Interesting series of essays on the darker histories of beautiful things-silk, marble, make up, perfume, and more. The author is a confessed lover and collector of beautiful objects. For each chapter Kelleher shares a history of an item along with her own thoughts on the nature of desire, beauty, consumption, and the ethics of how these valued items came to be. This book is for folks that are fascinated by deep dives into the minutiae of stuff.

Crosley experiences loss upon loss within the same few months, the most devastating being the death of her best friend. Crosley‘s dexterity with language and phrasing is remarkable. She writes with wit and precision and depth about grief in a way that makes it more tangible, easier to grasp where she finds herself emotionally. She‘s honest, angry, isolated, and trying to piece together what brought her to such a standstill. It‘s riveting reading.

This novel is aimed at middle grade readers, but held me captive for sure. Jake charts his challenges with anorexia and OCD in this heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful novel in verse. Jake and his grandmother share a love of musical theatre and reading. But he struggles to connect with friends his own age and fights off a very controlling voice in his head that is causing him great suffering. This beautiful book shares Jake's journey to healing.

2024 Recap!

I read 105 books. 22 nonfiction, 83 fiction. 43 audiobooks and 62 on Kindle or book. North Woods, Hope This finds You Well, and Maybe You Should Talk to Someone were standouts. I also fell in love with Martha Wells‘ Murderbot Diaries this year, which was a surprise, because 1) I don‘t usually love a series and 2) I am not a big sci-fi reader. My Top 15 Books for 2024 are below.

I‘d love to hear some of your favorites!

An author takes a break from her father‘s death bed and her husband‘s chronic illness to stay in a Best Western and write. What follows is a bizarre and thoroughly amusing fever dream of self examination and anticipatory grief in Death Valley. So, so weird. Really liked it.

Just not my thing at all.

This novel follows a couple, a painter and a writer, with two kids trying to pursue their creative endeavors in Los Angeles. Jane has spent 10 years writing a massive follow up to her first novel but things are not going to plan. Their life is spiraling out of control and desperation drives her to make some terrible decisions. The humor is dark, the issues surrounding race and class are interesting, and the characters are a hot mess.

Annie is an AI “Cuddle Bunny” robot that is virtually indistinguishable from a human, made to her owner‘s specifications. But as Annie learns more and asserts more autonomy, Doug is less pleased. And so is Annie. This book pissed me off a lot—as intended— and was an interesting look at gender roles, self determination, controlling relationships, and personal freedom. Very satisfying ending.

Such a fun gathering with my #NashvilleLittens! One of my favorite holiday traditions. 🎄🎅🏼 Thanks to Amber for my extravagant and lovely gifts!

A Christmas Memory was the shining star in this collection of three lovely holiday stories. Definitely my new favorite Christmas tale to revisit in future years. Based on Capote‘s childhood experiences in rural Alabama — particularly his relationship as a boy with his elderly cousin and best friend — the stories are funny, touching, and so delightful.

I‘ve still got time to read more books so this won‘t be my final count, but I did meet my Goodreads Challenge of 100 books, so that seemed worth celebrating. Apparently Covenant of Water was the longest book I read this year and it I think will also make my top 10. But I am not one to do a Best of the Year List until I actually reach the end of the year! So that‘s still to come. And if you‘re a Goodreads user, send me a friend request.

Longwinded but pretty good. Part one takes you through her childhood and to about age 30. It was pretty cool to hear about all the young artists crossing paths in L.A. before they were the household names they are today. And all the colorful relationships with men in her life. Cher has dyslexia, so for the audiobook Cher reads part of each chapter and the rest is narrated by Stephanie Block, the actress who won a Tony for playing Cher on Broadway.

Pretty good. Very, very steamy. (Maybe a smidge TMI sometimes.) I wish there had been a bit less sex and bit more conversation as the characters got to know each other. I wanted more emotional build up.

A little bookish murder novella.

Lucy, a young librarian, gets pulled into the life of a young boy who frequents the library, 10-year-old Ian. It turns into a rather far-fetched road trip adventure of sorts. There was a lot about reading and books and how important they are, so that was good. But it also really didn‘t quite hold up and was a bit of a mess in the middle. The characters‘ motives were never very clear and their relationship didn‘t quite develop.

It‘s hard to imagine any book living up to the incredible hype this book has sustained. While I wasn‘t quite as blown away as most folks, I definitely got onboard Jim‘s adventure. I do love to see story elements we all know through a completely different lens. Subversive and compelling.

Loved Small Things and then have made my way through Keegan's other books. Her writing is so spare and profound. Really love all her stuff.

