2024 is coming to a close and I feel like I had a good reading year. I got caught up reading my physical books, started listening to audiobooks, and have been organizing my Goodreads shelves. I enjoyed getting back to writing TBR posts and have learned a lot about my reading habits and what works for me. I wanted to share what I took away from this year.

Picking Two Books to Read Versus Three

I wrote and published eight TBR posts (January, February, March, April, May, July, September, and November). Out of those eight months, there was only one month where I read all three books I picked out. I’m realizing that reading three physical books a month is ambitious. Reading isn’t my only hobby and along with working full-time, working out, and spending time with friends and family, I can’t commit to three books. Going forward, I will be picking two books a month to read. If I finish those two books before the end of the month, I will have a backup book ready. This could be a book to rent from the library or a book on my shelf that I have wanted to re-read.

I think this is going to work a lot better. I don’t want to feel rushed to read a book. When I tried to read three books in a month, it made reading not fun and more of a chore.

Regularly Listen to Audiobooks

I did not expect to love audiobooks as much as I do, but here we are. I listen to audiobooks when I clean or when I’m at work. Audiobooks work great when I’m on a long car ride because Libby doesn’t drain my phone battery as much as if I were watching YouTube videos. I tend to listen to Romance on audio because if my mind wanders, I don’t miss much versus if I were listening to Fantasy. I have been enjoying Memoirs and Non-Fiction as well.

I am going to aim to listen to one audiobook a month. I think that’s doable.

Emphasis on Graphic Novels

While I had a great reading year, I did not read nearly as many comics or graphic novels as in years past. I don’t have a good reason as to why. I will say, I haven’t been to my local comic book store regularly. With me and my husband focusing on our budget, I have cut out spending in certain areas including comics. One thing I want to do next year is reorganize my comics shelf. I want to start donating series I have no interest in completing. Additionally, I want to finish more comic series. I tend to read the first volume of a series and never return to it again. I would rather have fewer comics on my shelves but own the complete set versus a bunch of first volumes of so many series.

I want to get back into making regular comic book trips. I miss reading comics. It’s something I enjoyed and have gotten away from.

Keeping My Goodreads Shelf At 300 Books or Less

At one point, my Goodreads TBR shelf was at 600 books. That’s wild! There is no way I’m going to read 600 books. I have been going through this shelf and getting rid of books I may not have a high priority to read. My reading interests have changed over the past five or ten years, so I wanted to cater my shelf to books I am interested in. I think it’s good to have options, so keeping this number below 300 is a good idea.

2024 was a good reading year and I can’t wait to plan out the books I will read in 2025.

The music video for Blurred Lines came out in 2013 when I was a freshman in college. This was a moment in my life where me and my friends would blast music as we went out. This song climbed the charts at the time, but thinking about the song ten years later, I don’t consider it a memorable song. This song has been dissected in our culture today because of how gross the lyrics are and what they represent. The Blurred Lines music video made waves as one of the models, Emily Ratajkowski, was topless and dancing to music. This sparked discussion in later years as Emily talked about feminism and how she didn’t regret making the music video. Emily wrote the book My Body where she discusses her relationship with her body throughout her life.

There’s so much I want to say about this book. There’s a story Emily details in which she took naked photographs with a photographer before the Blurred Lines music video was released. At the time, she agreed to the shoot knowing the photos would only be used for a magazine spread. Years later, the photographer sold several art books of Emily’s naked body. When Emily went to sue the photographer, her lawyers told her it was fruitless since the photos were already out there and it would cost a lot in legal fees. This whole situation is icky. If you agree to do something under certain circumstances and someone violates that, I think that’s awful. I want to be clear, if the situation were reversed (a man agreed to naked photos and a woman sold art books of a man’s body without his consent) I would think this is equally bad. Another thing Emily talks about is how an agent can sign off on release papers for photos without getting a signature from a model. How is that legal? While Emily’s book doesn’t focus on this, the modeling industry is corrupt and we should protect models of all genders from this situation. I listened to the audiobook of My Body versus reading the physical book. I loved the audiobook. When Emily describes the above story, I can hear her voice crack. My heart breaks for her.

