My Year in Books
The books I’ve read and loved in 2024
Hello, and happy New Year! Welcome to my first blog post of 2025. I thought I’d start this year the way I ended the last one - with a bookish post. I’m looking back at the books I read and loved over the last twelve months. There’s been quite a mixed bag. Naturally, I continued reading Agatha Christie books as part of the Read Christie 2024 Challenge, and I’ll definitely be taking part in the 2025 challenge because I love Agatha’s work, and it’s a great way to read some of her books that I probably wouldn’t have looked at if not for being part of this challenge.
Similarly, I had a great time reading witchy books for the Witchy Wednesday Book Chat podcast with Helen Phifer. We didn’t get to read all the books we’d planned to, as there simply wasn’t time, but we’ll be back in February, and hopefully we’ll spend January catching up on some lovely magical books to share with you.
The rest of the books were mainly romantic fiction and cosy mystery. I’m hoping to read a few classics this year, as I feel I’ve let them go in recent years and I do love some of them so much. I also want to continue with the Jilly Cooper Rutshire books, and Polo is next on my list. I’ve got some literary fiction to dive into, and I’d like to include a few biographies and autobiographies - there’s a long, long to be read pile waiting for me, and that’s without all my friends’ gorgeous books! If you read my last post you’ll know all about the Book Bingo challenge I’ve set myself.
So without further ado, here are the books I read and (mostly!) loved during 2024:
My choices for the Read Christie 2024 Challenge
January to June: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Secret Adversary, The Mystery of the Blue Train, Murder at the Vicarage, The ABC Murders, The Sittaford Mystery. All by Agatha Christie.
My choices for the Read Christie 2024 Challenge
July to December: Taken at the Flood, N or M?, A Murder is Announced,By the Pricking of my Thumbs, The Clocks, and Elephants Can Remember. All by Agatha Christie.
I really enjoyed these books, though I will admit that I only (privately) rated The Clocks and Elephants Can Remember three stars. I think these were among Agatha’s last books. In fact, I believe Elephants Can Remember was her final book and I didn’t find them very impressive. Next year - oops! This year - I’m hoping to read Postern of Fate, the final Tommy and Tuppence book and I know that was one of her final books, too, so I’m hoping it’s a bit better than those two. We’ll see.
Other books read in 2024:
Welcome to the Cornish Country Hospital by Jo Bartlett, A Breath of Fresh Air by Jessica Redland, The Year That Changed Us by Helen Rolfe, At the Stroke of Midnight by Jenni Keer, Summer of Secrets by Adrienne Vaughan, Murder Included by Joanna Cannan.
The Island Cottage by Jane Lovering, Summer Days at Clifftop Cottage by Eliza J Scott, Coming Home to Crumbleton by Beth Rain, Murder at Raven’s Edge by Louise Marley, The Day Shelley Woodhouse Woke Up by Laura Pearson, Secrets of the Shell Sisters by Adrienne Vaughan.
A New Dawn at Owl’s Lodge by Jessica Redland, The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, The Tanglewood Wedding Shop by Lilac Mills, The Hollywood Governess by Alexandra Weston, I'd Rather Be Writing by Emma Bennet, The Happiest Ever After by Milly Johnson.
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde, The Secret Island by Enid Blyton, The Start of the Story by Jane Lovering, The Best is Yet to Come by Jessica Redland, Rivals by Jilly Cooper, Ghosts Brought to Life by the Cast of BBC Ghosts, The Snows of Weston Moor by Benedict Brown.
‘Tis the (Damn) Season by Fiona Gibson, A Very Crumbleton Christmas by Beth Rain, Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther, The Christmas Bell Mystery by Benedict Brown, The Christmas Candle Murders by Benedict Brown.
The Signalman by Charles Dickens, A Scottish Christmas by Emma Bennet, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Ghostwriter of Christmas Past by Amber Eve, Winter Star in the Scottish Highlands by Lizzie Lamb, The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves.
I only read The Dark Wives in the last few days, and I have to say if I’d read it earlier in the year it would have made it onto my top 5 list, because it really was a cracking read. Unfortunately, I’d already published my top 5 list so I’m making it an honorary top 6 in my head! I read nine Christmas books but fully intended to read more. I just couldn’t fit them in. However, I have a lot of them on my Kindle so I’ll continue reading them until I’ve had enough!
Books read for The Witchy Wednesday Book Chat Podcast in 2024: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith, The Visitor by Sara Sartagne, Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood, Triple Moon: Honey Gold and Wild by TJ Green, A Blend of Magic by Kate Kenzie, The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (to be discussed in the first episode of 2025).
I read fifty-five books in 2024 - so an average of just over one book per week, which I’m very pleased with. Most importantly, I’ve had a lot of fun visiting these (mostly) fictional worlds, reading books I might not have previously considered, and finding work by new (or new to me) authors to enjoy, as well as spending time with writers, characters and settings I already know and love.
I hope you had a good reading year. It really doesn’t matter how many books you read. It’s about the enjoyment. Here’s to a very enjoyable, and super bookish, 2025.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