I really loved I Have Always Lived in the Castle, but this one not so much. It was okay.

The premise was so promising. And it was definitely entertaining. But it just got more and more bonkers and went off the rails altogether. So weird.

A haunting, affecting book that will stick with me. The main character is a nameless woman who is kept in an underground bunker with 39 other women. Unlike the others, she was brought here as a young child and has no memories of the world outside this one room. They live a completely restricted, controlled life. It amounts to a treatise on what it means to be human and free. A consuming novel and such a singular and unusual reading experience.

After the death of his brother, Brinkley left his job at the New Yorker in search of something quieter, allowing the headspace to grieve and ponder. He took a job as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and stayed for 10 years. This book documents his decade at The Met, how the art and his fellow guards changed him as he processed his brother‘s death and forged his own identity. It‘s really beautiful and interesting.

Your basic disaster story. A plane goes down in the ocean, trapping some survivors 200 feet under water. A rescue plan gets underway. Plenty of cliches and dramatic moments. Would probably be good as a movie. Entertaining enough.

I saw that this was on the Booker Prize list and just grabbed it without really knowing anything about it, which turned out to be a great thing. This took a minute to get rolling, but then I could not put it down. There‘s so much tension that drives the story - I was just really invested to see where it was headed. The relationships are complex and interesting and the novel takes a few surprising turns. A marvelous debut.

Not realizing this was a series, I read the third one recently and liked it enough to go back and read this one to start at the beginning. But it‘s just a lot of shallow, icky characters. Getting in the mind of a murderer kind of thing. And so I didn‘t feel very invested and I don‘t think I want to read any more of these.

A couple buys a creepy old house with a seemingly eternal basement and lots of unanswered questions about its past. A family shows up unannounced on the doorstep and a snowstorm keeps them around. It‘s an eerie psychological thriller that drags its feet a bit too much. Not quite my thing. But if you like a dread-inducing, twisty, creepy book, you‘ll probably enjoy it.

A delightful, charming book about a man who has an accident that upends his life, which compels Virgil to forge a new and circuitous path to a changed existence. It all takes place in a small dying midwestern town with several endearing quirky characters. It‘s funny and hopeful. Engaging, entertaining, old fashioned storytelling.

Most of this wasn‘t earth shattering news to me, but it was a good reminder that we all need to be intentional in cultivating better communication skills. Skills that allow us to actively listen to others, encourage deeper conversations, and let others know that they are valued and seen. It‘s a positive message and an easy read.

This thoughtful, erudite memoir has two parts: the grief she felt in losing her beloved father, and falling in love with her future wife. Schultz shares vulnerable, personal moments from both experiences, but then goes a step further to explore the more universal vicissitudes of love and grief. A bit academic even, but so insightful. Since these two experiences overlapped, she discusses finding a greater appreciation in the dualities of life.

There was a lot I liked, but then one particular plot point really dampened my enthusiasm. Got “the ick” as the young people say.

An enjoyable thriller. I did not realize it was third in a series. There was clearly some history between two private detectives, but Swanson clues the reader in on bits of the past, and it holds up fine as a standalone. I liked it enough that I‘ll go read the first one, The Kind Worth Killing.

Set in Ireland in 1994, The Coast Road follows two women coping with their unhappy marriages at a time when divorce is still illegal. Collette left her husband, but returned, and now her husband won‘t allow her access to her children and she lives in poverty. Izzy is frustrated and miserable, struggling to find autonomy within the confines of a marriage she cannot escape. Both are considering the high cost of personal freedom. An excellent debut.

A 54 year old woman, Rocky, returns with her husband and adult children to the same vacation spot they have visited for over 25 years. While at the beach, Rocky wanders through a series of old memories, family traditions, ponderings of the past, and questions about the future. She tackles all aspects of womanhood—menopause, parenting, misogyny, childbirth, marriage, miscarriage, aging parents, sex. A lovely book with honesty, warmth, and humor.

A story about love and family in all its forms. I really liked these characters and their unusual family dynamics. Patchett always creates such vivid, specific, interesting characters and relationships.

A new series by Richard Osman? Sign me up! This first book starts strong and definitely makes me want to read the next one. Great characters thrown together under unique circumstances. Funny and clever with an interesting trio of personalities at the core. Looking forward to more.

This has an Eleanor Oliphant vibe with a bit of millennial snark, but set in The Office. After years of near invisibility in her cubicle pod, twenty-something Jolene finds herself at the center of an office incident that results in unexpected changes for everyone. It‘s so funny, but the workplace humor eventually morphs into a more poignant tale as Jolene digs deeper into the lives of her coworkers and her own past. A great debut.

