Hello friends! And welcome to our fourth end of year wrap up! As we have read quite a few books for Shelf Explored Book Club and some in our personal lives this year we thought it would be fun to give you guys a peek into our favorites, least favorites, and maybe some surprises we experienced.
A good place to start is how many books did we read this year?
Michaela: This year I have read 24 books. A big drop from last year. My goal was originally 29 books (I like my goal to be the age I’m turning that year) but I changed it to 24 for 2024 in about August because I just knew I wasn’t going to hit that goal. I found a renewed interest in music this year so I spent a lot more time listening to that than audiobooks or reading in general. Interests in hobbies ebb and flow for me, and this year reading took a back seat in the second half of the year. It sucks that I didn’t read as much as I wanted to, but I’m also glad I found new music that reminded me how much I love music.
Jac: I read 68 books this year, although I didn’t set a goal for a specific number of books for 2024. I had the opposite of Michaela where I experienced a bit of a reading hyperfixation this year, at the expense of podcasts and until recently, music. I think it’s important to remember that even if a goal isn’t met in one area, it’s still a success to have had something that brought you joy and fulfillment during the past year. My reading goal was actually to try to rate the books I read this year… and I certainly didn’t do very well at that. But, that’s okay! It’s a goal that I can continue working on in the new year.
Our favorite book club reads!
Michaela: We had so many good reads this year, it’s really impossible to choose just one. So my top choices would be Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune, Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson, and A Psalm of the Wild Built by Beck Chamber. Top four is acceptable right? It’s hard to choose just one because they were all so good and all so different from each other. I think if I had to choose one I’d say Somewhere Beyond the Sea because those characters hold a special place in my heart and being able to continue their story in this sequel was honestly a gift to the soul.
Iron Widow was a pleasant surprise for how much I ended up liking it. I typically don’t go for sci-fi but I fell in love with this story. It was so different from anything I had read before, and it fully captured me. I can’t wait to keep reading the series. A similar emotional ride happened with Psalm of the Wild Built, again a sci-fi that I just adored. This one was much calmer and reflective of life. I can see this one becoming a quick comfort read in the future.
Jac: This year was a year of bangers, honestly. It’s basically impossible to choose just one. I would say that Somewhere Beyond the Sea and Iron Widow were my two favorites - just like Michaela.
TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors - probably in the top three, honestly - and The House in the Cerulean Sea is my favorite book, plus the subject of my half-sleeve tattoo. When I found out we were getting an unexpected sequel, I actually cried with excitement. In my opinion, the sequel didn’t disappoint. This one was definitely more high stakes and less cozy, but that’s not to say it wasn’t cozy at all. It’s impossible to NOT be cozy when you have characters like those in Marsyas. I think the more serious stakes made sense in the trajectory of the story, and I really loved Arthur’s perspective. He struggles with so much trauma and carries so much weight on his shoulders, but over time he learns to trust his family to help him carry the burden. I could go on and on about this book!
Iron Widow was incredible. I loved the way Xiran Jay Zhao incorporated Chinese history and folklore into the story. The melding of fantasy, sci-fi, and a touch of romance all enveloped in Chinese culture was so good. I thought the concept of the mechas and the magic system was super unique, as was the inclusion of a polyamorous relationship in the Iron Triangle. When I finished reading it I was immediately itching for more, and I just know Xiran will deliver even more incredible lore in the sequel.
Our least favorite book club reads!
Michaela: I didn’t overly dislike any of the books we read this year. I think Guarded Treasure and Murder Your Employer were both a little disappointing based on what I thought I was going to get from them. I’d say Guarded Treasure was my least favorite because I expected so much and felt unsatisfied by it. But I think if you wanted a fun read with vague The Mummy vibes, then it’d still be a good read for some people.
Jac: I think Guarded Treasure was definitely my least favorite. The Mummy vibes were cool, but overall the story really disappointed me. I totally agree with what Michaela said - unsatisfied is exactly it. It had so much potential as a concept but I think it needed to be ironed out a bit more.
Most Challenging Book Club Read!
Jac: Honestly, Emily Wilde’s was my most challenging read and I do not know why. It’s not that I disliked it by any means, but I really struggled to get through it. As much as I’m curious about where the story goes, I don’t know that I’ll continue the series just based on my experience with the first book.
Michaela: Murder Your Employer kicked my ass. I wanted to know what was happening in the story but the vernacular and general writing style took a hot second to comprehend for me. It felt similar to reading Shakespeare, in a way. It feels really weird to read at first until you get into it, then it all makes sense, until you put it down and pick it back up then you have to start all over. I didn’t even dislike the writing style, I actually did enjoy it a lot once I could grasp it. It was both cool and difficult to read.
Top Books from Our Personal Reads of 2023
Jac: I really embraced my enjoyment of romance and erotica this year, and that’s really what contributed most to how many books I read in 2024. I find myself so engaged by good chemistry between characters, which leads me to consume these stories like I’m starving. It’s been a rough year and there’s something very therapeutic reading a happily ever after. That being said, my favorite personal read this year was Filthy Rich Santas by Eva Ashwood.
