Play Book Tag discussion

After carefully reading the instructions, please post your top 10 titles for this year in a post below between now and January 5th. Any book that is included must have been read (as opposed to published) in 2024.

If you would copy the format I use in my example below, that would be great.

You do not need to post your top ten in any specific order, but you are certainly free to do so, but please don't include numbers in your list.

We'd love to hear your comments on your top 10. Please post them below your list.

If you must make a change to your list after it is posted, please just note it by editing your existing post at the bottom to read:

EDITED: date, changed Title A to Title B

For fun, please post your least favorite title of the year at the bottom of your message.

Deadline for submissions: January 5th


****EXAMPLE ONLY**** Please post your choices using this exact same format.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies of a Silicon Valley Startup - Carreyou
Born a Crime - Noah
The Heart's Invisible Furies - Boyne
A Ladder to the Sky - Boyne
Educated - Westover
The Collector - Fowles
Blood Meridian - McCarthy
Do Not Say We Have Nothing - Thien
Three Little Words - Rhodes-Courter
From a Low and Quiet Sea - Ryan

I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes
Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America - Michael Harriot
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments - Joe Posnanski
Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ‘76 - Dan Epstein
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men - Caroline Criado Pérez
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions - Valeria Luiselli

Least Favorite
The House That Hugh Laurie Built: An Unauthorized Biography and Episode Guide - Paul Challen

In alphabetical order:

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
The Martian Chronicles - Bradbury
Ordinary Grace - Krueger
Peace Like a River - Enger
The River We Remember - Krueger
Stoner - Williams
Table for Two - Towles
This is How You Lose the Time War - El-Mohtar
True Grit - Portis
Where the Wild Ladies Are - Matsuda

Least favorite
Thick And Other Essays - Cottom

From my review of Thick
If you were to assign negative thoughts to everyone around you, then overanalyzed and deconstructed those made-up thoughts, and then named yourself the victim of those made-up, overanalyzed thoughts, you'd end up with this book.

A tour de force in self-pity, and I regret even picking it up.

The Covenant of Water Verghese
The Nix Hill
Horse Brooks
Lessons in Chemistry Garmus
James Everett
The End of Drum-Time Pylvainen
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store McBride
There There Orange
Illuminae Kaufman
The Overstory Powers

In no order:

North Woods - Mason
Whale Fall - O'Connor
Small Things Like These - Keegan
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder - Grann
Lucy by the Sea - Strout
She Who Became the Sun - Parker-Chan
Letters of a Woman Homesteader - Stewart
James - Everett
Tress of the Emerald Sea - Sanderson
Peace Like a River - Enger

Worst book: Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening

In no particular order:

All the Sinners Bleed - Cosby
The Women - Hannah
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Zevin
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store - McBride
The Vanishing Half - Bennett
Disturbing the Dead - Armstrong
A Prayer for Owen Meany - Irving
Remarkably Bright Creatures - Van Pelt
James- Everett
The Adult - Fischer

Least Favorite: I Will Fear No Evil - Heinlein

Yield Under Great Persuasion - Rowland
Forty Thousand in Gehenna - Cherryh
Those Beyond the Wall - Johnson
Friday's Child - Heyer
The Will of the Many - Islington
How to End a Love Story - Kuang
The Uncanny Aviator - Keefe
The Never-Ending End of the World - Christy
The Duke at Hazard - Charles
Sweeten the Deal - Shepard

Least Favorite:
Either Maurice by E.M. Forster or The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Favorites

Covenant of Water - Verghese
Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - See
Peace Like a River - Enger
The River - Heller
Demon Copperhead- Kingsolver
The Women - Hannah
Starter Villain - Scalzi
Tom Lake - Patchett
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Rice
The Reading List - Adams
Turtle House - Churchill

Least Favorite

The Spanish Love Deception - Armas

Oh this was difficult! So far this year I have read 19 (!) books that I rated 5 stars. BUT eight of those were re-reads, so I've eliminated them from contention (bye, bye To Kill a Mockingbird ...)

That leaves eleven books and I have to choose which one to sideline! YIKES!

SO, here's my list (in the order in which I read them.)

