Reading Year In Review 2024

2024 was a year. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or the fact that I haven't really unpacked any baggage from the pandemic, or maybe I'm in recovery from another busy year at work, or maybe it's the fact that I spent all of 2024 dealing with medical nonsense related to my newly diagnosed bouncing baby hiatal hernia - but I'm kind of ready to kick Old Man 2024 to the curb. I'm hoping for better things in 2025, namely surgery to fix the hernia, some travel, and seeing my niece, Lemon Drop, compete in a major equestrian event. I also hope for fewer slumps, more reading in 2025, and a renewed plan to tackle my obscene backlog of neglected ARCs. Hope springs eternal after all!

My reading goal every year is always to get through 100 books. Well, this year I stalled out at 78, which all things considered, I'm fine with. My reading this past year came in two speeds: either not reading a single word for weeks at a time or inhaling an entire book in one sitting. There was very little in between. In 2025 I'm hoping to get more "in between." Here's how my grading broke down for the 78 books I did get to:

A Grades = 8

B Grades = 26

C Grades = 25

D Grades = 13

F Grades = 1

DNF = 5

That's a good number of A grades for me, but I don't know about you all - when my B and C books are in a dead heat I'm always a little depressed.  I'd rather read "good" than "meh, it was OK" any day of the week, but that's how things landed this year. Also, an F grade is rare for me because I'll normally DNF instead, but what can I say? I got sucked into a "hate listen" audiobook against my better judgement. Less of that next year Wendy!

I tend to draft these Year in Review posts in a manner that my reading kind of dictates, so I'm going to start with the books I really loved and move through to some of the memorable that stuck with me. 

Title links will take you to full reviews.

Blind Tiger by Sandra Brown (2021) - Historical suspense, romantic elements - At over 500 pages, this slow burn suspense with romantic elements centering around illegal moonshining in Prohibition-era Texas hooked me but good. A number of trigger warnings but amazing world-building - once I started I didn't want to come up for air.

Funny Story by Emily Henry (2024) - Contemporary romance - A romance that hinges mightily on the fake relationship trope but doesn't fall into the trap of having the trope do the heavy lifting for conflict. Nice depiction of small town librarianship and two damaged people falling in love was pure Wendy catnip. I started it thinking to read a couple chapters before bed and stayed up until 3:00 AM to finish it. 

The Collective by Alison Gaylin (2021) - Contemporary suspense - Gaylin is the best suspense author y'all aren't reading.  This book is a breathtaking example of writing emotion, in this case those emotions being grief and rage. Her teenage daughter raped and left for dead after a fraternity party, the heroine can't get past that the killer continues to live his best life - and then she falls into a vigilante group masquerading as a support group. I couldn't put it down and it's got the mother of all twists at the end.

Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin (2019) - Contemporary suspense - Told in duel timelines between the 1970s and present-day, the heroine is confronted by a journalist who suspects her apple pie, milk and cookies mother is the presumed dead girl who went on a crime spree with her teenage boyfriend back in the 1970s.  I loved the dual timelines in this one and the fact that the author takes twists and turns with this story that kept me on my reading toes.

Blind to Midnight by Reed Farrel Coleman (2024) - Contemporary suspense - Coleman writes about New York City the way I like to read it, dark, gritty and problematic as hell. A "fixer" for the NYPD is tasked by his shadowy bosses to look into the only unsolved murder from 9/11 - instead he gets tangled up in the execution-style murder of a family friend. Recommended for those who are OK with books with no heroes or who wish we could keep Lawrence Block alive forever.

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth (2024) - Contemporary suspense - Three emotionally damaged women, sisters thanks to their time in the same horrific foster care situation, are called back "home" when the body of a young child is found on the property.  Hepworth could teach a master class in writing tension, and it drips off the page here. I wanted a tidier ending, but holy hell can this woman write.

Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself by Crystal Hefner (2024) - Memoir - I'm not a Playboy fan nor did I watch the Girls Next Door reality series back in the day, but Hefner tells her story with honesty and such raw vulnerability that I was instantly reminded of how gross the early 2000s were for women. I finished this book feeling quite strongly about the motives Hefner had for finally writing this book - namely to help other young women who are just as lost as she once was. 

Circle in the Water by Marcia Muller (2024) - Contemporary mystery - Muller created her female private investigator, Sharon McCone, back in 1977 and readers have followed her adventures over the course of 35 books and several short stories. I started reading this series in high school and my nostalgia runs deep. Over the years Sharon has chased down leads through the streets of San Francisco, made friends, left her job, started her own business, had a few boyfriends and eventually got married. By all accounts this is her final hurrah. I'm likely never going to meet Muller in real life, but if I did I'd thank her for everything.

