I loved your list and agree with so many. Dare I say I’ve never read S King? You’ve convinced me and I already have requested You Like it Darker.
Sandwich….I’m 47 and right where Rocky was and omg do I get her. Perimenopause is no joke and not talked about enough. Most days I feel like I am going mad and this book made me feel not so bad about loving my family in the fiercest of ways and hating them at the same time. People who don’t get this book and hate the MC clearly haven’t experienced this stage of life and can’t related with how much it changes a person. It’s made me want to go back to when my mom was in this stage of life and treat her better.
Oooh I’m so excited that you’re willing to give Stephen King a try! You’ll be able to tell by the short stories in You Like It Darker if you like his general writing style and storytelling, but if you’re ready to really explore King I have a whole podcast episode about what to read and what to skip: https://www.10thingstotellyou.com/podcast/222
That’s a great fiction list. Thank you! I agree that Beautyland was a surprise charmer of a book. The observations of what humans are like are profound and quirky. And you’re so right about The Bee Sting. It’s hard to put the experience of getting to know those characters into words. I read it months ago and still think about it a lot, especially the ending. Happy reading in 2025, Laura!
We share two of the same favorites! I absolutely loved Book of Love and felt like it flew under the radar for how good it was (maybe because it's so long and weird? idk). Also loved God of the Woods... it's rare for such a big book to absolutely live up to the hype.
Another favorite for me this year--with also a terrible title/cover, re: Here One Moment--was Is She Really Going Out with Him? (I know it's a song referenced in the book, but it doesn't even make sense there.) I loved those two main characters and the complexity of the book for its genre. (But that title, eek!)
First let me say I'm so sorry for your loss in the LA fires. That is so devastating. I will keep you and yours I'm my prayers.
I enjoyed reading your fiction list of favorite books 2024. My favorite book that I read in 2024 was Kristen Hannah's The Women. It is about a young newly graduated nurse who joins the army during the Vietnam war. It spoke to.me because I too am an RN and I grew up during the Vietnam Era. It was the first book I have read in a long time that I just couldn't put down.
Great list! I love seeing people's best and/or favorite books of the year. We have a lot of overlap, and I'm in total agreement about All Fours—an imperfect but visceral, thought-provoking reading experience. Last year I also started digging into Edith Wharton's lesser known works like The Mother's Recompense and Twilight Sleep. I can't believe how modern and readable they are, plus her prose is divine!
I enjoyed your list. I read two of them and have most of the rest on my TBR list but I added Beautyland! Did you read Margo’s Got Money Troubles? It was a fresh voice (to me) and I really enjoyed it
I enthusiastically listened to you and your book club talking about the books you did not like in 2024. The Ann Napolitano book is not new, which is probably why you didn’t hear much about it. It was a re-release from 2005, trying to capitalize on hello beautiful’s success I’m sure.
Such a fun list! I’ve read 4 of them and hope to get to a few others this year. Did you notice the Morse Code in We Used to Live Here? It actually is a message related to the story.
Oooo, that’s so intriguing! Yet, I also feel like the premise of this novel was a real life story that happened in the not too distant past, but I can’t recall the exact details of that story at this moment (wracking my brain now…).
I loved your list and agree with so many. Dare I say I’ve never read S King? You’ve convinced me and I already have requested You Like it Darker.
Sandwich….I’m 47 and right where Rocky was and omg do I get her. Perimenopause is no joke and not talked about enough. Most days I feel like I am going mad and this book made me feel not so bad about loving my family in the fiercest of ways and hating them at the same time. People who don’t get this book and hate the MC clearly haven’t experienced this stage of life and can’t related with how much it changes a person. It’s made me want to go back to when my mom was in this stage of life and treat her better.
Oooh I’m so excited that you’re willing to give Stephen King a try! You’ll be able to tell by the short stories in You Like It Darker if you like his general writing style and storytelling, but if you’re ready to really explore King I have a whole podcast episode about what to read and what to skip: https://www.10thingstotellyou.com/podcast/222
That’s a great fiction list. Thank you! I agree that Beautyland was a surprise charmer of a book. The observations of what humans are like are profound and quirky. And you’re so right about The Bee Sting. It’s hard to put the experience of getting to know those characters into words. I read it months ago and still think about it a lot, especially the ending. Happy reading in 2025, Laura!
I’m so happy to see The Bee Sting in the #1 spot! It truly is excellent. I also loved Sandwich and The God of the Woods.
Sandwich is also one of my favourites (just turned 50!) and I’m reading The Wedding People now for next week’s book club.
We share two of the same favorites! I absolutely loved Book of Love and felt like it flew under the radar for how good it was (maybe because it's so long and weird? idk). Also loved God of the Woods... it's rare for such a big book to absolutely live up to the hype.
Another favorite for me this year--with also a terrible title/cover, re: Here One Moment--was Is She Really Going Out with Him? (I know it's a song referenced in the book, but it doesn't even make sense there.) I loved those two main characters and the complexity of the book for its genre. (But that title, eek!)
First let me say I'm so sorry for your loss in the LA fires. That is so devastating. I will keep you and yours I'm my prayers.
I enjoyed reading your fiction list of favorite books 2024. My favorite book that I read in 2024 was Kristen Hannah's The Women. It is about a young newly graduated nurse who joins the army during the Vietnam war. It spoke to.me because I too am an RN and I grew up during the Vietnam Era. It was the first book I have read in a long time that I just couldn't put down.
Great list! I love seeing people's best and/or favorite books of the year. We have a lot of overlap, and I'm in total agreement about All Fours—an imperfect but visceral, thought-provoking reading experience. Last year I also started digging into Edith Wharton's lesser known works like The Mother's Recompense and Twilight Sleep. I can't believe how modern and readable they are, plus her prose is divine!
I enjoyed your list. I read two of them and have most of the rest on my TBR list but I added Beautyland! Did you read Margo’s Got Money Troubles? It was a fresh voice (to me) and I really enjoyed it
I haven’t read that one yet! I’ll look it up.
I enthusiastically listened to you and your book club talking about the books you did not like in 2024. The Ann Napolitano book is not new, which is probably why you didn’t hear much about it. It was a re-release from 2005, trying to capitalize on hello beautiful’s success I’m sure.
Didn't want to like it but I LOVED "All Fours" : https://michaelmohr.substack.com/p/miranda-julys-all-fours
Such a fun list! I’ve read 4 of them and hope to get to a few others this year. Did you notice the Morse Code in We Used to Live Here? It actually is a message related to the story.
Um wait no 😂 off to google now!
Oooo, that’s so intriguing! Yet, I also feel like the premise of this novel was a real life story that happened in the not too distant past, but I can’t recall the exact details of that story at this moment (wracking my brain now…).