Another focus of the book is victim blaming. Emily lists some of the comments she received from both men and women. They blamed her for this. “Don’t pose naked if you don’t want to be taken advantage of”. “Don’t be a model.” “You knew what you were signing up for.” I think that commentary is sad. Shouldn’t we be united on this? All work industries should have protections in place for employees, why is modeling different?

Emily’s honesty throughout the book puts her in a vulnerable place. She talks about using her body for male validation and the attention she got in doing so. She talks about what this did for her career both positive and negative. There’s a quote from the book that sits with me. “I so desperately craved men’s validation that I accepted it even when it came wrapped in disrespect”. Let that sink in. Several quotes from Emily’s book are going to stay with me.

I could go on and on about this book, but I will say one last thing. I think it’s fascinating how our culture treats nudity. The fact that women are demonized for being naked, who cares? Why are some women respected and some women aren’t? I think this topic is interesting for both men and women. Are men treated the same way if they were naked? In some ways, I’d say yes in others, I’d say no. The first thing I thought of when I thought about male nudity was the Sex in the City movie that came out in 2008. In the movie, Gilles Marini plays Samantha’s neighbor and has a full frontal scene. I looked up Gilles’s career and after the movie came out, he had been in several TV shows, but nothing I recognized. Did nudity impact his career? If so, why is that the case? I think our culture, specifically in the US, treats nudity with disdain and I don’t get it.

I’m glad I listened to this. I liked Emily’s writing more than I thought I would. This would be a book I’d want to re-read in the future because there are so many things to take away from Emily’s experience with modeling and how her body was used against her. I think it says a lot about the culture we live in and while women are equal to men in some aspects, societal norms and rules still put women on a different level. My Body is a book I’d re-read in the next few years because it still is relevant in the world we live in.

I bought Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez earlier this year at a local bookstore. I had planned on reading this book in February but ran out of time. Part of Your World was making the rounds on social media and everyone was saying how much they loved this book. As a bonus, Abby Jimenez lives in Minnesota and runs a local business, Nadia Cakes, which has several locations across the metro. Part of Your World lived up to the hype; all romance books should aspire to be this good.

Alexis Montgomery has a chance encounter with Daniel Grant after her car slides into a ditch. Daniel digs her out and it’s clear they have amazing chemistry together. Alexis quickly learns that Daniel is ten years younger than her, which makes her anxious. On top of that, Alexis is facing enormous pressure from her family to keep the Montgomery medical legacy alive. Alexis can’t deny her growing feelings for Daniel, leading her to uncover some uncomfortable truths about herself.

Part of Your World is the 2005 Kate Hudson rom-com in book form. This book made me blush because it’s so STINKING CUTE. Alexis and Daniel are adorable together. From the get-go, Daniel falls head over heels for her and is genuinely a good person. Alexis doesn’t know what to do with Daniel and his feelings for her. She accepted the love she thought she deserved which is nothing compared to how Daniel treats her. One thing that’s worth mentioning is Part of Your World is not a smutty romance. Most intimate scenes aren’t described, so if smut has been a turn-off, this could be a good book to recommend.

Looking beyond the romance, Part of Your World tackles complex, emotional topics. Starting with Alexis, Alexis reflects on the type of relationship she has with her family. Her father has treated her poorly and doesn’t seem to be proud of her accomplishments. He wants Alexis to be someone he can brag to in front of his rich friends even if she isn’t happy with her life. There’s a moment where Alexis finally stands up to her father and it’s so satisfying to read. Daniel has his own things he grapples with specifically regarding how his mother leeches off of him. She wants to sell their family home not realizing how much the home means to Daniel. Another insecurity Daniel grapples with is how he will never be the wealthy man Alexis might be more accustomed to. It shows that finding a partner that treats you well will always be better than being with a partner for financial support.

