Happy New Year, readers!
In January of 2013, I began blogging about everything I’d read that previous year. This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.
I couldn’t begin to give him an answer to that question, but it did make me decide to start keeping track from that moment forward. The previous posts in this series are as follows: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.
2024 was a year of not finishing novels as often as usual and I do not include DNF titles or short stories in these roundup posts. Those things can help to explain why this list is shorter than it typically would be.
There has been some hard stuff over the past year and a half in my personal life that have affected my reading habits. Sometimes these things can make it hard to concentrate, read books about certain sad topics, or have as much time for reading in general as one would prefer.
My hope is that 2025 is full of nothing but cheerful, healing surprises for all of us.
(Yes, I know I’ve shared this photo of a rabbit who appears to be reading a book here before. The repetition is intentional because I need more excuses for laughter in my life).
I only read one young adult book in the past year. I think I’m leaving that genre to the age group it was intended for.
The theology section is a new addition and probably not one I’ll repeat in 2025.
Other than that, this is mostly the same mixture of genres I always read.
Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs
“The Lady in the Van” by Alan Bennett
“Always Pack a Candle: A Nurse in the Cariboo-Chilcotin” by Marion McKinnon Crook
“Last to Eat, Last to Learn: My Life in Afghanistan Fighting to Educate Women” by Pashtana Durrani
“Shepherd’s Sight: A Farming Life” by Barbara McLean
“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Anne Reid
(The internet gave me this squirrel photo as one of the top results when I searched for biography-themed photos that can be used by anyone. Perhaps squirrels write adorable little autobiographies now, and who I am to question that possibility? 😉 )
Fiction
“Clan of the Cave Bear” (Earth’s Children #1) by Jean M. Auel
“The Mammoth Hunters” (Earth’s Children #3) by Jean M. Auel
“The Valley of Horses” (Earth’s Children #2) by Jean M. Auel
“The Sacred Mountain” by Andy Black (this is a fan fiction book that was written to finally tie up the most important loose ends Jean M. Auel left in the Earth’s Children series).
“What Does It Feel Like?” By Sophie Kinsella
“The Field” by Robert Seethaler
History
“Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum” by Antonia Hylton
Horror
“Why Didn’t You Just Leave” edited by Julia Rios and Nadia Bulkin
“I Found A Circus Tent In the Woods Behind My House” by Ben Farthing
“I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls” by Ben Farthing
“The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion” by Margaret Killjoy
Poetry
“The Home Child” By Liz Berry
“Let the Light Pour In” by Lemn Sissay
Mystery
“The Small Museum” by Jody Cooksley
Psychology and Sociology
“Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood” by Gretchen Sisson
Science Fiction and Fantasy
“A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens
“Midwinter Magic and Mayhem” edited by Frances Evelyn
“Cryptid Bits” by Jess Simms
“Tucker Vs. The Apocalypse” by Jay Allan Storey
“Christmas Inc.” by Tim Vee
Science, Health, and Medicine
“Insulin: A Hundred-Year History” by Stuart Bradwel
“Raising Hare” by Chloe Dalton
“Cloudspotting for Beginners” by William Grill
“James Herriot’s Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small” by James Herriot
“Dreams” by Melanie Gillespie Rosen
Theology
“The Lambing Season: Stories of Life on an Irish Family Farm” by John Connell
“Bible Truths You Won’t Hear in Church” by Drew Costen
Young Adult
“Gay the Pray Away” by Natalie Naudus
Tomorrow’s Top Ten Tuesday topic asks us to share our favourite reads of 2024, so come back then to see which books I loved the most!
I own ebook copies of all of these titles, but there are so many incredible books out there that I have not yet managed to read anything from this list yet.
Happy New Year, readers!
“After the Annex: Anne Frank, Auschwitz, and Beyond” by Bas
“Destination Prairie” by Cathie Bartlett
“50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food” by Susan Albers
“The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey
“Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins” by Lee Berger and John Hawks 
“Still Stace” by Stacey Chomiak 
Happy New Year, readers!
“The Child Who Never Grew” by Pearl S. Buck
“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
“A Short History of the World According to Sheep” by Sally Coulthard
“You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters” by Vanessa Bohns
“World War Z” by Max Brooks
“The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World” by Riley Black
“Empty Smiles (Small Spaces #4)” by Katherine Arden
anuary of 2013, I began blogging once a year about everything I’d read that previous year. This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.
“American Bastard” by Jan Beatty
“White Unwed Mothers: The Adoption Mandate in Postwar Canada” by Valerie Andrews
“The Children of Green Knowe” by Lucy M. Boston
“Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices: The Invisible Influences That Guide Our Thinking” by Jack Bobo
“The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town” by Brian Alexander
“Dark Waters” by Katherine Arden (Review coming in 2022)
In January of 2013, I began blogging once a year about everything I’d read that previous year. This tradition began when my dad asked me how many books I’ve read in my entire lifetime.
“Mrs. Beaton’s Question: My Nine Years at the Halifax School for the Blind” by Robert Mercer
History
Science Fiction and Fantasy
“The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behaviour, Health, and Happiness” by Emily Anthes
“The Narcissist in Your Life: Recognizing the Patterns and Learning to Break Free” by Julie L. Hall
I was originally planning to write about walking meditation today, but I’ve been dealing with a stubborn headache the past few days that’s kept me from doing the research needed to properly put that post together. It’s such a cool concept that I want to make sure I do it right. So we’ll save the walking meditation discussion for a later date and have a quick chat about winter holiday reads now instead.