Earlier this year, I shared a bunch of books that I was looking forward to reading in 2024. There were 24 books (and trilogies and series…) I hoped to read this year and now that we’re wrapping up 2024, I thought I would offer a final debrief.
With 2025 just around the corner, I’ve read 20 of the books/series from my original list. I have three more that I hope to complete before the end of this year, which leaves just one that will move to my 2025 TBR list.
You can read my latest update on all of the books below:
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- The Great Book of Journaling by Eric Maisel and Lynda Monk. One of my annual goals is to dive back into a more regular journaling practice this year. I happened upon this book recently and it seemed like the perfect fit. I loved the different contributors who shared chapters on a range of journaling types.
- You Need a Manifesto by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn. Organizing my annual goals around my radical self-trust framework this year reminded me how helpful it’s been to create that set of principles for myself. This book was a great tool to deepen my reflection around how I document my purpose and direction.
- A Soul of Ash and Blood by Jennifer Armentrout. This is the second-to-last book in a six-book series by this author (a new one just came out in the last couple of months). I have really been enjoying the series and the crazy twists and turns that she is building in throughout each book. This book was a retelling of book 1 from another character’s perspective and I really enjoyed it.
- The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. This is one of those books that I have seen recommended far and wide by very diverse readers (i.e. people who are reading in different genres). The general storyline is a back-and-forth plot between a present day woman who is processing a possible break up with her partner and a historical figure who mixes poisons for women to use against the men in their lives. I can see why this one was so popular because the weaving of past and present was a great way to tell this set of stories.
- The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen. I’ve really enjoyed this author’s mystery books so when I saw that she was branching out into spy fiction I was among the first in line to pick this up. This is the first in a series about retired women spies and the first couple chapters had me laughing out loud. I’ll definitely pick up other books in this series.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Someone on social media called this their favorite audio book ever and I’ve been wanting to read it ever since. It’s the story of an apocalyptic event that causes most people to die, but the remaining people are dropped into a kind of video game that is being broadcast for people to watch. The sound engineering of the audio book was amazing and I’ve already recommended this to a couple of friends who are into gaming.
- Widen the Window by Elizabeth Stanley. The older I get the more important I find it to learn about my own personal methods for increasing my resilience. I also am constantly on the look out for tools that I can employ the increase the resilience of my coaching clients. This book gave me great ideas in both of these areas.
- The Last Astronaut by David Wellington. I’m a sucker for alien-encounter space books and this one seems like the plot is headed in that direction. I’ve had this on my to-read pile for quite some time and it was fun to finally check this off my list. This book was very cinematic – it would make a great movie adaptation.
- Experiments in Reflection by Leticia Britos Cavagnaro. Similar to the book on journaling above, this seemed like a good fit for my goals this year. I love a little playful experimentation and this book offered me some good experiments to try.
- The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (3 books). I’ve had this trilogy on my list for a very long time. I have read and enjoyed several other books by this author (including some set in the world of this trilogy), so it was really fun to revisit the world again. The first book in this trilogy was my favorite.
- The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin (3 books). I read the first book in this trilogy years ago and really enjoyed it. It’s a zombie-themed series, and since I haven’t read one of those in a while, 2024 seems like the perfect time to get back to that sub-genre. While this trilogy was a serious investment, I loved listening to this vast story that covers decades of time in the life of the characters on audio.
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve been slowly working my way through this author’s backlist and this is the next book on my list. Everyone seems to love this book and I can definitely understand why. This was a lovely story and I the twist at the ending was unexpected.
- Academia Next by Bryan Alexander. Another long-overdue read. I enjoy reading about futurism and this is a canonical work on the future of higher ed that I’ve been meaning to read for a while now. I’m glad I finally got around to reading this one and look forward to diving into this author’s other books.
- Age of Vice by Deepit Kapoor. Another long (500+ pages) book with rave reviews. This is a crime thriller set in India and I don’t read as much internationally-set fiction as I’d like so this was an easy one to add to my 2024 list.
- The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman. This is another book that I have in hard copy, but was also able to get on audio. I’ve dipped in an out of this book over time, but I really enjoyed getting to sit down to read the whole thing. (This is also a book that I recommend to my Slow Hustle participants.)
- The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. I had heard so many positive things about this book. It’s about an older woman who retired from being a pirate, but is called back to the sea for one last adventure to save a kidnapped girl. I can see why others love it, but I’ve realized pirate-based plots just aren’t really my thing.
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. This sprawling book clocking in at over 700 pages is another one of the chunksters that I hoped to read this year. I had it in ebook and audio book formats, and I loved this immersive multi-generational story.
- Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anondea Judith. I’ve known about this book for a while from my yoga and meditation studies and I have it in hard copy. However, getting a deal on the audio book was what pushed me to pick this one up sooner rather than later. I read most long nonfiction (this one is almost 500 pages) on audio, but having the hard copy to refer to for this dense book on chakras was very handy.
- The Sword of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks (3 books). I have fond memories of reading this when I was about 11 years old. I didn’t remember much other than a general vibe, so revisiting this series was really enjoyable. I can see how this author was deeply influenced by Tolkein.
- The Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb (3 books). Robin Hobb is one of those prolific authors that I want to read more of. I’d read one of her books so far just to get a feel for her writing, but she has a vast set of trilogies and series books and according to this post, this trilogy is a good place to start. After hearing rave reviews, it was super fun to dive into this charming story about a young boy who is raised in a palace as an assassin. I loved it on audio.
Up Next
- The Will of the Many by James Islington. A mystery set in a dark academic setting? Sign me up. It took me all year to get to this one, but I think it will make a perfect end-of-year read. I’m excited to see how I like this one.
- The Red Rising saga by Pierce Brown (currently 6 books). The first book in this series was recommended to me by my Denver realtor over two years ago. Since then, I’ve seen others enjoying the series as well. I read the first three books (which can be read as a standalone trilogy) pretty much back-to-back. The latter three books in the series have been more complicated and a little slower going, but the writing is satisfying and dense. I would recommend this for the more die-hard fantasy fans who like a bit of politics and war mixed in.
- The Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne (4 books). I saw a raving review of this entire series by a YouTuber that I follow and I’ve been thinking about reading it ever since. I have the audio for this series, which tops 2,800 pages altogether. It seems like a good set of books to read in the dead of winter since it’s all about war, politics, and betrayals.
For Next Year (books on my list that I’m moving to my 2025 TBR pile)
- Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu. I have heard such amazing things about this book and it’s sequel, so I’m looking forward to picking it up and seeing what I think. I’m not even really sure what the plot is, but I love an immersive read, especially if it’s been hyped by reviewers that I trust. Since the audio book for this one was delayed until a January release, I decided to shift it into 2025.
What have you loved reading so far this year? What’s on your TRB pile for 2025?
