What Did T Read in 2024?

Note: Where I list genre after author, these are how I would classify the books. YA stands for Young Adult (14+), although it's worth noting that half of all YA readers are adults. MG stands for Middle Grades (ok for kids under 14). Anything without one of these classifications is marketed toward adults.

Quick Guide

 

Best Young Adult: Ordinary Hazards

Best Historical Fiction: The Great Alone* 

Best Female Lead in Fiction: We Begin at the End (yes, I just made up that category)

Best Suspense: Beautiful Ugly

Best Social Science: I CAN’T PICK!!!

• The Anxious Generation

• The Kingdom, The Power, & The Glory
  
  

Best Memoir: A Well-Trained Wife**

Best Horror: (I can’t believe this is a category for me this year!) We Used to Live Here

Best Book by a Non-White Author: The Reformatory (WOWWWWW)

Best Spirituality & Religion: Pastrix: the Cranky Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

*Favorite fiction book I read this year

** Favorite nonfiction book I read this year

1.) When the Body Says No. I liked the “7 A’s”? of healing: acceptance, awareness, (healthy expression of) anger, autonomy, attachment, assertion and affirmation. I’d never previously considered the following: anger is incredibly healthy because it is an expression of boundaries. You cannot be angry at someone you do not recognize as separate from yourself…this is why children whose parents passed on unhealthy boundaries always turn their anger inward. WOW! On the other hand, when I read Maté’s books, sometimes I want to yell, “Come on, dude!! EVERYONE didn’t have a traumatic childhood!!” It sometimes seems like he is intent on convincing people that they experienced incredibly painful things. While he is careful to always avoid “blaming the parent, there have been several times when I wanted to yell, “Oh come off it! Can’t you just let this interviewee be happy?!” This book is no exception. Still, there were some good nuggets. (3 stars)

2.) The Expectation Effect. John Milton wrote in Paradise Lost, “The mind is its own place and makes in itself a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” This is the idea explored by David Robson in The Expectation Effect. Robson takes readers on a journey to understand what led Hmong men in the US die in the middle of the night at epidemic proportions (guilt over abandoning obeisance to the dab tsog from their culture); what causes some people with a predisposition to Alzheimer’s to get the disease while others never do (belief in one’s own internal age); and how to address the achievement gap in underserved students (FINALLY!!!!!!!) I will definitely be asking my students to write a short essay on their greatest strengths right before standardized testing starts this year. I’m excited to give it a try and see if Robson is right. (4 stars)

3.) The Choice: Embrace the Possible. This “memoir” reads more like an autobiography in that it seems to cover the author’s entire life rather than just a period. Dr. Edith Eva Eger was a Hungarian ballet student on track to join the Olympic team when prevailing Nazi ideology swept in and made such a thing impossible. Instead, Edith, her sister Magda, and their mother are sent to Auschwitz… where their mother is immediately sent to the gas chambers. Desirous of entertainment, notorious “Angel of Death,” Dr. Josef Mengele, who had just murdered her mother, demands that Eva dance for him. Eva holds onto her mother’s words that no one can imprison you if you remain free in your own mind. Eva creates choices for herself: will I eat this blade of grass or that one? Once liberated by American GIs, Eva faces an uphill battle toward healing, but mentor Victor Frankle helps her. (3.5 stars)

4.) The Kingdom of Sweets. This was an interesting and unique book. It takes the idea and characters of The Nutcracker — Clara, Drosselmeyer, the Nutcracker Prince, etc — and basically uses that as a springboard to imagine the Kingdom of Sweets as a dark faerie world. That’s really all it has in common with the actual Nutcracker, the rest is a departure. What if Clara had a twin, a dark twin, and Rasputin himself was culpable in their creation? And what if the Kingdom of Sweets were merely a facade created to hide dark and terrible things? The writing for the good parts was top-notch, a truly dark fairy tale a la Brothers Grimm. HOWEVER, you don’t find out the time or place till the last couple pages, which serves to confuse and disorient the reader. First, I assumed Russia hundreds of years ago. Then I thought, no maybe Prussia, the names are German. Then the author mentioned lipstick, which seemed crazy anachronistic, and suddenly there were references to Dracula and Alice in Wonderland. So then I thought, ok later 1800’s. But then all of a sudden there’s these like… Holocaust harbingers? And Vladimir Lenin appears. So that part was just all over the place. Also, some characters like the red headed cousins seem to serve no purpose at all. But the writing for the good parts was horrifically good!! (3 stars)

 5.) Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint. I loved this book by pastor Nadia Bolzano-Weber, a foul-mouthed fundamentalist reject and sober alcoholic. Maybe she’s like the Brennan Manning of our times? (4 stars)

6.) The Reformatory. The beginning was so slow I almost quit. Then BANG! Action! Robbie Stevens kicks a white boy who threatens his sister. For that, he is sentenced to 6 months in The Reformatory… a place where boys go and never return. Based on a real-life Florida reformatory, this school seeks to strip the humanity from any boy it “serves.” Luckily or unluckily as the case may be, Robbie can also see “haints”— the spirits of all the boys who have come before him…a gifting that propels him to the forefront of The Warden’s attention. Because who, after all, would a haint hold more grudge toward, than the warden who killed him? (4.5 stars)

7.) Just Breathe (Kids). Great book with exercises to help kids learn meditation, mindfulness, intention-setting, and yoga basics. I ended up buying it to keep as a reference. (4 stars)

8.) Lost City of the Monkey God. A really interesting look at one of the few remaining unexplored places on Earth…& the civilization that may have existed there. (4 stars)

9.) The Bhagavad Gita. I mean, what can you really say about the Bhagavad Gita?