I picked up Filthy Rich Santas expecting a cute little Christmas themed romance - I wasn’t expecting to be so blown away by the character development and chemistry between characters. The story follows Lana, who grows up as the black sheep of the family. She can never seem to live up to the standards her parents set for her, and they don’t miss a single opportunity to remind her of it. She has spent her whole life dimming herself to try to fit herself in the mold her family shoved her in, and this particularly Christmas, she is coming to the annual fancy schmoozing Christmas Eve party her parents host every year with even more disappointing news for them. Lucky for Lana, her brother’s three best friends who she’s had crushes on since she was young offer to drive with her across the country for the event. On the way, she has the opportunity to safely be herself and get to know each of the men even better, and vice versa. It’s a polyamorous story, and probably sounds silly and ridiculous to a lot of people, but the characters were so well written and when Lana stands up for herself at the end? It had me bawling and feeling so proud of this fictional character I’d come to know throughout the story. It was everything I’m looking for in a romance book.
Michaela: I have two top books for my personal reads and they are quite different from each other. First would be Fairy Tale by Stephen King. This was my first ever Stephen King read, I’ve seen some of the movie adaptations of his other works but I’ve never read one. I saw the cover of this book at the store a couple times and I just had to have it. I didn’t even read the back cover, I just bought it, it was calling to me. It ended up being right in my lane and I really enjoyed it. I did a mix of audiobook and physical reading for this one. The characters pulled at my heartstrings, particularly Radar the dog, the discovery in the beginning, the adventure of the second half of the book. It kind of reminded me of a DnD campaign, which at the time of reading this book I was the DM of a homebrew fairytale reimagining DnD campaign. I loved it. And thanks to reading this book I actually discovered a new book oriented YouTuber who has been great to follow his journey with reading, his channel is called Booksaresick. He’s a super chill guy who just updates you on what he’s reading, which he’s bought, and it’s just a simple cozy chat once a week about books that I’m very grateful to have found.
My other favorite read was To Catch a Felon by Jennifer Hawkins, which is actually part of a series. In this story we follow a woman as she moves to a small English village to follow her dream of opening a tea shop. With her she brings her corgi, Oliver, and together they find themselves investigating crime! I wanted to venture into the cozy mystery genre this year and my husband picked this one out for me at the bookstore one day. It’s perfect for me. English village, tea shop, and a corgi (which I had lost my 15 year old corgi last December and got a puppy corgi earlier this year), it was literally a perfect fit for me as a person. I cannot tell you how much I adore this series. I’ve read the 3 books in the series that have been published so far and I really hope the author continues writing them. They were a great comfort to me and they will definitely become a comfort read for me.
Any DNF’s This Year? Or a Challenging Personal Read?
Jac: I DNF’d a whole lot this year, honestly. The one I’ll make particular mention of is Heartless Sky by Susanne Valenti and Caroline Peckham. This is a part of the Zodiac Academy series that I loved so much, and while I still love the characters and the world…. Horrible things kept happening every single book, to an extreme, and things felt hopeless. It got to be too much for me in the long run, and while I will probably finish the series at some point now that it’s finished, it’s going to be awhile before I’m rushing back to it, if ever.
Michaela: I did not have any DNF’s this year. But my most challenging personal read would be A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. This book was a monstrous length and so much of it was ‘everyday life of 1772’. It really dragged on but there were interesting story developments sprinkled in there that kept me motivated to keep reading. But it was a rough one to get through, some of the others in the series were a little like that too but this one was the hardest so far. I still enjoy the series and will keep reading, but dang that one took a lot of effort and I took a break from the series after that.
Favorite New Character
Michaela: David (SWBtS). Oliver (Chatty Corgi). Radar (Fairy Tale). I think unsurprisingly two of my favorite new characters this year were dogs. Oliver from A Chatty Corgi Mystery Series and Radar from Fairy Tale. Being able to read from Oliver’s point of view gives us a fascinating insight into a dog’s thought processes. He makes me giggle while reading because he’s so smart and straight forward with his thoughts about humans and how they could do things more efficiently. Radar was just the sweetest, bravest pup to ever live. She was so loyal to her caregiver, then when she went on the adventure with our main character she was always ready to help. I don’t want to give too much of her story away and spoil anything, so I’ll just say that I loved her so, so much and I cried from both sadness and happiness from her story. She’s an older pup, and having lost my pup last year, her character was a great comfort to me.
I think my favorite new character from a book club read would be David from Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I mean how could you not love that child. He was full of energy, drama, and love. He was a perfect fit for the Parnasus-Baker household. He brought so much to the story and to that family.
Book that Surprised You the Most
Jac: I think Psalm of the Wild Built was probably the most surprising book of the year for me. I wasn’t really sure what to expect of it, but it was a lovely book that spoke to some really beautiful messages. The world is really unique, and I plan on continuing the series in my personal reads.