Every romance book has the pinnacle fight or argument that ends the relationship. In this one, I felt Alexis and Daniel were mature about what they needed. Alexis talks about their age gap and why this mattered to her. Daniel was concerned about Alexis hiding their relationship from her family and friends. They both had to figure out what they wanted and what they were willing to compromise on. I thought this was handled well and while it was devastating that they broke up, it was the right thing for them to do until they figured themselves out.

How dare I wait the entire year to read this book? It’s a travesty. I understand the hype for this book now. This is a romance book I won’t forget about and a book I will constantly be pressuring people to read. I have already added the rest of Abby Jimenez’s books to my TBR and hope to read them next year. I rated Part of Your World five stars on Goodreads.

How is it already November? These next two months are going to go by in a blur with the holidays around the corner. I had been meaning to write an October TBR post, but I ended up switching around what I would read. For my TBR this month, I am going to read the remaining books on my shelf. I have two books I haven’t read yet and a manga. Once I finish these books, I will have read all of the physical books I own. I have been trying to buy less books and focus on reading everything on my shelves. It will be so satisfying to achieve this. Before getting into the books I will read this month, I wanted to do a recap of Spooky season.

In September and October, I read seven books, three were audiobooks. The books I read were:

• The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams. 2/5 stars
• Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark. 5/5 stars
• We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. 2/5 stars
• With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson. 4/5 stars
• The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. 4/5 stars
• Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. 4/5 stars
• Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp. 3/5 stars

That’s a solid reading list! Incorporating audio books into my reading has helped immensely in reading more. I didn’t think I would enjoy audiobooks as much as I have, but here we are. Now onto the books I plan on reading this month

The first book I’m going to read is Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. I’m a third of the way through the book and I LOVE IT so far. It reminds me of a Kate Hudson 2004 Romantic Comedy movie that takes place in Minnesota. The second book I am going to read is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. If you’re sick of seeing this book pop up, I am too. I said I would read this book in three of my TBR posts? I am going to commit this time. The final book is Demon Slayer #1 by Kimetsu No Yaiba and Koyoharu Gotouge.

In addition to the physical books on my TBR, I’m currently listening to My Body by Emily Ratajkowski. My Body is a memoir where Emily talks about her beauty, her body and how those have both been exploited in this industry. I have had two audiobooks on hold for a long time. They are Icebreaker by Hannah Grace and What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw. I’m not sure when I will get access to both of those books since I have been in a queue for a least a month for both.

It will be a great feeling once I finish reading these books. I can think about what books I want to purchase for my collection and potentially going back and re-reading books on my shelves.

CW: Accidental Cannibalism. I am not making this up. Here’s a list of all content warnings for Butcher & Blackbird.

Dark romance is a genre I avoid, it usually feels a bit too much for me. With that said, I’m not here to dump hate on a subgenre as everyone has different book tastes. When I read the content warnings for Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver and saw Accidental Cannibalism as a topic covered in this book, I had to read it. Accidental Cannibalism, how does that even happen. This book was going to be a book I loved or hated. Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver was unhinged; I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Sloane and Rowan are serial killers who kill other serial killers. In a chance encounter, they become fast friends and decide to have a competition. They figure out where a serial killer lives and then compete as to who can find them and kill them first. After spending time together, they hook up and develop feelings for each other. Can two serial killers love one another? or are they destined to meet a grisly end in their violent game?

This book was SO FILTHY. This was the dirtiest, smuttiest book I have ever read. Sloane and Rowan’s chemistry was on fire. I don’t normally blush when I read smut, but my face was pink when I read certain sections of this. I think it’s easy to reduce this book to its sexier portions, but moving away from that, I liked Sloane and Rowan’s romance. Sloane drew this picture of a raven that Rowan tattoos on his body, that’s true love. They had this banter back and forth that felt natural. I love these two together.

As one would have it, this book is over the top. I hate to be practical, but I find it odd that Sloane and Rowan haven’t gotten caught yet. They leave their crime scenes without cleaning anything, how have they not been captured? I get it, this is a romance book, let’s suspend some disbelief. The biggest gripe I have with this is how unrealistic this concept is.

