I Read 115 Books in 2024. Here's the list, with reading stats and superlatives!

I set an ambitious goal this year; 111 books- a completely arbitrary number (though an angel number), but much more than years previous. This pushed me to slam a few novellas and short stories (and equally avoid longer books). StoryGraph says I "traversed landscapes of the heart, engaged in introspective musings, and explored shadows of the human psyche." Overall, I'm pleased with my accomplishments this year, but am going to refocus my priorities for 2025.

My GoodReads stats are as follows:

Average Rating in 2023: 3.8 Stars (+.14 from last year)

Averages Book Length: 331 pages (-5 from last year!)

Most Shelved: A Little Life

Highest Rated on Goodreads: The Women

Here they are, in order of completion! My 101 books of 2022!

1. Call Me By Your Name- Andre Aciman

2. Rules for Being a Girl- Candace Bushnell & Katie Cotugno

3. The Weight of Blood- Tiffany D. Jackson

4. Finding Me- Viola Davis

5. Legally Blonde- Amanda Brown

6. What About Men- Caitlin Moran

7. Maybe in Another Life- Taylor Jenkins Reid

8. Reel (Hollywood Renaissance #1) - Kennedy Ryan

9. Shoe Dog- Phil Knight

10. Disorientation- Elaine Hsieh Chou

11. The Woman in Me- Britney Spears

12. The Heiress- Rachel Hawkins

13. River East, River West- Aube Rey Lescure

14. A Dowry of Blood- S.T.Gibson

15. The Pisces- Melissa Broder

16. A Caribbean Heiress in Paris (Las Leonas #1) - Adriana Herrera

17. Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - Dolly Parton

18. First Life Wins- Ashley Elston

19. A Little Life- Hanya Yanagihara

20. Technically, You Started It - Lana Wood Johnson

21. The Wishing Game- Meg Shaffer

22. Ready Player One (Ready Player One #1)- Ernest Cline

23. Recitatif - Toni Morrison

24. Ready Player Two (Ready Player One #2)- Ernest Cline

25. This Time Will Be Different - Misa Sugiura

26. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - James McBride

27. Blood Sisters- Vanessa Lillie

28. The Women- Kristin Hannah

29. The Manicurist's Daughter- Susan Lieu

30. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper - Hallie Rubenhold

31. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box - Evette Dionne

32. In Memoriam- Alice Winn

33. The War Outside- Monica Hesse

34. Sugar, Baby- Celine Saintclare

35. Grief Is for People- Sloane Crosley

36. Bright Young Women- Jessica Knoll

37. The Doll Factory- Elizabeth Macneal

38. Cult Classic- Sloane Crosley

39. Stars in Your Eyes- Kacen Callender

40. I Done Clicked my Heels Three Times- Taylor Byas

41. Like Happiness- Ursula Villarreal-Moura

42. Super Woman RX: Unlock the Secrets to Lasting Health...- Tasneem Bhatia

43. The House of Hidden Meanings- RuPaul

44. No One Cares About Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America - Ron Powers

45. The Brightwood Code- Monica Hesse

46. Beyond Getting By: The Financial Diet's Guide to Abundant and Intentional Living - Holly Trantham

47. Expiration Dates: Rebecca Serle

48. On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and The Price Women Pay to Be Good - Elise Loehnen

49. Home is Where the Bodies Are - Jeneva Rose

50. The Guncle Abroad (The Guncle #2) - Steven Rowley

51. Valley of the Dolls- Jacqueline Susan

52. Things I Should Have Said - Jamie Lynn Spears

53. Gray- Pete Wentz & James Montgomery

54. The Princess of Las Vegas - Chris Bohjalian

55. Funny Story- Emily Henry

56. Colton Gentry's Third Act- Jeff Zentner

57. 888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers- Abraham Chang

58. Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticisms, and Minding Other People's Business - Roxane Gay

59. Reality Check: Making the Best of the Situation- How I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison - Mike Sorrentino

60. Butts: A Backstory - Heather Radke

61. Darling Girls- Sally Hepworth

62. You Only Call When You're in Trouble - Stephen McCauley

63. The Last Word- Taylor Adams

64. Love Life: How to Raise Your Standards, Find Your Person, and Live Happily (No Matter What) - Matthew Hussey

65. Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 - David M. Kennedy

66. Love, Off the Record - Samantha Markum

67. Honey: A Novel - Isabela Banta

68. Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies- Catherine Mack

69. The Rom-Commers- Katherine Center

70. Shark Heart: A Love Story - Emily Habeck

71. Lady Tan's Circle of Women - Lisa See

72. What Happened to Nina? - Dervla McTiernan

73. Real Americas - Rachel Khong

74. When the Emperor Was Divine- Julie Otsuka

75. The Soulmate- Sally Hepworth

76. Good Material - Dolly Alderton

77. The Fury - Alex Michaelides

78. What You Wish For- Katherine Center

79. Only One Survives- Hannah Mary McKinnon

80. The Last Time We Say Goodbye- Cynthia Hand

81. Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and In Our Lives - Emily Amick & Sami Sage

