This year I have read more books than I have in my entire life. As of Today, I have read over 230 books.
In my efforts to stay awake while nursing a new born, I started reading Ebooks and man is it easy to sit and read while nursing and rocking a sleeping baby and I have done a lot of that this year.
Since I spent so much time reading, I found a lot of Authors, Books, Series and Characters that I adored so I thought I'd take a minute to share some of my favorites and you all can join me in adoring them or check them out if our tastes seem to match up.
200+ is a lot of books and I could probably do top 10 lists, but I have decided to limit myself to top 5 with honorable mentions.
This is very long and I hope you get something out of it. I had fun pouring over my year of reading and picking out highlights.
That said, here are my favorites from this year:
TOP 5 Authors of 2024
1. Ryan Cahill
2. Jennifer Q. Hunt
3. Corey Ratliff
4. Hannah Hood Lucero
5. Mandi Blake
Ryan Cahill got top spot as his command of language and talent for story crafting as well as character work is remarkable and he quickly replaced Brandon Sanderson as my favorite fantasy author. One note: there is a lot of swearing. Not something I am particularly bothered by, but it was a little jarring 'cause I simply don't read much of it. Corey Ratliff is the other fantasy author on my list as his series, The Elemarian Chronicles had me hooked from the first page. His command of story craft is remarkable. I was completely hooked. I think of that particular series as literary heavy metal. It's fast-paced and hits you in the feels. The end of Blood of Withering Kingdoms had me sweating.
A big discovery I made this year was the genre of Christian Romance. Despite my love of love stories, I have never really read romance because I don't have a desire to read explicit content and while it is an annoying amount of work to sort through, I have found a lot of authors and stories I love and the authors that stuck out to me most were Jennifer Q Hunt whose beautiful and complex historical romance had me hooked. One of my all time favorite characters is one of her creations and I couldn't praise her books enough. Hannah Hood Lucero was a gem I found this past October as she was donating her royalties to the hurricane relief efforts and I had her on my TBR so I decided it was a good time to dive into her books. I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed her stories and the strength of her characters. The Flynn brothers were a lot of fun to read. Mandi Blake was my first favorite, I immediately loved her characters from Remembering the Cowboy. She writes some adorable couples that I enjoyed reading immensely.
Honorable mentions:
Tessa Grace
Charlie N Holmberg
M. J. Padgett
Jennifer Rodewald
Tessa Grace wrote a fantastic book that I wasn't expecting to be as serious and funny as it was. I adored the characters and would absolutely binge read 20 of her books, but she only has one out with another being released next year. Charlie N Holmberg has really fantastic romantasy stories that I really enjoy. M. J. Padgett has some fantastic Romcom books that have gotten me through many nights up with a teething baby grinning and holding back laughs. Jennifer Rodewald wrote a book with the female MC puking on the love interest and that's how they meet, and she kinda had me hooked cause she pulled that off. Her characters have some really great spiritual habits and practices that intrigued me and I just adored how she crafted the family with each new marriage, though I did not love all of her books, the ones I did, I really loved.
TOP 5 Series of 2024
Series-
1. The Bound and The Broken by Ryan Cahill
2. Wisteria House by Jennifer Q Hunt
3. The Elmerian Chronicles by Corey Ratliff
4. The Kingfall Histories by David Estes
5. Sons of Vigilance by Hannah Hood Lucero
Fantasy was the genre of choice when I started reading this year as I had a goal of rereading the Stormlight Archives before Wind and Truth came out. I was enthralled by those series more so than the romance series even though I read a lot more romance than fantasy. The Bound and The Broken explores some beautiful themes with rich characters that feel real. They are annoying at times because people are. They make mistakes and grow and they just feel more real than probably any other characters I have read. There are dragons and magic and friends as close as brothers and I could not recommend it highly enough. Again, lots of swearing, so if that bothers you, just be aware of that.
The Elmerian Chronicles was just so fast paced and enthralling I had to include it. Corey plays with some common fantasy tropes and has some fresh ways of using them that I loved. Lots of morally grey characters and situations. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have read it if I knew what I was getting into because I don't generally do dark fantasy, but it was so well done I will read as many books as he will write. This series also has a lot of swearing and has some pretty late fade to black scenes, but not full explicit.