The Covenant of Water - Verghese
The Underground Railroad - Whitehead
The Poet X - Acevedo
Good Night Irene - Urrea
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Story - McBride
The Measure - Erlick
The Frozen River - Lawhon
World of Wonders - Nezhukumatathill
Demon Copperhead - Kingsolver
Tom Lake - Patchett


(Interesting note .. six of these authors are BIPOC)

LEAST favorite book read in 2024 ...
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ... ZERO stars. Just dreadful.

Top Ten - all 5 stars

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 - Toll
The Iron King - Druon
All The Weyr's of Pern - McCaffery
The Pasha of Cuisine - Ersin
A Brightness Long Ago - Kay
The Call of the Wild - London
All the Seas of the World - Kay
The Spy and the Traitor - Macintyre
The Frozen River - Lawhon

Worst Books:

The Telling Room -Paterniti
Touching the Void - Simpson

Both 2 stars (somewhere I hardly ever get to, so they both deserved to be listed).

My Top 10 read in 2024 in no particular order

A Curious Beginning - Raybourn
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Rice
Love & Saffron - Fay
The Music of Bees - Garvin
Tom Lake - Patchett
The Shell Collector - Doerr
Remarkably Bright Creatures - Van Pelt
The Women - Hannah
Sea of Tranquility - Mandel
The Librarian of Burned Books - Labuskes

Least Favorite, although others gave it 5 stars, I gave it 2
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Diaz

The Madness of Crowds - Louise Penny
A Fatal Point - Janet Neel
The List of Suspicious Things - Jennie Godfrey
War and Peace - Tolstoy
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels - Janice Hallett
You Took the Last Bus Home: the poems of Brian Bilston
The Woman in the Library - Sulari Gentill
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut

I've just realised how much of this year's reading has been murder-related! And how few romantic suspense books have rated even 4 stars let alone 5!

Top Ten:

The Rachel Incident - O'Donoghue
They May Not Mean To, But They Do - Schine
Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity - Norris
Real Americans - Khong
The Cliffs - Sullivan
Tell Me Everything - Strout
The Lincoln Highway - Towles
Loved and Missed - Boyt
Songs for the Brokenhearted - Tsabari
Barbara Isn't Dying Yet - Bronsky

Comments: I can't say that this was a great reading year for me. These books represent the best of the books that I've read this year - not necessarily 5 star reads.

The book with the most heart is They May Not Mean To, But They Do. It is warm, wise and written with humor. It's about a family who loves each other and who are dealing with the indignities of aging. It reminded me of my own family.

The stand-out book in the collection is The Lincoln Highway. It's well-known and has landed on many "Best of ..." lists. I enjoy adventure stories and loved how playful it is.

The Spy Coast – Gerritsen
The Snow Leopard – Mattheissen
All The Sinners Bleed – Cosby
Nimitz At War – Symonds
True Believer – Carr
Extreme Ownership – Willink and Babin
Spying on the South – Horwitz
The Housemaid – McFadden
Moscow X – McCloskey
Conclave – Harris

Least Favorite: The 6:20 Man - Baldacci

Not Finaized - I’m still reading

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men - Criado Pérez (There is something here for everyone, in all fields, industries, and aspects of life.)
North Woods - Mason
The Ardent Swarm - Manai
The Seven Year Slip - Poston
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness - Cahalan
The Eyre Affair - Fforde
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death - O'Farrell
What Strange Paradise - El Akkad
Moon of the Turning Leaves - Rice
The Ministry of Time

======
Erasure - Everett
The Glass Hotel - Mandel - I might be the only one who loved this one

Nonfiction Honorable mentions
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir - Khan-Cull-ors
Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate Change - Hanson
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures - Sheldrake
Darwin Comes to Town: How the Urban Jungle Drives Evolution - Schilthuizen
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End - Gawande
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice - Browder

Least favorite:
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket - the most miserable in the series so far

The Girls I've Been - Sharpe
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - Oh
The Satapur Moonstone - Massey
Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America - Busse
Nettle & Bone - Kingfisher
A Little Devil in America - Abdurraqib
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows - Jaswal
Friday Black - Adjei-Brenyah
The Honjin Murders - Yokomizo
The Vanishing Half - Bennett

