I wasn’t sure how my reading was going to fare in 2024. This year was a such a different year for me. I spent the first half cramming a year’s worth of work into a few months, and the second half settling into a new house. But, not surprisingly, reading remained my anchor throughout all the hectic change. I reignited my love of fantasy, after having fallen away from it in recent years after some disappointing series, and I went down many a fascinating rabbit trail that originated from my interest in exploring the witch trials after visiting Salem, Massachusetts, last November.
Today, I’m sharing my top five fiction and top five non-fic for the entire year. I’ll hope you’ll chime in at the end with some of your faves!
Total books read: 70
Fiction to non-fiction ratio: 46:20
Number of books per rating: 5 stars (5), 4 stars (17), 3 stars (24), 2 stars (12), 1 star (2).
(Note: All links are Amazon affiliate links.)
My Top 5 Fiction Books of 2024
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I was not expecting to like this so much, but the characters sucked me in to the point where I couldn’t stop reading. It has its clunky moments, mostly in explaining the worldbuilding, but it’s a smart, well-realized fantasy that is noticeably grounded in the author’s understanding of the military. Can’t wait for the sequel!
In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros
When I skimmed through this to begin with, it didn’t grab me, and I almost didn’t read it. I’m so glad I did! Beautifully executed love story with excellent characters and an aching realism in the Afghanistan war scenes. The story is masterfully crafted, rising above genre tropes into an ode that seems to have come from deep within the author’s heart.
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
It wouldn’t be an end-of-year book list without a Pratchett novel. Pratchett does this thing where his comic fantasy books just sort of ramble along. They’re funny and enjoyable, but not amazing. And then the Third Act hits, AND THE WHOLE THING GETS EPIC. Granny Weatherwax bumbling through most of the book, fooling even the readers into thinking she’s just a dealer in folk remedies and superstitions, only to have her best the entire school of wizardry in an epic show of skill, was one of the best things I’ve seen so far in the series.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Truly, this is one of the most powerful narrative voices ever put on paper. The nuance and complexity of Holden’s pain, the dissonance between what he says, what he believes he believes, and what he really believes is beautifully captured. The love between him and his sister is deeply touching, and the overall effect tragically thought-provoking.
Caught Up by Liz Tomforde
I wasn’t expecting this one to get me in the feelz so hard, but it surely did. The characters were beautiful, the unfolding relationship always felt spot-on without any unnecessary drama, the characters felt true and well-realized, and the FMC’s relationship with the baby boy had me in tears multiple times. Beautiful.
My Top 5 Non-Fiction Books of 2024
The Witch by Ronald Hutton
After visiting Salem, MA, last fall, I have felt a driving need to understand the history of the witch trials. This is, so far, the single best resource I’ve found. It is dense and extremely conscientious in its details, but the scholarship is top-notch. It speaks less to the actual historical events and more to the anthropological development of the circumstances and cultures that led to the European witch hunts. Fascinating, disturbing, and ultimately hopeful, it moves beyond pop culture or pat answers to shed light on a dark time, the details of which are too often painted with a thin brush.
Biohack Like a Woman by Aggie Lal
This book presents a relatively simple approach to basic holistic good health practices, but I definitely picked up some new tips and inspiration. I have to admit I hadn’t even really considered that many of the most basic premises of healthy living are different for women than they are for men. Gave me lots of food for thought and has helped me hack some of my own health practices to better effect.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Exceptionally thought-provoking, even though the title might more appropriately (if less punchily) have been, simply, Food Production. The book creates a new baseline through which to understand ancient history and particularly the course of social development. It gets a bit repetitive in areas, but at the end of the day, I didn’t mind since the information is dense and there’s a lot to process.
Feng Shui for Dummies by David Daniel Kennedy
Despite its title, this is the most detailed and useful feng shui guide I’ve read so far. It gets down to the practicalities while still presenting the larger system and philosophy. It’s what finally helped me “get” it.
The Ethical Investor by Nicole Haddow
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was… it was for Australians. If it had been country-specific to me, I would no doubt have found it as useful as Haddow’s countrymates probably do. As it is, much of the specific info wasn’t of much use to me. However, I did felt her approach offered me information and ideas that were invaluable for carrying over to my own financial structure, especially since surprisingly few books exist on this topic as yet.
My Books
And if all these goodies aren’t enough to fill your To Be Read pile next year, here are a few more! 🙂
Wordplayers, tell me your opinion! What were your top books of 2024? How many books did you read? Tell me in the comments!
