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i push the dusty rewind button
I started this ages ago when I needed a distraction and longed to linger over the books I'd read and rejoiced in last year, and I've been pecking away at it ever since. It feels a little silly to post a Books of 2024 meme almost halfway through 2025 but here we are! If you are at all curious about the books I loved (and loathed, I guess, but mostly loved) last year, please, step right this way!
Favorite Book of 2024:
Normally, I would quibble at the notion of a favorite, but this year, A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey hits so many of my sweet spots that it effortlessly rises to the position. If you enjoy wickedly competent heroes dashing fleet-footed along a tightrope of complications amidst devious fae, cruel factory owners, and clever and determined urchins all whilst falling in love in Victorian England, please do yourself the great favor of picking this up.
Worst Book of 2024:
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey. My only one-star book of this year, this might have been somewhat enjoyable if I'd read it when it came out, even given the lazy plotting and desultory historical research, but it has not aged well. At all. So much "not like other girls" and "I can't get fat" and "wealth equals goodness" and "Asians are okay but not African or Hispanic folks." This was recommended to me by a friend who has devoured and adored almost all of Lackey's backlist over the last year, and I will not be telling him I read this book unless he asks.
Most Disappointing Book:
Something Close to Magic. Emma Mills has a knack for writing YA romances with compelling and vital friendships woven into them, and I have enjoyed almost every single one of her novels. This was her first venture into fantasy, and I was so excited to see what she would do in that genre. What I didn't realize was that this is a kind of spin-off: in her book Lucky Caller, the sisters and their neighbor play a game of pretend, and Something Close to Magic is the novelization of that game. Because of that, it's thin on detail and characterization and attempts to side-step its origins with a self-conscious cheekiness that undermines Mills' knack for conveying how life-changing and life-saving friendships can be. It felt childish and half-baked and left me longing for the potency I know she's capable of.
Most Surprising Book:
I found Foreword's review of Megaera C. Lorenz's The Shabti intriguing, but even though I was anticipating an enjoyable read, it exceeded my every expectation. The characters were so real, their relationship so warm and intimate, and even though the plot has genuine stakes and chilling moments, the book still feels cozy and inviting. Add an author who brings her Ph.D. in Egyptology to bear, and brushes in the period detail with care and subtlety, and you have a book that delighted me for the entire read and left me eager for anything Lorenz might write next.
Most Unputdownable Book:
October Sky by Homer Hickham. Yeah. I know. I'm surprised too. But the pacing in this book is outstanding. As soon as one problem is solved, another arises, and once you're invested in the boys' evolving ambitions in building their rockets, you just don't want to put the book down until they've succeeded. And it's very easy to get invested in those ambitions: Hickham's writing is effortless and evocative, his depiction of the characters and their relationships realistic and compelling. I was genuinely amazed by how riveting I found his story, and I wished I'd read it when my dad was still alive so we could've discussed it.
Most Anticipated Book:
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. Her novel The Night Tiger was one of my favorite books of 2019, and though I didn't enjoy The Ghost Bride as much, I think her writing is beautiful, and I love the powerful, poignant, and delicate way she unspools her stories. Now that The Fox Wife has been savored and celebrated, I'll be eagerly awaiting her fourth novel's (eventual) appearance.
Most Beautifully Written Book:
So, so much competition for this, including almost all the (enjoyed) books I mention in this meme, but I'm going to go with The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko. Sometimes a book rises above being beautifully written to also perfectly capture the voice and place and time of its narrator and story; from the very first sentence to the very last, Ifueko's writing catches you up and transports you to the world and perspective of her humble, resourceful, and so-clever heroine. It enhances every other wonderful element of the book, weaving itself inextricably amidst characterization, worldbuilding, and plot, until it's impossible to imagine any part of the story without the color, shape, and sound of its words.
Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book:
Being Muslim Today by Saqib Iqbal Qureshi. I learned a lot about Islam, of course, which was worth it, in and of itself, considering how biased and rigid Western portrayals of Islam and Muslims are. But Qureshi's clear-eyed but loving explanation of his faith and its history also gave me a new model for how I might engage with my own. This is something I've been struggling to do for about 5 years now, and while I know I'll eventually consult Christian scholars, they aren't the right source to turn to as I'm attempting to deconstruct how I relate to my faith. Those scholars have their own agendas, their own dogmas and doctrines, and I can't just trust that those will line up with mine. Instead, I've had to come at this sideways, finding resources that address the same sorts of moral and ethical structures that exist in my faith, and recognize how foundational those can be, but don't speak to Christian beliefs directly. Being Muslim Today has, so far, been the most empowering and encouraging guide in this slow, slow process.
Book That Made You Cry:
I like a little poignancy in my reading list, so it's a good year when I have at least a couple books that fit this description...and an even better one when there isn't a single Terribly Sad title that comes immediately to mind. 2024 has been a year of the latter type, I'm happy to report. I remember crying at moments during Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Queens' Play, Your Letter, Drawn Onward, and The Brightness Between Us (probably the most straightforwardly sad), but the bitter didn't overshadow the sweet in any of these, and I enjoyed them all thoroughly.
Most Hilarious Book:
A Pinecone by Helen Yoon. So many funny, delightful moments, but that moment inside the little girl's bedroom? XD Yoon's first book with this father and daughter, Off-Limits, is just as hilarious.
Best New Series:
I've read a lot of books in series this year, but I didn't start very many. Of those, though, Kowloon Generic Romance is the one I've been reading the most urgently. Part slice-of-life, part sci-fi, part mystery, with hints at romance and an excellent friendship between women anchoring the characters, this is not quite like any other manga series that I've read. It's taking its time unfolding the reality underneath what we, and the characters, see, but that slow burn leaves the creepy, unstable, and baffling moments all the more startling when they occur.
Best Book From An Atypical Genre:
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor is lightly historical slice-of-life anecdotes that border on the autobiographical. I love a slice-of-life manga, but I don't tend to read (or enjoy) slice-of-life fiction, even when it has an interesting historical context to sweeten the pot. But this was funny and poignant and delightful, Taylor's voice lending just the right blend of youthful drama and nostalgic wryness to keep the pages turning. I'm not sure I'll pick up the others in the series—I think I'd be nervous that the sequels won't hold up to the promise of this one—but I'm very glad I took my dad's long-ago enjoyment of this seriously enough to read it.
Favorite Book From An Author You’ve Read Before:
Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold. Listen. If there's a Miles Vorkosigan book that I'm reading in any given year, it will always, always win this category. Miles Vorkosigan is my beating heart, and I live and breathe his disasters and adventures and disastrous adventures every moment from one book to the next...which I save for when I really, really need them.
Favorite Authors Discovered This Year:
Natasha Pulley is the frontrunner this year—I finished The Mars House with the thought that I needed to read the rest of her books as soon as possible—but I'm also really looking forward to reading more by Trip Galey, Mizuki Tsujimura, Megaera C. Lorenz, Ali Hazelwood, Shelly Jay Shore, Ellis Peters, Hyeon A. Cho, Matt Cain, and Jordan Ifueko.
Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until Now To Read:
The Lyra Novels by Patricia C. Wrede. I read them as an ebook chunk whilst vacationing in Europe this past fall and really enjoyed them. (They aged much, much better than the aforementioned Mercedes Lackey novel.) But given how many of Wrede's other books I've read in my life, I honestly can't believe it took me so long to get to these. I think now I have only her short stories, Star Wars novels (prequel novelizations, alas), The Dark Lord's Daughter, and the final book in the Kate and Cecy series left to read.
Best Book Read Solely On A Recommendation From Someone Else:
A coworker made a brief and tantalizing reference to Emotions Explained with Buff Dudes by Andrew Tsyaston, so of course, I had to read it. As expected, it spoke truth and hilarity to my millennial soul, and I still sometimes think about some of the comics.
Book You Recommended To Others Most:
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura. I tend to recommend titles to people less because of what I like and more based on what they like, so my recs can be pretty broad. But this year, I had a few people who I thought would appreciate this book, so it got trotted out the most. Fortunately, the folks I recommended it to seem to have enjoyed it.