10.) Breathing: The Master Key to Self-Healing. Only available as an audiobook. REALLY fantastic look at using breath to calm the mind and body. (4 stars)

11.) First There is a Mountain. Kadetsky, an American journalist, waits for years to be accepted to the yoga institute of legendary B. K. S. Iyengar in Pune, India. While studying under his tutelage, she wins his grandfatherly affection and permission to use his library to research the history of Iyengar yoga. This book was almost 2 stories: one, the story of an anorexic Californian on a quest for wholeness; the other, the thousands-year-old mystery of how yoga came to be. I found the parts where the author focused on herself banal and frustrating; the parts where she stuck to the history and the myths and the legend was fascinating. This is my second time reading this book, and I very rarely re-read. (4 stars)

12.) Looking for Jane. This story follows the somewhat complicated tale of 3 women as they grapple with the concept of motherhood. It’s a book about abortion, which I wouldn’t have chosen if I’d known.

Evelyn-a “fallen” young woman in the 1960s whose family sends her to St. Agnes’ Home for Wayward Girls to finish out her pregnancy in secrecy. Little does she know the nuns there are abusing the girls and selling the babies for profit. Nancy-a teenager in the 1980s whose cousin gets pregnant and decides to have a back alley abortion that goes terribly wrong. And if this confuses you, as it did me for the first 200 pages, it will be helpful to remember the setting is in Canada. Their version of Roe didn’t happen until 1988. Nancy’s adoptive mother Frances wants her to have a traditional, lovely life. Angela-an adopted, lesbian bookstore manager trying like hell to get pregnant through IVF. She discovers a letter from a woman named Margaret to a girl named Jane.Are you confused yet? Evelyn. Nancy. Frances. Angela. Margaret. Jane. It’s a lot going on, especially if you’re listening to the audiobook.It’s not that it was a bad book, and I know some people who would absolutely love it! Abortion is just not a topic I really want to read about in my spare time, but it was the pick for Jewish Ladies Book Club this month. (2 stars)

13.) Ready or Not. My single most salient thought is: if only Life were actually like this. A woman gets pregnant and falls in love with her best friend to create the perfect family. (3 stars)

14.) Fourth Wing (YA). I read this book because a fellow yoga teacher refuses to read anything BUT these books. I give it 2.5 stars. The story about dragons, gods, and monsters from fables was ok but it was so freaking long and drawn out!!!! There is just no way on earth that the author needed to go in and on and on as much as she did about every single thing! There’s description and then there’s beating your readers over the head with things. My second complaint is how often the author forgets or gets confused by which genre she’s writing in. Like, one second there are scrolls and corsets and then next second a dragon shouts, “I’m on it!” And the romance scenes …By all means, throw in a steamy scene when warranted! But for the love of gods (see what I did there?), you have to make it *match* the rest of the writing! You can’t have all this writing about scribes and archives and ancient traditions and then all of a sudden throw in a sex scene that reads like it’s set in a 21st century office p0rno. Let’s have some standards, people. Continuity!! (2.5 stars)

15.) Functional Anatomy of Yoga: A Guide for Practitioners & Teachers. I loved it as much as one can love an anatomy book. That’s not sarcasm. I really liked it.

16.) The Berry Pickers. I kept expecting a big plot reveal or for the main character to develop a personality, but it never happened. Still, this book shows what the ABSOLUTE epitome of white privilege looks like when a judge’s wife kidnaps, brainwashes, and raises an Indian girl. Based on a true story. (2 stars)

17.) Tresspasses. The last 25% of the book was much more interesting than the first 75% For a book set in Belfast during the Troubles, most of the book was shockingly dull. (2.5 stars)

18.) Darling Girls. The editor on this book ought to be fired. I got a refund from Book of the Month. (1 star)

19.) None of This is True. I’m not sure I even understand what happened, but boy was I engaged!! Alix Summers decides to make a podcast with a random woman she meets in the bathroom after discovering they are both turning 45 that night and were born in the same hospital on the same morning. That’s where the similarities end. I had some questions at the end…the smell?? (3.5)

20.) A Discovery of Witches. Diana Bishop is a witch…a direct descendant of Elizabeth Bishop, hung as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Since her parents died when she was 7, Diana has resisted the magic in her veins… but when she stumbles upon a bewitched manuscript in the Bodlein Library at Cambridge, her magic begins to seep out in uncontrollable spurts. Diana, as it turns out, is the most powerful witch to be born in centuries…but she has been spellbound and cannot access the magic she needs to survive. This was a great premise but it was so long, and then didn’t even wrap things up because it’s a series. (3.5 stars)

21.) Good Material. I LOVED this book. When Andy's girlfriend Jen breaks up with him after 4 years of relationship-bliss, he's completely blindsided. Is it because he's a failed comic? Is it because he's getting a bald spot on the back of his head? (He better start taking daily pictures for comparison) Is it because he got her very proper mother karaoke mics for Christmas one year? Andy loses his mind obsessing over what went wrong in a way that is so deeply relatable. Dolly Alderton perfectly captures the heartbreak, loss, and losing-your- mindness of the newly single, and I highly recommend her book! (4 stars)

