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Historical Fiction
1. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline - This was a crazy story I had never heard before. Between 1854 - 1929 hundreds of orphaned children from the East Coast were sent on a train throughout the Midwest to find a family to adopt them. Many of the children sent on the train didn't find loving homes but instead found homes that expected them to work on the farm, in their shops, etc. Even though the families were told the kids needed to go to school, nobody enforced it. This book follows Vivian Daly after her family immigrates from Ireland and then perishes in a fire in their apartment. She moves from home to home looking for a new family who will treat her right. The story also fast forwards to the future where Vivian is an old lady and cleaning out her attic with help of a foster child, Molly, who needs community service. Their stories overlap as they both experience upheaval and second chances.
2. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel - I have read and loved a lot of Kristin's books. This story is about a librarian in Florida, Eva. Eva is shelving books when her eyes catch on a news story about a book found from WW2 called the Book of Lost Names. This book is a way that those helping with the resistance documented Jewish children fleeing into Switzerland. They kept a code to keep track of the children's birth names. Eva helped with this effort when she was a young woman. The story flashes back between 1940s and present day - showing just how far Eva and the others went to preserve the history of those children.
3. The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner - This was another interesting story about WW2 - but is one that isn't talked about often. This book talks about two American teenagers who's families are forced into an internment camp during WW2. Elise's family is sent to an internment camp because her family is accused of being Nazi sympathizers as they came from Germany two decades ago. Mariko is a Japanese-American. The two girls form a friendship, dreaming of the day their lives extend beyond the fences of the camp. However, one day Elise's family is exchanged with American prisoners in Germany and is sent to live in Germany -- somewhere Elise has never been before. Hearing about the camps and her experience being sent to a totally different country was extremely interesting.
Romance / Fiction
1. The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren - This was such a fun love story! Anna and Liam got married in college in order to secure subsidized family housing at UCLA. Anna thought they signed divorce papers after graduating and they both went on to their separate lives. However, 3 years later Liam is back in Anna's life. Liam never singed the papers and also continued to tell his family he was married. Now, he is asking Anna to join him on vacation to meet his family. Why didn't Liam sign the divorce papers all those years ago? Well, his grandfather left him a lofty inheritance but said Liam can't have it until he has been married for five years. Can Anna and Liam convince his family they are happily married?
2. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio - This was a little cheesy but such a unique idea for a book. Lauren returns home one night to be greeted by her husband, Michael. However, Lauren isn't married and has never seen Michael before in her life! Michael goes up into the attic to change a lightbulb, and a new husband emerges. Lauren learns that every time a husband goes up into the attic her life and her husband change. How many times will she change husbands before she finds the one?
3. This Summer Will be Different by Carley Fortune - One of my absolute favorites from this year! Lucy arrives on Prince Edward island ready for a fun vacation with her best friend, Bridget. However, Bridget's flight is delayed one day so Lucy is on her own. She heads to a restaurant and quickly hits it off with Felix. Felix and Lucy have a wonderful night together - and then realize the next morning that Felix is Bridget's brother! Bridget had specifically told Lucy to stay away from her brother. Lucy and Felix agree to never talk about it again. Each summer though, fate continues to step in and push them together. Bridget is supposed to get married and runs away to Price Edward Island. Lucy follows her. Can Lucy and Felix resist the pull of each other?
4. The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center - If you like to read hard copies of books - this one is beautiful! Really pretty colors and the pages have pink edges. Emma has dreamed her whole life of being a screenwriter. She gets the chance to fly out to LA and help Charlie Yates write a romantic comedy. Charlie is a very famous screenwriter but has never done a romcom and his script needs help. Emma is the sole caretaker for her father, but her sister tells her to take the job. Emma moves out to LA and is shocked at both Charlie's rudeness and how horrible the script is. Not one to waste the opportunity, Emma does everything she can to get Charlie to believe in love and turn the script around.
5. Funny Story by Emily Henry - Daphne moved to a small lakeside town with her fiancé, Peter. Only after they moved, he realized he was in love with his childhood best friend, Petra. Daphne moved knowing nobody but has her dream job as a children's librarian so she decides to stay in town. The only person she can stay with is Petra's ex, Miles. Miles and Daphne don't really have anything in common other than wanting to show their exes they are doing fine. They decide to pretend they're together but overtime what they're doing for show turns into true feelings.
6. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez - Abby Jimenez is always one of my favorite authors. I look forward to her new books each spring! In this book, we meet Justin and Emma. Justin has a curse that every woman he dates goes on to meet their soul mate after they break up. His curse goes viral on Reddit and he meets a woman, Emma, with the same problem. They decide to date each other in order to break the curse. Surely the next person they date after each other will be their soulmate too, right? Abby's books always touch on more serious topics in between the fun romance story and this one talks about navigating family members in prison and toxic parent relationships.
7. Kiss and Don't Tell by Meghan Quinn - This was a fun romance story. Winnie is on a solo trip exploring woods in Canada. A huge storm his and she finds refuge at a cabin in the woods where a group of 5 professional hockey players are relaxing after the season ended. One of the players, Pacey, is drawn to Winnie and thinks she looks familiar. He later realizes that she is his estranged half-brothers ex-girlfriend. Should Pacey tell Winnie about their connection? Can they resist the allure of one another? This was a fun read that is first in a series. I can't wait to read the rest!
8. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - Tova works nights at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. She started working there after her husband passed way. Her son, Erik, vanished on a boat over 30 years ago and it has been important for her to stay busy. Tova becomes "friendly" with an octopus named Marcellus, who she enjoys talking to each night. Marcellus figures out exactly what happened to her son Erik and uses everything he can think of to get the truth to Tova. Very unique and clever story telling with including the POV of Marcellus.
9. The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros - Recently divorced, Georgia starts over and moves back to her late Great-Grandmother's estate in Colorado. Her Great-Grandmother was an esteemed novelist and she has a book that she never finished. Noah is a bestselling author who is trying to get Georgia to agree to let him finish the book. The book has no ending and Noah has to figure out how to end it to honor the original writer. Noah and Georgia stumble across a box of letters and realize this book was special as it was the actual story of her Great Grandmother's real-life romance with a WW2 pilot. Can Noah find a way to finish the book that honors the writing style but tells the true story of what happened?
10. The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros - This book tells the story of Ella and Beckett. Beckett was in the army with Ella's brother, Ryan. Ryan passes away during a mission and his last letter asks Beckett to go help his sister Ella. Ella is a single-mom to two kids who owns a hotel in the mountains. Beckett does what Ryan asks, but Ella is not interested in having him help her. Unbeknownst to Ella, she had previously been communicating with Beckett over letters. (Beckett always signed them with his call-sign so she didn't know who he was.) Ella begrudgingly accepts Beckett's help with both the property and her kids and you follow along as they both learn to open up to each other. Trigger warning: childhood cancer
Romantasy
1 and 2. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas and A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas - These are books 2 and 3 in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. I cannot really talk about their plot without giving away book 1's ending. This series focuses on Feyre. Feyre is a 19 year old human who kills a wolf in the woods. However, later that night a large creature arrives at her house to demand payment for sacrifice for killing the wolf. You see, just beyond Feyre's village is a world filled with faeries and magic. Feyre has to adapt to her new home and her "prison guard", Tamlin. As Feyre becomes more accustomed to her new world she notices that things are not quite right in faerie land and her arrival there has more meaning than originally thought.
Thriller
1. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - Fair warning, this book is not for the faint of heart. It is intense and graphic, and honestly at times disturbing. When they were kids, Claire and Lydia's teenage sister Julia vanished. The two surviving sisters grew apart and haven't spoken in years. Claire is a trophy-wife of a wealthy Atlanta businessman and Lydia is a single mother struggling to make ends meet. But, the sisters need each other when Claire's husband is killed in front of her. As they start looking more into Claire's husbands death they find some connections between him and their sister who disappeared 20 years ago.
2. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston - Evie Porter is a fake identity for a young woman who gets information or revenge for her boss, Mr. Smith. He sends her a mark with a goal and she accomplishes it., then moves to the next assignment. This continues for years until Evie starts to actually fall for her latest assignment, Ryan Smith. As Evie's feelings grow for Ryan, she starts to get more and more skeptical about Mr. Smith and the work she's doing. But one mistake could cost her everything.
What was your favorite book you read in 2024? Have a book recommendation for 2025? Sound off in the comments!
books
- Wednesday, January 29, 2025
The Best Books I Read in 2024 | Books to Add to Your 2025 Reading List
All links are affiliate links and I may earn commission. Thanks for supporting me and my blog! Today I am rounding up the best books I read ...
