Top Books I Read in 2024

Another year of reading complete. Another end of year top book list. This year, I focused more on short stories and have also posted a list of top short stories that I read this year. My total number of books stayed relatively constant - 70 in 2023 vs. 65ish* in 2024, but that includes short story magazines.

2024 was a complicated year for me, personally. A lot of good things happened - trips with family, and some sad things - had to put down my old doggie. I left Twitter and embraced Bluesky. I also started an author newsletter and put together my first story collection. But this space is for the books I read this year, so here are the ones that stayed with me. As usual, in no particular order.

 

The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning

I said it upfront in my review and I'll say it again here: I loved this book. Witches. Supernatural thriller. Locked-room murder. Love it. This book was a fast-paced thriller that was a joy to read from start to finish.

Full Review on Horror Tree

 

 

 

A Quantum Love Story by Mike Chen

This story was so sweet and sad. Mariana has lost her best friend and stepsister and is ready to give up everything to start over. She gets this chance, repeatedly. A mysterious man, Carter, stops her one day and claims to have already met her. Carter is trapped in a time loop and he believes that Mariana can help him break free. But instead of getting out of the loop, he pulls her in. What comes next is a series of loops, a slow burn gentle love story, and an exploration of grief and second chances. I'm not a romance-lover, but these two charmed me. Such a lovely book.
 

 

 

This is How You Lose the Time War

Now for a very different kind of time travel love story. Red and Blue are enemy soldiers on opposing sides of a Time War and at the start of the book, they are prepared to kill each other, but that changes drastically by the end. Told in an epistolary format, this book chronicles their relationship in correspondence. But, since they are enemies, they can't send each other regular letters. The creativity in how they write to each other (inside leaves, on the feathers of a bird) is impressive, as is the beautiful language each writes in. This book is as much an experience as it is a story.

 

 

 Orpheus and Eurydice from Air and Nothingness Press

I began this collection before 2024 and took my time with it. Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my favourite myths and I was astounded at how many different ways there are to retell it. This collection is bursting with stories. It's impossible to pick my favourites. Divided into sections, the authors tackle all aspects of this myth through modern day retellings, fantasy, sci-fi, western, horror, romance - any genre you can think of.

 

 

 

Rolling in the Deep and Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

 

Once again, I am cheating, but these two books are really pieces of the same whole. I listened to the audiobook for these. These mermaids are far from your beautiful prince-charming redhead mermaids. These are monsters. Beautiful, terrifying, vicious monsters that crawl up onto the boat and devour everyone they get their hands on. Even though this story takes place entirely on the water - and far away from where I live - it still gave me the shivers. I recommend starting with Rolling in the Deep, the novella, as the novel will give away the entirety of what happens in the first book. Admittedly, the novel goes on a touch too long, and leaves a few plot threads dangling, but the character development, terror, and the fascinating mermaids more than make up for any short comings.

 

Dead Letters, Edited by Jacob Stven Mohr

I thoroughly enjoy found fiction, and this collection did not disappoint. I wrote a full review, including describing my favourites, over at The Horror Tree. But one thing that made this book stay with me enough to put it on this list is the variety of types of found fiction in the collection. There is a lot of creativity in these pages.
 

 

 

101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered by Sadie Hartmann

I am impressed by the amount of work that must have gone into this one. Not only reading and compiling the 101, but also all the other books she must have considered. This book also brought to my attention how little recent horror I have actually read and started me on a reading challenge that will probably take me a couple of years to finish. This is an excellent guide to recent horror of all types and is best bought in print format.
 

 

 

 

Scroll of Saqqara by Pauline Gedge

This one was actually a re-read for me. Pauline Gedge was one of my favourite authors in high school and is likely responsible for my love of ancient Egypt, that eventually evolved into an obsession with ancient Greece and shaped who I am today. Her writing is amazing and her books never fail to captivate me. It's been a long time since I read her work, and I've been slowly diving back in. This was one of my favourite ones. It's dark and unsettling. Definitely worth a read.
 

*I wrote this post mid-December because I will be travelling when this is scheduled to post. Final count TBD at this time.

Thanks for reading! 

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