a book by Margaret McNellis, and this was no exception!

What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

This was definitely the year of alternating fairly brutal but thought-provoking reads to challenge myself with cozy and comforting ones to soothe myself. It’s all about balance!
This was a delightful, heartwarming read that I was genuinely happy to curl up with every night and that left me with a smile on my face, a deep-seated feeling of peace and contentment and a strong desire to hug my loved ones tighter than usual. It’s a simple book that does what it says on the tin, but perhaps this time it was exactly what I was looking for in the library.

What were your favourite books this year? 
Tell me in the comments or leave a link to your wrap-up post so I can visit.

Have a wonderful New Year!