Favorite Book Cover:
I love a book cover that provides a glimpse of the scenes within—blame my genre-reading youth—and the cover for Eliot Schrefer's The Brightness Between Us offers that with beautiful detailed art and an evocative color palette while also echoing the cover of the first book in the series. Add an unobtrusive sci-fi font and clever design and I can almost feel the story waiting for me when I flip the cover back.
Favorite Quote:
Almost all the noteworthy quotes this year come from Dorothy Dunnett's Queens' Play, which is not all that surprising given the nuanced, complex characters and situations she writes. If I have to narrow it down to just one favorite quote, though, this one probably inches out ahead of the others:
"Remember, some live all their lives without discovering this truth; that the noblest and most terrible power we possess is the power we have, each of us, over the chance-met, the stranger, the passer-by outside your life and your kin. Speak, she said, as you would write: as if your words were letters of lead, graven there for all time, for which you must take the consequences. And take the consequences."
Most Memorable Character:
She's not exactly a character, but I really enjoyed learning about Claude Cahun in Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun by Kaz Rowe. Their art and life and love is interesting, in itself, but what I found myself thinking about most after finishing the book was her resistance work against the Nazis during World War II. That world feels increasingly real right now, of course, but it didn't when I first read Cahun's story. Even so, seeing her cleverness and bravery and subtlety and determination to do something was encouraging and empowering. I'm not a physically strong or violent person; I'm not a loud person; I am, however, someone who would die for a cause, and thinking about Cahun's calmness, their implacability in the face of what must be done, and what might happen to her because of it, gives me hope that I might be the same, if I am ever called to that kind of resistance work.
OTP Of The Year:
Ooooh. ::rubs hands together:: Yes! Now we're getting into the bits of books I read for—the 'ships of all sizes and shapes! I always love Hades/Persephone in the Lore Olympus series, of course, and Emily/Wendell were particularly impressive in book two of the Emily Wilde series, but I think my favorite 'ship this year has to be Dashiel/Hermann from The Shabti. Tender, vulnerable, warm, their relationship progresses with enough passion and speed to be satisfying in a single novel but also with the kind of depth and honesty that makes you root for them and truly believe they'll last beyond the final page.
Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year:
Since the connective relationships are the element of a book I pay the most attention to, I'm going to be very strict and limit myself to only one answer. Otherwise, I'd be listing fully half this year's book list. So! The one that stands out the most is the relationship between Lymond and O'Liam Roe in Queens' Play. It's frequently adversarial but amidst their disagreements and dislike is respect for and insight into the other, and they make each other better people, sometimes in significant ways.
Most Vivid Setting:
Definitely Mars in Natasha Pulley's The Mars House. The way the cold, the dust storms, the gravity, the atmosphere shape everything, and the way the genetic changes, both adaptive and purposefully enacted, affect the clothing, buildings, culture, politics, and language...this is the type of carefully and cleverly deconstructed and reconstructed worldbuilding that I gleefully analyze as a fantasy author. And as really excellent worldbuilding always does, it impacts everything in the book, so it's interesting for its own sake but also interesting in the role it plays in warping and shifting and creating the characters and story.
Most Unique Book:
One of the things I like best about my job is the exposure to picture books in translation. Because they come from different parts of the world, they often have unexpected approaches to story, characters, or art. One of 2023's favorites was What Feelings Do When No One's Looking by Tina Oziewicz and Aleksandra Zając, in which quirky, grey-toned illustrations of emotions show us their favorite pastimes, and this past year brought a sequel, What Feelings Like Best. Both books are poignant and odd and wise and invite children and their adult readers to engage with their emotions and better understand how those emotions shape their days and the lives of those around them. They're the kind of books I'd keep on a shelf just so I could read them when I most need insight or encouragement.
Hidden Gem:
Another book in translation! (Because they are delightful and often very little known.) The Legend of Tiger and Tail-Flower by Lee Gee Eun is part picture book, part graphic novel about a selfish, grumpy tiger who wakes one day to find a dandelion growing from the tip of his tail. After a period of adjustment, the two become the best of friends and journey through life together. As you might expect from that kind of story, the ending is touched with sadness, but it is also hopeful and exuberant and filled with charming and funny little moments, especially in the illustrations.