22.) The Rachel Incident. It was good, especially if you listen to the audiobook, but the end was not satisfying. Rachel is a 21-year-old Irish girl living with her gay best friend James in Cork, a city dying during the 2010 depression. In her loneliness, she becomes inextricably tied up in the lives of a slightly older couple, even as Ireland teeters on the verge between progress and regression. (3 stars)

23.) The Other Valley. I give this my standard 3.5 stars for a book that kept me really engaged. But the ending felt anti-climactic after all the build up. Still, an interesting premise: there is a town that exists, and it is bordered to the East and West by identical towns with identical inhabitants — twenty years in the present and twenty years in the past. (3.5 stars)

24.) The Family Upstairs. ​​Did not really like this book about children caught up in a cult against their will. (3 stars)

25.) How to Date a Foreigner. I was asked to read and review this book by the publisher, & it was great! Don’t be put off by all the grammatical errors in the first 10-20 pages. If you keep plowing through, you’ll find a wealth of information about people from other cultures. As someone from a “hugging culture,” I found the insight about why Americans are so direct and black-and-white really eye-opening! Apparently cultures with a large immigrant population (like the US and Canada) tend to be very upfront in their dating communication styles, to cut down on confusion. But in “kissing cultures,” there’s a lot more nuance and more that goes unsaid…for example, they don’t have the Relationship Defining Talk that most Americans do. This book gave me so much insight into the people I’ve met from around the world; I think it’s a great book whether you’re dating someone from another culture or not! I shared a lot of snippets with someone from Brazil, and he found it highly accurate. (4 stars)

26.) The Shining. This is the only Stephen King book I’ve ever read. It sure did seem longer than necessary. And he seems kind of racist, tbh. I don’t get what the big obsession with him is. (2 stars)

27.) The Heiress. There is a man. He was adopted as a child of unspecified age by an heiress. He hates all the money so he flees. The relatives want him gone so they can have all the money. Lots of murders happen. ** This author is kind of the master of “don’t think about the plot too much, SUSPEND ALL DISBELIEF and just go with it!” This book is certainly no exception. It’s okay but I’ll forget the plot entirely within a couple of days. (2.5 stars)

 

28.) The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle & Flying Club. This book obviously drew inspiration from The Geurnsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Club but that’s where the similarities end. Where that book was witty and endearing, this book was far, far too long for a breezy read about post-WWI England. (2.5 stars)

29.) Bellman & Black. William Bellman kills a young rook with his slingshot when he is 10. In the decades that follow, he is haunted by a strange man he calls "Mr. Black." I love Diane Setterfield and force her books on anyone who will listen to me, and sometimes those who won't. The 13th Tale is a favorite book for my sister and me, and I loved Once Upon a River, too. Bellman & Black was not as compelling, although I did very much enjoy the ending and the nods to mythology. This was a good first book for an author; her latter ones are better. (3 stars)

30.) The Teacher. Disturbing. Saw the “twist” (well, the first one) coming from a mile away. But the epilogue turned everything upside down, seeming to make just about everyone a villain or a victim. Maybe it should have been obvious that a book about a teacher grooming a student was going to be disturbing. Idk. No one on this book ended up being likable. (2.5 stars)

31.) Astor: The Rise & Fall of an American Fortune. I was enchanted with the idea of learning about THE Caroline Astor who molded Old New York to fit her will. She was in her, as were many other Astors. I would have liked to learn more about why the fortune ended up where it did. For example, why was it all left to Brooke Astor when there were undoubtedly so many heirs? Brooke was only an Astor by (Vincent’s third) marriage! I liked this well enough to want to read Vanderbilt next. (3.5 stars)

32.) Once Upon a River. Another re-read!! Part fairy tale, part archetypical myth, part gothic horror, this book is for lovers of The 13th Tale (my fave). It reminded me of “The Tale of the Three Brothers” from Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Loved all the motifs and symbolism! (Gothic) (4 stars)

33.) Vanderbilt: The Rise & Fall of an American Dynasty. Anderson Cooper recounts the beginnings of his mother’s family — the Vanderbilt origin story, if you will. It was interesting. I found some of it repetitive. He would make a point and then a couple of pages later, there’d be a direct quote from the original source stating the same thing. That was a bit tedious; also a lot of “Astor” material was in this book, as well. Still, it was an interesting read, especially the parts about Truman Capote and the great Whitney-Morgan feud. (3 stars)

34.) The Return of Ellie Black. My full review is quite long. This book was a lot to handle. At least 80% of it felt like trauma p0rn. Then there were some crazy twists that finally made things compelling, but not necessarily all that believable. The “believe women!!” theme was also hammered in with a ⛏️ pickaxe. Idk, I left the book at an airport in Taiwan. (2 stars)

35.) Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. It’s been awhile since I read a 5-star book but this is one! What do you do with your brief 4,000 weeks on earth? Stop and be intentional. This is one I definitely want to buy and mark up. (I said 5 stars but now I can’t remember a single thing from the book).

