A very Happy New Year to all of you who visit this blog during the year, especially those who comment and who I consider to be friends. I hope 2025 will be a good one for you and yours. If, like me, 2024 was personally a bit of a shocker, due to the death of a loved one or some other trauma, then I truly hope this new year will see better things for you and new beginnings.
Books-wise I read 74 books in 2024. Much less than in 2023, partly due to circumstances of course, but I did actually plan on reading a little less last year and to take my time more over books I was enjoying. That, I feel I succeeded at and will do the same in 2025.
First, a quick list of the five books I read in December:
70. Steeple Chasing - Peter Ross. I finished this one in December having started it in September apparently! Anyway, a delightful non-fiction book about the author's trips around the UK visiting old churches. A lot of snippets of history and a good sense of place throughout. 4 stars.
71. Murder in the Falling Snow edited by Cecily Gayford. A solid antholgy of winter based crime stories. 3 stars (3.5)
72. Sherlock Holmes and the Three Winter Terrors - James Lovegrove. Three cleverly connected Holmes novellas, again with a winter theme running through. Enjoyable. 4 stars.
73. The Willows at Christmas - William Horwood. Toad's home has been invaded for Christmas by the Relative from Hell. Can Mole, Ratty and Badger save him? A fun read. 3 stars. (3.5)
74. Tour De Force - Christianna Brand. Book 6 of Brand's Inspector Cockrill series, wherein he's on his hols in Italy with a group of strangers. When one of them is murdered he's on holiday no longer. Closed circle murder mystery, similar in feel to the other book I read by her, Green for Murder. The group of suspects is very small and it's hard to believe any of them could've done the deed or why. 4 stars.
OK. So... ten favourite fiction books of 2024, in no particular order.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky was an absolutely amazing sci-fi novel (possibly my book of the year) and I plan to read on in this series this year and read some of his other books too.
Dr Thorne by Anthony Trollope. Book 3 of his classic Barsetshire series, romantic, funny, beautifully written, just a joy.
Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge. 1930s holiday romance sort of thing involving a middle-aged woman and a younger man. Set mainly on the coast of present-day Croatia. Loved it, another author I want to read more of this year.
The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne. Diving skulduggery off the coast of Florida. Pacy thriller that I really enjoyed.
Black Sun Rising by Celia Friedman. An unusal blend of sci-fi and fantasy that really worked for me. Great world building, fascinating characters.
The Trouble with Mrs. Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden. A historical comedy of manners, reminding me of Emma or Cranford. Joyous, I absolutely loved it.
The Haunting of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes. Children's/young adult spooky novella. Very strong sense of place and time of year, and quite creepy.
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. Most peculiar in its ideas but this mix of fantasy and murder really worked for me. Looking forward to book 2 this year.
The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly. Unlikely I'm going to do a 'best of' list and not include a John Connolly, if I've read one. Creepy, atmospheric, amazing back story, he never disappoints.
Saving Missy by Beth Morrey. A delightful contemporary fiction book with an older protagonist making new friends in unexpected places. Loved it.
So those were some of my favourite fictional reads of 2024. A mixed bunch but I see sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural have come to the fore a bit more recently and I plan to continue with that into 2025. Still loving my crime fiction though.
I only read 16 non-fiction books this year so I may or may not do a favourites post on that. Several of those were really excellent so perhaps I might do a top 5.
Hope you're all well and here's to an excellent 2025, full of good books.
20 comments:
Happy New Year, Cath! And I hope it will be better for all of us this year. I also read fewer books last year than I normally do. I loved Saving Missy when I read it a few years ago.
Sending you all Best Wishes for 2025!
2024 was a good year for me, until December anyway. now it looks certain that 2025 will be the year I want to forget!
Reading at the moment is a bit of a scourge, however it might well turn into moments of solace, so I'm hanging in there with some of the many reviews I owe publishers and authors.
The books I read last year were, on the whole, an excellent selection and January is off to a good start, with a contemporary romance full of angst and a very disturbing psychological thriller waiting to be read.
I took another good look at the Anne Bridge book and I definitely want to try and schedule that one very soon.
I'm glad to see the end of 2024. Here's hoping 2025 is better for all of us. Especially for you! I loved seeing your list of favorite reads...several are on my TBR list for this year. I really want to read more of John Connolly's books. And I want to try and read more science fiction and fantasy, too. I am grateful for our blogging friendship, and wish you all the best this year! :D
I remember my mother reading Ann Bridge but I don't think I've ever tried her. Would this be a good one to start with? I'd definitely like to go to Croatia some day.
That Katie Lumsden book looks good. I got her earlier book out of the library but got stressed by the heroine's self-destructive behavior and stopped reading - then it had to go back to the library.
I read The Girl Beneath the Sea on your recommendation and enjoyed it.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Cath! I hope 2025 is good to you. I'm glad to see you had some really good reads this past year. And you know, I understand completely about reading fewer books, and savouring the ones that you do read. I think one gets much more out of one's reading that way. Here's to a new year of excellent books!
