Best Books I’ve Read So Far This Year (2024)

Hi friends! How are you? I’m doing well but I’m admittedly still in spring break mode over here. I hope to be back to normal blogging next week with a recap of our time in Sarasota. Which was a wonderful balance of activities, downtime and sunshine!

I initially planned to pop in today to share my usual Things I’m Loving Friday list of favorites with you guys. But, truthfully, when I sat down at the computer this morning, all I wanted to write about was the book I finished last night because it was SO GOOD. So I’m pivoting a bit today and sharing that book with you below (These Silent Woods). I’m also including a small handful the other books I feel are the best books I’ve read so far this year.

Best Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

I am probably going to jinx myself by saying this, but I’ve been one lucky bookworm lately because I’ve been on a stellar reading streak since the beginning of 2024. I’ve read some truly fantastic books over the past four months. And I think a lot of these wonderful book discoveries stem from the fact that I have you guys and a mother and a solid group of reader friends who are always sharing amazing book recommendations with me. (My holds list at my local library is always maxed out thanks to all of these recommendations so thank you!)

One especially cool thing I noticed this year? I’ve read some awesome books across a variety of genres. I tend to stick to similar genres and will often read a bunch of books from the same genre for a month or two until I find myself craving something new. But I’ve been hoping around genres like crazy this year. I have read some wonderful thrillers, fantasies, sci-fi mysteries, romance and dystopian novels. It’s my hope that the variety in the genres featured in this post may make at least one of the novels highlighted below appeal to you!

• These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant

Genre: Mystery, Suspense 

My rating: A

WOW. This book. Phew. What a read. I’m not sure why but so much of These Silent Woods made me think of Where the Crawdad’s Sing. Perhaps the way the book emphasizes nature? If you liked Crawdads, I’d definitely give this one a try! These Silent Woods follows a father and his 8-year-old daughter living in isolation in the woods in the Appalachian Mountains. The writing is filled with the most beautiful prose about nature coupled with heart-pounding suspense. It’s different than your typical mystery novel as it’s filled with heart and depth, love and difficult decisions. It’s also written in a way that made me want to highlight or write down certain passages. Because they felt so raw and pure and human. I cared deeply for the characters. And the ending was unexpected in a way that ripped my heart open but felt incredibly satisfying, too.

Synopsis

Cooper and his daughter Finch ran off to the woods of the Appalachian Mountains when Finch was a baby where they have lived off the grid for eight years. With so much to hide, Cooper is determined to keep them unseen, something that is becoming increasingly hard as Finch gets older, more curious, and more independent. Other than Cooper, in the eight years Finch has lived in a remote cabin with her father, she’s only met two people: Her mysterious neighbor Scotland and Jake, her father’s best friend and the man responsible for outfitting them with necessary supplies once a year. When the usual date of Jake’s visit comes and goes and he doesn’t show, everything starts to change, putting the simple life Cooper has worked so hard to create for his daughter into jeopardy.

• The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Genre: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult Thriller  

My rating: A

The Grace Year came highly recommended to me by my friend Macie who claimed the book was her favorite read 0f 2023. Macie is an avid reader like myself. So when she said it was the best book she read last year, I knew I had to dive in. When it became available through my local library, I began reading it. And I pretty much didn’t stop until I was finished.

It is a dark dystopian novel that roped me in immediately and kept me reading late into the night. I read it in two sittings, staying up hours past my typical bedtime. Because I could not put it down. It’s thought-provoking, immensely creative and completely enthralling. It’s also horrifying and maddening. And The Grace Year takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of hope and hopelessness, heartbreak and love. I found myself fiercely rooting for the main character in the novel.

Synopsis

The Grace Year is a period of time when the young women of Garner County are banished from the town during their 16th year of life. It is believed this time in their lives that they come into their magic and have the ability emit a power that lures the men of their town into their beds. It is only through the time they spend banished in the woods during the grace year that they are able to rid themselves of their magical powers and return purified and ready for marriage. Only not everyone returns. What happens during the grace year is never talked about again.

As the grace year approaches for 16-year-old Tierney James, she has her own plans for her life. Determined to never marry and live her life on her own terms, Tierney is shocked when her grace year begins with an unexpected reveal. As she heads into the woods with the other grace year girls, Tierney quickly realizes the dangers they face alone in the woods may not come only from the poachers determined to hunt the girls for their youthful powers. It may come from the very women she must lean on to make it to the other side of the grace year alive.

• Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Humor

My rating: A 

What a gem of a book! I majorly lucked into this one. When I was looking for a new novel to read and sorted my Libby app by “available reads,” this one caught my eye. So I downloaded it to my Kindle knowing nothing about it and dove in. Don’t Forget to Write instantly charmed me and made me laugh. I’d file it under the “fun beach reads” category and loved it from start to finish. The book is a lighthearted novel set in the 1960s that centers around two likable characters.

Synopsis

Don’t Forget to Write begins when Marilyn Kleinman sneaks off and is caught kissing a rabbi’s son in the middle of service. Her parents are mortified and, not knowing what to do with their rebellious daughter, send her to her great aunt Ada’s house in Philadelphia for the summer. When Marilyn arrives, she isn’t sure what to make of the strict woman known to most as the premier matchmaker in the area. Ada is smart and confident and doesn’t seem to miss a thing. She has an attention to detail that makes Marilyn wonder if she’ll be able to get away with anything during their time together.

Ada soon informs Marilyn they will be spending most of their summer at the Jersey Shore.  And Marilyn will help Ada in her work as a matchmaker. Though Marilyn can help find matches for Ava’s clients, finding a match for herself is strictly off limits. Will Marilyn be able to resist the temptation around her and fall in line with her parents’ and society’s expectations? How will she handle Ada and her many rules? Is there more to Ada than meets the eye?

• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Genre: Sci-Fi Mystery, Thriller

My rating: A

Dark Matter is one of those books you want everyone around you to read so you can talk about it non-stop. It’s immensely creative and twisty with depth and enough intrigue keep you thoroughly gripped to the pages the entire time. It’s a sci-fi thriller so there’s a hefty dose of science sprinkled in. And you’ll be suspending your belief a lot but not in an eye-roll inducing way. It’s dark and thought provoking and one of the most unique novels I’ve read.

Synopsis

Dark Matter begins when Jason Dessen is knocked unconscious and kidnapped. He awakes to find himself in a world he doesn’t know, speaking with a smiling scientist welcoming him back and talking to Jason as though he’s known him for years. In this new world, Jason’s life is not his life and everything he’s ever known and loved — his wife, his son, even his job as a college professor — cease to exist. In this new life, he’s a world-renowned scientist and a genius who achieved everything he ever possibly could’ve imagined achieving. But is it real? Is is a dream? And if it’s not real, how will Jason ever find his way back to reality?

• Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

My rating: A

This book! The ending! What a ride. I waited months for Iron Flame to become available at my local library since it came out last year (I always have a million books on hold and typically just read whatever becomes available first) and dove in when the audiobook version became available first. I listened like crazy during any available moment. And was all-in for all 28+ hours of this audiobook. Iron Flame is a rollercoaster of a novel and just as intense and gripping as Fourth Wing, the first book in the series.

Synopsis

Rebecca Yarros has a talent for writing novels with no downtime or boring pages, that’s for sure. I also adore her secondary characters (honestly, I like them more than her main character) and the way she throws in unexpected twists throughout the novel. (The biggest one came at the very end for me!) I don’t want to share too much in terms of a plot summary about this novel since it is the second in a series. And anything I write here would spoil the first book. But if you’re at all intrigued by a fantasy novel that will have you speed-reading like crazy, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame need to make it on your must-read list.

• When in Rome by Sarah Adams

Genre: Women’s Fiction

My rating: B+

You know those books you read at just the right time? That was When in Rome for me. I realize it’s the only book on this list that I did not give a solid “A” rating to. That’s because I know it’s nothing groundbreaking and yet I enjoyed it so much it had to make this list. It’s light and breezy and reads like a cozy little small town Hallmark movie of a book. It’s the kind of book I’d recommend to anyone who wants to escape to a happy little place or enjoy a stress-free vacation read. Is it believable? Not in the least. Did I still love it? Absolutely.

Synopsis

When in Rome begins when car trouble lands Amelia Rose in the front lawn of Noah Walker. Calling for help would normally not be an issue. But Amelia is actually Rae Rose, one of the most famous pop singers in the country. Determined to escape the limelight and pressure that’s been building for years, Amelia hoped to catch her breath in Rome, a small Kentucky town. So when Noah begrudgingly offers to let her stay in his guest room until her car is fixed, she jumps at the chance to get away.

Though Noah’s surly attitude makes it clear he is more than ready for Amelia to leave the moment her car is fixed, he slowly begins to see a side of Amelia he didn’t expect. She’s not the “perfect” popstar she’s led everyone to believe. And as the real Amelia emerges, feelings Noah is determined to push away begin to surface. As the two begin to get to know each other, Amelia finds herself increasingly intrigued by Noah as she falls more and more in love with the small town and the way-too-nosy people who call Rome, Kentucky home.

Question of the Day

What is the best book you’ve read so far this year?