Hell yeah! I didn’t think I was going to make 30 books this year, because I had so much shit going on, however thanks to audiobooks and text-to-speech I had a lot of extra story consumption while doing other things. Story consumption also keeps me sane while doing other things, like driving or cleaning or running back and forth between old house and new house hucking heavy boxes.

I’m less concerned about the number of books, however, than all of the other juicy stats. I set a goal every year just because I like tracking things, but my favourite part of an end-of-year wrap-up isn’t the number of books, but all of the other fun stats that come with it! The Storygraph is so bomb for this, and always provides fun insights into what obsessions I had throughout the year.

I mean…everyone near me with ears knows that my current obsession is the Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, pretty sure my husband tunes completely out anytime the name ‘Gideon’ passes my lips now.

However! My brain is like a sieve (I have two young kids and three work-at-home jobs and also am in charge of household shit so I can only keep so much stuff in my mind at any given time), so it’s fun to look back over my year and be like oh, OH, that was a fun read! and almost relive them over again.

Also I’m a stat whore. I just love charts and shit.

Behold, a beautiful chart!

If you’d have asked me before I looked at this what my most-read genre for the year was, I probably woulda said Romance or Horror. Of course, the way books are categorized on sites include multiple genres, so I didn’t realize how many Romances and Horrors also carried the Fantasy tag. But it makes sense, now that I’m thinking about it! Even the two fanfics on my list this year were in the Harry Potter fandom, carrying a Fantasy tag. It’s just funny that whenever people ask me what I like to read, Fantasy is never one that I say off the top of my head. It’s easy to forget that Fantasy is such a dynamic genre, not encompassing just High Fantasy.

Now that the word FANTASY has no meaning anymore (sorry for the word rep, , your red pen of doom is probably twitching right now)…

Romance is high up there, obvs, because I love love. I tend to enjoy high-heat romance that takes place during some kind of high-octane plot and worldbuilding. And even if a book isn’t pure romance, I am a sucker for a good romantic subplot. (See: Why I love fanfic so much…cuz when there’s no romantic subplot…well, ao3 is right there and has all the smutty ships I could ever need!)

I’m happy that my LGBTQIA+ is high, mainly because one of my goals this year was to read more sapphic fiction. We live in a wondrous age now where characters can be gay as fuck and not have to die at the end of the story, and I’m living for it. It still feels rare to find non-romance books with queer characters, though I’m discovering more and more that they’re out there and wonderful. I love to see characters that are fully fleshed out and have personalities that aren’t just ‘the queer character.’ 90% of my characters in my books are pan or sexually fluid, because I am and I exist in the world and I want my characters to exist in their worlds without sexuality being their whole fucking personality. \rant

Anyway, I wanted to read more sapphic fiction, and I found some awesome gems. And I’ll continue to ride that horse around the mountain into 2025.

*waves at @judemire*

So after all of this riveting pontification on genre, let’s talk about the best shit I read this year. Hopefully you’ll find something you either a) also love, and want to fangirl about with me, or b) want to read, then you can read it and fangirl about it with me! Yes? Yes!

This year I’ve broken down a few categories that I’m going to approach like awards. Because it’s fun. And I wanna. So, there.

WTF happened in June? My brain-sieve has no idea.

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And the Award Goes To…Best Protagonist

The best of the best, the cream of the crop, my beloved…Gideon Nav. Sorry, Roland, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

This gorgeous copy gifted by my BAMF bestie, Emerald <3

This book had been on my TBR for a long-ass time. I finally took the plunge when poking around for books to get from the library. I was looking to save some cash and my eyeballs and read more paper books, and there she was.

I was totally enthralled, from the first fucking page. While the book is written in third-limited, it is still very voicey and Gideon’s personality shines through like a loudspeaker. She is such an engaging character with such a strong presence, and it’s almost jarring being in a fantasy/scifi setting. I’m reminded so much of Caine from Matthew Stover’s Acts of Caine series, because he’s got such a big in-your-face personality in a high fantasy world and it’s so. fucking. good.

And so is Gideon. I fell so hard for this book that I read it again almost immediately, after recommending it to a friend of mine. She was listening to the audio version, so I grabbed that version from Hoopla and we did a buddy listen. Not only was the narration incredible, but I picked up so many little things that I didn’t the first time around.

Lesbian necromancers in space is a great hook, but there is so much more of this story and characters and world and ugh. I don’t want to spoil a single thing. As of this writing, I’ve consumed the first two books in this series and cannot recommend it enough.

Best Antagonist

This one hands down has to go to The Eaters in ’s Patchworld Nova. I was on the front lines with this book on the beta and ARC team and absolutely loved being able to be along for the ride with this story as it took shape. (Thank you Jude, always an honour!)

