Happy New Year! It’s time to reflect on my 2024 reading list and see what nuggets are to be found.
Book Stats From 2024
Total Books: 58 Total Pages: 19833 Average: 342 Longest: 922 Shortest: 70
The longest book read (like last year) was a Rick Steves’ travel guide – Portugal. I probably skimmed about half of it, but the other half I read/reviewed multiple times preparing for our journeys in Portugal (Note 28), so I’m counting the whole 922 pages!
Compared to 2023, I read 2 less books, but 666 more pages.
Genres: 8 (10 in 2023)
| Genre | Books Read |
| Adventure Fiction | 1 |
| Biography | 7 |
| Fiction | 10 |
| Historical Fiction | 5 |
| History | 5 |
| Mystery | 17 |
| Thriller | 9 |
| Travel | 4 |
I achieved my 2024 goal of reading at least one non-fiction book per month. I’ll try to do this in 2025 also.
Most Read Authors: Cynthia Ellingsen – 5; Anthony Horowitz – 5; LJ Ross – 4
It was my first time reading Ellingsen and Horowitz – obviously I enjoyed the initial books I read by them and had to binge a few more!
Of the 58 books that I read this year, I bought 7, borrowed 45 on Kindle Unlimited, and acquired 6 via Amazon First Reads.
2024 Favorites
Here’s a list of my favorites this year by author:
| Author | Title | Subtitle | Genre |
| Adiba, Zarifa | Playing for Freedom | The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl | Biography |
| Baime, A. J. | The Accidental President | Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World | History |
| Bowen, Rhys | The Rose Arbor | Historical Fiction | |
| Cambridge, Colleen | Mastering the Art of French Murder | An American in Paris Mystery Book 1 | Mystery |
| Charles, Janet Skeslien | Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade | Historical Fiction | |
| Constantine, Liv | The Last Mrs. Parrish | Thriller | |
| Dempsey, Ernest | The Final Round | Fiction | |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | The Lost Letters of Aisling | Historical Fiction | |
| Penny, Louise | The Beautiful Mystery | Chief Inspector Gamache #8 | Mystery |
| Quinn, Kate | The Rose Code | Historical Fiction | |
| Rehak, Melanie | Girl Sleuth | Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her | Biography |
| Serle, Rebecca | The Dinner List | Fiction |
All of the above books were available on Kindle Unlimited with the exception of Cynthia Ellingsen’s The Lost Letters of Aisling which was an Amazon First Read.
My Entire 2024 Book List
Here’s the complete list of 58 books in order by author.
| Author | Title | Subtitle | Genre |
| Adiba, Zarifa | Playing for Freedom | The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl | Biography |
| Andrews, Mary Kay | Deep Dish | Fiction | |
| Andrews, Mary Kay | Holiday Hideaway | Fiction | |
| Baime, A. J. | The Accidental President | Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World | History |
| Baldacci, David | Simply Lies | Thriller | |
| Bar-Zohar, Michael; Mishal, Nissim | Mossad | The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service | History |
| Baring, Sarah | The Road to Station X | From Debutante Ball to Fighter-Plane Factory to Bletchley Park, a Memoir of One Woman’s Journey Through World War Two | Biography |
| Bowen, Rhys | The Paris Assignment | Historical Fiction | |
| Bowen, Rhys | The Rose Arbor | Historical Fiction | |
| Cambridge, Colleen | Mastering the Art of French Murder | An American in Paris Mystery Book 1 | Mystery |
| Center, Katherine | How to Walk Away | Fiction | |
| Center, Katherine | Things You Save in a Fire | Fiction | |
| Charles, Janet Skeslien | Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade | Historical Fiction | |
| Connelly, Michael | Resurrection Walk | Mickey Haller #7 | Thriller |
| Constantine, Liv | The Last Mrs. Parrish | Thriller | |
| Constantine, Liv | The First Shot | Thriller | |
| Coombs, Amelia Diane | Drop Dead Sisters | Fiction | |
| Dempsey, Ernest | The Inventor’s Tomb | Sean Wyatt #23 | Adventure Fiction |
| Dempsey, Ernest | The Final Round | Fiction | |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | The Lost Letters of Aisling | Historical Fiction | |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | The Lighthouse Keeper | A Starlight Cove Novel #1 | Mystery |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | The Winemaker’s Secret | A Starlight Cove Novel #2 | Mystery |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | A Bittersweet Surprise | A Starlight Cove Novel #3 | Mystery |
| Ellingsen, Cynthia | A Play for Revenge | A Starlight Cove Novel #4 | Mystery |
| Explore ToWin | Portugal Travel Guide | Explore the Country & Speak Portuguese Like a Local! (2024 – 2025) | Travel |
| Fluke, Joanne | Blueberry Muffin Murder | Hannah Swensen #3 | Mystery |
| Garvin, Ann | Bummer Camp | Fiction | |
| Grisham, John | Camino Ghosts | Camino Island #3 | Thriller |
| Gwynne, S. C. | Empire of the Summer Moon | Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History | History |
| Hawkins, Rachel | The Heiress | Thriller | |
| Hawkins, Rachel | The Villa | Thriller | |
| Horowitz, Anthony | Magpie Murders | Magpie #1 | Mystery |
| Horowitz, Anthony | Moonflower Murders | Magpie #2 | Mystery |
| Horowitz, Anthony | The Word is Murder | Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #1 | Mystery |
| Horowitz, Anthony | The Sentence is Death | Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery #2 | Mystery |
| Horowitz, Anthony | Moriarty | Sherlock Holmes #2 – Horowitz | Mystery |
| Hummer, Jennifer Gooch | Veridian Sterling Fakes It | Mystery | |
| Isaacson, Walter | The Code Breaker | Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race | Biography |
| Jacobsen, Annie | The Pentagon’s Brain | An Uncensored History of DARPA, America’s Top-Secret Military Research Agency | History |
| Lawson, Guy | Hot Dog Money | Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports | Biography |
| Lonely Planet | Lonely Planet: Pocket Lisbon | Travel | |
| Lonely Planet | Lonely Planet: Pocket Porto | Travel | |
| Luditan, Bunmi | Confessions of a Domestic Failure | A Humorous Book About a not so Perfect Mom | Fiction |
| Marks, Tessa | A Traveler’s Guide to the History of Portugal | Passport to the Past | History |
| Milam, Vince | The Cairo Job | Case Lee #13 | Thriller |
| Owens, Zibby | Blank | Fiction | |
| Penny, Louise | A Trick of Light | Chief Inspector Gamache #7 | Mystery |
| Penny, Louise | The Beautiful Mystery | Chief Inspector Gamache #8 | Mystery |
| Quinn, Kate | The Rose Code | Historical Fiction | |
| Rehak, Melanie | Girl Sleuth | Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her | Biography |
| Rodden, Beth | A Light through the Cracks: A Climber’s Story | Biography | |
| Ross, LJ | Death Rocks | A DCI Ryan Mystery #21 | Mystery |
| Ross, LJ | Poison Garden | A DCI Ryan Mystery #22 | Mystery |
| Ross, LJ | The Haven | Summer Suspense Mystery #4 | Mystery |
| Ross, LJ | Imposter | Alex Gregory #1 | Thriller |
| Serle, Rebecca | The Dinner List | Fiction | |
| Steves, Rick | Portugal | Travel | |
| Vance, J.D. | Hillbilly Elegy | A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis | Biography |
2024 Monthly Book Reviews
If you missed any of my detailed monthly reviews, here’s a handy group of links – just click the arrows for more.
Until next time, read what pleases you!
Notes By Nancy 
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