The Kingfall Histories was so much fun. The first book starts out really depressing but I loved the characters and was invested in seeing what happened to them that I kept reading and I am glad I did. The dragons in this series are my favorite. There are also talking swords and a fascinating exploration of why people do what they do, good or bad. There were some really fantastic characters and definitely some plot lines that had me arguing with myself while I wasn't reading trying to figure out what had actually happened. Definitely one of my favorite series ever.
For my romance series, Wisteria House was absolutely my favorite. I have always enjoyed historical stories and this one is full of rich history, lovable characters and moving stories. There are challenges over come and some fantastic declarations of faith, something I didn't know I loved reading in a book, but I do. One of my all time favorite characters came from this series.
Sons of Vigilance was a series I did not see coming. I was sobbing at the beginning of the first book and then laughing. I enjoyed it so much. I loved the characters, the tension and suspense was great, kept me hooked.
Honorable mentions:
Blackwater Ranch by Mandi Blake
Trumph Over Adversity By Lynn Shannon
Rhythms of Redemption by Emily Conrad
Blackwater Ranch was a really enjoyable cowboy romance series. I love most of Mandi Blakes books (not her first series, she came into her own as a writer, but I found her first series unreadable), but this series stands out as her best.
Triumph over Adversity was another series I didn't see coming. I meant to read a chapter or two before bed and I ended up staying up way too late reading the first book in one sitting. There is a bit of repetition to the stories and the characters while enjoyable, weren't so remarkable that I really remember any of them. All the same, I devoured this series.
Rhythms of Redemption honestly missed my top 5 very narrowly. Gannon is one of my favorite characters, as well as John and the way the themes were handled was something that stuck with me. Plus, its around a band and music which is another passion of mine. I really enjoyed this series.
TOP 5 books of 2024
1. Purest Joys Restored by Jennifer Q Hunt
2. The Ice by Ryan Cahill
3. Bloods of a Withering Kingdom by Corey Ratliff
4. Always You by Jennifer Rodewald
5. Gucci Girls Don’t Date Cowboys by Sophia Quinn
Picking top 5 books was difficult and I basically picked the five I remember best. Purest Joys Restored was about one of my favorite characters and I loved the tropes and dialog. The Ice was a transformative book for me as an author as I realized things about what one can do with a story if language is handled well. Bloods of a Withering Kingdom still lives in my head rent free and the ending literally made me sweat. Always You started with her puking on him and I kinda love how it was handled lol. Gucci Girls had one of the sweetest descriptions of found family ever and it still lives rent free in my head.
Honorable mentions:
A Make out to Remember by Dulcie Dameron
Remembering the Cowboy by Mandi Blake
Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N Holmberg
Dereliction of the Heart by Hannah Hood Lucero
TOP 5 Characters of 2024
1. Braxton Rutledge (Wisteria House)
2. Farda Kyrana (The Bound and The Broken)
3. Gannon Vaugn (Rhythms of Redemption)
4. Moro (The Elmerian Chronicles)
5. Andovier Helm (The Kingfall Histories)
For these, the order isn't real accurate, it's hard to rank them as I love them all for different reasons that don't compare or rank easily. Brax was a favorite for lots of reasons but I especially love his growth as a character and how he always quotes hymns in conversation. The fact that the impact of that changes over his journey is very cool. He's a new top three with Kaladin Stormblessed and Prince Myshkin.
Farda is just a great character. I hope he gets a redemption arc. He is just used brilliantly in the narrative and has some of the best lines in the entire series, but he's also a monster who does things that are not easy to forgive.
Gannon was great because he was just so calm and wise. John (from the same series) was also kinda like that, but more concise in his language where Gannon pushed in eloquently whether he was wanted or not, but did so in such as way that he was never offensive.
Moro went for a ride in the story and I think he responded in a way that was interesting and realistic, but also kinda frustrating because he didn't know things and made mistakes because he didn't know. Him and his brother having different missing pieces of information and messing up and doing their best was really fun to read. Moro ended up my favorite half of the two.
Ando was just a great character. It has been a hot minute since I read that series, but he stands out in my mind from the series. He was such a reluctant hero, but good to his core despite the mistakes he made and pushed on despite suffering horrific loss. I got invested in his storyline before any of the other ones.
