My best and worst 5 books of 2024
47 books later and I’m ready to share some thoughts
DISCLAIMER: this blog post has what might be considered some HOT takes and some books you’ve probably never heard of. Welcome to my inner book thoughts of 2024.
I loved reading as a kid but my attention span wasn’t always that great. For example, I’ve still never made it all the way through the Harry Potter series because I felt the first 100 pages of every book were all the same: Harry hates his life, Harry misses his friends, Harry wants to go back to school, Harry goes back to school. No offense to Harry Potter lovers but that was always kind of a bore to me. In 2024 I really tried to read for fun and see what I liked. I’m happy to say I think I achieved that. I read 47 books last year and some of them were my favourite books of all time. However, some of them also sucked (IN MY OPINION!). So here are the best and worst five books I read in 2024 and a spoiler-free description of why.
Worst 5 books of 2024:
The Atlas Complex – Olivie Blake
This was a tough book for me to read. It is the third book in a magical realism series where I thought the first one was AMAZING. The series focuses on six students who are selected to partake in a secret society and the trials they face to gain access. The first two books in the story were captivating and the character arcs were well developed. But in the third book, the character’s actions made no sense and somehow there were plot holes in a story where no plot existed. The first book was great but don’t read this series unless you’re ready to be disappointed.
Red Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson
Red Mars is the first book in a Mars Settlement series and has won countless science fiction awards. Critics say that this book created a new path for the science fiction genre. However, I felt like I was reading a dry history textbook. The science parts were cool but I frequently found myself asking “What is the point of all of this? What is the plot?”. After finishing the book I decided that Red Mars is 672 pages of setup for another book in the series. Don’t waste your time; it’s easy to find a better science fiction book.
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
This book is considered a classic. Readers follow the life of Jane Eyre, an orphan who was not welcomed by her new family. Jane Eyre is often cited as the first feminist in literature and perhaps I was too optimistic about what this meant, given that this book was published in 1847. I’m not saying Jane couldn’t inspire, I just think this book is more akin to Pride and Prejudice than what I initially pictured it to be. Plus, the old English writing style made each page of this a struggle to get through. I can understand why this book has a cult following but it’s a hard pass for me.
Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This book was my intro to the gothic horror Genre. The main character, Noemi, takes a trip to an old secluded house run by a rich family and things start seeming strange. We follow Noemi as she unravels the secrets of the house and the family that owns it. If I’m being honest, this book wasn’t THAT bad so its presence on this list might speak more to how good the other books I read were. However, there was a good chunk of this book that could have been removed and the story wouldn’t have been greatly impacted. To make matters worse, the ending felt very rushed. I would have rather the author remove a few pages from the middle and add a couple more to the end.
The Teller of Small Fortunes – Julie Leong
Similar to Mexican Gothic, this book wasn’t that bad. It’s your classic quest book where a group of ‘misfits’ get together to find something and by the end, they have found each other. It was my first time trying out a Book of the Month subscription and if I am being honest, I think the company did the book wrong by labelling it as fantasy instead of a Young Adult (YA) fantasy or cozy fantasy. It was a cute read but I was looking for a faster-paced book that was written with some more elegance. The writing style of this book felt a bit simple and young, not my thing.
Best 5 books in 2024:
Ok here is my favourite part. Last year had some great reads across different genres so hopefully there’s something that piques your interest on this list.
The Women – Kristin Hannah
A historical fiction that has an incredible female lead, Francis ‘Frankie’ McGrath. We follow McGrath’s journey through enlisting in the Vietnam War as an Army Corps nurse, her experiences in Vietnam, and her life in the decade that passes after leaving the war. The author made me feel all sorts of feelings throughout this book and every single one of them was worth it. The story also provided perspective into a time I didn’t know much about. Very few war stories are told about women and even fewer about women in a war that was generally unsupported by the American people. You can tell Kristen Hannah did her research and I will absolutely be reading more of her books this year.
Endure – Alex Hutchinson
Favourite non-fiction read of the year. Endure talks about endurance athletics and the complex factors that impact the genre of sports. The story is backed by science but also has anecdotes from the author’s experience as well as high-performing athletes. This book had me nodding along to parts that I had personally experienced but also shocked by aspects of endurance that surprised me. If you’re fascinated by our ability to push our bodies to do crazy things, then this is a great read.
Delta-V – Daniel Suarez
Delta-V is a sci-fi novel that follows an asteroid mining mission funded by a billionaire and feels super relevant to the current state of the space industry. I loved Daniel Suarez’s writing style and the book was super fast-paced. It had bits and pieces of hard science that were great additions but not too much that it felt like a textbook. I’ll definitely be checking out some of his other books.
Happy Place – Emily Henry
I know romance can be a hotly debated genre but I love an Emily Henry book. I find that her books follow a main character as they develop where the romance adds to the plot. Happy Place follows a couple that failed at long distance, broke off their engagement, and then find themselves on a trip with their friends who have no idea. This book had themes that were the embodiment of ‘the right place at the right time’ for me and I think that contributed to making Happy Place my favourite Emily Henry book.
Light Bringer – Pierce Brown
Light Bringer is the sixth book in the Red Rising series. I hesitate to describe this series because I know readers can be particular about types of sci-fi, but if you’re willing to give it a shot, I promise it’s worth it. Red Rising is a dystopian sci-fi series set in a brutal caste system built on generations of lies and oppression. The story follows a protagonist who infiltrates the highest caste, disguising himself to dismantle the system from within and fight for the liberation of his people. Oh, and it takes place throughout the solar system. If you haven’t read this series, I can’t recommend it enough. This recommendation has never failed to please and I check Google routinely for the release date of the seventh and final book. Whatever genre Google has it as is a lie, this series deserves its own genre.
I hope you found your next book to read, regardless of which list it came from. If you’re looking to join some book clubs, MIT has great clubs that provide you with a book each month. I’m personally a part of the Graduate Women’s Reading Group (GWRG) and the Sci-fi Book Club. Both clubs have pushed me to try new types of books and I’ve had a lot of fun with them. Happy reading!
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