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About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
Loved ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron. Food for thought as full-time actor and aspiring novelist.
Didn’t read nearly enough fiction this year, but number one for me was ‘Wayfarer’ by some author called KM Weiland? You might have heard of her 😉
Aw shucks, that’s very nice to hear. 🙂 And I love The Artist’s Way. I read it in 2020, and in many ways it changed my life and my entire relationship to creativity.
Thank you K.M Weiland for sharing. I am going to read Fourth Wing too 🙂
My top 5:
1.Generations by Jean M. Twenge
2. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
3.The Golden Quest by David Delisle
4. Quit by Annie Duke
5.Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
Ooh, Stolen Focus sounds particularly good.
Yes! Agreed, Stolen Focus was excellent!
Top 10
Fiction:
The House in the Cerulean Sea and
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
The House of the Wind and
The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie
Red Leaves and
Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari
The Hanging Tree By Ben Aaronovitch
– all of them stellar.
Nonfiction:
Do no harm by Henry Marsh
Intuitive Editing by Tiffany Yates Martin
Rewire by Nicole Vinola
Seasons greetings, Chaz
Lots of beautiful titles there.
Guns Germs and Steel is a MUST for authors interested in realistic world-building! Such a great rec! 🙂
Totally. It completely changed how I view the world.
I don’t read anywhere near the number of books I once did. This year, if I got my numbers correct, which is always sketchy, I read 44 books. My favorites were Three Inch Teeth (C.J. Box), a reread of Lawrance Block’s, The Burglar in the Rye, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, and – All The Wild That Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, and the American West. I also fought my way through a book considered one of the greatest of all time, but since I posted a list on X of books, people claim to have read and have not, and this one was on it – I will leave it out.
I don’t either. I used to be able to read double what I do these days. My numbers have crept back up a bit in recent years, but I doubt I’ll ever read what I once did.
Catcher in the Rye is simply wonderful (if thoroughly depressing). I enjoyed Fourth Wing and am going to read the others, “Equal Rites” as well as most of Terry’s books is, as always wonderful. I’m a fan. Lol- I have read more books than all of you this year but that is simply because I have retired. I should be spending my time more fruitfully and perhaps I will but it has been nice to almost empty my TBR pile and spend a little more time in other worlds. I wished to suggest to you a couple of “special” books I have read this year. Most have been great but I found a Few of them to be outstanding. I will mention only two here “The Swan Thieves” by Elizabeth Kostova, Enthrauling.
Ilium by Dan Simmons. What science fiction should be and (in this book) is. Mindblowing.
“Catcher in the Rye is simply wonderful (if thoroughly depressing). ”
Precisely. :p
My favorite non fiction craft read is Next Level Plot Structure. You’ve covered this topic in a way that is approachable and actionable.
Just before reading your wonderful book, I read 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley. She spoke of the connectedness between words and referred to The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West – “… where every word seems to relate to and reflect upon every other word, building layers of meaning and feeling…” – Sure enough, West’s book does; I intend to annotate West’s book as an exercise towards groking more about “next level plot structure”.
Timely, the next book was yours and it explained the why and how to put that connectedness into play. Serendipity and synchronicity for sure.
I immediately incorporated a new step in my outlining workflow: for each new idea apply thought and leave breadcrumbs about mirroring or sequel downstream and how it relates to structure.
This book is underrated and deserves more attention. Writing teachers, classes, courses, and books should include more about plot and structure earlier; at least hint (mirror) at it, it’s where the good stuff is.
Cheers!
I love it when reading experiences lead one into the other like that. Very glad to hear you enjoyed Next Level Plot Structure. 🙂
OMG! I visited Salem, MA for the first time last October! Now I need to read that book.
I would have been there a month after you. You probably hit peak crowds!
The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys Historical fiction taking you through different times the Thames has frozen over several centuries. Yes, in short vignettes Helen Humphreys jumps from pauper to kings and queens and nature’s effect on the life of London.
That sounds fascinating.
Damn, these are some cool books! I found it interesting when you said that women and men sometimes require different health habits. This is definitively logical, because male and female bodies are different. Also, “Guns, Germs and Steel” looks like a interesting book, as do many others.
As for me, I loved reading part of the Attack on Titan series this year — full of emotional moments, cool giants, plot twists, and fights. But my absolute favorite book of the year is “The Three-Body Problem.”
