With the end of the year approaching, I thought it would be fun to look back and review my 2024 reading recap!

I use my own Reading Tracker in Excel that I developed to log all my books throughout the year. It helps me keep track of my star ratings and details about the format, genre, source of the book and more! Plus, I created more than 10 graphs and charts that analyze my reading habits.

I’m sharing a few key statistics from the year as well! Plus, my favorite book from each of my top genres!

 

*If you want to help support this blog, I’m SO close to reaching a bonus with my Amazon affiliate for 2024! If you’re already planning to buy something from Amazon, click my Amazon affiliate link here, or any of the links in this post, and complete your purchase to help out! I earn a small commission and it will count toward the bonus! 

With the Google search updates that are pushing small websites out of search results, it’s been a tough year for bloggers, but we’re incredibly appreciative of every single person who reads our posts and connects with us!  THANK YOU!

 

2024 Reading Recap

 

Total Books Read: 160

While I always like to start off any recap by reminding you reading any amount of books during the year makes you a reader and it’s NOT a competition, I do still like to keep track of my total books as a benchmark for myself. For example, I read more books this year than I ever have before, which feels like a pretty cool accomplishment.

I know for me, that means I devoted more free time to reading than I have in previous years. Plus, I found more ways to fit in audiobooks throughout my day!

 

Books Read by Month

As you can see below, January was off to a hot start with more than 20 books read! I tend to drop off toward the end of the year since we take our annual trip to Disney in November (and very little reading gets done there haha). Plus, by December I’m caught up in the Christmas excitement so I start to break out the Christmas puzzles and movies in the evenings.

 

Books Read By Format

I was shocked to see the format so evenly distributed! I also realized I should probably combine hardcover and paperback into one physical book category for next year.

Whenever I’m reading an eBook or audiobook, it’s almost always from the library using Hoopla or Libby. It makes me happy to see that such a high percentage of my reading time is based on using library resources!

 

Male vs Female Authors Read

It’s no big surprise that the overwhelming majority of authors I read are women! I love my happy ever afters, charming book boyfriends and twisty thrillers written by women. The few male authors I did read are all fantasy and thriller writers, including some of my favorites Riley Sager, Peter Swenson, and T.J. Klune!

 

Star Rating Results

I laughed when I filtered my reading tracker for all the 4.5 and 5 star ratings I gave out. I tend to rate books highly (maybe more so than they deserve) and this just proved that. Out of the 160 books I read this year, I gave 54 books a rating of 4.5 or higher. That’s 1/3 of the books!! 

I know I have a tendency to finish and book and think, that was the best thing ever! 

On the other side of the coin, I checked out which books were my lowest rated… Turns out I couldn’t bring myself to give out any 1 star reviews. The lowest rating I have recorded is 2 stars, given to Kilt Trip. This is a romance set in Scotland that I had high expectations for due to the cute cover and Scottish setting, but it just didn’t deliver. 

 

My Most Read Author

I’m staring off this section with a caveat, because technically my most read author is Sarah J Maas. What a surprise haha. I adore her, plain and simple. The reason she tops my list is a re-read of A Court of Silver Flames. Otherwise, she’d be tied with my two other most read authors! I did start reading her Throne of Glass series, but it’s been taking me a while to get through them. I just haven’t found them as captivating as the Court of Thorns and Roses series!

Otherwise, my most read authors are Riley Sager and Elle Kennedy! I’ve been working my way through Riley Sager’s backlist books this year. My favorite so far is probably Survive The Night – an older book about a road trip gone wrong.

Elle Kennedy is a go-to author for her hockey romances!! I read the entire Off-Campus series, starting with The Deal. But my favorites of hers are from the new Campus Diaries series. Books 1 and 2, The Graham Effect and The Dixon Rule are so so fun and well-written!

 

Favorite New Author 

Each year I love discovering new to me authors, especially when they have plenty of older books to catch up on! 2024 was the year of Sarah Morgan for me. I first read The Book Club Hotel and fell in love with her charming style of writing and equal focus on female friendships and mother/daughter relationships as the romantic ones in her books. 

Her newest, The Holiday Cottage is just as wonderful (and the cover is gorgeous, with foil accents)! I’m looking forward to reading some of her more summery options next year!

 

 

Favorite Books By Genre

Romance: Is She Really Going Out With Him by Sophie Cousens

The top rated romance on my list features a divorcee who gets a chance at real love, all thanks to her meddling children. Anna is happily enjoying life as a single mom after a painful divorce, but inspiration strikes when a rival writer starts eyeing up her column. In an attempt to create intriguing content, Anna pitches a series where she’ll go on dates – all found by her children, not using any dating apps!

As you can expect, there’s a wide range of encounters from the awkward to the star struck! But a connection that comes out of nowhere may lead Anna to an actual, meaningful relationship. This was absolute perfection. I was laughing out loud throughout the entire book as I got a glimpse into Anna’s relatable thoughts and Google searches! I adored how she balanced caring for her children and doing what’s best for them while also learning to take care of herself and take a chance on the love of a lifetime. | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target

 

 

 

Thriller: Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman

I’m a T.J. Newman super-fan, so this was one of my most anticipated books of 2024. Did it ever deliver!! She continues her style of heart-pounding, incredibly realistic disasters with a plane that crashes into a nuclear power plant. The implications of the situation are catastrophic and the tension builds immediately.

I DEVOURED this. From start to finish, I was enthralled by the idea of this scenario and the sacrifices needed to keep it under control. I not only learned a ton about how a nuclear power plant works, but also felt like I was living this right alongside the characters. | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target

 

 

Fantasy: Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

I’d heard great things about this, but was not expecting to devour it in 2 days!! This is the romantasy book I needed after my Fourth Wing and Throne of Glass hangovers. A thrilling game of cat and mouse between a witch and the man known for ruthlessly hunting her kind. I cannot wait for the next book in the series so I can dive back into this world.

Since her world changed forever, Rune has desperately hid her true nature and devoted her life to saving fellow witches before they are discovered and murdered. She covers her tracks by acting as ditzy socialite and senses an opportunity to gain information by wooing the worst witch hunter of all. Gideon also realizes there might be an advantage to getting to know Rune and they both play a dangerous game as they spend time together. | Free on Kindle Unlimited! | Buy From Amazon

 

 

 

Nonfiction: Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen

Annie takes a realistic look at what will happen if our nuclear safeguards fail and a country starts a nuclear war. In this (terrifyingly possible) scenario, North Korea launches a nuclear missile at the United States. Annie walks us through what will happen from the moment of launch in astonishing detail.

I am not normally a nonfiction reader, but she presents all of this information in such a compelling way that I felt like I was reading a thriller. It’s obvious that she did an incredible amount of research and spoke with top government officials as well as scientist directly involved in these programs. But then she weaves together a story showcasing how the world and possibly humanity as a whole can be destroyed in just a matter of hours. It feels important for everyone to read and understand the implications of our nuclear weapons. You will not be able to put this down!  | Buy From Amazon | Buy From Target 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to hear about your reading year in the comments!