36.) The Ministry of Time. Some of the writing in this book was really good, really beautiful and interesting. The narrator is a “bridge,” responsible for acclimating a “refugee” from two centuries prior into the present-day for Britain’s Ministry of Time. As with all premises of this kind, the housemates fall in love. Shenanigans ensue. The problem, I think, is that the book tries to do too much. Does it want to be a romance? A comedy? A sci-fi piece? Perhaps a history? Or a treatise on colonization and identity? It can’t seem to make up its mind and the narrative suffers as a result. (3.5 stars)

37.) The Great Alone - Found this book at a hostel in Indonesia and took it with me to Bali. So glad I did. I rounded up to five stars. There’s a bit of trite writing, but the story’s so good! Lenora Allbright’s father came back from a POW camp in Vietnam a changed man. She has few memories of him Before, but Now he can’t hold a job, can’t seem to stay in one place more than a handful of months, and can’t stop hitting her mother. When he announces the family is moving to Alaska, Leni and her mother feel wretched… particularly as they are deeply unprepared for the savagery and alienation of “The Great Alone.” The family is immediately encircled by a colorful cast of characters, including a 13-year-old boy named Matthew who becomes Leni’s fast friend. In fact, he’s just about the only thing keeping her going when the Alaskan winters begin to seep into her father’s broken soul and turn him ever meaner (5 stars)

38.) Tales of Unrest. Didn’t like “The Return” — so much of nothing! But some of the other stories were good, and I liked that at least one was set on Java, since I bought the book in Ubud. Of course, Conrad wrote 125 years ago and was horribly colonial, so you have to read him with a large grain of salt. (3.5 stars)

39.) My Sister, the Serial Killer. I started reading this because it was one of the only English-language books available in Uluwatu. I kept waiting for it to make sense or for some big reveal: why does Ayoola keep doing such unimaginative murders? What triggered any of this in the first place? Why is it so easy for the sisters to get away with all this? Why are there zero repercussions for ANYTHING? Unfortunately, this book has no answers. What’s worse, it doesn’t even have motivations. (2 stars)

40.) Lion Women of Tehran. I found this book extremely boring. I much preferred Reading Lolita in Tehran, which coversvthe same time period. I did not find the characters in Lion Women to be compelling, and some of the writing was puzzling… “I know, right?” is not a phrase a 1980s Iranian woman would use, for example. The overuse of the main character’s name was tiresome and not how people talk in real life. It was really distracting. (2 stars)

41.) We Used to Live Here. Ok this was hard to rate because I HATE horror. I would rate all horror one star. But I didn’t know this was horror when I checked the audiobook out from the library. Then I got sucked in. This author did an EXCELLENT job building atmosphere. It was so tense and eerie that I had to call my sister because I was alone in my house at night and I was so afraid. The story about a strange family who shows up and COMPLETELY CHANGES EVE’S REALITY WAS NUTS. Definitely listen to the audiobook for full chills. (5 stars - I know! I can’t believe I’m rating it that either!)

42.) When We Were Silent. This book about a legendary swim coach who grooms and preys upon the teenagers under his care was hard to get through. It seemed like EVERYONE in the book was either a victim or a perpetrator of pedophilia. Not really something one likes to read about for fun, although the Irish accent of the audiobook narrator was engaging. (3 stars)

43.) Listen for the Lie. Two really good things about this book: the character of Grandma (what a personality!) and the levity/snark of the main character about the fact that she may or may not be a murderer. If I had a category for “best narrator,” this would be it. (4 stars)

44.) Divine Rivals (YA). The premise of this book — two writers connected through enchanted typewriters passed down to them by their grandmothers, in a land where magic is common-ish— was excellent but the execution elicited many groans from me. I’ve read a lot of YA during my 17 years as an English teacher and a lot of it is done so well! I didn’t feel that was the case with this book. It felt extremely over-wrought and I kept rolling my eyes :-(

Another pet peeve: when the main characters speak to each, they constantly say each other’s name at the end or beginning of each line of dialogue!! People don’t talk like that! In a conversation with another person, you don’t say the person’s name ten times!! I used the search feature: there are ninety-nine uses of “Winnow” and another ninety-nine uses of “Kitt” in this book. The further I got into this book, the faster and faster I dialed up the the audio speed so I could just get through it and be DONE. (2 stars, but everyone else rates it higher)

45.) Myths of the Asanas. The Vedas teach that everything is spirit. From the Vedic scriptures came yoga, tantra, Ayurveda, Hinduism, and Buddhism. A friend asked me recently what kind of mythology this book contains, and I guess you would have to call it Vedic mythology! Yes, it starts with yogic postures as the springboard… but then the legends and teachings branch out. What is at the core is something akin to Aesop’s Fables or the parables of Jesus…stories and myths used to communicate deeper meaning to those with the patience to mine them for truth. I enjoyed reading this updated and expanded edition of Myths of the Asanas. (4 stars)

46.) He Will Be My Ruin. A twisty turny book about a poor Latina call girl who winds up dead and the rich, white heiress frenemy determined to avenge her. Hmm, white savior, much… (2.5 stars)

