Top Ten Books of 2024

I read 123 books in 2024! It is always hard to determine what my best ten books are for any year. This year is a little different in that I knew off the top of my head what the top ten five books were going to be. Please note that I am choosing books from among different genres for this list. The list includes mysteries, historical fiction and graphic novels. Among the genres, I read 59 mysteries, 22 historical fiction/historical mysteries, 26 graphic novels, and 10 nonfiction books. There were 6 additional books where I did not classify a genre. 5 of them were Amish fiction novels. In addition, 54 of the books that I read were new releases and 29 were written by new (to me) authors.

Now, for my top books of 2024:

10) The Champaign Letters by Kate McIntosh (historical fiction)

9)  The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel (historical fiction)

8)  Agony in Amethyst by A. M. Stuart (historical mystery)

7) Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)

6)  Tender by Beth Hetland (graphic novel)

5)  The Merchant's Tale by PK Adams (historical fiction)

4)  Twice on Christmas by McGarvey Black (mystery)

3). Such a Lovely Couple by Hayley Smith (psychological thriller)

2)  Under Water by Rachel Callaghan (historical mystery)

And my Number 1 book of the year is:

1)  Animal Pound by Tom King (graphic novel)

I have had a goal during the past two years to reduce the number of books that I read in a year. I think most years I have been reading over 200 books. With my recent retirement I am spending more time on my art and I have joined a senior group that offers lots of classes. I am trying to re-learn French, which I haven't studied in 50 years. I also am taking classes in art history and drawing. Also, I have begun taking more vacations and spent the month of October in Japan. In addition, I took up card making as well as collage. I have had many people ask if I was selling the cards and collages, which wasn't my intent. However, it's easy for me to create them so this will probably be a side hustle for me.  I am enjoying making art and reading in a more balanced manner than before.

Top Ten Books I Want in 2025

There are a number of books that I would love to read in 2025. Here are a few of them in no apparent order.

Top Ten Historical Fiction Books of 2024

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. Between them and mysteries I read at least 100 books every year. This year I read 22 historical fiction novels. Note that my top ten books were not necessarily published in 2024 but come from any of the books that I read this year. Below is my list. Drum roll please.

1)  Under Water by Rachel Callaghan 

2)  Agony in Amethyst by AM Stuart 

3)  The Merchant's Tale by PK Adams 

4)  The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel 

5)  The Champaign Letters by Kate McIntosh 

6)  The Map Colorist by Rebecca D'Harlingue 

7)  The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan 

8)  White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton 

9)  The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana Chambers 

10) The Raven's Widow by Adrienne Dillard

Top Ten Mysteries of 2024

I have been reading mysteries ever since I learned to read. They are my favorite genre and this year I read 55 of them. Note that my top ten books were not necessarily published in 2024 but come from the books that I read this year. Here is my list:

1)  Such a Loving Couple by Hayley Smith 

2)  Agony in Amethyst by AM Stuart 

3)  Under Water by Rachel Callaghan 

4)  Twice on Christmas by McGarvey Black 

5)  The Body in the Boot by Patrick Walsh 

6)  The Blue Monsoon by Dimyanti Biswas 

7)  Girl in the Dark by JM Cannon 

8)  Peach Tea Smash by Laura Childs 

9) Death at a Scottish Christmas by Lucy Connelly 

10)  The Waitress by Emily Shiner

Top Ten New Authors in 2024

I read books from 29 new, to me, authors in 2024. Here is a list of my top ten favorites along with the title of their book that I read.

1)  Mindy Quigley, An American in Scotland 

2)  Rachel Callaghan, Under Water 

3)  Natasha Siegel, The Phoenix Bride 

4)  Kate McIntosh,  The Wartime Book Club 

5)  Angie Kim,  Happiness Falls 

6)  Kate Thompson, The Wartime Book Club 

7)  Tony Wirt,  Pike Island 

8)  Diana Chambers, The Secret War of Julia Child 

9)  Beth Hetland, Tender

10) Leslie Gould, By Evening's Light 

Top Ten Book Covers of 2024

I enjoy highlighting book covers each month and try to give some background information on the designer. It’s not always possible to obtain information on book cover designers but I make a good effort to get the information. Below are my favorite book covers for 2024 in order of importance, ie, the first cover you see is my top book cover of the year. Here we go!

