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tinkaton's 2024 Reading Wrap Up!
Finally getting to my wrap up for 2024's reading! I had to leave my re-reads off the Top 10 collage otherwise it'd just be entirely Captive Prince and The Last Binding lol. But it was another decent year for reading, looking at my numbers I did about the same as last year.
This year we hit 44 books, compared to 41 last year. 19 of those were graphic novels, so 25 regular books. (Out of curiosity I just looked at my Goodreads and in 2022 I read 44 books, in 2021 I read 50 books, and in 2020 I read 61 books. Presumably the higher numbers were mostly graphics novels.)
Did you reread anything? What?
I did a Captive Prince re-read with a friend earlier this year! This is one series I highly recommend re-reading if you enjoyed it, because armed with all the knowledge of what happens in later books it hits 100x harder. (There was also a really sad thing I completely forgot about somehow so I got personally attacked a second time when it happened.) I also re-read The Last Binding as a pick-me-up following the disappointment of Swordcrossed + canon refresh for my Yuletide fic.
What were your top five books of the year?
Top 10 is in the graphic above, but in no particular order:
- When Among Crows (Veronica Roth) - This was only a novella but it's had me in a chokehold since I read it. AND I DISCOVERED IT'S GETTING A SEQUEL THIS YEAR, SO MIRACLES REALLY CAN COME TRUE HOLY SHIT. If you enjoy urban fantasy with Slavic folklore, please read this novella about a Polish monster hunter who teams up with a couple of 'monsters' in his search for the witch Baba Jaga in the supernatural underworld of Chicago.
- Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (Lex Croucher) - A super cute medieval YA romcom, wherein Art, the descendant of King Arthur, is betrothed to princess Gwendoline. Within a day of being forced to spend a summer together, Gwen catches Art kissing a boy, and Art discovers that Gwen is crushing on the kingdom's only lady knight. Thus the two make a pact to cover for each other as the annual royal tournament approaches and trouble starts brewing.
- The Will of the Many (James Islington) - Where Gwen & Art was last year's first read, The Will of the Many was 2024's final read! An Ancient Roman-inspired fantasy novel that's the first in what looks like it'll be a really interesting series. Ex-prince Vis, whose family had been murdered by the Catenan Republic when his home was annexed, must go undercover at the prestigious Catenan Academy to discover the truth of some mysterious deaths that happened there.
- You Should Be So Lucky (Cat Sebastian) - A historical romance set in 1960 between a baseball player who's in a major slump and the art reporter who gets assigned to write about him. Cat Sebastian's romances are always very cute and sweet, and this one was no exception. If you're a fan of grumpy/sunshine pairings this is the book for you.
- Someone You Can Build a Nest In (John Wiswell) - A fantasy horror-lite romance about a shapeshifting blob monster and the human woman she falls in love with. I took points off this one when I read it because the romance didn't really hook me, but the monster POV, the body horror, the humor, and just the general uniqueness of the premise were all very fun and it was an otherwise enjoyable book for me as someone who doesn't normally do horror.
Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love is the only book by Lex Croucher that I'd read so far, but I'm currently reading its spiritual "sequel" right now and it's just as fun as the first! Emma R. Alban's two Regency romances were also very cute, so I'd be interesting in seeing what else she puts out.
What genre did you read the most of?
Same as last year, fantasy closely followed by romance.
Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?
Considering my TBR is *glances* 850 books long, yeah. (I really do need to clean that out, it's got 15 years worth of books on there, but I'm lazy.)
What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?
Goodreads says 4.0 is my average once again, I'd say maybe slightly less if not rounded up. I'm very easy when it comes to ratings lmao though I tend to save 5 stars for stuff I reallyyy love or would highly recommend.
Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?
I don't set any specific goals other than "read some books" so yay again I've met my reading goal! Considering my average over the past 5 years is about 40 books, I'd say managing to maintain that general rate of reading is going to be my new "goal" going forward.
Did you get into any new genres?
