7. The Searcher

By Tana French (451 ebook)

I've read all the Tana French books except for the one that came out last year. I enjoyed the Dublin Murders but was less enthusiastic about The Witch Elm. This one is about a Chicago police detective whose marriage falls apart and he moves to rural Ireland to get a fresh start and a new perspective. A troubled thirteen-year old befriends him and eventually asks for help locating a missing sibling. The book is a slow burn with lots of atmosphere, intesting characters, and a real sense of an outsider moving into a small community. Yesterday was rainy and I enjoyed a lazy afternoon reading the last half of this book. I haven't done that in a long time.

6. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

By Sarah MacLean (397 pp)(ebook)

Sarah is one of the hosts of the Fated Mates podcast. I have had this book on my ereader for awhile and decided to give this a try. It's a historical with another pair of terrific main characters. Lady Calpurnia remains unmarried and decides there's no longer any reason to live by the rules. She makes a list of things she'd like to do like kiss someone and visit a gambling den. She's had a crush on Gabriel St. John, a Marquess, forever and inadvertently gets him involved in her rule-breaking and things progress. Fun book.

5. Lord of Scoundrels

By Loretta Chase (375 pp)(ebook)

The ladies of Fated Mates podcast did a special episode about this book. It might have been a replay when it came up in my podcast app. I checked and it was onsale so I grabbed it. It is a historical romance with amazing main characters. Jessica enters the story to try to rescue her doofy brother from himself and Sebastian, the Marquess of Dain. As soon as they meet sparks fly and Dain keeps thinking he will win the upper hand and coming up short. Very fun romance.

4. Pleasure of a Dark Prince

By Kresley Cole (452 pp)(ebook)

I had to clear out the scary aftermath of reading In Cold Blood. This is the third book in my Kresely Cole 3 pack and I think I liked this one the most. In this one Lucia who is under some sort of curse and Garreth a shape-shifter end up on a dangerous adventure that involves a boat in the Amazon where Lucia needs to find a mythical object. There are lots of adventures and fun banter.

3. In Cold Blood

By Truman Capote (343 pp)(ebook)

Another book that's been in my to read pile forever. This is a non-fiction book published in 1966 about real murders that happened in rural Kansas in 1959. The book was groundbreaking in that it used fiction techniques to tell a true story. Four members of a family are found brutally murdered on their farm. The story tells the story of the victims and the story of the murderers. The writing is really good and the story is terrifying. The murders were so senseless and sad.

2. Less

By Andrew Sean Greer (273 pp)(ebook)

I used to keep track the Pulitzer fiction winners and make sure to read them but it's slipped away from me the last ten years or so. I picked up this knowing nothing about it except for the award and it was a wonderful surprise. It's about modestly successful novelist who sets out on a trip around the world so he can avoid his boyfriend's wedding. It is funny and relatable and he experiences quite a variety of adventures. I think my favorite was the ancient restaurant in Japan. Love this writer's writing and plan to read him again.

1. Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir (496 pp)(ebook)

I loved this book. I did not enjoy Artemis and haven't paid attention to this author since then. This book is about a guy who wakes up and has no idea who he is or what's going on -- and gradually figures out he is on a space ship, his shipmates are dead, and he is on a last chance mission to save humanity by going to another solar system. I read about 25% and wondered how this was going to be an entire book. No spoilers but I very highly recommend for people who like books in space and like The Martian -- having to solve problems with science. I see it is going to be a movie with Ryan Gosling and I can't wait.

40. The Vaster Wilds

By Lauren Groff (253 pp)

The last book I read in 2024! I love this author's writing. This story is about a young servant girl who runs away from an early colonial settlement that is starving. It's winter, conditions severe, and the whole thing nerve-wracking like how is she even going to do this? It's a riveting story but not my favorite by this author. The MC is dreamy and out there and I didn't relate.

39. Livesuit (Captive's War 1.5)

By James SA Corey (90 pp)(ebook)

This is a novella set in the world of The Mercy of Gods. In it, humanity is in a great war across the galaxy and the story is more military action. Humans are recruited as soldiers and use suits that are integrated with their human body. It's very dark but really good.

38. The Mercy of Gods (Captive's War 1)

By James SA Corey (422 pp)

I LOVED The Expanse -- books and show. I would love to read and watch again if I didn't already have such a stacked TBR and "to watch" list. This is the first book in a new series by the same authors. I was barely a few chapters in when I was already having anxiety about having to wait another year to get the next one. In this book, humans live on a world they colonized at some point and they learn that something alien is headed their way. The alien invasion is quick and violent and our characters, a group of researchers, are taken to the alien home world. Nothing is as it seems. I would read it again now but I'm going to wait and re-read right before I read Book 2. Fantastic!

37. Butcher and Blackbird

by Brynne Weaver (351 pp)

Continuing the theme of reading things I normally wouldn't -- I grabbed this popular romance where the two main characters are serial killers. Serial killer Sloan targets bad men and kills them in her signature way. She runs into a little trouble but is rescued by another serial killer Rowan who also targets bad people. The meeting leads to a connection. I liked the set up -- that in this world, serial killers know about each other and also we don't see or hear much about law enforcement. But oof, take the content warnings to heart -- this got a little rugged for me. Thought it was a good book but not for me.

36. Perfect Cover

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes (275 pp)(ebook)

I am writing this in Jan 2025. I didn't realize I never finished putting up the books from 2024. This book was on sale. The elevator pitch was something about cheerleaders who are secretly government operatives. I had to try it. In this story, Toby Klein is more of a computer hacker type but she's recruited to join the cheerleading squad and there is no option to say no. Turns out, she's really been recruited to join the government operatives. It was a quick, fun read but I thought it was more of a good idea than great execution. The side characters blended together and the plot was kind of generic. I did love the character of her little brother.