Murder Buys a One-Way Ticket by Laura Levine (2024) - Contemporary cozy mystery - The 20th book in the Jaine Austen (no relation) cozy mystery series was also the character's send off. No more dating disasters, no more wacky emails from her parents living in a Florida retirement community, no more Prozac the cat. Has this series been problematic over the years? Yes. Have I gotten more than a few laughs from it? Also, yes. And what made my genre-lovin' heart sing? The author sends Jaine off with a very appropriate happy ending.

Expecting a Royal Scandal by Caitlin Crews (2016) - Harlequin Presents #3438 - Come for the delicious banter between the romantic couple stay for the truly bananapants elements, including a thrice-married heroine who is somehow still magically a virgin. Y'all do I always love Crews' work in Presents? No. But that woman leans in HARD on the bananapants and I defy anyone to be bored. 

The Spaniard's Last Minute Wife by Caitlin Crews (2023) - Harlequin Presents #4139 - A librarian heroine from the Midwest who finds herself inexplicably wed to a Spanish billionaire when she crashes his Lake Como wedding. It defies logic, it's patently absurd, but ask me if I was bothered? I was, in fact, not bothered. Compulsively readable in that way only well-executed Presents can be.

A Treasure Worth Seeking by Sandra Brown (1982) - Candlelight Ecstasy #59 - Edited by the legendary Vivian Stephens, this book has an opening chapter that has to be read to be believed. The heroine shows up on the doorstep of her long lost brother and the man who answers the door, the man she thinks is her brother, ends up planting the mother of all smoldering kisses on her. From there the bananapants doesn't let up - it's quite literally an everything and the kitchen sink romance. 

The Rana Look by Sandra Brown (1986) - Loveswept #136 - A former supermodel starts a new life in Galveston, Texas and disguises herself as a dowdy spinster to fly under the radar.  Then her landlady's nephew, an NFL quarterback moves in. Problematic in that special mid-1980s kind of way but worth the read if only for the delicious dressing down the heroine gives the hero in Chapter 3. Seriously, Chapter 3 is magic.

Parting Gifts by Lorraine Heath (1994) - Historical western romance - A desperate heroine ready to sell her virginity to the highest bidder at a brothel is rescued by a terminally ill man who wants to leave his children with a mother. What nobody ever tells you about this book that I do? The terminally ill man lives for the vast majority of the book while the heroine and her brother-in-law get pants feelings for each other. It'll raise an eyebrow but damn if it won't make you cry.

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt (2006) - Historical Georgian romance - Honestly the bits with the brothel could have landed this one under bananapants, and yes it's wacky, but damn if I didn't inhale this book in one greedy gulp. Widowed heroine in desperate need of a job becomes the grumpy hero's secretary. Beauty and the Beast meets Grumpy/Sunshine meets Hero Has A Magic Wang. Toss in an amiable dog of indeterminate pedigree who goes nameless until the heroine browbeats the hero and I was charmed.

Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown (2023) - Contemporary romantic suspense - Brown takes the big risk of centering this story around a mass shooting where the heroine's toddler is killed. The hero was a hero that day, but prior to that this guy is a real son-of-a-bitch. They're drawn together by tragedy and find themselves in danger when the cops realize that the suicide on the scene was not the killer, but another victim. Brown reminded me of how great a standalone romantic suspense novel could be and hot damn, what a storyteller! What a pro!

Nobody's Sweetheart Now by Maggie Robinson (2018) - Historical mystery - Pure delight from start to finish. Heroine hosting a country house party is thrown for a loop when her neighbor's estranged wife is found dead in her barn and the ghost of her dead, profligate, husband starts to haunt her. A fun little mystery with a soupçon of romance between the heroine and the police inspector assigned to the case.

The Scandalous Spinster by Alyxandra Harvey (2024) - Historical romance - Look, it's not perfect, but it's been a dog's age since I've been this excited by a new-to-me historical romance author and desperately looking forward to more books in the series. Heroine who works for a secret society infiltrates a notorious house party to find a missing comrade. The hero, a former sailor, is along for the ride to offer assistance and protection. I enjoyed the sizzle of romantic tension and there's a nice little mystery.

It wasn't exactly a boon year for quantity, but looking back the quality was there. As I get older I realize the actual "final grade" of a book doesn't matter so much as how memorable the reading experience was for me and how long a story sticks around after I finish it. I hope you all found memorable reads this past year and here's to many more in 2025!