I read a little more horror than usual? A couple creepy graphic novels and a couple fantasy-horror novels, nothing super scary but I'm not normally a horror person at all. But yeah, I tend to stick with my usual genres as you can probably tell.
What was your favorite new release of the year?
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth. I don't know why I loved this so much but I just did!! I recommended it to everyone I know and forced people to read it. I wrote a damn fic for it. The sequel I just learned about coming out this year is now my most anticipated release.
What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?
My bestie has been trying to get me to read The Will of the Many by James Islington for like a year and I finally did this December lmao. It only came out in 2023 so it's not THAT old, but I'd been telling her I'd read it like all year so I'm glad I managed to squeeze it in before 2024 ended sjdfhskjfs.
Any books that disappointed you?
Over My Dead Body by Sweeney Boo, maybe? I knew nothing about it beforehand, I just picked it up because the art looked nice, but it was kind of a nothingburger and I only didn't give it 2 stars because I felt bad doing that lol.
What were your least favorite books of the year?
A couple of the graphic novels were less than stellar (see the question above) but I'd say book-wise I was least impressed with was The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. Which was super disappointing because the premise was interesting and I really liked the mermaid narrator character, but the author's writing style was not my cup of tea at all. Please put the thesaurus down.
What books do you want to finish before the year is over?
I was racing to finish The Will of the Many by James Islington before 2024 ended but I managed it!! 🎉 Fresh slate started for 2025.
Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?
Does it seem like I read books that win awards.
What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
Two years in a row the winner is Lore Olympus sjfksfshks. Also I read an Olivie Blake book for the first time this year (Masters of Death) and while that's not the specific book that people hype up, I was like...no way The Atlas Six could have garnered that much hype if it's on the same level as this lmao.
Did any books surprise you with how good they were?
Hmm I'll say We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian, not because I doubted Cat Sebastian in any way, but because it's sliiiightly more modern than I prefer for historical fiction, being set in the 1950s. Luckily Cat proved me wrong both with this book and its sequel!
How many books did you buy?
I don't keep track of this so uhhh, 4? Oh I also pre-ordered those special editions of The Last Binding books so 7 total I guess!
Did you use your library?
Hi I work at my library and I use it a lot. I don't buy anything sjhdfkjshsk.
What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?
😔 So Swordcrossed by Freya Marske had me so unbelievably hyped up. Aaaand it didn't meet that hype at all. It was okay, but it just could not compare to The Last Binding series. Huge letdown for me personally. However upon learning it was actually the first novel Marske had written I am 100% confident whatever she puts out next will be fully worth my hype. (Please don't make me eat my words...)
Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?
Nope! I did watch a few videos on YouTube about various author dramas, Tiktok drama, etc. but I don't really follow that sort of stuff. (There was one video about booktok that included clips of a Tiktoker who said that Six of Crows was boring and hard to read and I was like holy shit sjdhfksjds)
What’s the longest book you read?
The Will of the Many by James Islington, coming in at 630 pages.
What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?
One day for the graphic novels that skew my stats lol. I'd say a quick read for me would be about a week on average.
Did you DNF anything? Why?
Normally I don't, but I did set aside the second TGCF novel in like, October because of a slew of new releases that all came out at once, then I never picked it back up because of my Last Binding re-read, and I still haven't continued it, so I think I just need to admit I've DNF'd it for now. Hopefully I'll get back to the series at some point!
What reading goals do you have for next year?
Just keep on reading! Hopefully aim for around 40 books as usual? 50 if I'm feeling feisty lol.
Once again, thanks for reading all that! Here are my Storygraph 2024 stats and my Goodreads 2024 stats for the curious. Fellow readers, what were your top books of the year?
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I do have Metal From Heaven on my to-read list, it definitely looks interesting. Maybe I'll bump it up the list. Nghi Vo has always been on my radar too and I still haven't gotten to anything of hers...
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I’ve now just grabbed When Among Crows on your say-so :)
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ah I hope you enjoy it!! when I learned we were getting a sequel this year I was SO shook I couldn't believe it 🙏