Favorite Book of 2024:
Normally, I would quibble at the notion of a favorite, but this year, A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey hits so many of my sweet spots that it effortlessly rises to the position. If you enjoy wickedly competent heroes dashing fleet-footed along a tightrope of complications amidst devious fae, cruel factory owners, and clever and determined urchins all whilst falling in love in Victorian England, please do yourself the great favor of picking this up.
Worst Book of 2024:
The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey. My only one-star book of this year, this might have been somewhat enjoyable if I'd read it when it came out, even given the lazy plotting and desultory historical research, but it has not aged well. At all. So much "not like other girls" and "I can't get fat" and "wealth equals goodness" and "Asians are okay but not African or Hispanic folks." This was recommended to me by a friend who has devoured and adored almost all of Lackey's backlist over the last year, and I will not be telling him I read this book unless he asks.
Most Disappointing Book:
Something Close to Magic. Emma Mills has a knack for writing YA romances with compelling and vital friendships woven into them, and I have enjoyed almost every single one of her novels. This was her first venture into fantasy, and I was so excited to see what she would do in that genre. What I didn't realize was that this is a kind of spin-off: in her book Lucky Caller, the sisters and their neighbor play a game of pretend, and Something Close to Magic is the novelization of that game. Because of that, it's thin on detail and characterization and attempts to side-step its origins with a self-conscious cheekiness that undermines Mills' knack for conveying how life-changing and life-saving friendships can be. It felt childish and half-baked and left me longing for the potency I know she's capable of.
Most Surprising Book:
I found Foreword's review of Megaera C. Lorenz's The Shabti intriguing, but even though I was anticipating an enjoyable read, it exceeded my every expectation. The characters were so real, their relationship so warm and intimate, and even though the plot has genuine stakes and chilling moments, the book still feels cozy and inviting. Add an author who brings her Ph.D. in Egyptology to bear, and brushes in the period detail with care and subtlety, and you have a book that delighted me for the entire read and left me eager for anything Lorenz might write next.
Most Unputdownable Book:
October Sky by Homer Hickham. Yeah. I know. I'm surprised too. But the pacing in this book is outstanding. As soon as one problem is solved, another arises, and once you're invested in the boys' evolving ambitions in building their rockets, you just don't want to put the book down until they've succeeded. And it's very easy to get invested in those ambitions: Hickham's writing is effortless and evocative, his depiction of the characters and their relationships realistic and compelling. I was genuinely amazed by how riveting I found his story, and I wished I'd read it when my dad was still alive so we could've discussed it.
Most Anticipated Book:
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. Her novel The Night Tiger was one of my favorite books of 2019, and though I didn't enjoy The Ghost Bride as much, I think her writing is beautiful, and I love the powerful, poignant, and delicate way she unspools her stories. Now that The Fox Wife has been savored and celebrated, I'll be eagerly awaiting her fourth novel's (eventual) appearance.
Most Beautifully Written Book:
So, so much competition for this, including almost all the (enjoyed) books I mention in this meme, but I'm going to go with The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko. Sometimes a book rises above being beautifully written to also perfectly capture the voice and place and time of its narrator and story; from the very first sentence to the very last, Ifueko's writing catches you up and transports you to the world and perspective of her humble, resourceful, and so-clever heroine. It enhances every other wonderful element of the book, weaving itself inextricably amidst characterization, worldbuilding, and plot, until it's impossible to imagine any part of the story without the color, shape, and sound of its words.
Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book:
Being Muslim Today by Saqib Iqbal Qureshi. I learned a lot about Islam, of course, which was worth it, in and of itself, considering how biased and rigid Western portrayals of Islam and Muslims are. But Qureshi's clear-eyed but loving explanation of his faith and its history also gave me a new model for how I might engage with my own. This is something I've been struggling to do for about 5 years now, and while I know I'll eventually consult Christian scholars, they aren't the right source to turn to as I'm attempting to deconstruct how I relate to my faith. Those scholars have their own agendas, their own dogmas and doctrines, and I can't just trust that those will line up with mine. Instead, I've had to come at this sideways, finding resources that address the same sorts of moral and ethical structures that exist in my faith, and recognize how foundational those can be, but don't speak to Christian beliefs directly. Being Muslim Today has, so far, been the most empowering and encouraging guide in this slow, slow process.