I was SO EXCITED to get another Jackson Brodie book! I like pretty much anything Atkinson writes but this one was a welcome return to my favorite stuff—snarky dry British humor, entangled ridiculous plot lines, darkly comic morbidity, and a visit with Brodie. I giggled a lot through the last few chapters. This had a Clue whodunnit vibe that was extra fun. Just a good time.

I‘ve been in a healthy relationship for decades and never did online dating, so I was pretty dismissive because Ethan seemed a jackass from the start. Red flags were there. But if you‘re online dating, vulnerable and looking for love, I‘m sure there are folks that would take advantage of that. The “courtship” details went on too long. Point made. Most interesting was how the victims sleuthed it out to expose the creep and prevent further harm.

Cyrus is a young man who was born in Iran but grew up in the United States. He is a poet, an orphan, a recovering addict, and has a consuming fascination with death and martyrdom. And while that seems a potentially depressing read, it is surprisingly freeing to see how Akbar addresses so many heavy issues in engaging and enlightening ways. Akbar‘s prose is just exquisite; so many passages just left me dazzled. Such unique, affecting storytelling.

The narrative has the feel of an old British classic—restrained, atmospheric, and quietly devastating. The story follows young Tristan from the expulsion from his home as a teen into the trenches of France during WW1. Before he even reaches twenty, he has experienced monumental desire, betrayal, and despair, leading him to a moment of shame that will haunt him the rest of his life.

A helpful, informative, straightforward book about menopause—what‘s happening to a woman‘s body during this time, what the various symptoms are, and treatments available. All backed by facts, research, and anecdotal information from Gunter‘s own life and experiences as a gynecologist. The best part though, it was presented through an empowering, feminist lens. Left me with a positive view of womanhood in general, and of the changes in menopause.

Read this with a group at church. Prompted some good discussions and generated ideas for ways we might be able to move our congregation towards more racial justice awareness and action.

Just a sweet, life affirming book about five different people who find their way to a community library and find new ways to see themselves and others. It shows importance of making connections and approaching life with an open heart.

The author shares about his childhood in a small town, feeling different from his brothers, and fearful about his growing realization that he is gay. As a young adult, he starts to face his internalized homophobia and has a rocky couple of years before he finally starts to heal. Then he meets his future husband, Pete, finds his footing as a teacher, and shares about his unexpected role as the partner of a politician, and what that means for him.

I‘m in the minority here, but I gave up on this. It‘s not sharp or clever enough to really be a satire. It‘s mostly a very exaggerated conflict lacking any nuance. The characters are ridiculously one-dimensional. I love books, and I hate censorship, but this book just reinforces all of the terrible conservative stereotypes and pits people against each other. It doesn‘t seem like a helpful book or a funny book. It just seems not very well written.

I‘m more Emily Henry than Hallmark, so this was a good romance pick for me. Not too sappy, not too sweet. It‘s a story about missed opportunities and second chances. Sometimes life doesn‘t go as planned and the detour eventually puts you where you need to be. I‘ll read another one by Carley Fortune.

Phoebe Stone is at a breaking point. She bails on her life, leaves town, and checks into the seaside Cornwall Inn. At the hotel she is an outsider, the lone stranger in the midst of a huge wedding party. She finds herself pulled into the lives of these strangers, and discovers a freedom in her anonymity. Over the course of a week, she begins to see a new way of being. The book is introspective and surprising, with a darkly comic edge. Good audio.

Brendan O‘Hea conducted a series of interviews with Judi Dench, which were then edited down into this book. A fellow thespian and old friend, O‘Hea asks Dench about the many Shakespearean roles she has played in her over 70 years as an actress. She is opinionated, insightful, and snarky. And oh how she adores Shakespeare. This is for a very specific audience—theatre nerds and lovers of The Bard will find it delightful. Excellent audiobook.

This is a good Menopause 101. She lists the myriad symptoms you might be having, along with possible treatments, both pharmacological and not. Several symptoms that I did not know might be associated with menopause. Each section begins with a woman briefly describing her own symptoms and feelings, which made me feel like I wasn‘t alone and I wasn‘t crazy. Good starting point.

I‘m in the minority here, but I found this book very underwhelming after reading so many great reviews. It was too long and a tad boring. Just an average mystery.

A very unusual and poignant book about love, change, and loss. And about how the gifts of love linger on after the loved one is gone. If you like an unconventional story, this strange and moving book might be right up your alley.