47.) The Inheritance Games (YA/MG) An interesting mystery that seems inspired by the classic, The Westing Game, which I cannot get students to read. I suspect I’ll have better luck with this. * Avery is a high school kid who lives in her car…until she inherits $42 billion from a man she’s never met. The stipulation is that she live at Hawthorne House for one year — along with the 4 grandsons he disinherited in favor of her. Yikes! This has a little of everything for students: mystery, vicarious astronomical wealth, Bugattis, a bit of romance. I especially enjoyed the character of Xander, the youngest Hawthorne boy. (4 stars)

48.) Good Energy. I understand the critiques for sure: only rich folks can afford to protect themselves from the myriad toxins Means details. I consider myself somewhat healthy…. Like, in between healthy and unhealthy. I have to take medicine to sleep at night. I probably drink more red wine than is strictly recommended for good heart health. And I haven’t been to a traditional “gym” in at least a decade. Nonetheless, I’m at a healthy weight and BMI, I practice and teach yoga and breathwork. And I sleep 8 hours a night regularly. According to this book, I’m basically about to die from “bad energy,” which I still cannot actually define because I don’t think such a thing really exists. I believe the Means siblings use “bad energy” to describe cells dividing and replicating in a counterproductive way. But the authors refer to our bodies “creating” good energy, when any good science textbook reminds you that energy can be neither created not destroyed. So honestly, the title and its continual references were just really confusing. But back to my initial point: only well-to-do people can afford to buy all organic groceries from farmers’ markets, install “reverse osmosis charcoal water filters,” lest even their shower water be contaminated, and keep their refrigerators stocked with enough produce to ensure that they eat 30 produce products each week. (3 stars)

49.) Daughter of Mine. I’m not certain I know what actually happened here. (3 stars)

50.) The Grace Year (YA). This book is NUTS!!!!!! A Gateway Nominee from 2021-2022, it finally made its way into my hands via the #stcharlescountylibrary #bookfair — it was one of the free books I scored for my students after 9 hours of volunteering. It’s Shirley Jackson meets Stephen King!!! In an unnamed county, teenage girls are feared for their power, their “magic.” At 16, they are sent out into the woods to die or survive by their wits. Most never return, but those who do, come back broken and maimed. It’s called the Grace Year, and it’s intended as a final grace that will rid the girls of their magic and allow them to become fruitful members of society. But what if the magic is only the untapped power of selfhood, of personhood? A feminist manifesto, Kim Liggett’s “The Grace Year” will chill those with the power to imbibe its message. (4 stars)

51.) The Strange & Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (YA). Interesting. Unsettling. Confusing. But it’s magical realism, so maybe that’s all to be expected? (2 stars, sorry LaP)

52.) Ordinary Hazards (YA). Another library book fair win! WOW. From a Coretta Scott King Award-winning author comes this memoir in verse. And what a memoir! I love how Grimes takes time to explain to readers that “memoire” means “memory” — and no two people have the same memory even of the same events because memory is YOUR experience. This is Nikki Grimes’ faulty, flawed memory of her childhood…. faulty and flawed because trauma in its essence is a memory blocker. Grimes recalls the horrors of foster care, a drunk mother with a personality disorder, and a grandmother who handed her over to the state. And yet. An English teacher challenged her to keep going; Grimes decided that if Mrs. Wexel could survive the concentration camps, she herself could survive her childhood to write stories for other teenagers. Ironically, the very darkness Nikki Grimes writes about is likely to get her book pulled by some school districts. And that’s a crying shame; it’s not every day an author comes along who was mentored BY JAMES BALDWIN 

53.) The Women. I did not enjoy this book as much as The Great Alone, but since my dad is a Vietnam combat vet, I stuck with it. I wanted to learn more because my dad doesn’t talk a lot about the war, only about how he has had so many cancer operations because of the Agent Orange. After reading this book, I still don’t really understand the vilification of Vietnam veterans, but at least I understand the circumstances better. The author did a good job, as always, of placing readers at the scene. I wish that — no spoilers!!! — the asshole had gotten some kind of karmic justice instead of just walking into the sunset. (3 stars)

54.) The Last Flight. Two women in terrible circumstances switch places at the last moment in JFK International Airport. What follows is the fallout— because both are still wanted women. I saw one twist coming very early in but not another one. The ending is a gut-punch. My only downsides are that the message of “we women are so attacked, we need to take back our power!” was TOO on-the-nose and could have used some subtlety. Also the first “twist” was weak. Other than those nitpicks, I really enjoyed this quick read! (4 stars)

55.) The Stationary Shop. This is an interesting look at the Iran coup of 1953 and Revolution of 1979. I found it very helpful to learn more about these events in the narrative context of a novel. This story tells about the different shades and kinds of love…After two young lovers are separated during the coup, sixty years pass in which they build separate lives. Reunited six decades later, they finally have the opportunity to speak about the coup and its tragic fallout. I didn’t love some of the characters — like the sister and the mother — but Walter made up for them. (3.5 stars)

56.) The New Couple in 5B. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator RUINED things with that ree-DICK-u-lous impression of an Arkansas accent for the sister. Had no one on the publications team ever visited Arkansas?? The story follows a young couple who move into a New York apartment they unexpectedly inherit. The apartment has evil vibes and someone seems to be out to get them. Meanwhile, the young wife is writing a book on the haunting of the whole building. The whole evil eye thing didn't really make sense... why would villains intentionally link victims with super obvious clues? Also the whole Max-friendship thing made no sense. (2.5 stars)