EDITED: 12/28/24, changed Where the Drowned Girls Go - McGuire to The Vanishing Half - Bennett

Playground - Richard Powers
James - Percival Everett
Pearce Oysters -Joselyn Takacs
Crow Talk - Eileen Garvin (4stars)
When the Angels Left the Old Country - Sacha Lamb
Coming Home - Brittney Griner
The Ministry of Time - Kaliane Bradley
I Am Rome - Santiago Posteguillo
Where the Falcon Flies - Adam Shoalts
Locked In - Jussi Adler-Olsen

My worst book of the year was also my first book of the year, Christmas at the Cat Cafe - Jessica Redland.

5 star books that I excluded from my list:
Foster - Claire Keegan
Still Life with Bread Crumbs - Anna Quindlen
The Chinese Groove - Kathryn Ma
After Annie - Anna Quindlen
Unlikely Animals - Annie Hartnett

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Zevin
Honor - Umrigar
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - See
Ship of Magic - Hobb
The Running Grave - Galbraith
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History - Edsel
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent - Dench
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon - Grann
The Lost City of the Monkey God - Preston
The Island of Missing Trees - Shafak

Loads of honourable mentions. It’s been a great year.

The worst by a long way though was The Reluctant Alpha. One long massive eye roll.

Officer Clemmons-Clemmons
Where I Come From: Stories from the Deep South-Bragg
Craig & Fred- Grossi
To Sleep with the Angels-Cowan
Badluck Way-Andrews
A Man Called Ove-Backman
Deadly Mission-Adams
His Majesty's Dragon-Novik
Out of the Silence-Urioste
Ned Christie-Mihesuah

Worst book of the year and I had a lot to pick from.
Hemlock Island-Armstrong

This has been a hard year for me reading and living. My reading selections and reviews show it. "sigh"

I'm waiting because I have the newest novel by Helen Simonson here and really liked the other two I've read by her. Ideally it will be one of my top 10.

Finally have a minute to post this - had to downsize from the 20!
Other than the first listed - which is my #1 this year and probably will be for the decade - it's in no order.

James - Everett
Stoner - Williams
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper - Rubenhold
Ruby Fever - Andrews
Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: The Wartime Short Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes - Downes
Galatea - Miller
Visitation - Erpenbeck
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table - Reichl
The Thirteenth Tale - Setterfield
All Sinners Bleed - Cosby

Worst:
The Lost Girls: Three friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World by Baggett et al. It could have been so good but instead it was over 500 pages of whining millenials. I gave it 2 stars - there were a couple chapters, including the first, that reflected the promise of the title and cover. Though I am not much of a NF reader, more than one made this list this year. Another made my worst book.

I am an eclectic reader, awarding 5 stars to all kinds of books. This list in particular reflects that. I included Ruby Fever which is the last of the Andrews' Hidden Legacy series that I loved - rarely have I read a final book in a series that so perfectly, beautifully, and entertainingly wrapped up an entire series and left me content. I included short story collections - one connected, one not. Galatea is a short story I read months ago and it still haunts me, so powerful, far more of an impact tha nmany full length novels.

I set up the shelf January of each year for the Top 10. I add books all year as I read that I think deserve being on the list - and it's not all books I give 5 stars to. Periodically through the year, I purge. 20 books remain on my 2024 Top 10 shelf. 2025 is already set up .

Theresa wrote: "Finally have a minute to post this - had to downsize from the 20!
Other than the first listed - which is my #1 this year and probably will be for the decade - it's in no order.

James - Everett
S..."
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper was a 5-star read for me this year, and I read it based on your review / recommendation. But it was the 11th book on my list, so, sadly, it was cut. Glad to see it on your list, though!

Book Concierge wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Finally have a minute to post this - had to downsize from the 20!
Other than the first listed - which is my #1 this year and probably will be for the decade - it's in no order.

J..."

It was the 2nd book that popped into my mind a I opened my shelf. Had to go on list.

Cora wrote: "The Girls I've Been - Sharpe
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - Oh
The Satapur Moonstone - Massey
Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America - Busse
Nettle & Bone - Kingfish..."

@Cora - half your list I read and adored in past years - and rated them highly!

