January Book Reviews And My 2024 Best And Worst

It’s been a hot minute—and a few years!—since I’ve done a book review post. I’ve been doing more reading lately and spend a lot of time finding my next book to read. I hope venturing into the book review corner of the internet will help me fill my to-be-read list. To kick things off I’m sharing my January book reviews and catching up with my 2024 “best  and worst”.

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January Book Reviews

I read three books in January, which is a lot for me.

First up was Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson. Gemma is grappling with missing the daughter she gave up for adoption, and wondering if she will reach out when she turns 18–which happens as the book unfolds. It’s sweet story and the ending isn’t quite as predictable as you might be expecting.

I was lured into One Last Word by Suzanne Park by the premise of the app the protagonist is developing—One Last Word lets you send a “final message” to friends—or frenemies—after you pass away. While it is an essential element of the story, it’s mainly a vehicle for delving into her family relationships and a main storyline relates to rekindling a relationship with an old flame. Maybe the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t wait until you die before saying what’s on your mind ….

Into The Fall by Tamara Miller was a Kindle First read (so possibly free to Amazon Prime members), and a very good twisty page turner. Sarah is camping with her husband and children when she wakes up to find him missing. Did he drown? Run away? Fall victim to the wendigo? You’ll have to read this one yourself to find out.

2024 Best and Worst

I missed the December/January “Best of 2024” posts, but am going to share my best and worst for the record.

My favorite book of 2024 made a lot of “best” lists: All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. The synopsis (small-town poor boy rescues wealthy girl from abduction) doesn’t do this book justice. It’s more epic on a Demon Copperhead scale (my favorite from 2023), making you hope that love will conquer all but keeping you holding your breath to the end.

My least favorite book of 2024 was Cloistered—My Years as a Nun,  by Catherine Coldstream. It sounded promising enough—“An astonishing memoir of twelve years as a contemplative nun in a silent monastery.”—but if Catherine had told her story on Facebook, I’d call it vaguebooking. She doesn’t share enough details to understand why the nuns are so devoted to the abusive Mother Superior—or even what she did that was abusive. I kept reading hoping it eventually would be revealed, but it wasn’t.

On the other hand, I did enjoy Conclave by Robert Harris. If you haven’t seen the movie, it follows the behind-the-scenes drama of choosing a new Pope.

Thanks to Wendy and Farrah for inspiring my book reviews!

What books have you enjoyed lately?

Do you DNF books you don’t like or keep reading hoping they get better?