Butcher & Blackbird is a book I’m surprised is a new favorite of mine and I’m glad I gave this book a chance. Although, I hate how this book ruined Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. I rated Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver four stars on Goodreads.

CW: Violence, Torture, Flashbacks to SA, Emotional Abuse. (I will not go into detail about any of this in my review.

It took me two and a half months, but I finally finished reading The Serpent & The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent. I purchased this book at Tropes & Trifles after seeing the book described as “Hunger Games with Vampires.” I couldn’t agree more. I’d also add that anyone who enjoys Sarah J. Maas would probably enjoy this series. The Serpent & The Wings of Night has me hooked and I’m curious to see how the rest of the series will play out.

Oraya is a human woman rescued by Vincent, the King of The House Of Night. Vincent has been training Oraya to be more than her human self, so she can defend herself when necessary. Part of that training was to aid Oraya as she entered the Kejari, a bloodthirsty competition where the winner would receive a gift from Nyaxia, the goddess of vampires. Oraya is introduced to Raihn, a Rishan vampire and Vincent’s sworn enemy. Oraya and Raihn team up as they need to survive all the trials, each having their own agenda for winning. As they train together, their bond strengthens and Oraya is tested between her allegiance to her father and the love she’s developing for Raihn.

I am obsessed with all the lore in this book. I loved Obitraes, the three vampire houses, how they came to be, and how Nyaxia fits into this. As a Dungeons & Dragons player, Nyaxia was giving Raven Queen vibes. The similarities between the two are uncanny. The book has this darker tone and shows the horror the vampires inflict on humans and each other. I’m glad there was a map to reference with a glossary list of terms, so I could quickly page back and forth if I was ever confused about any of the terminology. If Carissa Broadbent were to write more books within Obitraes, I would buy them all.

As far as the characters, I loved Oraya. She was angry, scorned, and strong. She can hold her own against the vampires she seeks to destroy. The only thing I would have wished for is for Oraya to have something else about her besides only wanting to kill vampires. Her personality was a little lackluster because she only has room for vengeance and I’d like to see more from her as a character. Raihn is the stereotypical Romantasy male character and I’m here for it. I liked the banter Oraya and Raihn had. Also, I liked how much consent was present throughout this book. With vampires, there’s always a blurry line with vampires feeding from humans and I felt this book was respectful in developing Oraya and Raihn’s relationship.

I’m highlighting everything I loved about this book, so this should easily be a five-star book, right? I mentioned this already, but this book took me two and a half months to finish which is way too long. Every time I read this book, I’d read fifty pages and then not read for several weeks. It’s funny because every time I read a chapter, I enjoy it. This book has so much lore dump which slowed down the book for me. While the Kejari was interesting, seven trials were a lot. This book could have benefitted from cutting some things and the story would have been the same.

I’m hooked. There are so many cliffhangers and I’m curious how much will be revealed in the next books in the series. I rated The Serpent & The Wings of Night four stars on Goodreads.

I have quickly been incorporating audiobooks into my routine. I listen to audiobooks the most while I’m at work and if the audiobook is interesting enough, I will listen to it while driving. I had With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson on hold since August? I heard mixed opinions about her books, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this one. I was pleasantly surprised! With Love, From Cold World was so cute, and I plan on reading more of Alicia Thompson’s books in the future.

Before I get into the review, I just have to say, that it’s so odd when female audiobook narrators try to mimic male voices. The audiobook narrator especially during the intimate scenes was trying to lower her voice and it did not work. It was so CRINGE. Can we please have more male audiobook narrators out there? Please and thanks.

Lauren Fox works at Cold World, a winter-themed theme park in Florida. Lauren enjoys what she does, but she contemplated going back to school. Lauren has been bickering with her co-worker, Asa Williamson, as he constantly bothers her. Lauren and Asa are paired up to create a proposal to help generate more revenue for Cold World. Lauren and Asa’s partnership develops into something more as they spend more time together.