57.) Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. This is a book about judging people based on how far they’ve traveled instead of how far they still have to go. This author shouldn’t be reading his own audiobook… he doesn’t have the chops for that. Also, a lot of it just felt corny, whether that was Grant’s writing or delivery I cannot say. (3 stars)

58.) Never Lie. My standard 3.5 stars for a book that is very engaging and almost immediately forgettable. In the present day, Trish and her new husband are snowed in while househunting at the home of renowned (and dead) pop psychologist Adrienne Hale. It soon becomes apparent that all is not right in this house -- particularly when Trish discovers a cache of audio files on Hale's former patients that the police completely missed. It turns out that Hale recorded every session with every patient she ever had. Could one of these tapes contain the key to her murder? (3.5 stars)

59.) Hera. This was a mind-numbingly boring book until the last 5 pages or so. It took me ages to get through. I really loved Saint's portrayal of Ariadnes, but this Hera book was impossible to like. It was a history of the gods but didn't really seem to contain a narrative thread beyond, "Hera was mad at being made a fool of." (2 stars)

60.) We Begin at the End. If ever there were a realistic look at the effects of trauma, this book would be it. The Outlaw Duchess Day Radley has seen far, far too much in her 13 years. Responsible for both her 5-year-old brother Robin and her self-destructive mother Star, Duchess is wise and hard behind her years. When tragedy strikes, Duchess must make heartbreaking decisions to keep Robin safe. *** This book was excellently written. I wish I’d read the print copy instead of audiobook because there were a few parts I got lost on. Liked it better than All the Colors of the Dark, same author. (4 stars)

61.) To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (YA). Much of this book was imminently stupid. I groaned aloud through 50+ chapters of a seventeen year-old-girl still calling her parents Mommy and Daddy. The youngest sister was written more like a 5-year-old than a 9-year-old and made me want to throw the book at the wall. Nonetheless, two at-risk students are willing and eager to read this book so I decided to plow along with them. To my chagrin, I began enjoying it about halfway through, although the immaturity never did let up. Did I bring it home and finish it over the weekend before the 7th graders could spoil the ending? Yes I did. (3 begrudging stars)

62.) Frozen River. This book started sooooooooooo slow that I determined to quit it. But before doing so, I looked at the Goodreads rating and was reminded that a hundred thousand other people likely couldn’t be wrong. I stuck with it and BAM! It really did satisfy. This is a historical novel that reads like… a mystery? I can’t believe it’s based on a true story. The silver fox, the Bard, the insinuation of what happened 35 years earlier. Just wow. (4 stars)

63.) House of Glass. ​​Stella is the guardian ad litem for Rose, a mute girl who was party to the horrifying death of her nanny. Rose now secretly collects weapons — shards of glass, razor blades. Stella is determined to help her, but how do you help a nine year old who may also be a psychopath?

The parts about Stella herself were less compelling & more head-scratching. And the title made no sense at all. House of Plastic would have been more apt. (3.5 stars)

64.) The Housemaid. I’ve read this before but apparently forgot to record. So I read it again and it’s just as messed up this time around. I mean, this book is MESSED UP. When billionaire Andrew Winchester & his wife Nina hire ex-con Millie to be the new maid, it seems too good to be true…how could they neglect to run a background check?! Millie is thrilled for this start at a new life—until Nina Winchester begins acting so erratically. What has Millie gotten herself into? (3 stars)

65.) The Boyfriend. Some Octobers, I read gothic horror a lá Diane Setterfield. This October, Book of the Month offered me “The Boyfriend,” which is less gothic and more slasher horror. My God. I should have known when I saw the author’s name, yet I still managed to be shocked by the ending. If you’ve ever thought online dating was a nightmare, this is the book for you 🤣 Meet Sydney — her mother is convinced she’s going to die alone and regularly calls with updates like, “You know, in the Bible, Sarah had a baby when she was 90 years old, so there’s still hope for you!” Sydney has gone on one bad date too many when she meets Tom — a handsome doctor who cuts up dead people for a living. Or does he? (4 stars)

66.) All the Colors of the Dark. Very hard to rate. Made me want to walk into traffic to end it all. Also, at times the writing was over-wrought. We get it, you’re smart and literary. But the ending was solid. I feel the book jacket and publisher’s details could have done more to explain the general plot of the book. And I still am unclear about the murderer. (3.5 stars)

67.) The Chestnut Man. I read this because it's October and also because I've never read a book by a Danish author. This was DARK. Basically, a "chestnut man" is a little figure made with chestnuts and matchsticks for limbs. A crop of murders begins in Denmark, seemingly the work of a serial killer. He is known as "the chestnut man" because he mutilates his victims, chopping off hands and feet to create human chestnut-men. All of the murders seem to be pointing to a vendetta against one of the country's ministers. But why? (2 stars)

68.) The Mountain is You. An amazing book about getting out of your own way! Imagine the You of 2030 were handing you the keys to success. What would that look like? (5 stars)

69.) The Crack Up. This F. Scott Fitzgerald book was ok I guess, but I didn’t see what the big deal was. Also, this dude was OBSESSED with Hemingway. He mentioned him 22 times, if I counted correctly. (2 stars)

70.) A Table for Two. It was Amor Towles, it was fine.

