If You Only Read Five (fiction) Books in 2025...
An annual list of recommended books based on what I read last year - Part 1
Reading time: About 12 minutes
Here we are once again with my annual book review blog! In which I choose the best of the best of the books I read in the last year and make recommendations for ya’ll’s reading lists for the coming year.
This was a difficult reading year for me. While I did manage to read over 100 books, I chose to not finish more books than ever. In fact, I didn’t even start a lot of books. I read the first page or two of dozens of books only to set them aside. Sometimes it was because they weren’t immediately captivating, sometimes it was because there were too many characters or too complicated of a world/plot, and sometimes it was because the story was too close to the anxiety or dread of our current reality.
Mostly what I needed in books was one of two things:
Something relatable for what I was feeling that helped me with my mental state.
Something easy to get into that would transport me into a world where I didn’t have to think about how awful I was feeling.
Thus 2024 was heavy on re-reads and graphic novels. Of the 1201 books I read, seventeen were re-reads and twenty-one were graphic novels.2 I am grateful for graphic novels and how they can offer transportation while telling good stories. Keeping track of characters is simpler because they are visually represented. Plots are generally also easier to follow because there is usually only one sub-plot to the main. Graphic novels were some of the best reads for me in 2024.
As usual, I am breaking this blog into two parts. Part one is fiction, which includes general adult fiction, YA fiction and graphic novels, as well as my newly discovered authors. Part two is non-fiction, which includes general non-fiction and memoir.
If this has been a difficult year for reading for you too, I guarantee you’ll find at least one book between these two lists that is readable.
Remember: The only book anyone should read is the one they want to.
Please also leave comments with books you read in 2024 and enjoyed, as most of what I read comes from recommendations!
New Amazing Author Discoveries
Ivan Coyote: Care Of, Rebent Sinner and Tomboy Survival Guide
In a year when my mental health has not been great, Ivan Coyote’s works have been a balm.
Care Of is a book of letters written by Coyote in response to people who have seen their shows and read their earlier works. Composed during Covid lock-down, the deeply human nature of each correspondence enforces my belief in basic human goodness and a longing to belong and connect.
Rebent Sinner is at times whimsical, silly, charming, and deep. It was easy to read in the months when reading was most difficult for me.
Tomboy Survival Guide is the sort of thing any genderqueer person could relate to. I am glad it exists in the world and that it has been a gift to so many trans and non-binary folks.
Ivan Coyote is a sage of our times, a brilliant storyteller and an author that has leapt to the top of my To Be Read pile.
Travis Baldree: Legends & Lattes and Bookshops & Bonedust
Baldree’s work has been recommended to me a few times, particularly because I am a fan of Becky Chambers. Well, 2024 marks the year I finally picked up one of his books and it was delightful!
Baldree can easily be described as cozy fantasy the way Chambers is cozy sci-fi. His characters are sweet and lovable and he manages to take something relatively mundane, like opening a café or revitalizing a bookstore, and turn it into a quest by placing it in a DnD inspired universe.
I hope we get more from Baldree as there simply is not enough cozy fiction in the world.
General Fiction
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
A book for those looking for a belly laugh, to be surprised, and for something a bit different in the world of contemporary fiction.
If you like the sort of British films where an unlikely group of people come together to do something unexpected, you will love this book.
A Prayer for the Crown-shy by Becky Chambers
A short read for those who love science fiction but can’t be bothered with complex plots. Think of it as an escape into a possible future where care, instead of capital, is at the centre of society.
This is a good book if you are tired of dystopian fiction hitting way too close to our current reality.
Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xóchitl González
Magical realism in the form of a ghost story about vengeance turned to justice, inspired by the real life (and death) story of artist Ana Mendieta.
If you are feeling rage against the patriarchy and want some satisfactory comeuppance, this is a book that will deliver!
The Binding by Bridget Collins
I devoured this book and simultaneously didn’t want to finish it because I was so pulled into the world-building and narrative. Think the 90’s Romeo + Juliet meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but gay and magical and they don’t kill the queers in the end.
If you like broody protagonists and some gritty magical realism, you will enjoy this book.
The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings
A subversion of the witch trope similar to how Octavia Butler subverts vampire tropes with Fledgling, Giddings delivers a brilliant story of sexism, social constructs, and intersectional experiences within a world of magic. If you, like me, were disappointed in books like The Power and The Beauty,3 this is a book that actually understands how social constructs function and provides a truly satisfying story about gender, race, justice, and magic.
A book to read if you want to enjoy some quality magical realism coupled with social commentary and great character development.
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly
A charming story of siblings and the weird and wonderful people in their lives. The author put it best in her acknowledgements when she describes this book as being for: “…hot autistic people, people from the city, people who have been mistaken for a different ethnicity, queer and trans people who are tired of being strong and just want to do jokes, tall girls, and haters.” This book was FUN and my gawd, did I ever need some fun reads this year.