I liked both Lauren and Asa as characters. They both had interesting stories and perspectives that I think contributed to how they interacted with each other. In romance, I think it’s easy to have two characters, they hook up, break up, and then stay together in the end and that’s the whole book. In With Love, From Cold World, listening to Lauren and Asa as they talked about their pasts, I felt for them! They both had been through so much and I think they bonded over their hardships. At first, I wasn’t fully convinced they would be good together as I initially thought they were better off as friends. By the end of the book, these two were adorable together.

Besides the romance, I thought there were so many memorable moments. One scene that comes to mind is Lauren berating Asa’s parents for abandoning him. I listened to this while driving home from a friend’s house and was like “YES LAUREN”. We love seeing the female lead calling out Asa’s problematic parents. Besides this scene, I liked how the theme park served as the setting for the story. If this existed in Florida, I’d go to it, why not?

With Love, From Cold World was so cute. Besides the cringe audiobook narrator, this was a book I looked forward to listening to. To avoid any more cringy audiobook narrations, I’m going to read Alicia Thompson’s physical books in the future. I rated With Love, From Cold World four stars on Goodreads.

CW: Suicide, Claustrophobia (will not be discussed in greater detail in this review).

I finished reading We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix last week. I’m not sure what I just read. I don’t read horror often and I don’t mind weird books, but I still want to understand what’s happening. If I had to summarize We Sold Our Souls to someone, my summary would be all over the place which is how it felt reading this book. We Sold Our Souls was interesting, however, it’s my least favorite Grady Hendrix book I have read thus far.

Kris Pulaski is broke, working at Best Western, and unsatisfied with her life. In the 90s, she was a part of a moderately successful metal band called Dürt Würk. That is until Terry Hunt, the leader singer, threw the rest of the band members under the bus for a solo career. After a horrific event, Kris is led to believe that Terry could have sold their souls away for a successful career. After escaping a rehab center, Kris is out for revenge.

For a book that’s supposed to center on a deal with the devil, that’s not a central plot point to the story. Instead, there are references to “Black Iron Mountain” and this organization finding vulnerable people to make deals with. There’s a sleazy-looking lawyer who has connections to the devil, but I don’t know if he’s a demon in disguise or if he’s human. There are also these white creatures that feed on souls. If this all sounds odd, it’s because it is. Nothing felt fleshed out or explained and I’m left feeling lost.

We Sold Our Souls reminds me of Kill Bill if Kill Bill took place at a metal version of Woodstock. Kris is trying to explain how dangerous Terry is and no one from her former band believes her, so they lock her up in a rehab center. Kris breaks out and begins her revenge. I liked following Kris as she got closer to confronting Terry. I think it’s easy for the reader to root for her to succeed.

Without spoiling the book, the ending is left to be interpreted and I hate that. The pinnacle confrontation occurs on stage at this music festival and something big happens. Some of the fates of the characters are unknown and it feels unsatisfying. On top of that, there are also unanswered questions about the devil and how these deals are made. It was frustrating. I think We Sold Our Souls could have been a longer book if it could have expanded on some of these story points.

I struggled with how to rate We Sold Our Souls. It sounds like I hated the book. I wouldn’t say I hated the book, I think this could have been a much better book if things were expanded on. I rated We Sold Our Souls two stars on Goodreads.

I finished my first audiobook on Libby! The last time I listened to an audiobook was when I was a kid. This was back when audiobooks were on CDs. Audiobooks have obviously changed a lot and have become more accessible than ever. I rented several audiobooks from my library and quickly realized what I could and couldn’t listen to. If I listen to an audiobook, it has to be a book with a simple premise. Romance or YA are easy go-tos versus Fantasy with lots of world-building. I went through my Goodreads TBR and settled on The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams as a good audiobook choice. The Babysitter’s Coven had an interesting premise, but I thought this book wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.

Esme Pearl is a seventeen-year-old high school student who babysits for extra spending money. Esme and one of her best friends start a babysitting club to help get more babysitting jobs. While babysitting and attending classes, Esme has some weird things happen to her that she can’t explain. After learning that there might be a connection between the new girl at school and Esme’s mom, Esme knows more about why these events happened to her and what that means for her as a babysitter.

