For the last many years, I haven’t really kept up with a specific tracking method for what I read. In the past I tried Goodreads, have kept lists in my journal, and for a while was posting each book I completed on my Instagram feed or stories.

In addition to keeping a master list of what I read, I also enjoy reflecting on the reading year as a whole and making a Best Of list of my favorites. I guess I never published the 2023 list, but here’s 2022, 2021, 2020.

For 2024, in addition to my memory, I am relying on my journal, Libby, my Virginia and Georgia library apps, and my Amazon order history to help me with this list.

At final count, I believe I read somewhere around 39 books in 2024. To be honest, I’m surprised the final count is that high. I am typically closer to the 60-70 books range. I will say, I’m happy with 39 books especially when I consider that in 2024, I also completed 12 hours of graduate school which had its own significant reading and writing demands, launched a kid to college which had me deep in applications, scholarships, and FAFSA reading, and WE MOVED TO ANOTHER STATE which ate up a lot of mental space and leisure time for reading.

A few years ago I designated my annual favorites with completely made up and arbitrary categories in no particular order of preference. That’s what this year will be as well. Let’s do it!

*denotes a Pulitzer Prize winner

Best Comfort Re-Read:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

Started the year off with this one shortly after my trip to New York City and ahead of a really busy year full of transition. I read this book every year or two to evoke a particular feeling of I don’t know exactly what. It always gives me perspective on the longevity of life, the power of our perseverance, and the power of reading and books. Just typing this now makes me want to start it again. There’s nothing I could say about this book that would make you want to read it or love it. But if you have read it, then you likely do love it and you get what I’m saying here.

Most Read Author(s):

Yours Truly (Abby Jimenez)

Part of Your World (Abby Jimenez)

These were easy, light reads/listens. I love the way these stories and their characters interact between books. I’m still in the queue for the third book of the series, Just for the Summer. From what I remember, there were one of two moderately spicy scenes in each book.

Lucy By the Sea (Elizabeth Strout)

Olive Kitteridge* (Elizabeth Strout)

Anything is Possible (Elizabeth Strout)

Also an author whose characters make appearances in other books. There is a certain realness, sadness, and honesty in Strout’s books. I have a few more of hers in my TBR pile. She’s one I’m working through her entire cannon because I can’t quit thinking about the stories and characters long after I’ve read them.

Author and Book I Loved Most:

Lonesome Dove* (Larry McMurtry)

I started this as part of The Bookshelf’s 2024 Conquer a Classic. I didn’t keep up with the group timeline, but read it on my own. It was the most beautiful story of friendship and life. Cried like a baby at the end. Then, I watched the movie and cried all over again. I know this is one I will read again before too long. At around 860 pages, Lonesome Dove was also the longest book I read.

Most Anticipated:

Tom Lake (Ann Patchett)

Have loved AP for a long time and couldn’t wait to read this one. When we lived in Clarksville, I made the pilgrimage to her bookstore, Parnassus and I follow AP on Instagram so I basically feel like I know her. Tom Lake did not disappoint. Again, another long, detailed story that made you think about life, love, and intergenerational relationships. I love how modern fiction books are starting to nod to the Covid years in their narratives. One reviewer I read called the book elegiac, which is the perfect description for a book that felt somewhat sorrowful.

Best in Personal Development:

This was a three-way tie!

The Emotionally Healthy Woman (Geri Scazzero)

Spiritual, but honest. Told from the point-of-view of a pastor’s wife who gets the harsh and hard parts (and many personal sacrifices) of being married to the ministry. There were lots of connections to the dangers over-functioning and codependence, which, I believe are common to those of us drawn to helping professions and in roles like being co-laborers in ministry. I was grateful for Geri’s willingness to go there and tell it like it is, but then offer healthy, biblical solutions for how to reorient your life without throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

The Writing Diet (Julia Cameron)

Julia Cameron is the queen of celebrating the life of an artist and creative. I loved how she used journaling as a way to heal lots of behaviors, including how we feed our bodies and souls. There are so many connections to our spiritual and physical appetites and I enjoyed reading this book and completing some of her writing exercises. I’d love to go through all of her The Artist’s Way curriculum some time when I can commit to it.

The Language of Letting Go (Melody Beattie)

Author of Codependent No More (one of my top 2022 reads) this daily journal was an excellent companion for the recovering codependent. These are short daily meditations for recovery. The topics range widely and each daily journal offered encouragement and practical steps and tips for reclaiming boundaries and personal responsibility. This is an area of life I have been actively working on for the past few years and these short little boosts of confidence were super helpful reminders.

Most Disappointing:

There were several books this year that I had heard so much about and couldn’t wait to get my hands on. I don’t know why, but none of these hit the mark for me.

The New Menopause (Mary Claire Haver)

Am I 47 and likely in the throes of midlife and peri-menopause? Yes! Am I already tired of hearing all about how we all probably should be on HRT? Yes! Am I actively trying to rebuild my Instagram algorithm to avoid this topic? Yes. I know a lot of people think MCH is the savior of midlife, but she feels very sales-y to me. Her IG and then this book feel like one big sales funnel to her supplement line. I am not in denial about parts of our healthcare system that are broken, but I personally am not looking to spend the next ten years of my life sulking, staying mad, or dwelling on how my body is failing me. Honey, I’m too busy out here living and enjoying it! (Apologies if you love her!)

