Five Books I Loved in 2024 | January to June
The first half of the year has flown by and it’s already time to choose my five favorite books from the last six months. At the time I’m writing this blog post, I’ve already met my Goodreads goal of 150 books read and still have a lot more I want to get to before the year’s end. This time, I read a lot of great books, and it wasn’t easy to narrow my choices down to the top five, but I’m happy with the final list.
My five favorites include a memoir from death row, a poetry collection, a novella from one of my favorite authors, a queer young adult novel, and a fictional tale about a real, wild wolf from the Pacific Northwest. I’m excited to see what adventures the rest of the year holds, but for now, check out my faves for January to July.
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton
Hinton's story moved me to tears. I have never been a proponent of the death penalty, and after reading this book, I feel more strongly about that choice. It horrifies me that we send humans to face cruel deaths for crimes, sometimes ones they did not commit. This book demonstrates the need for reform in the American criminal justice system, particularly an end to the death penalty. I am grateful for Hinton's exoneration and the work he has done to bring light to the way people are treated in the penal system and on death row.
Above Ground by Clint Smith
I would give Clint Smith 10 stars for this poetry collection if I could. What a magnificent book. Each poem holds so much emotion and moves me beyond belief. I loved this.
The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver
Mason Deaver so perfectly captures the concept of grief in this book and all of the emotions that come along with it while also exploring what life is like as a queer teenager navigating identity, friendship, family, and the big question of what to do with your life after high school. This was beautifully written and I love the way Deaver develops their characters.
Graceful Burdens by Roxane Gay
I love Gay's creativity when it comes to her short stories. As a writer, I am often envious of the way she can pull the most random ideas out of the air and turn them into works of art. This solo short story is a part of Amazon Original's "Out of Line" collection about women's empowerment. It's only 24 pages long but so much happens in those few pages. While reading it, I certainly got vibes of both The Handmaid's Tale but also techy-dystopian books like The Hunger Games. When the story opens up, it's easy to jump right into the world and quickly follow the characters. It was fascinating, so much so that I'm dying to know what happens after the last page. I am craving a full-length book about this world.
A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
Ugh, this book tore my heart out. As a person who gets WAY too connected to animals, I loved and hated this book. I was intrigued when I learned that this fictional story was based on the wolf OR7 from the Imnaha pack of the Pacific Northwest. I enjoyed the way Rosanne Parry tells this story. I liked that we get to see life from Swift's eyes as he travels in search of his pack and a new home. There were a lot of common themes between this book and books I've read that were written by and about Indigenous Americans, and being able to make those connections made it clear why wolves are so important in Native American culture. Parry's writing was beautifully atmospheric. Reading this book, you get all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Northwest wilderness. There were several parts of this story that were difficult to read, as an animal lover, but Parry doesn't shy away from the beauty and brutality of Mother nature and I appreciate that. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Kirby Heyborne and was lovely, but I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy to keep on my bookshelf.
Follow along as I work through my 2024 master reading list and review each book I read on Goodreads.