The Babysitter’s Coven is described as “Adventure in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer“. From what I read, I think this description is wrong. Instead, I’d say that if you plucked Raven from Teen Titans and had her start a babysitter’s club, that’s what this book was. The original comparison made me want to read this in the first place, so the fact that this book was not what I had hoped; contributed to why I didn’t enjoy this.

Since I read this as an audiobook, I found myself picking apart the writing more than if I had read the physical book. Esme is supposed to be seventeen, but the way she’s written, she talks like a middle schooler. She and her friends would say IDK and ASAP in sentences when talking to each other. Yikes. I am trying to remember if I was that cringy in high school. While I know I’m not the target audience for this book, there are YA books on my bookshelf I love to read even though I’m thirty. That said, if I were to read this when I was in high school, I probably would have loved it.

The Babysitter’s Coven was a cool concept on paper, but this did not work for me. This wouldn’t be a book I would re-read nor would it be a series I would continue with. I rated The Babysitter’s Coven two stars on Goodreads.

I have watched booktubers rave about If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio. I haven’t seen anyone critique or offer anything negative about this book. As such, this book has appeared on several dark academia-recommended reading lists. While I’m not a big Shakespeare or theater person, I couldn’t pass up on the premise. I am in the minority here because while I liked If We Were Villains, I rated this book lower than most reviewers.

Oliver Marks is released from prison after ten years for a murder he may or may not have committed. Detective Colborne picks Oliver up from prison and comes up with a compromise. Before he retires, he wants Oliver to tell him the truth of what happened ten years ago. Since he’s retiring, it’s not like he will take any action no matter what Oliver tells him. Oliver agrees and directs Colborne to his former college campus, an elite liberal arts college where he and his friends studied Shakespeare. In between auditions, Oliver reminisces about his friends and the moment everything changed for them.

If We Were Villains is without a doubt a dark academia thriller. I loved how the college campus is described and how Oliver and his friends live in a tower. It’s completely unrealistic, but I don’t care. With thrillers, I expect to finish these books within a day or two. If a thriller is slower-paced, I will probably rate it lower because it took me longer to finish. If We Were Villains does not fall into this, I ended up reading 200 pages in one sitting and could not be bothered to do anything else until I finished this book.

If We Were Villains has an average Goodreads rating of 4.15 stars which is pretty high. While reading this book, certain things stuck out to me that bothered me. Starting with the characters, I didn’t like how Meredith, one of Oliver’s friends, was portrayed. Meredith is described as being eye candy for almost every single male character. If I had to read another section about how Meredith was curvy and how her clothes looked on her body, I was going to lose it. To give this book the benefit of the doubt, some of these descriptions were during the college’s plays, but still, we get it, she’s curvy. What bothers me is that’s all I know about her. I don’t know much about her personality, or hobbies, she’s attractive, and that’s it. It feels like a tired trope to see female characters written this way, so to read it in this context, I was over it. On top of that, the other two female characters, Wren and Pip, were overshadowed by Meredith, so I didn’t know much about them either.

Besides Meredith, Oliver ends up beginning a relationship with her. However, Oliver has feelings for James. This book does a bait and switch of hinting at Oliver and James’s relationship, but never allowing it to happen. It’s interesting because theater brings so many people with different identities, so I find it strange how Oliver is paired up with Meredith when their chemistry feels forced.

The last thing I will mention is the ending. If We Were Villains has one of those endings that completely shifts the entire book into two pages. It’s hard to discuss without spoiling the book, but I found the ending unfair to Meredith. The ending is left open to interpretation which is fine. I prefer books to have everything wrapped up at the end, but that’s just me.

It makes it sound like I didn’t enjoy this book. I liked If We Were Villains although, I disagree with other book reviewers who would put this on their favorites list. I’m glad I read this, I don’t think I need to own a physical copy of the book. I would consider reading from this author again. I rated If We Were Villains three stars on Goodreads.