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The Best Books I've Read So Far in 2024 (+ What I'm Most Excited About on My "To Read" Shelf!)
Friday, June 14, 2024Links within this post are affiliate links and I may earn commission. Thanks for supporting me and my blog!
The year is almost half over and I have read some really amazing books thus far! At time of drafting this post I am in the middle of book 37 for the year. I thought I would share the best books I have read so far this year so that you get some really great book recommendations to add to your reading list for the remainder of the year. It will be fun to look back at this post and see if my favorites in this post wind up in my January 2025 post of best books of the whole year, or if they'll get replaced with things I read in the next 6 months.
I am also sharing some of the books that I can't wait to read. If you're looking for what to read this year you're in the right place. I read a variety of genres -- historical fiction, rom-com, thriller, self-help, fantasy... really am kind of all over the map. I hope you find a great book to add to your "to be read" pile!
What is your favorite book you've read this year? I'd love if you would share your favorite book from 2024 in the comments!
In order for a book to be in this post I had to give it a 4 or 5 star rating on Goodreads. These are my top reads so far in 2024.
Rom-Coms
Funny Story by Emily Henry - I loved this Rom-Com story! Daphne is engaged to Peter. Peter comes home from his bachelor party telling her he has realized he is in love with his childhood best friend, Petra, and calls off their engagement. Daphne has nowhere to go so she ends up moving in with Miles. Miles is Petra’s ex who she just left for Peter. Miles helps Daphne find a life for herself in the town she moved to for Peter. As Miles and Daphne spend more time together, their feelings for one another grow. Were Miles and Daphne meant for one another all along?
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez - Abby Jimenez is one of my favorite authors. I look forward to her new releases each year. In this book, Justin posts a Reddit thread about how every girl he dates goes on to find their future spouse and get married after they break up. This catches the eye of Emma, who suffers the same curse. Justin proposes that he and Emma date. The reason? If the curse is true, after they break-up they will also find thier soulmate. Abby’s book also always include deeper themes. This one touches on mental health, child neglect, foster care, and prison.
Kiss and Don't Tell by Meghan Quinn - Rom com book recommended by Wellness for the Win. In this story, Winnie is on a solo trip in Banff. Her first day there, a huge storm hits and her car gets stuck in the mud. Not wanting to spend the night in her car, she ventures towards the only house she can find. That house is currently filled with 5 professional hockey players, relaxing after the season ended. Winnie has to crash for awhile, due to needing a tow truck for her car. She starts to spend some time with the guys, and a connection forms with one of them -- Pacey. The problem? Winnie looks familiar to Pacey. It takes him a while to come up with why... Winnie is his half-brother’s ex-girlfiriend.
Historical Fiction
The Last Year of the War by Suan Meissner - This was a new to me story about WW2 internment camps. Elise is your typical American teenager in Iowa. Until one day when her father is arrested for suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. Elise and her family are sent to an internment camp in Texas while her father is investigated. While there she meets Mariko, a Japanese-American who's family was also sent to the interment camp. They develop a friendship in the camp and dream of their future once released. All of that comes crushing to a hault when Elise's family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany. Elise and family are sent to Germany- a place they've never lived. This was a crazy story about some of the challenges and hardships families faced in WW2, that I had not heard much about before.
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel - I always enjoy Kristin Harmel's books. In this story, we follow Eva, who is a librarian in Florida. One day, while shelving books, she finds a picture in the New York Times that shows a book she knows as The Book of Lost Names. Researchers can tell the book contains some sort of code pertaining to WW2, but cannot decipher it. They are looking for someone who can help. Prior to coming to America, Eva lived in France. In 1942, Eva fled Paris and found refuge in a small town in The Free Zone. While there, she started working for an operation that helped Jewish children flee to Switzerland. She was responsible for forging their identity documents. Eva hated the idea of these children losing their past and history. Along with another forger, Remy, Eva decides to preserve their names with a code in The Book of Lost Names. Their work becomes even more heightened when their mission is compromised and Remy disappears.
Fiction
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - This was such a unique story, as it contained the POV of an octupus, Marcellus. Tova works the night shift at the aquarium. While there, she becomes friendly with the octopus, Marcellus. Marcellus is a very smart octopus. He even knows what happened to Tova's son, Erik, who mysteriously disappeared over 30 years ago. Can Marcellus help Tova understand what happened before it is too late?
The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros- In this story, Beckett is in the military with Ryan. Ryan dies during a mission and sends Beckett a last letter asking him to go help his sister, Ella in Colorado. Ella owns a tourist property in Colorado and is raising twins alone, one of whom is diagnosed with a horrible disease. With the passing of Ryan, Ella has no other familiy to rely on. Prior to Ryan passing away, Ella and Beckett had started a pen-pal correspondance and formed a very strong bond, but Beckett had always signed the letters with a call-sign. Following Ryan's passing, Beckett stops responding to Ella's letters, leaving her to assume the worst. Beckett shows up to help Ella, but Ella doesn't know who Beckett really is. She slowly and reluctantly accepts his help with and they get closer. Such a great story of resilency, trust, helping others, and love.
The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros - This is a cross between a romance and historical fiction... so I didn't really know what heading it should live under. But - I absolutely loved it! Georgia gives up almost everything in her life in a divorce and moves back to her great-grandmother's estate in Colorado. Her great-grandmother was an accomplished author who recently passed away. A popular author, Noah Harrison, has been hired to finish her great grandmother's last novel. Noah has to win Georgia over and figure out an appropriate ending to the unfinished story. As they work together to gather the details of the story, they realize the unfinished story is actually her great grandmother's life story. The story is about her real-life romance with a WW2 pilot -- and the ending isn't what you would hope. Can Noah and Georgia ignore their growing feelings and finish the book in a way that honors her great-grandmother?
Fantasy
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas- The second book in a series and oh my gosh, I loved it so much! Book one did take me a little bit to get into -- honestly wasn't super it into until the last 75 pages or so. In this world, humans and faerie's live on the same land that is divided by a wall separating the two. Prior to the wall going up, humans were servants to the faerie's. One day, Feyre kills a wolf in the woods. The wolf, ends up being a faerie is disguise and she is taken into the faerie land as punishment. While there she learns she was misled on a lot of things regarding the faeries.. and that she wasn't brought there on accident. Book two picks up with Feyre having to learn new skills, learn about herself, and has her start questioning those she knew before.
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