Michaela: Fairy Tale, Iron Widow, and Psalm of the Wild Built. All books that are outside of my normal comfort zone of reading. One I chose on a whim based off the cover, the other two we chose for a book club read. I loved all of them so much and I’m so grateful to have this journey with reading where I give myself the push to try new genres. All three of these books, and others I picked up this year that I normally may not have chosen, now hold a special place in my heart.
Another series I picked up this year was the Villains series by Serena Valentino. These are not a retelling necessarily but more of an alternate view of a classic Disney story but from the villain's point of view. They’re retellings in the sense that none of it is canon to the Disney movie’s story or the original tale the movie is based off of, but they don’t change anything that happened in that Disney version of the story, just the stuff that could have happened off screen. I read the first four of this series, I absolutely loved the first one which followed the Evil Queen from Snow White. It gave a whole new twist to the queen’s evilness. I do think the quality of the story goes a little downhill as the series continues but they’re still very entertaining and fun to see the twists to the original story. They’re also quite short books so they’re just a fun quick read, especially if you love a villain story (which I do!) and/or a Disney story (which I do!).
Book Lesson of the Year to Keep in Mind
Michaela: Reading can be hard. Certain books can be hard to start or finish. But just the motivation to read can be hard to come by for some of us. I really struggled with the ‘want’ to read this year. I just simply did not want to read. And there’s no reason to force myself to do it just to meet a goal or because I think I should read more. So for most of the year I only read for our book club. Even so, I still read over 20 books, and considering the average adult in the US reads 1 book or less a year, I think I did pretty well. I read less than I did last year but I also still read, and I read a lot of great books. I think my book lesson this year was to give yourself space to enjoy reading and other things at the same time, then also to allow yourself to be uninterested in those hobbies too. The same goes for doing my reading journal. Last year I absolutely loved doing my reading journal but this year I did not keep up with it at all. I barely filled anything in which is disappointing but again I did not want to force myself to do it because then I would just end up hating that hobby in the end.
Favorite Book Accessory of the Year
Michaela: Not an accessory necessarily. But something I could not have lived without this year is my phone so that I could listen to audio books. If I had not had audiobooks, I would have read maybe 4 books this year. This year was a huge struggle for motivation to read for me. Partly because I got into some new music, so I spent a lot of time listening to that instead of reading. But really, reading just did not sound fun a lot of the time, I wanted the stories but not the act of reading. Having wavering interest in hobbies is unfortunately normal for me, it sucks but it happens.
Any Books You’re Excited For Next Year?
Michaela: I think it’s actually coming out this December but I won't read it until next year, Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao. This is the sequel to Iron Widow which we read this year for Shelf Explored. I am so excited to see where this story goes. I did not expect to enjoy that book as much as I did because it was outside of my usual genre realm but I devoured it. I need to know what happens!
Some other books that have already been published but that I am determined to read next year are Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse and The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson.
Mirrored Heavens being the final installment of the Between Earth and Sky series. We read Black Sun, the first book in the trilogy, in May 2023 here at Shelf Explored. We also read another Rebecca Roanhorse book in January 2021 called The Trail of Lightning. I really have fallen in love of Roanhorse’s stories and writing styles, she’s become one of my favorite authors. I cannot wait to see how this trilogy concludes, I’m also terrified and sad it’ll be over!
The Shadow Cabinet is the next book in the series for Her Majesty’s Royal Coven which we just read in October this year. The ending of that book left me in so much shock that I immediately added the sequel to my list to buy. I am very excited to see how this story could possibly go.
You Can Recommend Only One Book You Read This Year, Which Will it Be?
Michaela: Can I cheat by giving a couple choices? It’s really so hard to choose for me this year. I read so many books that I ended up loving. Generally my recommendation is to explore, pick up a random book because you liked the cover, try a new genre, pick up the sequel to a book you loved, have a friend pick out a book for you. Don’t get stuck in one world of reading because you may be pleasantly surprised at what else you find that you like. Which is the whole point of Shelf Explored Book Club, and it’s a lesson I continue to be reminded of every year.
If I had to recommend one book from our Shelf Explored reads this year I would say Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. It’s the first in a current series and it was so imaginative, emotional, and it fully captured my interest. I found myself caring for the characters so deeply and rooting for them to change the world.
From my personal reads I would recommend A Chatty Corgi Mystery Series because it is just so precious. It’s so cozy and has intriguing mysteries. And you might just fall in love with a corgi named Oliver who calls himself a “corgi warrior”. It’s a series that is just a fun, cozy time to read and I loved it so much.
I don’t think there’s a book I read this year that I wouldn’t recommend. Even those that I didn’t like as much would still be a great fit for others.
Thank you so much for joining us for our End of Year Wrap Up. This year was a great year for us for reading and we can’t wait to see what 2025 brings us in the world of books! Happy New Year!
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