71.) The Inmate. It was good. Brooke is the new nurse practitioner at a maximum security prison …where her first high school boyfriend is serving a life sentence for murdering all their friends. He maintains his innocence and all Brooke needs to do is steer clear of him and remember not to let slip that he’s the father of her child. The surprise reveal was a leeetle far-fetched in terms of motivation. Also, if you’re a star witness, you can’t just go changing your story without losing credibility. But…the implications of that ending??? Wow. (4 stars)

72.) Want to Know a Secret? This was well done. If you aren’t used to this author, you’ll be in for a shock about halfway through the book when the narrator switches from pretty housewife April to bitchy control-freak Julie. If you ARE used to McFadden, you’ll expect what you get :-) This book was well-written and paced and left the reader with just enough “wait…what??!” (4 stars)

73.) The Coworker.  It was good but the narrator’s accent when reading Natalie’s parts drove me INSANE. ** Dawn Schiff’s an autistic woman who has disappeared in an apparent murder. Natalie is the beautiful, Louboutin-clad colleague who shared an office space with her. What really happened here, and why? (3 stars)

74.) One by One. I really like this author but I didn’t like this book. Every character was unlikeable. Also, the motive for the murders was absolutely ridiculous. The book jacket said that Claire and Noah go on a weekend getaway to try to save their marriage but that was completely inaccurate. They went on the getaway despite their marriage not because of it. During the getaway, the three couples are stranded and slowly die…one..by…one. (2 stars)

75.) The Nothing Man. I haven’t read a good frame tale since…idk, my university Chaucer course?!? But this one was wild. Eve Black was the victim of a violent crime that left the rest of her family members dead. For the last two decades, she has sleep-walked through life as “the girl who survived the Nothing Man.” Now, at 30, she’s ready to publish her memoir…and catch him. The actions at the ending were not very believable, but the story itself was 🔥(4 stars)

76.) The Perfect Son. I hate books with animal cruelty. HATE THEM. (2 stars)

77.) The Anxious Generation. I truly believe that every teacher, principal, school board member, and central office administrator should read this book. Actually, I think that every parent should read it, too. Jonathan Haidt (author of The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind) addresses the mental health collapse of our children. He builds the argument that the start of this collapse can be pinpointed to 2010-2012 and 3 events that happened therein: the front-facing camera was introduced by Apple, making selfies possible; the "like" button was introduced on Facebook; and Facebook acquired Instagram. This created the perfect storm of moving childhood almost entirely online. Our society moved from a play-based childhood -- wherein, say, a boy's raging hormones forced him to gather the courage to talk to a girl -- to a virtual childhood, where the stakes were much, much lower: both p0rn and sliding into someone's DM's allow for far easier or absent risk-taking, thereby nearly ensuring that boys never build the mental muscle necessary to take risks. For girls, the move to a virtual childhood allowed for a decrease in depth of friendships because the "friend" base grew much wider and became a sign of popularity. Drawing on the philosophies of Blaise Pascal and Emile Durkheim, Haidt shows how society's slide from the duality of sacred and profane into all-profane, all-the-time has had a massive impact on Gen Z -- the first generation to grow up with the entire world in their pockets. I waited months to borrow this book from the library. Do yourself a favor and just invest in a hard copy -- that way you can mark up all the charts and graphs that will inevitably floor you. And who knows? Maybe you'll be inspired to make a few of the changes Haidt suggests to protect the children in your care :-) (5 stars)

78.) The Stone Witch of Florence. I might be partial to this book because it’s set in Florence AND written by a gemologist. I’ve been curious about the properties of stones since entering the yoga world several years ago and this book made me want to investigate even MORE. I thought it was interesting how the message was ultimately like, “God created crystals. What’s the problem, Church?”

79.) First Lie Wins. A scrappy young woman loses her mother to cancer and decides to remake herself…as a thief working for one incredibly dangerous man — the enigmatic “Mr. Smith.” This book felt a bit longer than it needed to be. (3 stars)

80.) God of the Woods. Two different children from the same wealthy family go missing from a summer camp, 14 years apart. (4 stars)

81.) The Book of Witching. This book was hard to get through. The idea was cool (who doesn’t love a good Orkney witch tale, a la Morgan la Fey and King Arthur?!) The execution was lacking. I didn’t find any of the characters particularly compelling, and some of the author’s choices — like the heart condition — just left me scratching my head. (2 stars)

82.) Beautiful Ugly. Another Alice Feeney hit. Rock Paper Scissors gave me untold respect for this author. I’m very rarely shocked but that book shocked me. That’s why I knew I needed Beautiful Ugly when it was featured as a Book of the Month. It did not disappoint!!! This is a book I would easily categorize as gothic horror: No blood and guts; plenty of mystery, suspense, eerie weather patterns that mirror the plot, family secrets, and people losing touch with reality. If you like Shirley Jackson or Diane Setterfield, this is the book for you.*** Abby Goldman goes missing on the night her writer husband finally achieves his long-awaited dream: a book on the New York Times Bestseller list. Grady was on the phone with her when she slammed on the brakes because she saw a woman lying in the middle of the road. He tells her to stay in the car, but she doesn’t listen. Abby is never seen again, and Grady hasn’t been able to write since. That’s the premise. Now read the book. (5 stars)

