*walks in 2 weeks late with a chai latte* I was tagged by @oatflatwhite to share my fave reads of 2024! mate, thank u for the tag & thank u for yr patience O7
Apparently I only finished 3 books last year 💀 Here they are!
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 🎪
Is there anything new left to be said in praise of The Night Circus? I had read it once before in high school & it hit just about all of my buttons then. Rereading it flung me right back to who I was at that time & was a gorgeous magical adventure to boot. I actually read it as an audiobook on youtube & loved every moment — the male narrator did a great job making every voice distinct & intriguing, for the female characters too without getting silly. The writing is rich with sensory detail, from the quality of the wind to the scent of sugary popcorn to the colour of a magical fire. It is rich with style, atmosphere, & above all dramatic tension my beloved <3 Never have I wanted more for a fictional place to be real!
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett 🧹
Yet another book filled with rich magical sensory detail, as well as humour, this time in a completely fictional world. This is the 3rd instalment in the Discworld series, which I'm slowly making my way through & thoroughly enjoying. It's about the appearance of the first ever female wizard on the Disc & her struggle for acceptance among the very boys' club culture at the wizards' Unseen University, & also features the first appearance of the famous Granny Weatherwax! Lots of capable girls & women stomping around getting into pickles & getting things done while the blokes hem & haw about whether or not that is against the lore (lol)... Can't wait to pick up Mort next!
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas & Auguste Maquet 🩸
Another brilliant audiobook courtesy of Librivox! <3 A new addition to my tightly curated inner circle of favourite books. Rich in plot, character, drama, comedy, with stakes that both sweep across nations & huddle up in a single empty room. It's got everything. Fake identities. Daring escapes. Ecomonical machinations. Lesbians. Himbos. Resurrections. Court drama. Glorification of drugs AND violence. Loaded conversations with old friends & old flames. A documentary on telegraph mechanics. Timelines not to be studied too closely. History not to be studied too closely. & one insanely powerful, insanely intelligent, & perhaps even simply insane man at the centre of it all seeking vengeance for a betrayal in his past. It is THE revenge plot of all time & delicious every step of the way. I cannot get enough. The authors knew this & generously gave me 640,000 words of it!! What more could anyone want out of a book?
Tagging @ninadove @justbecringe & @swamp--girl bc I wanna hear what you've been reading too 📚