Charlie wrote: "The Spy Coast – Gerritsen
The Snow Leopard – Mattheissen
All The Sinners Bleed – Cosby
Nimitz At War – Symonds
True Believer – Carr
Extreme Ownership – Willink and Babin
Spying on the South – Horwi..."


Yes! To All the Sinners Bleed. On my list too.

Joanne wrote: "Top Ten - all 5 stars

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 - Toll
The Iron King - Druon
All The Weyr's of Pern - McCaffery
The Pasha of..."

How did I not know you read The Iron King and loved it? I had it on suspended hold after waiting for ever for my hold to pop up all year and part of 2023 - and finally just dropped the hold altogether and put it on my wishlist instead. One day ....

Sue wrote: "In alphabetical order:

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
The Martian Chronicles - Bradbury
Ordinary Grace - Krueger
Peace Like a River - Enger
The River We Remember - Krueger
Stoner - Will..."


Yay for Stoner! On mine too.

Just want to say how much diversity in genres we are seeing this year.

Theresa wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Top Ten - all 5 stars

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 - Toll
The Iron King - Druon
All The Weyr's of Pern - McCaffe..."

I am loving that series Theresa-cannot wait to continue it. I think I did tell you when I started it, because the last book has never been translated and I asked you to get busy and do it! 😅

Theresa wrote: "Just want to say hiw much diversity in genre's we are seeing this year."

Anita is going to have a real hard time this year, I only see one or two that are on multiple lists!

I have a list of over 20 and I picked out my top nine titles. I want to read one more book which may be a contender, before I figure out what the tenth is going to be.

Joanne wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Top Ten - all 5 stars

All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 - Toll
The Iron King - Druon
All The Weyr's o..."


I am blaming BWF Reporter Fog for forgetting.

Karin wrote: "I'm waiting because I have the newest novel by Helen Simonson here and really liked the other two I've read by her. Ideally it will be one of my top 10."

I'm waiting to finish my list because I've only had 1 5* read which was not work related......Hoping to find a couple more before the end of the year. However, I have a couple in progress which also show up on other people's lists so I'll finish them first and see if that helps with the overall list.

Amy wrote: "I have a list of over 20 and I picked out my top nine titles. I want to read one more book which may be a contender, before I figure out what the tenth is going to be."

This is typical of you. Amy! Very detailed and deliberate. And I know you love lists and curate them well.

Whereas I just eyeballed my books and grabbed the ones I saw with 5 stars. (I usually don't have more than about 10 of those in a year, since I am stingy with that grade.) If I happened to miss something, no big deal.

Theresa, Same reason I got to book #3 and no further!

Incomplete top 10.

Dark Shadows Falling-Joe Simpson
The Ocean at the End of the Lane-Neil Gaiman
Night- Elie Wiesel
Sea of Tranquility-Emily St John Mandel
Last Climb: The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory-David Breashears
The Death Zone-Matt Dickinson
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder- David Grann
Klara and the Sun-Kazuo Ishiguro



The absolute worst (I haven't read anything as bad in years so doubt it will be beaten) The Twat Files: a Life of Mistakes - No Regrets- Dawn French
How can someone so funny when talking be so up herself and judgy in writing?

And yes, yet again I've had an Everest year. It is my go too when I can't focus on anything else.

My Friends - Matar
Playground - Powers
Washington Black - Edugyan
Black Butterflies - Morris
Time of the Child - Williams
Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) - Swarup
Morality Play - Unsworth
The Road to the Country - Obioma
Embassytown - Miéville
Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 - Toll

Honorable mention: Red Mars - Robinson

Worst: The Wasp Factory - Banks

Joy D wrote: "
Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) - Swarup
..."

LOVED Q&A!

Joy D wrote: "My Friends - Matar
Playground - Powers
Washington Black - Edugyan
Black Butterflies - Morris
Time of the Child - Williams
Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) - Swarup
Morality Play - Unsworth
The Road to the..."

Sooo pleased to see both Morality Play and Embassytown which I read and loved because of your reviews!

Holly R W (Not Getting Notifications) wrote: "Comments: I can't say that this was a great reading year for me. These books represent the best of the books that I've read this year - not necessarily 5 star reads."