83.) The Road of Bones. Apparently this genre is called “romantasy” because it combines fantasy (which I do not like, apart from Harry Potter) and romance (which I do not like). I just saw it was about the Nordic lands and thought I’d like it. This book is about a dumb, annoying girl with a dependency on drug-leaves. She convinces a bunch of warrior Vikings to escort her a thousand miles north, to safety. Because why not. It was pretty ree-dick-u-lous but then BAM!!! Shocking plot twist. I do love a shocking plot twist. However, I will not be reading any more of this series, as 538 pages did not convince me of its merits. Too much didn’t make sense. Those walking trees with the red eyes? The giant spiders? The entire visit to Kraki?? I don’t get it. (3 stars)

84.) The Kingdom, the Power, & the Glory. This was the book I didn’t know I needed. One of my favorite reads of 2024 for sure. If you loved “Jesus & John Wayne,” or “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill,” this is a book for you. I found myself audibly saying “yes, amen!” and the like as I listened to the audiobook while cleaning, driving, etc. The author is a Christian, a journalist, the son of a preacher, and the Religion correspondent for Politico, a perennially non-biased news source. If all of this doesn’t convince you of Alberta’s credibility, his research on evangelical Christianity in America should. I felt IN MY SOUL his words on younger generations standing up to their elders and pulling them back from the brink, especially after he got to the part on my parents’ mega-church and his former friend who runs it. Alberta is not angry and this is not a diatribe. He’s sad at what the American Church has become. I especially related with the part when he wrote about European Christian churches and how they are JUST about Christ; it’s so antithetical to American Christianity, so subversive, and so refreshing. 5 stars!

85.) The Plot. A failed writer steals the slam-dunk plot of one of his MFA students after the latter unexpectedly dies. The book is an immediate international bestseller and optioned for movie rights. But then the anonymous threats start rolling in. *** This book was wild. It’s one I don’t think I’ll forget. The execution was a bit uneven…we don’t need to spend three pages or whatever hearing about WHAT AN UNBEATABLE AND FAIL-PROOF PLOT IT WAS. And it should have ended several pages, to leave the reader thinking. But it was still a pretty incredible book. 4 stars.

86.) What Lies in the Woods. One friend survived 17 stab wounds. The other two friends watched it happen. All three lied about what they saw. Unfortunately, I did not find these characters or their plights compelling or believable. And some characters - like Cass’s daughter or mother - seemed completely superfluous to the plot. 2.5 stars

87.) The Arrangement. A couple in crisis decides to take drastic measures in a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage. But then they are complicit in a crime and things begin to unravel. This was an extremely fast read and it didn’t go where I thought it was going to in most cases. However, it was also pretty dumb and unbelievable. 2.5 stars

88.) Free Lunch (MG). “Being poor in this country is like starving at an all-you-can-eat buffet.” This is Rex Ogle’s true story of a childhood lived beneath the poverty line. I heard great things about this book, and the 7th hour students I’m reading it with enjoy it. I didn’t. It was hard to read. Maybe I’d feel differently if I read this book when I was young; I know the author wrote it to help at-risk children feel less alone, and that’s certainly noble. 3 stars.

89.) When We Chased the Light. This book was not good. I found it read more like an MFA writing exercise than a novel ready to be published. It needed a really, REALLY big dose of “show, don’t tell.” Would not have finished reading if it wasn’t a book club pick. It wasn’t quite as bad as The Pearl, so I’d rate it 1.5 stars.

90.) A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy. According to Pew Research, the more educated an American citizen is, the less religious he or she is. That’s not part of this book, that’s just the research I’ve done to understand the intersectionality of religion, politics, and education in this country. When I was younger & the daughter of a combat-veteran-turned-pastor living in South Carolina, I learned that universities were dangerous because they turned people into “raging liberals.” But the more degrees I worked my way through, the more years I taught students who were homeless, students who were immigrants, students who literally lived on boats in the river and fished out of the river for their food (before all the suburban teaching)… the more it occurred to me that I owed it to them to become educated myself. So I started reading about 100 books a year, to learn about the world and the people in it, beyond the confining strokes American evangelicalism. 

Here’s what I discovered: universities don’t create “liberals.” Universities create critical thinkers. But critical thinking is the opposite of what is traditionally taught in evangelicalism. “Trust not in your own understanding” & “the heart is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked” & “wives obey your husbands” do not a critical thinker make.

I suppose I narrowly escaped marrying a Reformed pastor many years ago. But when I encounter books like this, I have an almost visceral response. No matter how many dozens or hundreds of books I read – it still takes my breath away every time I come across an indictment naming a church I grew up in, or an acquaintance of my parents, or a Bible College that formed the basis of my existence. It’s still shocking to read those names as justification for someone else’s rage & trauma. We think of trauma as uniquely personal – it’s not the thing that happened, but rather the body’s response TO that thing (which is why we need yoga). Still. The fact that so, so many have experienced similar treatment - whether physical or psychological – at the hands of Christian patriarchy is at once disturbing & validating.

There are a million more things I want to write about this book, but I won’t. Suffice to say, it needed to be written and the author did a far better job than others who have tried. If you want to understand the toll of American evangelicalism on women; if you want to understand the #exvangelical flood; if you’ve ever wondered whether the Danvers Statement has perhaps done the Church more harm than good (as could perhaps be suggested by the sheer number of women who have left)...read this book. 5 stars.