Two Sentence Reviews | Everything I Read in 2024
Quick and dirty.
I read 37 books this year and to me, that feels like a healthy number. A handful of those were rereads, which is one of my favorite indulgences because it is so easy to slide back into familiar territory, and it certainly helped bolster that number. My favorite read was a story about sisters. My least favorite was a sloppy whodunit from an author I usually love. A couple overhyped books in the mix, but that’s to be expected. You can’t just trust everything booktok recommends! Overall though, it was a good reading year!
What did you read this year? Any favorites to share?
Endgame by Omid Scobie // A somewhat salacious rehashing of the Sussex/Wales feud, which is delicious if you like royal gossip. Some enemies were made with this writing, but I enjoyed it very much.
Wintering by Katherine May // A life altering read for me that changed how I think about winter and the season of rest. I’d recommend this to anyone who hates winter or struggles to slow down and rest.
Natchez Burning by Greg Isles // An absolute tome of a novel about a town with strong KKK ties and crimes that were purposely overlooked and never solved. It’s not perfect, but boy did I tear through this one.
The Green Mile by Stephen King // If you’ve seen the movie but never read the book, I encourage you to pick up this serial novel about a former death row prison guard with a story to tell from his time working during the depression. Not a scary Stephen King book, but like everything he writes, there’s definitely some weird stuff, and it’s so freaking good.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid // Emira is a young black woman, accused of kidnapping the white child for whom she is a nanny while they are at a grocery store, and it becomes a media sensation when it’s caught on camera. There’s some twists and it’s a real page turner - 10 out of 10!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee // A classic for a reason, this is the story of a court appointed white lawyer who has the audacity to put in real effort to defend his black client who has been accused of raping a white woman. Told from the perspective of the lawyer’s young daughter, Scout.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver // Damon isn’t given a fair shake in life - his teenage mother is addicted to drugs and alcohol and after her overdose, he floats around the foster system while battling his own drug addictions. Honestly this book is a giant bummer and perhaps because Kingsolver is a particularly articulate writer, it felt all too real.
On Writing by Stephen King // Writing expertise from the master, this is one part memoir on the place writing and consuming stories has always had in King’s life, and part technical advice. Easily the most enjoyable reference book you’ll ever read.
The Idea of You by Robinne Lee // Disappointingly overhyped. A divorced woman has sex all over the place with a 20-something British boybander a la Harry Styles, all the while obsessively wringing her hands over their age difference.
Yolk by Mary H.K Choi // Two estranged sisters are brought back together by the elder’s surprise cancer diagnosis. They are a classic ying/yang relationship and I was delighted by the realistic (and acidic!) dialogue that felt like the way my sisters and I actually talk to each other.
Maid by Stephanie Land // Non-fiction, this is the story of a young single mother who claws her way out of poverty by cleaning other people’s homes and aggressively pursuing her education. She’s scrappy and you’ll root so hard for Stephanie.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory // The most indulgent reread for me - I must pick it up every couple of years because I love it so much. It’s a smutty bodice ripper cataloging the relationship King Henry VIII allegedly had with Mary, before moving on to her notorious sister, Anne Boleyn.
Astor by Anderson Cooper // My favorite sub-genre, which is rich people behaving badly and somehow losing entire family fortunes. This one covers the Astor family, starting with its fortune founder, John Jacob Astor and ending with Brooke Astor who gave away the last of the money upon her death - with plenty of debauchery in between.
Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera // Kind of weird with some mysticism in there (and that rarely lands for me), but the storyline is solid. Three women in varying stages of motherhood find their lives intertwining and leaning on each other in a small town where it seems like all the men are the absolute fucking worst.
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle // Katy is uncomfortably obsessed with her mother and is naturally devastated when she passes away before a planned trip to Italy. Katy decides to go anyway (after blowing up her entire life, btw nbd) and whoa, runs into her mother at the hotel - except wait, it’s the 30 year old version of her mother.
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears // Aw man, this is a hard read because it’s sad, and also feels like one long Instagram caption. It makes me wonder if she could have had a better life if the fame thing hadn’t worked out.
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy // I’d recommend watching the movie instead of reading the book, and look, I know that’s blasphemous but Cormac McCarthy doesn’t believe in punctuation and it’s a real job to read this thing. BUT the story is great - Llewelyn stumbles on a bag of cash while out hunting one morning and ends up in a wild chase because the people to whom that money belongs mean freaking business and they are scary as shit.
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls // The Glass Castle is top-tier, and for that, I was willing to try Wall’s fiction. Two young sisters have the flakiest mom ever and she abandons them in California like it’s no big deal, so they do what any young girl would do: they hitchhike across the country.