A great book if you want something lighthearted with great character growth.
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
I’ve been a fan of Harrow’s work for years now and this is her best book yet. Casual queer content? Check. Excellent use of tension through hidden background information? Check. Lesbian aunties? Check. A story of not-quite justice being served but close enough and good enough and in a way that’s actually pretty believable in a world of magical realism?4 Check!
If you enjoy Leigh Bardugo and N.K. Jemisin, Harrow has some similar vibes. A great read if you want escapism where some wealthy people get a form of comeuppance.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
I love a deeply human story and man, Akbar has written that with Martyr!. The protagonist is intriguing from page one, and the way the plot unfolds is so brilliantly done. This was an immensely satisfying read and one I was able to make last several weeks, which was great for my head and heart.
If you want some queer content, something a bit philosophical, and some unexpected revelations, this is a fun read.
Come & Get It by Kiley Reid
Reid is such a brilliant writer. She has this way of capturing particulars and nuance in every interaction she writes. I adored Such a Fun Age and was so excited for another book from her, and this one delivers. Reid has a real talent for introducing multiple characters in third person storytelling that is effortless and at the same time, highlights the subtle (and no so subtle) ways that a person’s perceptions of race, class, and gender show up in dialogue.
This is an excellent read if you like character-driven stories.
Idlewild by James Frankie Thomas
A late entry as this was the last book I read in 2024, finishing it on December 29th. It went right into my top read immediately for a multitude of reasons: Amazing character development, queer representation including a trans character written in a time when trans representation was scant, and a Millennial Narrative that includes 9/11 but also the United States’ invasion of Iraq.5 I may have loved this book so much simply because it reflected a lot of my own high school experience as someone who is the same age as the main characters and who also went to an alternative high school.
If you want queer content, this book has. queer. content. And also good representation of teenagers and poor choices teenagers make but in a way that still keeps them sympathetic.
YA Fiction
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
I’ve been a fan of John Green for a long time, but never read anything by David Levithan before. They make an excellent collaborative team, as this is one of the best YA books I’ve read in a long time, never mind just this year. Tiny is one of the most delightful side characters I’ve ever encountered and the character growth throughout is really good.
Excellent if you want some gay content, queer joy, and a coming-of-age story about learning to accept help.
The Dumplin’ series (Dumplin’, Puddin’ and Pumpkin) by Julie Murphy
I loved the movie Dumplin’ and have had the first of these three books on my To Read list for a long time. I was craving queer content something fierce, and the third in the series kept coming up as recommended reading, so I figured it was time to get into these.
These are three really wonderful reads with great character growth. While Pumpkin is the queerest, I enjoyed Puddin’ the most because of how it tackles the Mean Girl character in unexpected ways.
All three were very fun, enjoyable reads that were easy to get into but also completely different from each other.
A great series if you want some fun teenage romps and shenanigans and you’re looking for positive fat representation.
Graphic Novels
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui (Memoir)
A poignant telling of Bui’s family journey from Vietnam to the U.S. Following the fall of South Vietnam. The illustrations are beautiful, almost whimsical, in contrast with what is often a harrowing narrative. The at times disjointed presentation of information was fitting for the disparate experiences of her family due to generational and age differences. This is a powerful story of human resilience and a wonderful example of using art to process family and cultural trauma.
A great read for anyone who wants a more meaty story but is struggling to read text-based books.
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (Fiction)
A sci-fi love story with found family. This had a similar vibe to Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer series, but with a dreamier quality to it and a little more magical realism than sci-fi. The illustrations are beautiful and the plotting is really good.
Great if you are looking for some queer content and cozy visual sci-fi.
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls (Memoir)
One of the more intense reads for me this year, Feeding Ghosts looks at the impact of intergenerational trauma of being a refugee of the Chinese Cultural Revolution from Hulls’ grandmother to her mother to herself. At times dense with historical information (most of which is pretty horrific because man, Dictators really are terrifying people capable of the worst things.) but always weaving through the narrative of the direct human impact, Hulls has written an extremely in depth memoir.
I think this is worth the read for anyone who is doing the work of disrupting the trauma passed down in their lineage.
You can see my full 2024 reading list on Goodreads.
Let me know in the comments what books you enjoyed in 2024!
Read Part Two…
Read my recommendations from past years…
I know, I know. This is a lot of books. But I cannot stress enough that I didn’t even bother starting at least fifty books this year.
I don’t count re-reads towards my reviews, but I do count graphic novels.
Books that rely on a disease or fungus that only effects one gender without having queer representation or an understanding that gender is a construct humans made up do not make sense.
At this point in writing these reviews I am noticing Magical Realism Was a Vibe I Liked in 2024.
Also, elder millennial rep of the time before Millennials were being called Millennials!