Holiday Post 2024: Books and Reading

Welcome to my third post in my holiday series. Today I am looking at books and reading. I will look at some book lists, and see if there are any books I may have read and/or any books I would like to read down the road. If I read a book and reviewed it, I will add a link to the review so you can check it out as well. If I mention a book for my TBR list, I will include a WorldCat link so you can find it in a library near you. I will also add any other stories about reading during the holidays season as I find them. Additionally, as much as I can, I am trying to feature links that are not paywalled, but keep in mind some may go behind a paywall after a certain amount of time. 

My four readers may know by now that, while I read a lot, I do not read a lot of what is on the popular lists out there. I pretty much look around, find what I like, and I read that. So doing this post is also a way for me to see what is out there and to see if there is anything I may have missed that I should consider.

On a final note before we get to the lists, I will note in addition that some books on these lists may be of interest, but if they are published by one of the publishers or their imprints I am currently boycotting then I am not reading them. I am not too concerned about this since there are plenty of independent publishers who are not assholes and publish fine books to read. 

A Christmas tree made out of books, with lights

 

Big Lists

 This is a small sampling from the big lists everyone mentions during the season.

•  The New York Times has their list of 100 notable books for 2024. It was accessible when I looked at it, but it may get paywalled at some point, so keep that in mind. List is divided between fiction and nonfiction. I can say I have not read a single work of fiction from their list, and after looking it over, I am not interested in looking for them. A lot of it is the usual mix of literary fiction, which I am not usually interested in, but if it is your thing, you may want to take a look. From the nonfiction titles, I have All the Worst Humans on the TBR list. I also tried to read Chop Fry Watch Learn; I checked it out from the public library, but was not able to get to it so had to return it unread. I may try it again later. Overall, the usual hoity toity kind of books that I often am know about but tend to avoid since they do not interest me, but again, if this is your thing, check it out. 
• NPR has their list of books they love for 2024. This is an interactive page where you can look at books in different categories. There is some small overlap between this and the NYT list, but there are plenty of unique selections here. From their main list:
• Thank you please come again about gas stations in the South and their role in their local communities sounds interesting, so adding it to my TBR list. 
• Got The Secret History of Bigfoot on the TBR list. 
• Chop Fry Watch Learn is also on this list. 
• Cloistered: my years as a nun sounds interesting enough to add to my TBR list. I feel that it may have similar appeal factors to The Witching Year, which I recently read. 
• I did read Horror For Weenies. 
• If you must, here is Amazon's best books list for 2024. The main list has their 20 best, then you can search by categories.
  

Lists from Newspapers, Magazines, Periodicals, and other Websites

 These are general lists from various periodicals and websites in no particular order.

• The Guardian has various lists of best books for 2024.
• Time has their list of 100 must-read books of 2024. From their list:
  
• I have Questlove's book Hip Hop is History on my TBR list. My library ordered it, and I have it checked out to read soon.
• Publishers Weekly has their best of 2024 lists up. I am linking here to their nonfiction list, but you can find links to their other categories at the site.  From this nonfiction list: 
• I have Opus: The Cult of Dark Money, Human Trafficking, and Right Wing Conspiracy Inside the Catholic Church on my TBR list. 
•  Here is Esquire's best nonfiction for 2024. From this list: 
• Paper of Wreckage: an oral history of the New York Post, 1976-2024 : the rogues, renegades, wiseguys, wankers, and relentless reporters who redefined American media sounds interesting, so adding it now to my TBR list.
•  The Progressive Magazine lists their favorites for 2024. This list comes from the magazine's writers. 
• Booklist has their editors' choices for 2024.  From this list: 
• I have Latinoland on my TBR list. This is one our library ordered, and I have it checked out to read soon. 
• I just finished reading Lies That Kill; I will have a review here on the blog soon.
• Foreign Affairs has their list of best books as chosen by their reviewers. If you are interested in politics and current affairs in the U.S. and abroad, this list may be for you. I may need to go back to this list and take a second look. From the list: 
• Latinoland made the list, which is in my TBR list.
• The Independent (UK) has their list of best nonfiction for 2024. If interested, they also have one for fiction. From the nonfiction list: 
• Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon sounds like it could be interesting given the very shaky history of the company, especially in recent times. I am not a big business reader, but now and then I do find a business history here or there to be interesting to read. 
• Here are the best books that the folks at Mother Jones read in 2024. 
• Smithsonian Magazine has their list of best books, in a few categories like best in history or best in science.

 

Lists by genre

 As stated, some lists by specific genres and fields of interest. In no particular order.

Crime, mystery, and thrillers

• From CrimeReads, their lists of psychological thrillers and of crime novels. 
• Mystery Tribune has their list of favorite crime and mystery books.
• Reality Blurred offers a list of best true crime books for the year.
   

 

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative

• Reactor offers an ambitious list: their readers' choice for the most iconic speculative fiction of the 21st century. Out of 500 responses to a poll, they got their list down to 10 books. They also then add some additional titles in various categories as highlights. From their list:
• I read All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries, Book 1; link to my review).
• I've also read first three volumes in the Death Note manga series. Here is my review of the first volume. I do hope to read the rest of the series down the road. 
• I have read the first three volumes of Saga. Find my review of the first two volumes here.
• I've also read the hardcover trades of The Walking Dead, until the 9th volume where I bailed out. Once I figured out it was mostly soap opera blended with who can be the biggest bully and asshole, I lost interest. 
•  Literary Hub has a list of th1 17 best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. 
• Here is the best science fiction and fantasy from Polygon.

 

Horror 

 I have been trying to read horror a bit more recently. It could be just a reading mood, or it could be a reflection of the Hard Times we are living in.

• CrimeReads has a list of their best horror fiction for the year.
• From their list, I've read Chuck Tingle's Bury Your Gays, which I mentioned previously.
   

 

Some miscellaneous lists for fun

A few other lists on various topics just for fun. Maybe you will find something of interest here.  

• Cory Doctorow of Pluralistic has his list of all the books he reviewed in 2024.
• Book Page has a small list of holiday romances if you like that kind of thing.
• Brittle Paper has a list of 100 notable African books. 
• World Literature Today has their list of 75 notable translations.
• Louisville Public Media has a set of 10 biographies and memoirs that may be of interest.
• Banned and challenged books were a big deal in this past year, and I get the feeling with the incoming regime in the U.S. that situation is going to get worse. Anyhow, PEN America has a list of the 11 most banned books for 2023-2024 school year. 
• Back in Puerto Rico, Rafah Acevedo writing for Claridad makes his list of the best books they read in 2024. Here is his second list (he is stretching it over more than one article). This focuses on Puerto Rican literature mostly. (Spanish language article).
• Alison Green of Ask a Manager has their list of all their 2024 book recommendations. No, they are not business or work related. 
• Climate and Capitalism has a list for the reds and greens. This is a list focused on climate change, environment, and capitalism.
• Harvard Public Health Magazine has a list of 10 books in public health.
• I Heart Sapph Fic has a small list of top 5 Sapphic books for 2024. 
• Tricycle has a list of best Buddhist titles for 2024.
  

 

Once more, thank you for reading and stopping by. Stay tuned for the final installment on this holiday posts series where I look at "What the heck happened in 2024?" This one will get posted shortly into 2025. In addition, I will be posting my annual list of books read and reading report where I look back at the books I read in 2024. 

In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday season.