When he first pitched me ‘The entire province of Nova Scotia gets abducted by aliens…and no, not just the people, the literal land’ I was all in, because as far as I know, this has never been done before. Super cool premise, and add in that it’s put onto a patchwork Dyson Plate with chunks of alien worlds? This is my favourite kind of sci-fi.

Anyway, the antagonist(s). The Eaters. Firstly, badass name. Secondly, an impossible force to fight. I love terrifying foes constantly breathing down the protagonist’s necks, forcing them through hardship just trying to get ahead enough to survive.

From what the characters understand at the beginning, The Eaters are a cloud of soulless, mindless somethings that devour everything living in seconds, leaving a path of lifeless destruction in their wake. This is so suspenseful and horrifying and gives the story a oh god hurry up keep going AAAA kind of feeling in the back of my mind and I love that.

Also of course, things aren’t always exactly what they seem, because Jude is a master of his craft, but I’m not going to spoil it for you. If you’re into sci-fi and aliens and weird shit, Patchworld is for you.

(I have to give an honourable mention here for Blaine from The Waste Lands. There are so many great antagonists in the Dark Tower series but he is one of the greats. I have expounded at great length in my life about my love for all Dark Tower things, and I wanted to showcase some of my new reads this year, however just had to give Blaine a nod because he will forever be one of my favourite antagonists in literature!)

Unhealthiest Obsession

is gonna say my unhealthiest obsession last year was the Locked Tomb series, but I argue that my utter devotion to Gideon is absolutely 100% healthy.

When I read Bloody, Slutty, and Pathetic, however, I was frothing at the mouth. Okay, not literally, but I ate, slept, and breathed that story. And when I got to the end and had to wait between the last few chapters I was clawing the walls with anticipation. I don’t do well with unfinished serials.

Bloody, Slutty, and Pathetic by WhatMurdah (now completed on Archive of Our Own) is an almost 200k word long Harry Potter Fanfiction. Yes, I shamelessly track and include fanfic in my reading habits. If you haven’t immersed yourself into great fanwork from your favourite IP then you haven’t lived, man.

Anyway! BSP is Dramione at it’s absolute best. It’s a post-war slow burn enemies to lovers with high angst and epic banter. It’s beautifully written, and indulgent as only fanfic can be.

And I bet Emerald will agree, probably now remembering how many times I sent her screenshots and screaming texts about this damn fic.

Most WTF Climax

I’m talking about the climax of the STORY, ya dirty animals.

I 100% chose this as a category specifically for Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I have been wanting to read Vonnegut for years. My husband and I are both huge Palahniuk fans and he’s been saying forever that I would love Vonnegut. I know this, but just had never taken the plunge for whatever reason.

In the summer, Halifax Public Libraries did this awesome program where they had bingo cards for adult readers. Alongside all of the kids programs, they gave out these book bingo cards to adults and teens and if you got a line or filled the card you got an entry into a draw for a swag pack.

It was super fun, and forced me to read some things I might not have picked up otherwise. One of the squares was ‘read a classic — whatever that means to you’ and so I asked my husband to recommend me his favourite Vonnegut because he counts as a classic to me.

Mr. Hurricane’s favourite is Cat’s Cradle, so I dove in. I quickly realized that Vonnegut’s writing is right up my alley, but also forced me to read slower. This wasn’t a book that I binged. I’d read a chapter then sit on my front step, staring out at the ocean and thinking for a while. I’d put the book down and pick it up the next day for another chapter.

Then the whole plot just went fucking insane and I binged the last third of it in a day. Because holy shit. I won’t spoil, even though the book is so old, but just in case you’re like me and have always wanted to read Vonnegut and never gotten around to it…just do it. His writing is intense and thoughtful and disjointed and nuanced, and the plot just goes batshit in the best way.

P.S. Just wanted to brag a little, not only did I fill my summer reading bingo card, but I also won the swag bag, which had a notebook and pen and mug and stickers and a book all in a pretty tote…pretty much everything that a reader loves to have.

Biggest Writing Boner

Writing Boner - noun: When writing is so good, so delicious, so resonant that I am near tears with the knowledge that I am present to be consuming it.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar. Mouthful of a fucking title, but I don’t care. This book is by far one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever read in my life. The writing is absolutely incredible and I was breathless from start to finish.

I have a really hard time talking about this book because it feels like I can’t properly encapsulate what it’s like to read it. Actually, a booktuber I recently discovered has the same problem and she made a video about it. You should watch that (and also subscribe, because she is a treasure).