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris // In the immediate aftermath of the civil war, George Walker finds two recently freed brothers camping on his farm and he offers them a job which pisses off his neighbor to no end - drama. Also happening is the surprise return of the George’s son, who everyone thought died in the war, but comes home with a whopper of a secret.
Prince Charles by Sally Bedell Smith // Sally Bedell Smith, the actual queen of writing about the English royal family throws down a carefully researched and unbiased overview of the frustrated life of King Charles. And you know, by the end, I really felt for this guy who has everything and also so little autonomy - seems like a sad life.
Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris // I’ll just throw my stance out there - David Sedaris is the most elite non-fiction writer of all time and I will read every single thing he writes, including as it turns out, his journal entries. That’s what this book is and I devoured it.
The Vacationers by Emma Straub // A great summertime read that covers the tribulations of a family vacationing in Mallorca. Dad recently had an affair, and Mom is so insufferable, it’s frankly not surprising why, but they also bring their problematic children and some close family friends along for a vacation that cannot be fun for anyone TBH.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty // When the matriarch of a locally well known family goes missing (just after randomly inviting a stranger off the street to stay in their home), her four grown children go full FBI mode to find her. Two of them think their dad is acting weird, while the other two focus their attention on the strange young woman that moved in.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett // Takes place in my hometown, which made this bestseller an especially fun read. Lara is a mother of three grown daughters and during the COVID shutdown on their cherry orchard (of course, if you’re a Michigander you’ll get it), she tells them the story of how she dated a man who eventually became a very famous movie star.
The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bojahlian // A woman who is a professional Princess Di impersonator in Las Vegas gets framed for a murder by the two-faced turd that is dating her identical twin sister. Twisty but ends a little too easily and cleanly, with everything getting solved just in the nick of time in the final few pages.
Modern Lovers by Emma Straub // Ruby, Elizabeth and Andrew were college friends in a band that fell apart when their fourth member, Lydia left and went on to become a star before her untimely death. The former three went on to live the usual suburban lives, parenting and trying to keep marriages together, and now have to deal with their teenage kids’ debauchery, while navigating a Hollywood exec who wants to buy their life rights and make a movie about Lydia, which could spill some long-buried secrets.
Happy Go Lucky by David Sedaris // Another book of essays by David Sedaris, which is obviously 10 out of 10. No further notes.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas // Oof, Starr is in the passenger seat when her childhood best friend, Khalil, is shot and killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop. She is anonymized as “the witness” in the press, but the media picks up the story, largely defaming Khalil and Starr has to decide if she’s willing to speak up.
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld // I read this in October before the election, because it felt seasonal, but not real, which was a welcome break from a very loud and shouty real political season happening around me. This imagines what might have happened if Hilary had not married Bill, and honestly, it’s just a fun imaginary alternate universe.
The Chamber of Secrets by J.K Rowling // It’s year two at Hogwarts and somehow it takes a 12 y/o wizard and his friends to sort out Lord Voldemort’s latest shenanigans. Harry’s hearing voices, there’s spiders all over the place, oh and Ron stole his dad’s flying car.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe // Margo, bless her, had lame sex with her professor and got pregnant and even though he’s a real piece of work, she decides to keep the baby. Folks, babies cost money, so she’s gotta find a way to make some fast - enter Only Fans - and her formerly absentee dad who knows a thing or two about creating characters.
I Will Always Love You by Cecily Vonzeigesar // Don’t judge me okay - I grew up with the Gossip Girl books and boy did reading this feel like a warm hug from Serena or a icy cold side eye from Blair. The gang grew up and went away to college, but they gotta come home every year for Christmas, right?
Betty Smith: Life of the Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Valerie Raleigh Yow // A Tree Grows is my favorite book of all time and I was delighted to find this biography of its writer, Betty Smith. It felt indulgent, like reentering that world because so much of the novel is autobiographical - I loved it.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs // Harriet Jacobs is born into slavery and since people who think they can own other people are by nature, fucking terrible, it’s no surprise that the master is a total monster. This is the story of how Harriet hid for SEVEN YEARS in a tiny cramped attic before escaping to New York and securing her children’s freedom along the way.
Theft by Finding by David Sedaris // What a surprise - another Sedaris book! This features his journal entries from 1977-2022, covering the Chicago and IHOP years, and when he found success as a writer in his 30’s which was so inspiring TBH (says this unknown writer in her 30’s still waiting for success).
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris // I know you’re shocked. A small assortment of holiday short stories and essays, featuring the beloved SantaLand Diaries that launched Sedaris’ writing career because it’s fucking hilarious.
The Christmas Orphans Club by Becca Freeman // For various reasons, four friends spend their Christmas together instead of their families. They’re growing up and things are changing and this might be their last Christmas together - so should they get spastic and frantic?