Happy New Year! The year is still new at this point, right? I’m still forgetting to date things with a 24 instead of 23, so it feels new to me.
Did you make any reading goals for 2024? I’m not usually big on reading goals in general, but I did make a couple this year that I think will be pretty easy and satisfying to accomplish. This year I want to read 24 nonfiction books (two a month, so totally doable) and I have a list of a few series that I want to complete before the end of the year (you can see which ones here).
That’s it! Those are my only two goals. Aside from that, I plan to just keep reading books I think I’ll love and DNFing the ones that don’t turn out like I hoped. If you have any reading related goals, let me know in the comments!
Now, enough about goals. Let’s talk books.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I might make some extra coffee money at no extra expense to you if you buy something through one of my links. Read more about that here.
Just Finished:
I chose this book in service of my ’24 Nonfiction in 2024′ goal and I learned a lot. I had always assumed that the Chernobyl meltdown was a terrible tragedy that couldn’t have been foreseen or avoided. Spoiler alert, that’s not the case. After listening to the account laid out in this book, it seems to me that the bureaucracy surrounding nuclear projects in the decades leading up to this disaster was the primary cause and the secrecy and lack of concern for human welfare after the fact is appalling. I listened to this one on audio and I think it might have been a little easier to read because all of the Russian names sounded the same to me. Seeing them on the page might have helped me keep track a little better. But overall, this is a fascinating and captivating book.
I can’t stop talking about this book and the second one in the duology, The Revolution of Ivy. This is the first book I finished in 2024 and it really started me off right. This is a YA dystopian novel featuring an arranged marriage that is supposed to result in Ivy assassinating her new husband Bishop, and his father, the president. But as she gets to know Bishop, she begins to realize that some things are not as she’s always been told and she has to make some tough decisions. I ate up both of these books over the course of a couple of days. Highly recommend!
In Progress:
Since I’m planning to write an entire review of this book I won’t repeat all the details here. But I will tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying the detailed historical setting and the delightful characters in this 1754 story of war, love, and faith. Laura Frantz is almost always a winner for me!
This was recommended to me as a book my sister enjoyed as a kid so I picked it up when I spotted it at the library for me and my daughter to buddy read. She’s already finished and now it’s my turn. I’m enjoying it so far, especially the unexpected magical realism element. This is about a girl in a remote mountain village and her experience as she journeys with all the other teenage girls from the mountain to be educated and prepared as potential brides for the prince after the king’s priest divines that he must choose a wife from their region. Miri is spunky and smart, and not sure that she actually wants to be chosen, but she applies herself to her studies, making mischief along the way.
Remember I said there are a few series I want to complete? This book is part of one of them, the Sweater Weather series. It’s a friends to more romance about Tripp, who comes back to his home town after medical school and finds that his relationship with his best friend Hazel. Hazel has had a crush on Tripp for a long time, but she’s convinced that nothing can happen between them for fear of messing up the friendship. So far the thing I like best is the uniqueness of Hazel’s character. I haven’t read many books featuring a female mechanic!
Up Next:
Sadie and the Bad Boy Billionaire
This newest book from two of my favorite rom-com authors is next up on my list! Sadie comes to Oakley Island to help her sisters renovate the house they inherited from their grandmother and gets more than she bargained for when she finds herself trapped on Benedict King’s yacht with a couple of federal agents. I really can’t wait to start this one, y’all.
I don’t think I’ve ever met a Jody Hedlund book I didn’t like. This one is about an arranged marriage and the hijinks that ensue as Finola tries to wiggle her way out of it. The description sounds like this book will check all my ‘favorite things’ boxes and I already have it downloaded on my Kindle, ready and waiting.
I’m always on the lookout for ways to improve my writing/editing process, so when an author friend recommended this book I purchased it immediately. I’m planning to pick it up soon, before I start the next (and hopefully final) revision on my next book, The Parenting Pact. Fingers crossed I learn some helpful techiniques to make my stories irrisistable!
For more book recommendations, check out Modern Mrs. Darcy’s quick lit post!
Hey Jordan – Laura Frantz is a new-to-me name and her book looks intriguing … thanks for the intro
I hope you get a chance to check her out! I really enjoy her books.