Book That Made You Cry:
I like a little poignancy in my reading list, so it's a good year when I have at least a couple books that fit this description...and an even better one when there isn't a single Terribly Sad title that comes immediately to mind. 2024 has been a year of the latter type, I'm happy to report. I remember crying at moments during Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Queens' Play, Your Letter, Drawn Onward, and The Brightness Between Us (probably the most straightforwardly sad), but the bitter didn't overshadow the sweet in any of these, and I enjoyed them all thoroughly.
Most Hilarious Book:
A Pinecone by Helen Yoon. So many funny, delightful moments, but that moment inside the little girl's bedroom? XD Yoon's first book with this father and daughter, Off-Limits, is just as hilarious.
Best New Series:
I've read a lot of books in series this year, but I didn't start very many. Of those, though, Kowloon Generic Romance is the one I've been reading the most urgently. Part slice-of-life, part sci-fi, part mystery, with hints at romance and an excellent friendship between women anchoring the characters, this is not quite like any other manga series that I've read. It's taking its time unfolding the reality underneath what we, and the characters, see, but that slow burn leaves the creepy, unstable, and baffling moments all the more startling when they occur.
Best Book From An Atypical Genre:
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor is lightly historical slice-of-life anecdotes that border on the autobiographical. I love a slice-of-life manga, but I don't tend to read (or enjoy) slice-of-life fiction, even when it has an interesting historical context to sweeten the pot. But this was funny and poignant and delightful, Taylor's voice lending just the right blend of youthful drama and nostalgic wryness to keep the pages turning. I'm not sure I'll pick up the others in the series—I think I'd be nervous that the sequels won't hold up to the promise of this one—but I'm very glad I took my dad's long-ago enjoyment of this seriously enough to read it.
Favorite Book From An Author You’ve Read Before:
Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold. Listen. If there's a Miles Vorkosigan book that I'm reading in any given year, it will always, always win this category. Miles Vorkosigan is my beating heart, and I live and breathe his disasters and adventures and disastrous adventures every moment from one book to the next...which I save for when I really, really need them.
Favorite Authors Discovered This Year:
Natasha Pulley is the frontrunner this year—I finished The Mars House with the thought that I needed to read the rest of her books as soon as possible—but I'm also really looking forward to reading more by Trip Galey, Mizuki Tsujimura, Megaera C. Lorenz, Ali Hazelwood, Shelly Jay Shore, Ellis Peters, Hyeon A. Cho, Matt Cain, and Jordan Ifueko.
Book You Can’t Believe You Waited Until Now To Read:
The Lyra Novels by Patricia C. Wrede. I read them as an ebook chunk whilst vacationing in Europe this past fall and really enjoyed them. (They aged much, much better than the aforementioned Mercedes Lackey novel.) But given how many of Wrede's other books I've read in my life, I honestly can't believe it took me so long to get to these. I think now I have only her short stories, Star Wars novels (prequel novelizations, alas), The Dark Lord's Daughter, and the final book in the Kate and Cecy series left to read.
Best Book Read Solely On A Recommendation From Someone Else:
A coworker made a brief and tantalizing reference to Emotions Explained with Buff Dudes by Andrew Tsyaston, so of course, I had to read it. As expected, it spoke truth and hilarity to my millennial soul, and I still sometimes think about some of the comics.
Book You Recommended To Others Most:
Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura. I tend to recommend titles to people less because of what I like and more based on what they like, so my recs can be pretty broad. But this year, I had a few people who I thought would appreciate this book, so it got trotted out the most. Fortunately, the folks I recommended it to seem to have enjoyed it.
