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Today’s topic is the best books I read in 2024, which can be both fun and exciting, and difficult as well.  I’m not a picky reader, so I tend to enjoy everything I read.  So, picking The Best can be rough.  But here we go!

In no particular order:

Starter Villain by John Scalzi.  Last year, I read Redshirts and fell in love with this author.  Starter Villain is ten times better (and more ridiculous).  So much better in audio, too, because Wil Wheaton is a treasure, and no one quite does incredulous like he does.

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree.  I never knew I needed cozy fantasy in my life, but this is the perfect gateway, even for someone who might not like fantasy.  Bonsu: the author, a prolific audiobook narrator, reads his own book.

The Lies Among Us by Sarah Beth Durst.  This was one of the most unique and interesting books I’ve read in a very long time.  An addictive story that nearly breaks your heart at times.

Lucky Bounce by Cait Nary.  I’m a huge hockey fan, so a bit of hockey romance is necessary each year.  Zeke and Spencer are probably my second favorite hockey couple.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio.  A very different sort of story involving alternating worlds and a ladder to an attic full of alternate husbands.

Silver Alert by Lee Smith.  I picked this up on a whim because you don’t find a lot of stories centered around senior citizens.  But this was a blast.  Herb, struggling to care for his aging wife, takes off on a road trip with the young woman hired to care for his wife.  Sweet, funny, and a little sad at times, it was a refreshing read.

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland.  A blend of historical romance and fantasy, this really sucked me in from page one.  I don’t read a lot of lesbian fiction, but the love story contained within is epic in its own right.  Beautifully written, too.

Check Please! Book 1 by Ngozi Ukazu.  As I said above, I love hockey.  I also love manga and graphic novels, so when the two combine, I’m sold.  This was a super sweet story about a kid who loves to bake and his maybe boyfriend.  College romance done up in adorable graphics.

A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner.  Another cozy fantasy but this time add a dash of The Great British Bake Off.  Super cute and quick read.

She’s Not Sorry by Mary Kubica.  I love her books in general, but this has been my favorite to date.  Twisty and engrossing, I couldn’t stop reading until I knew the truth.

Have you read any of these?  What did you think, if you did?

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Yes, I am the same Astilbe who submitted this topic to Jana. I was thrilled to learn she picked it.

All of the books on this list feature blizzards and snowstorms. I don’t know about all of you, but I like reading about blizzards and snowstorms while they are happening so long as I’m tucked safely at home and don’t need to go anywhere until the roads are ploughed and okay for travelling on again.

1. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

2.  The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic by Gay Salisbury

3. The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin

4. Let It Snow by John Green

5. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher

6. A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor

7. The Day After Tomorrow by Whitley Strieber

8. Ghost Story by Peter Straub

9.Chance of a Ghost (Haunted Guesthouse Mystery, #4) by E.J. Copperman

10.Who Stole Stonehenge? by Leela Cutter

Do you also like to read books about bad weather while the weather is snowy or stormy where you live?

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To echo last week’s ice and snow theme, this week I will be sharing ten books that are set in either the North Pole or the South Pole.

Sometimes Antarctica will appear instead, but I think that’s close enough to count.

If it’s going to be cold and snowy for the next four months for me, why not read about places that are even colder and snowier?

1.Skating to Antarctica by Jenny Diski

2.The Telescope in the Ice: Inventing a New Astronomy at the South Pole by Mark Bowen

3. A Negro Explorer at the North Pole: The Autobiography of Matthew Henson by Matthew A. Henson

4.Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Season’s Edge by Pete Dunne

5. Race to the South Pole by Roald Amudsen

6. The Ferocious Summer: Adelie Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica by Meredith Hooper

7. Ice Bound: A Doctor’s Incredible Battle For Survival at the South Pole by Jerri Nielsen

8. The Big Bang Symphony: A Novel of Antarctica by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

9. Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven

10. Improbable Eden: The Dry Valleys of Antarctica by Bill Green

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This is the time of year when my part of the world is in flux.  The weather is generally chilly and windy, but we don’t always know what will be on the ground other than autumn leaves. Will everything be covered in a thin – or thick – layer of ice? Maybe it will be cold and rainy instead? Perhaps we will have a few flakes of snow gently falling from the sky but otherwise be fairly dry? Will we have a surprise blizzard?

You never know which one of these options might occur even if climate change is making the warmer days where you can go outside with a light winter jacket but not a scarf, gloves, or snow boots more likely and the blizzards less likely than they used to be.

Here are ten book covers filled with snow and ice.

1. The Call of the Wild by Jack London

2. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

3.Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

4. The Terror by Dan Simmons

5. The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

6. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

7. Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

8. The Ice Storm by Rick Moody

9.Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

10. Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons (Calvin and Hobbes, #7) by Bill Wattenson

(Oh, how I miss reading Calvin and Hobbes).

If you live in a cold place, stay warm!

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These are some of the many books I read in school and what I thought of them. There are a few mild spoilers in this post, but I can only assume that all of you have either already read these old titles or don’t mind a few vague hints about their endings.

1.The Giver (The Giver, #1)by Lois Lowry

My Thoughts on It: Certain details about this society make no sense if you try to work out the logistics of them over multiple generations, but I found the rest of it thought provoking and loved it overall.

2. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

My Thoughts on It: This story was surprisingly relatable, especially since a few of my friends acted a lot like Ponyboy.

3.1984 by George Orwell

My Thoughts on It: What a frightening warning about totalitarianism. This was a great read.

4.The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

My Thoughts on It: I loved Anne and was heartbroken by the postscript that let readers know she died in a concentration camp. We’d read a fictional book in which a girl about her age survived it shortly before this one, so I assumed this nonfiction account would have a triumphant ending as well.

5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

My Thoughts on It: Why didn’t they listen to the sensible adults around them? I liked this story but was so annoyed with Romeo and Juliet for rushing everything.

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

My Thoughts on It: While I liked the story, I hated the ending. It was so dark and dreary.

7.Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

My Thoughts on It: I loved the first 90% of it, but the last 10% or so is the origin story for why I’m so hesitant to read books about beloved pets anymore unless I know for a fact that those pets are going to live happily ever after.

8.A Separate Peace by John Knowles

My Thoughts on It: The writing was beautiful, but I thought many of the characters needed to learn some basic manners and social skills as they clearly hadn’t been taught how to behave at home.  They were so unkind to each other! I faced enough bullying growing up that it was not something I usually wanted to read about in fiction, especially when the adults in the story often didn’t take it seriously.

9. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

My Thoughts on It: Living in a giant peach sounded terribly sticky and uncomfortable, but I loved the playfulness of this story.

10. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco

My Thoughts on It: This is still one of my all-time favourite stories. I love the life lessons in it about never judging anyone based on physical appearance and how even small acts of kindness you don’t think anyone has noticed can still be repaid in unexpected ways.

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Here are ten books I avoided reading in large part because of how hyped up they were. Generally, I tend not to be a big fan of stories that are marketed as the next hot read, although of course there are always exceptions to that rule.

As I haven’t read them, it’s hard to speculate whether or not I would have liked them after all. I suspect that part of the prompt is easier to answers for participants who chose to talk about hyped books they did end up reading!

1. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

2.When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

4. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

5. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

6. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

7. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

8. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

9.Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

10. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

How often does your taste in books match up with what everyone is talking about on Booktok or other similar bookish places online?