All the Books I’ve Read so Far - 2024 | Cup of Kee

2024 was the year I vowed to get back into reading, after probably six years of saying the exact same thing every January 1st, but this time I actually did it. I set myself a somewhat attainable Goodreads goal of 10 books for 2024, and much to my surprise I’ve succeeded already! So, what books dragged me out of my reading slump? Let’s talk about them…

The first book I read in 2024 was ‘The Orange and Other Poems’ by Wendy Cope. I had seen the poem, ‘The Orange’ all over bookstagram and booktok and I loved it so much, so I figured I should get a copy of the book. I picked this up in my local Waterstones and read it as soon as I got home, pleased to find that I loved a lot of the other poems in it too.
     A couple of months later my best friend, who also loves the poem, sent me a little card with a drawing of an orange slice with the quote ‘I love you, I’m glad I exist’ and when she came to visit we actually went to Brighton and got ‘I’m glad I exist’ tattoos together. I have very fond memories relating to this book, and I think it was the perfect one to kick off 2024.

One of the ways I tried to drag myself out of my reading slump was by picking up smaller books, so, in March I turned to ‘Open Water’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson which is just 145 pages long. It took me longer to finish it than it should have, even though I did get through it in a day, but my attention span for reading really wasn’t where it used to be so I think that was to be expected.
     Anyway, I really enjoyed this book! I think I’ll have to add his other book to my TBR too.

Later that month, my best friends surprised me with a visit for the week! It was so fun getting to spend time with them after thinking I wouldn’t see them until the Summer, and so we filled our days with lots of things - including trips to bookstores. I picked up a few books on our days out, one of them being ‘Bloom’ by Delilah S. Dawson.
     I was really drawn to the cover of this book, but the synopsis really sunk its claws into me. I’ve been wanting to try some cottagecore/horror vibe books for a while now, and with this one being only 203 pages, this was another great, short read. I think this book really did the trick, and after reading it I was well and truly ready to consume as many more books as I could.

Speaking of seeing my friends in the Summer, we went on a trip together to Plymouth where I devoured my copy of ‘A Botanical Daughter’ by Noah Medlock, another book I picked up when they visited. This is one of my favourites from this year’s reads. It was another book where I was drawn in by the cover and hooked by the synopsis, and I was so captivated by it I could not put it down! 

June and July were travel-oriented months for me, with about 20+ hours of train journeys and a flight to and from Dublin - so this was the perfect opportunity to get some books read.

On my trip to Liverpool to visit my friend Jade and go to the Eras Tour, I read ‘Legends & Lattes’ by Travis Baldree on just one of my three trains to get there. Not thinking I’d finish it, I hadn’t brought another book with me, so Jade kindly loaned me her copy of ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon for the train home, which again I finished on my first of three trains.
     ‘Legends & Lattes’ was such a great book for me to read, as I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons for a couple of years now and I love it, and I loved fantasy books as a kid. This book (and D&D) definitely reignited my love of fantasy books, so his second book Bookshops & Bonedust is definitely on my TBR now!     
     ‘Everything, Everything’ was another great read, too. I read it in less than two hours, and just loved it.

After my trip to Liverpool and with my trip to Dublin approaching, I figured it was about time I dug out my Kindle again, as packing more than one book was not ideal! So, I charged up my 2012 Kindle which hadn’t seen the light of day since 2015, and downloaded ‘Powerless’ by Lauren Roberts. At 523 pages long I think this was the longest book of the year for me, but still I managed to read it within a week and finished it on the flight home from Dublin.
     On the five and a half hour train home from Warrington, I read the sequel, ‘Reckless’, as well as ‘The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches’ by Sangu Mandanna which was a lovely cosy, witchy read!

Since getting home, I haven’t had as much time to read, but I did sit down and read ‘Poems for Tortured Souls’ which I picked up in Dubray Books in Dublin. I was really excited for this book but it did actually fall a little flat for me. I loved some of the poems in it, and the cover is beautiful, but overall it just wasn’t really it for me.

Next on my TBR for the year is ‘Godkiller’ by Hannah Kaner, so I will keep you posted on my socials and in my next reading-wrap-up blog post.
     Let me know if you’ve read any of the books I’ve listed above, or if you have any recommendations for what I should read next!

Happy reading, stay cosy!
~ Kee