Annual Favorites: Brittany's Preferred Books of 2024
I freakin' love keeping tabs on stuff. Whether it's monitoring my habits, like how much H2O I guzzle down, the grub I shovel into my pie hole, or the number of days in a row I take care of my little, self-care finch, named Sparkle (by the way, have you checked out the Finch app? It's adorable, and I just bought Sparkle a witch hat!).
But let's talk about something music to the books in my heart – tracking my reading! So, this whole, "let's see how many books I read this year" thing was nothing new to me. The problem, as anyone with ADHD can probably attest, is sticking with all that tracking (but that's a story for another time).
As you may recall from our Summer Reading Challenge, I don't read nearly as much as Sara does. So when I saw her post about reading 131 books last week, I'll admit my initial reaction was a bit of self-deprecation. I read nowhere close to that... I think I read about 34 books in 2024? But I'm not sure because, as I mentioned above, I started out strong with the book tracking thing and then completely forgot about it by August, so...
But you know what? THAT IS TOTALLY FINE!
34 books is still a ton of books, and way more than most people read, and honestly, it's way more than I've read in many years. I've written before about how I lost my ability to read for fun completely for a while, during grad school mostly, and how awful that was, so reading 34 books this year feels pretty darn awesome to me. I'm proud of it.
Here are my top 5 from 2024!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I finally got to read this novel, after YEARS of it collecting dust on my TBR list, and I was not at all disappointed. In many ways, I felt like you couldn't have crafted a more perfect book for me if you tried... as Sara suggested when she was like "Brittany, you've got to read this. I loved it, but you are going to LOVE it." And I did! This one's about art, magic, New York City, connections, and just... so many things I adore. This is one I'll definitely come back to again and again.
Cackle by Rachel Harrison
This book practically had me blushing because I loved it so much that I felt weird talking about it. Does that ever happen to you? Like you don't want to share how much it meant to you with anyone because it's a little strange, and they might be like "oh, okay..." about it, and then you'll be like "NO! OH! OMGITISSO GOOD! SPIDER!" and then everyone will be like ? No? Just me? Seriously though, I absolutely adored this book. Strange and eccentric and lovely women in small towns stirring up rumors of witchcraft is one of my favorite tropes, and this book did not disappoint in the slightest. Fair warning though - if you're afraid of spiders, you might want to give this one a pass. Spiders do give me the heebie-jeebies sometimes, but the main spider here is so darn cute I didn't mind. That said, there is one scene in particular that features a particularly terrifying spider (straight out of a horror movie) and... well, it's a lot, so consider yourself warned!
The Fairy Atlas: Fairy Folk of the World by Anna Claybourne
When we were working on our Fairylore manuscript, my co-author and I were pretty dismayed at how few English sources were available on fairies that ventured past Europe. Basically on a whim, we bought this kids' book to see what it had to say... well. We were surprised and totally delighted to discover that it was actually among the most valuable sources we read. Claybourne obviously spent a ton of time researching this book, and not a lot of books aimed at kids do this nearly as well (especially when it comes to folklore topics!). Claybourne pointed us in the direction of so many fantastic fairy-like beings from around the world, and when we did our own research on them, what she included in her short write-ups consistently hit the nail on the head. We're so grateful to this book and so happy that it exists! If you have kids, or even if you don't, you'll definitely want to check it out! Plus, it's beautifully illustrated and designed!
A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
I took notes on this one because I knew it was going to be part of our Trapped in a Gothic Novel course, and I literally wrote "[t]his book is making me think Hand is one of my favorite authors. I seriously love everything I've read by her, and I need to read more," and I stand by that. Hand is an incredible writer. I'm seriously impressed with how she honored Jackson's legacy while still making Hill House entirely her own. And I loved her additions to this world. If you write about complicated themes of art and magic, you've got me all set.
The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen
I couldn't decide which of these top 5 books to pick, and it took forever for me to finalize my choice (and picking only five was already a challenging task)! I truly loved this book, also for our Trapped in a Gothic Novel course. In fact, I couldn't decide which of these two books to list here (and listing both of them was not an option because I made the rules!), so I decided to list both of them. Carmen's writing was brilliant and incredibly engaging, so much so that I immediately went ahead and pre-ordered her next novel, Beneath the Poet's House, upon finishing it. I just finished that one before writing this, and it further cements Carmen as a must-read author for me.
And here's my honorable mentions list...
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles - Sara was like "YOU HAVE TO READ THIS NOW, obviously," and it was really good. I have a soft spot for Tartt's The Secret History (no one is surprised), but I definitely appreciate how Charles was like "yeah, no. Let's do this, but better."
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers - This book just left me feeling happy, and it came at a time when I really needed that. I loved how it made simple actions and simple, beautiful stories so compelling.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle - This was my favorite self-empowerment/self-care read of the year (and I read a lot of them!) It made me feel like I could do anything and that fighting for myself and what I want is worth it (something I need to be reminded of often).
A Rose By Any Other Name by Mary McMyne - Shakespeare with a dash of witchcraft? Where do I sign up? McMyne's writing is such a compelling read!
Honestly, Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan should probably be on this list (even though I technically finished it in January, shh), but I was and still am REALLY UPSET ABOUT one thing, so I'm keeping it off the list out of spite. But I did overall really enjoy it and think it was quite brilliant (except for that one thing).
If you haven't shared your top 5 reads of 2024 in the comments yet, be sure to do so! We'd love to know what books you're excited about!
Yours in mischief and magic,BrittanyP.S. Our book club read this month is Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai! If you want to talk about it with Sara and me and the rest of the book club, we're meeting on January 27th at 7 PM ET (and there's always a recording!). To join us, support our Patreon at $7+ for the month of January. We'd love to see you there!
I adore browsing various topics, including my own lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty trends, reading recommendations, and entertainment news. For instance, I devoured several books last year, and here's a list of my top five:
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- Cackle by Rachel Harrison
- The Fairy Atlas: Fairy Folk of the World by Anna Claybourne
- A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
- The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen
Additionally, I often share my recommendations on books and other highlighted topics in our Patreon book club, where fellow bookworms gather to discuss our monthly reads and exchange ideas.