When I read this book it quickly shot up into my favourite books of all time group (don’t ask, it’s so hard to actually quantify this). Just…just read it.

I’ll Be In My Bunk

This award 100% goes to A Kingdom of Pleasure and Torment by Abigail Barnette. Don’t let the cover of this book fool you, it is a fucking delight of a read. If you’ve ever read a romantasy and were like ‘this isn’t filthy enough,’ then this is the book for you.

I am a long time fan of Barnette (penname of author Jenny Trout), and have read most of her work. She has a fantastic and engaging writing style, she’s great at worldbuilding and character development, and her smut scenes are just top tier. Tippity top.

You know when booktok is like ‘THIS IS SO SPICY OMG THE SPICEEEE’ and they’re all fanning themselves over how smutty a book is? Most of Abigail Barnette’s books would probably make them faint. (If you’re looking for the actual filthiest book I’ve ever read, check out Barnette’s My Brother’s Billionaire Best Friend on Yonder. I know, I know, her titles are very market-y but it’s seriously transcendent smut.)

Anyway, A Kingdom of Pleasure and Torment is fantastically filthy. Decadently dirty! Pleasantly pornographic!

But also it’s a great story. The worldbuilding is amazing with deep lore and traditions. The characters are fascinating and well-rounded and have interesting arcs. The smut is diegetic and not just shoehorned in for pandering. Every scene drives the story and makes sense for what is going on, which is something that a lot of ‘erotic romance’ forgets these days, not properly earning that subgenre tag. This is erotic romantasy in it’s purest form.

So yeah, I took this one to my bunk.

Best Voice Actor

I didn’t listen to a ton of audiobooks this year because I dropped my Everand subscription to save a bit of cash mid year, however the ones I did consume were fantastic.

Frank Mueller is an absolute BOSS narrating The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands, Johanna Parker actually made Bill Compton sexy in Dead Until Dark, Kwaku Fortune and Carrie Hope Fletcher had the most beautiful chemistry in The Flatshare, but if you’ll forgive me for doubling up an award winning book here…this one goes to Moira Quirk for the Locked Tomb Series.

I have listened to a lot of excellent narrators (and DNFed some bad ones), but Moira Quirk is easily in my top three. She is fucking incredible and with such a massive cast in Gideon the Ninth I was floored with how clear all of the voices are. This woman is a star at voice acting.

I read Gideon the Ninth in hardcover first, and found myself flipping back to the character list at the front a few times midway because there were so many characters to keep track of. Until they had a bit more screen time and developed a little more, it was hard for me to remember who was from what house.

Obviously I had a better idea going into the audiobook because I’d already read it, but the voices were SO unique between characters that I never had a single issue of not knowing who was speaking or what house they were from. A friend of mine buddy listened to the audiobook with me, with zero knowledge of the series at all beforehand, and she was confused when I’d said I had a hard time the first time around. She literally had no problems at all because the voices were all so well done.

I listened to Harrow the Ninth while waiting for the hard copy to come into the library (still gonna read it again because holy shit what a crazy trip that was) and all of the new characters coming in were all fresh and new and holy shit, seriously. If you’ve ever been on the fence about audio, Gideon would be a great one to start with because the narration is so engaging. And it makes the punchy lines and Gideon’s killer banter hit so much harder in Moira’s drawl. GOD. I hadn’t thought it possible I could fall so hard in love with a character twice. XD

Huge cheers to Moira Quirk, she’s definitely one of those narrators that I would listen to audiobooks I may never have picked up just because she’s reading it. We’ll see what 2025 brings once I’m done with the Locked Tomb series!

And that’s a wrap!

I was going to do a Most Romantic, but it’s This is How You Lose the Time War and I already spewed my love for that everywhere. And I was going to do a like ‘best book’ or ‘MVP’ or something, but picking favourites is so fuckin’ hard! The Night Circus whisked me away with beautiful prose and so much magic and romance. Gideon yanked me out of reality and has not let me out of her grip. The Ogre’s Fairytale Bride sounded like it was going to be completely ridiculous and I ended up binging the whole damn series up to the serial currently on Patreon.

I love books. I love stories. And I don’t waste time on stuff I hate, so I always end up with all five-star reads that I want to scream about loving so much.

Below are a few in-depth reviews I did of indie novels last year, because I love promoting indies and you might find something awesome you want to read!

What did you read in 2024? And what are you looking forward to reading in 2025?

Let me know down below. <3 And happy new year!

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P.S. My most anticipated read in 2025 is House of Rayne by Harley Laroux, it doesn’t even have a release date yet but I am absolutely salivating for it.