Sandwich (Catherine Newman)

Became acquainted with CN during her Real Simple days and was excited to read this book. Maybe it was my aversion to all of the hype and negativity about middle age (see above), but this book also just didn’t land with me. I had two trusted reader friends warn me about it, with one saying she couldn’t even finish the book. I finished it but just didn’t care for the way the story was told.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens (Ina Garten)

I gave my full disappointed review on Instagram a while back so I won’t rehash that here but Ina’s memoir was a letdown for me. I was SO excited to read it. I even pre-ordered it. Meh. Meh. Meh. I read it in about two days and donated it to my local library who didn’t yet have a copy.

Best Mindless Fiction/Beach Reads:

Romantic Comedy (Curtis Sittenfeld)

I think this was a Reese’s Book Club pick. I listened to this one as an audiobook and seriously loved it. It was told from the point of view of a quirky and funny television writer working at a fictitious Saturday Night Live variety late-night comedy show who falls in love with one of the celebrity guests. Great humor and from what I remember, not too spicy. I’ve read a few reports the book is being scripted for a movie from Reese’s production company.

The Faculty Lounge (Jennifer Mathieu)

Really heartwarming and gave all the feels of working in a high school. There are some funny and heart-warming twists in the story but I loved the way the story was told from multiple faculty perspectives. She nailed the different personas of different departments within the school flawlessly.

Most Likely to Make Me Cry:

The Collected Regrets of Clover (Mikki Brammer)

This was NPR’s Best Book of 2023 and I can’t even remember now who recommended this to me, but I loved it. It’s a fiction book about death and grieving told from the perspective of a death doula. It’s also a book about living the life in front of you. It’s about doing hard things with love and courage. I have a very tender spot for this subject after losing my dad. And while, yes, there were some very sad and triggering moments in this book, overall the story is redemptive and sweet.

It Goes So Fast: The Year of No Do-Overs (Mary Louise Kelly)

Whoa! Was this a tear-jerker. It’s a non-fiction memoir-style book told by NPR’s Kelly about the year leading up to her son’s high school graduation, but it’s also about her whole life as a mom trying to balance getting it all right. Reading this during my own season of launching kids into adulthood had me really relating and resonating with every single chapter and anecdote. The story beautifully overlays the many truths of how as we are helping our kids grow up, we, as mothers, are growing up in the process. Ouch.

Best New-to-Me Author(s):

This was a four-way tie with books by authors that were new to me this year. Each book was very different and could have possibly been in its own category.

The House of Eve (Sadeqa Johnson)

This was another Reese’s Book Club pick and ended up winning several awards. It’s technically classified as historical fiction, but I just couldn’t put it down. Set in the 1950’s, this story meets at the intersection of the corruption that ensues when money, race, the Catholic church, and poverty collide.

Yellowface (R.F. Kuang)

Whoa! This was a dark story but riveting. Lots of deception, lust for fame, and the trappings of when one lie keeps leading to another. If you love books and writing and the literary scene, this will keep you interested and engaged to the last page.

Underground Railroad* (Colson Whitehead)

For Christmas 2023, I got all three kids several Pulitzer books as part of the Want/Need/Wear/Read. I ended up reading a lot of the books I bought them, including this one. This was one of the most beautifully written, saddest, yet most hope-filled books I read. You were cheering on the characters and hoping for their justice, liberty, and freedom all along the way, no matter what it cost them.

Trust* (Hernan Diaz)

Another of the kids’ Pulitzer books I borrowed. Loved, loved, loved this one. Set in New York in the 1920s, it’s a fictional story about a power couple who has deep connections to the Black Tuesday/Great Depression financial scene. It’s got a lot of twists and turns and tells the story in a unique way with a novel-within-a novel and multiple characters having their “books” in the book. It keeps you guessing until the end and I really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone for this one.

Best Book that Connected Me to Someone + Best Overall:

Theo of Golden (Allen Levi)

My reading friend Allison gave me this book and I trust her reading recommendations impeccably. We are very aligned on what we believe to be good writing and have similar tastes in books. She gave me my copy about week before our move so I didn’t even start it until this fall. Once I started it, I immediately fell in love with the setting (Golden, a fictional Georgia city that might as well be Savannah), the supporting cast of characters, and Theo, the main character who is one of a kind. I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but I will tell you this book is different from any other I read all year. It is fiction, but it feels like part allegory. I would say the book it reminded me of a mashup of Tuesdays with Morrie, The Alchemist, and Jayber Crow. It’s a book about living with no regrets, community, and kindness. I loved it, have recommended it widely, and hope to read it again.

Alright! So that’s my superlative list of books for 2024! It was a great reading year. It was a year of reading heavier, literary fiction and fewer non-fiction books which is unlike my usual cadence. I read lots of longer books, read four Pulitzers which are always dense but good, and felt like so many of this year’s reads were less about mindless, juicy fiction, and more about getting into the hearts and minds of characters with stories about the intricacies of life.

Please tell me in the comments what some of your favorite reads of 2024 were! I’d love to hear and also add them to my 2025 TBR pile!