Top Ten Graphic Novels of 2024

I read many good comics this year but these are my top ten of the year.

1.  Animal Pound by Tom King 

2.  Tender by Beth Hetland

3.  Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen 

4.  Seoul Before Sunrise by Samir Dahmani 

5.  We Are Not Strangers by Josh Tuining 

6.  A History of Modern Manga by Insight Editions 

7.  The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha 

8.  Art Club by Rashad Doucet

9.  Where the Body Was by Ed Brubaker 

10.  Enlighten Me by Minh Le 

Top Ten Books of 2023

I read 137 books in 2023!  It is always hard to determine what my best ten books are for any year.  This year is a little different in that I knew off the top of my head what the top ten seven books were going to be and in what order.  Please note, I am choosing books from among different genres for this list.  The list includes mysteries, historical fiction and graphic novels. Among the genres, I read 51 mysteries, 46 historical fiction/historical mysteries, 27 graphic novels, and 7 nonfiction books. There were 6 additional books where I did not classify a genre.  They were Amish fiction novels. In addition, 64 of the books that I read were new releases and 33 were written by new (to me) authors.  Below are my top ten:

10.  White Faced Lies by Eric Flanagan (graphic novel)

9.  Sunburn by Andi Watson (graphic novel)

8.  Night at the Belfry by Xavier Saxon (graphic novel)

7.  The Shallows by Holly Craig (mystery)

6.  Red Queen by Juan Gomez Jurado (mystery)

5.  The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loetsch (historical fiction)

4.  Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (historical fiction)

3.  Blood Oranges by J. M. Cannon (mystery)

2.  Weyward by Emilia Hart (historical mystery)

and my best book of the year is: 

1.  The Armor of Light by Ken Follett (historical fiction)

Top Ten Historical Fiction Novels of 2023

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. Between them and mysteries I read at least 100 books every year. Note that my top ten books were not necessarily published in 2023 but come from any of the books that I read this year.  The top five books, though, were published in 2023. Below is my list.  Drum roll please.

10)   Keeper of the Queen's Jewels by Adrienne Dillard

9)    The Godmother's Secret by Elizabeth St. John

8)    Cor Rotto by Adrienne Dillard

7)    Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra

6)    The Importance of Pawns by Keira Morgan

5)    The Porcelain Moon by Janie Chang

4)    Terror in Topaz by A. M. Stuart

3)    Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

2)    Weyward by Emilia Hart

1)    The Armor of Light by Ken Follett

Top Ten Mystery Books of 2023

I have been reading mysteries ever since I learned to read.  They are my favorite genre and this year I read 61 of them. Note that my top ten books were not necessarily published in 2023 but come from any of the books that I read this year.  Eight of the books, though, were published in 2023. Here is my list:

10)    Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off by Darci Hannah

9)    Someone Else's Life by Lyn Liao Butler

8)    Hide by Tracy Clark

7)    The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biswas

6)    Date Night by Samantha Hayes

5)    Final Call by Alex Lake

4)    Honey Drop Dead by Laura Childs

3)    Red Queen by Juan Gomez Jurado

2)    The Shallows by Holly Craig

1)    Blood Oranges by J. M. Cannon

Top Ten New Authors of 2023

This past year I read books from 35 new (to me) authors. From these 35 authors, 17 wrote and published their debut novels in 2023. My best new author list contains 5 of these debut authors. Check out my list below:

10    Lyn Liao Butler - Someone Else's Life

9)    Damyanti Biswas - The Blue Bar

8)    Tracy Clark - Hide

7)    Thao Thai - Banyan Moon

6)    Erin Jameson - Sky of Ashes Land of Dreams

5)    Kristin Loetsch - The Last Russian Doll

4)    Heather Atkinson - Evil at Alardyce House

3)    Holly Craig - The Shallows

2)    Emilia Hart - Weyward

1)    J. M. Cannon - Blood Oranges

Top Ten Book Covers of 2023

Below are my favorite book covers of the year. I have posted them in order beginning with the best, ie, Weyward is my favorite book cover of the year.

Top Ten Books I Want in 2024

Each of these books is part of a series. Some are from a new (to me) series while others are series that I have been reading for years.