I struggled with a topic to write for my column this week and so, I thought I would give you all a few of my favorite books that I read in 2024, along with goals for my reading in 2025.
“The Witch’s Heart” by Genevieve Gornichec
My favorite book of the year: This follows Norse Mythology’s Angrboda — the mother of monsters. From what I have learned in my time since reading this, Angrboda never had her own story, she was simply a mother. Her children — Hel, Fenrir and Jömungand — are all that she is known for, but in this, Gornichec gives us an insight to what her life may have been.
As someone who is a Marvel fan, I was initially drawn to this due to the mention of Loki and, while he is definitely a main character in this book, he is not the God of Mischief that we came to know in the MCU. Instead, we learn of his relationship with Angrboda and who she is as a person. In many ways, Gornichec still revolves her story around motherhood, but this novel served as a reminder that our mothers are real people, too. The mundane tidbits of her life felt so raw and intimate. This book taught me to appreciate all stories, not just the fast-paced ones.
“The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
A sci-fi book that accomplished exactly what it set out to do. In this book, Nikki Erlick poses one question: What would happen if one day, everyone above the age of 22 received a box on their doorstep with a string that told you how long you would live?
Now, I’m not someone who typically enjoys science-fiction — I was an English major and am a journalist for a reason — but when I say I opened this book one Tuesday afternoon and simply didn’t stop, I mean it. Sorry to my publisher, Ashley, but everyone in the office definitely saw me on the floor, with a blanket, engrossed in this book that day.
You follow several perspectives that all give you an insight to a scenario you were probably already thinking of: What if you had a short string? What if yours was long? What if you never looked? What if someone you loved had a long string and you had a short one? Every question I asked, I felt was answered. It even acknowledges how people would ostracize others and even politicize string length.
It's just a well thought out book that left me satisfied and in tears by the end.
“One Dark Window” by Rachel Gillig
This book garnered a lot of enthusiasm on the internet this year and I would have to agree with the crowd. The first book in a duology, the reader follows Elspeth and … the monster in her head.
In this fantasy world, those with magic are killed off, but those with Providence Cards — kind of like tarot cards — hold great power.
I was just genuinely hooked from the first page. I am a fantasy girl at heart, so there may be some bias, but the poems at the start of each chapter that give explanations to each Providence Card as you learn about them, along with the Nightmare as a character and a slow-burn romance really made this a great read.
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Now, I had a lot of fun with the books I read in 2024 — I even started a book club with my friends — but I’ve realized that some of my favorite books of the year, even if they weren’t “five stars,” were always the ones that made me feel something.
Like I said, I’ll always read fantasy books because they hold a special place in my heart, but as I’ve grown older, I think I’ve begun searching for more that swords and castles and dragons can’t always give me.
Books like the first two I mentioned have stuck with me throughout the year because they created such strong feelings that I can’t help but keep coming back to them. So, my goal in the new year is to read more of those.
Even if these books aren’t nonfiction or entirely realistic — even though I want to consume more of those genres, as well — they make me pause and not only analyze the situation they’re in, but my own, too. I think there’s something to gain from a book that can have a character teach you something that you didn’t realize applied to your own life or maybe it makes you have a realization about yourself. That is what I’m looking for.
Hopefully sticking with this, here are some books I aim to read this year:
• “As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow” by Zoulfa Katouh
• “Pearce Oysters” by Joselyn Takacs
• “Don’t Cry for Me” by Daniel Black
• “Happiness Falls” by Angie Kim (side note: I read her other book, "Miracle Creek," and thought it was amazing.)
Here’s to a plentiful and happy 2025 reading year.
Kelley is a reporter for the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch. She can be reached by emailing brittanyk@haysfreepress.com.