82. I Hope This Finds You Well- Natalie Sue

83. Teddy- Emily Dunlay

84. The Villa- Rachel Hawkins

85. The Island of Sea Women- Lisa See

86. Remember Me Tomorrow- Farah Heron

87. Who is Maud Dixon- Alexandra Andrews

88. Evidence of the Affair- Taylor Jenkins Reid

89. Love Letters to a Serial Killer- Tasha Coryell

90. Salt to the Sea- Rypa Sepetys

91. Look Closer- David Ellis

92. All Fours- Miranda July

93. When the World Tips Over - Jandy Nelson

94. Christmas Shopaholic (Shopaholic #9) - Sophie Kinsella

95. Beyond the Wand- Tom Felton

96. The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties - Jesse Q. Sutano

97. The Wedding People - Alison Espach

98. A Love Like the Sun- Riss M. Neilson

99. Who's That Girl?: A Memoir- Eve

100. Notes on Grief- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

101. Five Total Strangers - Natalie D. Richards

102. The Reappearance of Rachel Price- Holly Jackson

103. Brokeback Mountain- Annie Proulx

104. Genuine Fraud- E. Lockhart

105. All the Colors of the Dark- Chris Whitaker

106. Pumpkin (Dumplin #3)- Julie Murphy

107. The Answer is No- Fredrik Backman

108. The Quiet Tenant- Clemence Michallon

109. Cruel Winter with You (Under the Mistletoe #1) - Ali Hazelwood

110. The Frozen Winter- Ariel Lawhon

111. Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell - Deryck Whibley

112. All by My Elf (Under the Mistletoe #3) - Oliva Dade

113. From Here to the Great Unknown- Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

114. Coming Home- Brittney Griner

115. Night Road- Kristin Hannah

Best [Celeb] Memoir

1. Finding Me (Viola Davis)

2. Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones (Dolly Parton)

3. Reality Check (Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino)

4. Beyond the Wand (Tom "Draco Malfoy" Felton)

5. Who's That Girl? (Eve)

6. Walking Disaster

7. From Here to the Great Unknown (Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough)

8. Coming Home

Best Thriller/ Mystery

1. The Last Word

2. What Happened to Nina?

Best Romance

1. The Rom-Commers

Best Historical

1. The Women

Best Nonfiction

1. No One Cares About Crazy People

2. Butts

Best Cry

1. A Love Like the Sun

Most Chaotic

1. Disorientation

2. Gray

3. Who is Maud Dixon?

Best YA

1. The Weight of Blood

2. Pumpkin

Best Self-Help

1. Love Life

   
   

Best Prose/ Writing

1. Recitatif

2. Grief Is for People

3. Notes on Grief

4. When the World Tips Over

Best Audio Performance

1. From Here to the Great Unknown (With audio tapes from the Late Lisa Presley, Narration by the Julia Roberts in Lisa's 1st person POV, and also narrated by Riley Keough in 3rd person POV)

Best Overall (in no specific order)

1. River East, River West

2. The Wishing Game

3. Ready Player One

4. The Women

5. The Guncle Abroad

6. Love Life

7. Shark Heart

8. Remember Me Tomorrow

9. When the World Tips Over

10. Coming Home

Biggest Disappointments

• Legally Blonde

• BloodSisters

• Super Woman RX

• On Our Best Behavior

• 888 Love and the Divine Burden of Numbers

• Honey

• What You Wish For

• The Island of Sea Women

• Love Letters to a Serial Killer

• All Fours

StoryGraph Stats!

StoryGraph Insights:

• Books I Like to Read: Multiple POVs, Second Chance romance, friends to lovers, plot twist, unpredictable, historical fiction, social justice, female empowerment, grief

• Preferred Characteristics: realistic/real-world settings/storylines, strong world-building/other-worldly, plot twists

• Favorite Genres: contemporary, young adult, memoir, historical, and true crime

• Disliked characteristics: predictable plot, poor writing, gory/horror

Final Reflections

• I read 14 more books than last year! This is incredible. I had to make much more of an effort, but it was worth it. I found so many gems. I DNF'd relatively quickly and was not going to waste time on things I didn't like.

• Nonfiction: In 2022, I read 32% nonfiction, 2023 was 20%, and 2024 was 24%. I'm looking to make more of an effort with nonfiction in 2025.

• The Broward County Public Library no longer offers free library cards :( Though the annual subscription price is $30 per month, I still have Chicago, NYC, Queens, and Brooklyn library cards. I've decided to forgo the paid subscription and intentionally maximize my use of my library cards and other services such as Amazon First Reads, NetGalley, and Libro.fm Advance Reader Copies.

• My mood trended pretty steady, and generally lower than last year. I'm still doing my best to manage family tragedy and read books that I can connect with.

• I'm okay with not liking a book that other people highly recommend. I could rant forever about literary fiction about the middle-class white woman who has angst about her unsatisfying marriage. I'm not doing it again in 2025! Chelsea Fagan ranted about this and that queen is not wrong!!

• I'm going to track books for my superlatives starting at the beginning of the year, so I don't forget any / focus only on my EOY books :)