Happy New Year to you as well, Cath! I appreciate the friendship that we have cultivated over the years talking about books and life. I think of you often and am always glad to see a post. I haven't read any of the books you listed as your favorites, but you never know when our reading paths will cross, right? I'm looking forward to a peaceful, joyful, fun year of reading in 2025 and wish the same for you. Take care, dear friend!
Happy New Year, Cath! It looks as if you’ve been reading as much as ever! Well done you!
Margaret: Thank you! Yes, let's hope for a much better 2025 for all of us. Saving Missy was an unexpected delight.
Yvonne: Thank you. Sorry to hear things aren't too good at the moment. Will PM you on Twitter. Hopefully you will be able to find some solace in reading. I find it takes me right out of whatever is praying on my mind. And it does sound like you've made a good start with a couple of good books. The Ann Bridge is delightful and I can highly recommend it for its beautiful setting.
Lark: Yes, 2024 was a pretty rotten year for both of us. Glad you enjoyed my favourites list. :-) It's always worth reading more John Connolly... one of my 2025 personal challenges is to try and catch up on the Charlie Parker series, I have about 5 to read. I too am very grateful for our blogging friendship and want to try to post a bit more often this year.
In your December books, I would like to read Tour de Force. I have only read two books by Christianna Brand, and one I disliked (Heads, You Lose) and the other was Green for Murder.
On your favorites list, Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky sounds especially interesting. I purchased a copy of Saving Missy after you talked about it here, and will definitely read it in 2025.
Happy New Year to you too. I am having a hard time believing that it is already 2025.
Constance: Yes, Illyrian Spring is a standalone so is a good place to start as far as I know. I also have Book 1 of her Julia Probyn series, which sounds like a lot of fun so is on my list to read fairly early this year.
Mrs. Montgomery Hurst is, I gather, a very different book to Hartwood Hall. The latter doesn't appeal, even though I have it on my Kindle, but the former was a delight, light-hearted and fun. Worth trying in my opinion.
Margot: Thank you! I've been thinking for a few years that I would benefit from reading more slowly and it has worked for me. Like you, I think you get more out of them, plus it gives me time to do other things.
Kay: Thank you! Yes, you and Nan are my oldest blogging friends and it's nice that we're all still around when many others are not blogging any more. And thank you... I feel so touched that you think of me often. I too am very much looking forward to a new year of reading and wondering what gems I'll discover. You take care too.
Val: Thank you! Not reading quite as much but it's plenty and allows me to do other things, plus enjoy my visitors. I hope all's well with you!
Tracy: Brand's writing style is a bit different and her plots can be a bit confusing but overall I've enjoyed the two books I've read by her.
I hope you enjoy Saving Missy when you get to it. Children of Time was superb and I'm hoping to get to book 2 in the series soon. People who like sci-fi say that Adrian Tchaikovsky has written some fantastic books. I have one called Alien Clay on my tbr pile and plan to read it soon.
I quite agree, it really is hard to believe it 2025 already.
Happy New Year, Cath! I hope 2025 is a better year for you, and that you continue to find great books to inspire your imagination!
I wish you and your family all the best in 2025 and I love the blogging community we have here. Nice list of books and I wanted to read Kate Lumsden's latest but it's not available here on kindle but her first book is and I have just put in my order via libby and it should arrive in 2 weeks. She runs a great youtube channel and she is a talented writer as well.
May the new year be better for us all--though being in the US it is hard to imagine given the orange idiot returning to power.
2024 was a year of loss for me. My 46 year old son died suddenly in October so I can honestly say, like you, that 2024 is not a year I want to remember, even as the memory of my son will be with me always. Haven't been commenting much. Have found that my main way of coping has been losing myself in books. I've likely read 80 in the last few months--often having four or five or more going simultaneously. Not that I remember most of them--pure escapism. A noteworthy few: The Women by Kristin Hannah (not an easy read for me as I lost someone dear to me in the Vietnam War, but it this fictionalized version illuminates the harsh reality of what nurses went through at the time--both in Vietnam and upon their return to the US); Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout; The Glass Maker by Tracy Chevalier; and endless re-reading/re-listening (audio books) of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series (20 books--can't bring myself to read the unfinished 21). Hard to count the dozens of times I have gone back to that series over the past 30 years when I simply need to let my mind rest--at sea.
All the best, Cath.
Cath, I forgot to tell you something. Glen suggested I tell you about Swan River Press, if you are not already familiar with it. It is an independent press based in Dublin, Ireland "dedicated exclusively to the literature of the fantastic." He says that they have books of weird and strange stories, many by vintage authors. The hardbacks are pricey but paperbacks are affordable. He has purchased several books that they published (via Amazon) in the last few weeks. The one he is reading now is Ghosts of the Chit-Chat by Robert Lloyd Parry, which he bought at our independent bookstore.
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