Favorite Book Cover:
I love a book cover that provides a glimpse of the scenes within—blame my genre-reading youth—and the cover for Eliot Schrefer's The Brightness Between Us offers that with beautiful detailed art and an evocative color palette while also echoing the cover of the first book in the series. Add an unobtrusive sci-fi font and clever design and I can almost feel the story waiting for me when I flip the cover back.
Favorite Quote:
Almost all the noteworthy quotes this year come from Dorothy Dunnett's Queens' Play, which is not all that surprising given the nuanced, complex characters and situations she writes. If I have to narrow it down to just one favorite quote, though, this one probably inches out ahead of the others:
"Remember, some live all their lives without discovering this truth; that the noblest and most terrible power we possess is the power we have, each of us, over the chance-met, the stranger, the passer-by outside your life and your kin. Speak, she said, as you would write: as if your words were letters of lead, graven there for all time, for which you must take the consequences. And take the consequences."
Most Memorable Character:
She's not exactly a character, but I really enjoyed learning about Claude Cahun in Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun by Kaz Rowe. Their art and life and love is interesting, in itself, but what I found myself thinking about most after finishing the book was her resistance work against the Nazis during World War II. That world feels increasingly real right now, of course, but it didn't when I first read Cahun's story. Even so, seeing her cleverness and bravery and subtlety and determination to do something was encouraging and empowering. I'm not a physically strong or violent person; I'm not a loud person; I am, however, someone who would die for a cause, and thinking about Cahun's calmness, their implacability in the face of what must be done, and what might happen to her because of it, gives me hope that I might be the same, if I am ever called to that kind of resistance work.
OTP Of The Year:
Ooooh. ::rubs hands together:: Yes! Now we're getting into the bits of books I read for—the 'ships of all sizes and shapes! I always love Hades/Persephone in the Lore Olympus series, of course, and Emily/Wendell were particularly impressive in book two of the Emily Wilde series, but I think my favorite 'ship this year has to be Dashiel/Hermann from The Shabti. Tender, vulnerable, warm, their relationship progresses with enough passion and speed to be satisfying in a single novel but also with the kind of depth and honesty that makes you root for them and truly believe they'll last beyond the final page.
Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year:
Since the connective relationships are the element of a book I pay the most attention to, I'm going to be very strict and limit myself to only one answer. Otherwise, I'd be listing fully half this year's book list. So! The one that stands out the most is the relationship between Lymond and O'Liam Roe in Queens' Play. It's frequently adversarial but amidst their disagreements and dislike is respect for and insight into the other, and they make each other better people, sometimes in significant ways.
Most Vivid Setting:
Definitely Mars in Natasha Pulley's The Mars House. The way the cold, the dust storms, the gravity, the atmosphere shape everything, and the way the genetic changes, both adaptive and purposefully enacted, affect the clothing, buildings, culture, politics, and language...this is the type of carefully and cleverly deconstructed and reconstructed worldbuilding that I gleefully analyze as a fantasy author. And as really excellent worldbuilding always does, it impacts everything in the book, so it's interesting for its own sake but also interesting in the role it plays in warping and shifting and creating the characters and story.
Most Unique Book:
One of the things I like best about my job is the exposure to picture books in translation. Because they come from different parts of the world, they often have unexpected approaches to story, characters, or art. One of 2023's favorites was What Feelings Do When No One's Looking by Tina Oziewicz and Aleksandra Zając, in which quirky, grey-toned illustrations of emotions show us their favorite pastimes, and this past year brought a sequel, What Feelings Like Best. Both books are poignant and odd and wise and invite children and their adult readers to engage with their emotions and better understand how those emotions shape their days and the lives of those around them. They're the kind of books I'd keep on a shelf just so I could read them when I most need insight or encouragement.
Hidden Gem:
Another book in translation! (Because they are delightful and often very little known.) The Legend of Tiger and Tail-Flower by Lee Gee Eun is part picture book, part graphic novel about a selfish, grumpy tiger who wakes one day to find a dandelion growing from the tip of his tail. After a period of adjustment, the two become the best of friends and journey through life together. As you might expect from that kind of story, the ending is touched with sadness, but it is also hopeful and exuberant and filled with charming and funny little moments, especially in the illustrations.