favorite books of 2024
mostly fantasy and non-fiction
My Goodreads goal for 2024 was to read 40 books. I read 22.
:’)
I enjoyed all the books I read, though, and at least I don’t have to choose between too many to pick my faves!
fiction
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is a fun dark academia with intense world building, a unique love interest (he's the hero but in a weird way?), and amusing inner monologue from the main character. The magic system is really intricate; every chapter you’re learning about new aspects (or monsters). Can't wait to continue this series!
Soul-Bound by Hannah Yeaman is a high fantasy romance where all the characters are avian (bird people, hehe). The tension and banter between the two main characters is sooo good! They have a grumpy/sunshine vibe; she's the princess, he's a vagabond. The world and writing style was also magical. I’ll miss Mika and Roshan.
The Sunshine Court!! All For The Game is one of my all time favorite series, so of course I adored this book. It follows two side characters from the main trilogy and the tension and emotional depth with these character is so captivating. It's a very character driven story (my faveeee). The whole series is a dark contemporary story that revolves around the fake sport of Exy. I would consider it New Adult (it has some pretty dark themes), and the main relationship is MM in both the main trilogy and the new spin off books.
BONUS: a book that didn’t go as I expected
Corrupt by Penelope Douglas is a contemporary dark romance that I binge-read in two days. I rarely ever read book summaries, and I prefer to go into a story barely knowing anything, but that wasn’t the problem with this book. The problem was that for the first maybe half (?) I thought it was going to be a reverse harem with the main character and the four guys. Well, that didn’t happen, haha, but the other 3 guys who didn’t get chosen do have their own books which I’ll probably read in 2025.
nonfiction
These three books should be required reading in high school. They absolutely changed my mindset and my life. At the beginning of this year I still felt the lingering effects of depression, but thanks to these three books I feel so energized and in love with life again.
Good Energy by Casey Means: this book has everything you need to know about physical health, but it also touches on the spiritual side of being healthy and happy and finding purpose and connection in life. Plus it calls out the corruption within the government and corporations that is keeping so many people sick, which reignited my little anarchist heart.
The Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi: I just read this book in November and it caused a dramatic shift in my mindset within just a few days. The concept of "tasks" has really helped me feel more at ease around others and just generally reduced my anxiety.
THE POWER OF NOW my holy bible! This book literally altered my brain chemistry. I used to spend so much time just living in/worrying about the future, but now I'm so present and as a result I'm actually getting closer to the future I was so obsessed with.
BONUS: a book that didn’t go as I expected
2084 by John C. Lennox: As I’ve stated, I don’t read summaries, and I thought this would just be a general science book about the possibilities and dangers of AI. It turned out to be a Christian book, haha, with the main thesis (spoiler, since it kinda leads up to this throughout the book) that the rise of AI will be the catalyst for the Biblical end times (Revelations), because through AI we are trying to become gods, which God obviously wouldn’t like. I’m not religious, but I still found this book to be interesting, since so many scientific books are written through an atheistic lens (and I’m not an atheist either). A lot of the arguments kind of hinged on one believing that the Bible is true, but if it is, it would make sense that God wouldn’t want us to gain the ability to live forever or become mini gods, thus he would invoke Armageddon. But…Christians kinda always think the end times are near, so who knows!
honorable mention for my favorite fanfic, Wild & Wicked! this is a Harry Potter fanfiction which follows the vampire main character, Lux, through her years at Hogwarts with the Marauders and beyond (since she doesn’t age, heh). the story is sooo detailed and layered, and I really feel like I’m there with Lux throughout the whole thing. it’s not complete yet, and it’s obviously going to be looong, which we all know I love :)
the story can be read on Quotev or Ao3