It's been the same for me. There are a few on my Top 10 list that wouldn't have made it past honorable mention any other year since I started tracking my reading on Goodreads. I've had a lot of brain fog/headaches/attention issues, and it's forced me to read easier/simpler reads than what I'd really like to be reading. A few of those have still been standouts, but I've never read so many basic 3-star reads in my life! It did make it really easy to come up with a Top 10, though :)

@Pam, I hope your health issues have improved and that next year will be a better year for you.

James - Everett
Monstrilio - Cordova
Stone Yard Devotional - Wood
The Safekeep - Wouden
A Fever in the Heartland - Egan
Did I Ever Tell You? - Kingston
Class - Land
The Psychology of Money - Housel
Shoe Dog - Knight
Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge

I read some pretty bad books this year, but the winner in that race was The Second Coming by Garth Risk Hallberg.

in favorite order:

The Faculty Lounge - Mathieu
Starter Villain - Scalzi
Caliban's War- Corey
A Quantum Love Story - Chen
The Big Over Easy - Fforde
Head On - Scalzi
Halina Filipina - Arre
The Unconquered City - Doore
Liebestrasse - Lockard
The Alloy of Law - Sanderson


I had a lot of extras this year, I clearly decided to read books to make me happy (hence two Scalzi entries above and more of the Expanse series represented by one entry), found some good graphic books, and came across some provocative reads.

The Bell in the Fog - Rosen
I am Only a Foreigner Because You Do Not Understand - Nichols
You Might Go To Prison, Even Though You're Innocent - Brooks
A Little Hatred - Abercrombie
Reckless - Brubaker
The Forgotten Man (graphic) - Shlaes, Grant, Rivoche

In no particular order:

A Night to Remember - Lord
Spirit Crossing - Kreuger
The River We Remember - Kreuger
If You Can't Take the Heat - DeRuiter
The Maid's Diary - White
The Year of Living Danishly - Russell
An Eye For An Eye - Wyer
The Dry - Harper
Small Things Like These - Keegan
Grandma Gatewood's Walk - Montgomery

Least Favorite:
Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Hibbert

I really enjoyed the maid’s diary. It might not be my 10th, but it was on my consideration list.

Water - Boyne
The Briar Club - Quinn
Small Pleasures - Chambers
The Three Dahlias - Watson
Happiness Falls - Kim
The Whispers - Audrain
The Berry Pickers - Peters
The Wind Knows My Name - Allende
Memphis - Stringfellow
Madame Fourcade’s Secret War - Olson

Honourable Mentions:

The Magnolia Palace - Davis
Hello Beautiful - Napolitano
Maame - George

Worst book of the year, and possibly ever:

Twits in Love - Robbins

It’s fun to see all the great books, and the not so great.

Thanks to Jen and Hannah’s coincidental experiences, I’ll remember to avoid books with twits and twats in the title. Lol

Hannah wrote: "Water - Boyne
The Briar Club - Quinn
Small Pleasures - Chambers
The Three Dahlias - Watson
Happiness Falls - Kim
The Whispers - Audrain
The Berry Pickers - Peters
The Wind Knows My Name - Allende
M..."

I love that you read and enjoyed Madame Fourcade. It was a sleeper for Olson and deserved more attention, IMO. I also remember having it on my Top Ten the year I read it.

Stone Yard Devotional - Wood
The Coin - Zahar
The Axeman's Carnival - Chidgey
The Lost Story - Shaffer
Late City - Butler
The Safekeep - Wouden

This was my worst reading year in terms of number of books. I blame the Eras tour. I need to get back on track, but it's been hard to want to really dig in.

There are many 5-star reads I didn't mark as favorite, James, Playground etc. When I finish a book I go with the feeling I have when I finish, not trying to finish out a top 10.

Worst book of the year -
We Used to Live Here which started as a reddit thread and somehow launched into super stardom.

Close second - The Guest by Emma Cline

NancyJ wrote: "It’s fun to see all the great books, and the not so great.

Thanks to Jen and Hannah’s coincidental experiences, I’ll remember to avoid books with twits and twats in the title. Lol"

I should have known better. Anything with a derogatory term for vaginas is probably best avoided.