December Audiobooks

December was a stellar reading month and ended the year on a very positive note. As I end the month I'm in the middle of a long  book that is also wonderful. It will be my first review of the new year.

​As I look through the 6 books that I read this month, there are no duds! I really can't even pick a favorite.

I read 84 books in 2024. That's down from previous years due to my diversions in Youtube and Podcasts but I'm quite happy with 84. I decided to look over my list and identify my favorites.
The book that really stuck with me the most was The Women by Kristen Hannah. It is a perfect historical fiction book that tells the story of the women who served in Vietnam. 

In no particular order, these are the other books that I rated the highest for 2024:

The Wedding People by Allison Espatch
Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese
Vanished Arizona by Martha Summerhayes (paperback)
Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera
A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales
The Friar and the Cipher by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (hardback)
The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
Starter Villian by John Scalizi
West With Giraffes by  Lynda Rutledge
The Mysterious Case of Rudplf Diesel by Douglas Brunt
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr

This is a list of books by my favorite mystery authors:
Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger (part of the Cork O'Connor Series)
Resurrection Walk by  Michael Connelly (Mickey Haller series)
Three-Inch Teeth by C.J. Box (Joe Pickett series)
The Price You Pay by Nick Petrie (Peter Ash series)
Last Words by Michael Koryta
A Place To Bury Strangers by Mark Dawson

What have you read lately that you would recommend and what was your favorite book of 2024?

The Wedding People
By Alison Espach, Read By Helen laser

TLDR: Clever and funny story about very human events.

Phoebe Stone's life has fallen apart. She is unable to get pregnant, her husband left her for a woman with a baby and she can't finish the book she'd been writing for years. She's ready to give up and travels to a resort hotel in Rhode Island to kill herself. Except that she's the only guest at the hotel who isn't there for a 6-day luxury wedding celebration. In the elevator she tells the bride the purpose of her trip and the bride is determined not to let this crazy woman ruin her wedding.

It deals with some very serious subjects but in a funny, sad, thoughtful and heartwarming way. It's not sappy at all. I loved that the ending was more of a beginning for many of the characters. I really enjoyed this one.

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We Begin at the End
By Chris Whitaker, Read By George Newbern

TLDR: A really good story about finding family through tragedy. Told a little disjointed but worth it.

Duchess Radley is the protector for ner little brother. She has a very unstable life with a mother, Star, who can barely care for herself. 

Star grew up with Walk, now the sheriff and Vincent. Vincent is about to get out of jail after 30 years and there's going to be some trouble when he returns to town. It's a book about finding family. 

I read his book, All the Colors of the Dark, in August and enjoyed it too. I think his stories are really fresh but the telling can be a bit disjointed. I almost gave up on this one because I had trouble keeping track of the characters but I'm glad I stuck with it.

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The God of the Woods
By Liz Moore, Read By Saskia Maarlevard

TLDR: Imagine your summer camp's horror stories were real. Good story with a few too many characters.

This book is on a LOT of "best of" lists for 2024. It is set in 1961 and 1975 at a camp in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York. Camp Emerson is owned by the very wealthy, and unlikable, Van Laar family. 

In 1961, the prodigal son, Bear, disappeared from camp and he's never been found. The investigation was run by the family and closed quickly. A person was identified as the culprit and sent to prison but the boy's body was never found. 

Fourteen years later, Barbara, Bear's sister asks to attend the summer camp. Every night she disappears from her cabin. Her cabin-mate thinks she is meeting up with a boy since everyone knows that she is seeing a town boy. The camp counselors don't know she's leaving every night. One night she doesn't return and the counselors find an empty bed in the morning. This time the investigation is run by local detectives.

There are layers and layers of mystery in this book. The plot and the ending are creative and interesting. My two complaints are that there are too many characters and the time changes (1961 to 1975 and back) aren't easily transitioned in the audio version. The first couple of hours brought me a lot of confusion but I'm glad I stuck with it. 

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This Motherless Land
By Nikki May
Read By Weruche Opia and Florence Howard

TLDR: A wonderful and creative retelling of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

Funke has a very happy life in Nigeria. Her mother is an art teacher and her father is a professor and she has a younger brother. Her mother is English and her father is Nigerian and they've made a very happy life together. But when her mother dies in an accident she is sent to England to live with her maternal Aunt. She's never been there and only knows it through her mother's stories.

In England she finds an unreceptive Aunt but a loving cousin, Liv. Liv takes on the role of protector for her little cousin and they grow into young adults as the best of friends. Then a second tragedy happens and their friendship is damaged forever. Funke moves back to Nigeria to try to rebuild her life but both women miss the connection that they had.

While it does deal with race a little, it's mostly about friendship, family and betrayal. The characters are rich and the narration is outstanding.

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The Book on the Bookshelf
By Henry Petroski

TLDR: Nerdiest book ever about the storage and display of books.

I picked up this book at a thrift store and it's been my bedtime reading for a few weeks. If you are into books and libraries you will have a total geekfest reading this book.

It started with the development of the written word on papyrus and how rolls were stored. Once books were bound they were exceedingly valuable and chained to tables with iron chains. There are illustrations throughout the book that help to visualize what's being described.

The book also covers the design of libraries from the time of no artificial light  to today, when libraries struggle with too many books for the space available. It's a total geekfest that will likely bore most people but I thought it was a very interesting read.

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City of Flickering Light
By Juliette Fay, Read By Lisa Flanagan

TLDR: A nice historical fiction about the silent film industry

This book was from the free Audible library and was a nice book to read during the holidays. It's set in 1921 during the birth of Hollywood when they started making the "flickers". Irene Van Beck, Millie Martin and Henry Weiss leave the seedy Burlesque industry to head to Hollywood to try to make it in the new silent film industry.

They are young people searching for fame, fortune, love and family. The characters are very likable and while it portrays the challenges and dark sides of Hollywood, it does it in a gentle way. It is based on some real people and seems to be very well researched in the portrayal of Hollywood of the time. I enjoyed it and got attached to the characters.

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