Top 5 Reads of 2024

I read a lot in 2024, probably more than I’ve read in the past few years combined. According to goodreads, I read 75 books—more than 30,000 pages. 

It was hard to choose my top 5 reads of 2024, and to be fair, there are six books on this list, though two of them are a duology, so I lumped them together as one.

Let me know in the comments if you have read or are planning to read any of these!

Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

Do you remember seeing Inception in the theater for the first time and thinking, “Wow, this is such a unique movie. What a treat!” That’s how I felt reading this duology by Laini Taylor. Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares are a fantasy duo that tell the story of an apprentice librarian, Lazlo Strange, who is an expert on the lost city of Weep. He finds himself traveling to this lost city with a group of Weep’s famed warriors in order to help them with a unique problem. 

I don’t want to give away too many details about this book because it’s such a fun adventure. There’s sci-fi/fantasy, romance, and adventure. I was never sure of where Taylor was going to take the story. It was a wild ride!

The Women by Kristin Hannah

I waited in line for 6 months to borrow The Women from the library. One of the most popular books of the year, The Women follows the story of a young nurse, Frankie, who enlists in the military during Vietnam. She is shipped off to a M.A.S.H.-style field hospital where she makes lifelong friends, falls in love, and experiences horrors that haunt her for the rest of her life.

I’ve read enough of Kristin Hannah’s work to know how the story was going to end. She likes to put her characters through the wringer, but she almost always gives them a happy ending. There were points in The Women when I wasn’t sure that would be true for Frankie, but Hannah did what she does best—punches you in the guts for 400 pages before wrapping you in a hug that makes you forget the trauma she just put you through. 

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Perhaps one of the most unique books I read this year, The Ministry of Time made my list simply because I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it back in October. The unnamed main character works for the British government and is tasked with helping an asylum-seeker adjust to life in London. There’s one catch—he was plucked out of history via time machine. 

While I wish this book had a bit more of a conclusive ending and was a bit more scientific (I was wondering about the mechanics of it all), I really enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of the Marvel TV series Loki, though there were no superheroes or gods to be found. 

Cold Summer by Gwen Cole

I must really like time travel stories because Cold Summer is another time travel story, this time about a young man who spontaneously travels back in time to World War II. He is caught between two lives: a 21st-century high school dropout and a WWII-era soldier. His constant time travel takes a toll on his mental health and his relationship with his dad, who believes him to be a delinquent. But when his childhood friend comes back to town, he learns that there may be purpose in his suffering. 

While billed as a YA novel, Cold Summer tackles some very human themes I think everyone could benefit from. I’ve always enjoyed Cole’s writing. I’m not sure what led me to Google her after a decade, but one day, I wondered what that author I used to read on Wattpad was up to these days. Turns out she has published a handful of books. (Hi, Gwen, if you’re reading this, do you want to be friends?)

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson 

This is the book I picked up for a buck at Dollar Tree because it had a pretty cover. While I typically like books that are hopeful, I enjoyed this tragedy. It’s a YA novel about a teenage boy who comes home from school one day to find his mother dead. He is responsible for caring for his younger brother, and, fearful that they will be separated by the foster system, gets wrapped up in a decade-old crime in an attempt to find some money to help them start over in a new place. 

There is a lot of angst in this book, and it’s dark, but it brought me back to that time in my life when I was 17 and felt like the world was out to get me. Looking back on those times, I’m grateful that I’m no longer in that headspace, but it left me awash with emotion that I haven’t felt in a long time. 

What were your top 5 reads of 2024?