If you like weird sci-fi and aliens, I suggest you read it!! It really shows us how little we know about the universe, and how unseen forces can affect our lives. It even has a subplot in which the main character plays a video game; and this “story within a story” made the main plot even better.
The trailer for the Netflix adaptation looked really good!
This was my year to discover T. Kingfisher. I absolutely loved Thorn Hedge and Nettle & Bone. She is wildly inventive, but even above that, I love how likeable, humble and down to earth her characters are.
Aw, I love characters like that. They’re hard to come by sometimes.
I read 105 books this year—that’s counting a few short stories and novellas.
Re-reads vs. First-time reads ratio: 29:76
Fiction vs. Nonfiction ratio: 93:12
I try to read a book on craft every month. I’m reading Writing Your Story’s Theme right now!
Whoa, good for you! Thanks for picking up Writing Your Story’s Theme!
My reading list is wildly different, although I love your nod to the classics with Catcher in the Rye, which I used to teach to high school classes a long time ago. I do love Pratchett and wish he was still around to write more. But my fiction list is oriented to historical fiction (e.g., The Matrix by Lauren Groff) because that’s what I write and keeping up with that market is a “lot” of reading. I also read poetry and review poetry books and I’d say my favorite in this past year was “Tension Rupture.” by Cutter Streeby and Michael Haight.
I used to read a classic every other book. I’m not quite that dedicated anymore (but it got me through the P authors)!
I didn’t get to read nearly as much this year. But I have to recommend “12 Notes on Life and Creativity” by THE late, great, Quincy Jones. Though he was from the world of music (producing Michael Jackson’s Thriller and a lot of movie scores), he has a lot to say that will resonate with writers, too. Among other things, the importance of having integrity as a creator, knowing who you are, and reaching back to teach and mentor others.
On the fiction front, if anyone liked the premise of “The Last Holiday,” where Queen Latifah’s character is mistakenly diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to live it up, you might like “Blue Castles” by L.M. Montgomery. Yes, the Anne of Green Gables author wrote such a tale, except her heroine is Valency Sterling.
Valency is a “spinster” who lives with her overbearing mother and aunt. She decides she’s going to find out about life and love when she thinks she only has a year to live. She moves out, takes care of a dying “fallen woman” and marries a local mystery man who has a rumored dark past and a fast sports convertible.
I also finally got a chance to read Naomi Novik’s “Uprooted” and “Spinning Silver,” two fairy tales for the modern age. These are Slavic-inspired fantasies, which are new to me; I’ve always been into Greek myths so I’m branching out here.
As a writer I’m going to study “Spinning Silver,” since it’s told in first person by three heroines and a little boy. I was impressed by how quickly Novik establishes the voice of each of the four POV characters. Even though their chapters all used first person, you could immediately tell which character is “talking.” Aside from this, it’s also about how four people manage to forge bonds in adversity and defeat two world-threatening powers, one of ice, and one of fire …
Oh, wow, I read that book years and years ago. I’d forgotten all about it until now.
I love Rebecca Yarros’s writing and have read several of her books which hit me in all the feels. Fourth Wing and then Iron Flame were excellent, brutal but excellent. Looking forward to reading Onyx.
R.F Kaung’s Babel was amazing and gave me much food for thought.
J.T. Ellison’s Lie to Me psychological thriller with all its twists and turns kept me guessing throughout.
Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary was equally thought provoking.
Plus Jason Pargin’s I’m Starting to Worry About This Big Black Box of Doom was entertaining while making one think about making one rethink about your online presence and conspiracy theories.
Non Fiction wise, I’m still reading Louise DeSalvo’s Art of Slow Writing which is helping me look at the writing process in a different way.
I’ve been interested in classics for the past few years (I’m only sixteen, so I haven’t been alive long enough to read very many yet, but I’m hoping to read a lifetime’s worth before I turn eighteen and enter the world saturated with the wisdom of the masters). This year I read:
-Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë
-So Big, by Edna Ferber
-Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
-The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
I love classics because they’re absolutely promised to be a great read. I’m glad you suggested Catcher in the Rye. I might like to read that next.
Aside from classics, I also really loved The Rise of Wolf 8, Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone’s Underdog, by Rick McIntyre
For craft books, I was really excited to receive the 2nd edition of Structuring Your Novel, as well as Next Level Plot Structure. And just in time for Nanowrimo!