Honorable mentions:
Dann Prim (The Bound and The Broken)
Dragonmaster Dane (Kingfall Histories)
Therin Eiltris (The Bound and The Broken)
Asher (The Echoes Saga)
Also: If there was an Asher in any series or book I read, I liked them. (Blackwater, Even if It Hurts, Echoes, Forged Brothers). I dunno why but Ashers were my favorite.
Favorite Quotes:
(Warning there will be some spoilery things in here, as well as some language.)
(Note: I was not always able to pinpoint which book the quotes came from so I simply list it under the series name when I couldn't be more specific.)
From Of War and Ruin By Ryan Cahill (The Bound and The Broken):
"Look into my eyes." Farda's heart was beating harder than he'd felt it in centuries. She was just so gods damned stubborn. "I don't know what it is you've done to me, but when you're near, I don't feel so fucking broken. That's why I came back. That's why I'm here. And if the last thing I do is get you back to your brother, then at least I'll have done something decent in the last for hundred years that would explain why I'm still alive while Shinyara is dead. There has to be a fucking reason I'm still here. Now let me help you."
"I wish I'd died-part of me did. In the Old Tongue, they call us Rakina. It means 'one who is broken'. But when a dragon dies, you're not broken. No..." Farda shook his head, his hand closing around the coin. "You're shattered. Your soul is shredded and splintered, its many fragments thrown to the wind. You are nothing, you are nobody. All you feel is empty, and cold, and wrong. That's why I trust the coin. That's why I let fate decide. Partly because everything lost meaning after Shinyara died, but partly because the one time I didn't listen to fate, I lost the only thing left in this world that I cherished. And with her she took my pain, my love, and my happiness..."
From Kingfall Histories by David Estes: (There were a lot of great scenes, but I didn't track quotes quite as much back when I read this. If it made me laugh, I noted it)
"What? Why?"
"I can't explain. Not yet. Do you trust me?"
"I only just met you."
Another laugh. "That's fair, though I did give you bacon on rye bread."
Sampson shook his head. "I should trust you because you gave me bacon?"
from the Magelands Eternal Siege by Christopher Mitchell:
'My truth is open to interpretation.'
'Your entire relationship with the truth troubles me at times.'
'Well, I wouldn't want the boys fighting over me.' She smiled at the uncomfortable look on Quill's face. 'Actually, I would; could we arrange that? They could fight to the death, and I get to keep the winner?'
From Some Through the Fire by Jennifer Q Hunt:
"My God is Jesus Christ, who gave up His prestige and honor and health and life, for me," her voice broke here, "and the Father Who sent Him and the Spirit that He gave. The question is not what He demands of me, Harry, when He Himself met all the demands. But there is nothing I will not give 'that I may know Him'. You asked me, the night of the symphony, what did I want from life. Well, that's it.
"And if I have to understand God, then it is my own mind I worship, and if I have to control Him, its my own will I worship, and if I have to feel Him, it's my emotions I worship. But if I only have to love and obey Him, then I worship Him in spirit and in truth, and in worshiping Him I have life."
"I hated myself for--for self. I saw how bankrupt, how pathetic I really was--
"And He was there, Ves. He was there. I thought He would reject me after I'd rejected His plan and His ways all those months. Instead He was there, so great I couldn't take Him in and so close I couldn't shut Him out, so mighty I couldn't look at Him, yet so gentle I couldn't look away.
"So I gave up. I stopped trying to impress God and everyone else. I can't really describe it, but when it happens to you, you know. A death to all you've ever known, and yet a resurrection to all you've ever wanted. It's not that circumstances are different, or even that I'm different, but there's this calm in the depth of my soul that nothing can touch. I'm not impressed with Billy Sweet anymore, but I sure stand in awe of his God."
From The Shadow Heir by C. F. E. Black
She snorted. "Right. And that. Well, one look at the fae in this cavern, and I can tell you're all miserable. You laugh at death because you hate life, you twist your features because you can't stand your reality, you hide in caves and torture those less powerful than you. I pity you."
She was a spark, and I was a moth, drawn toward the fire that mocked my existence. But like every other spark that wandered into the darkness, she too would snuff out.
Pity. For what a thing it would be to watch her spark catch fire.
"You humans think your weak hearts are the only ones that feel, but you--"
"No, you listen," I cut him off. "You live forever, and yet you find no joy in life"..."You crave death because you need the reminder that some things don't last and yet it does nothing to push you toward goodness or purpose or happiness. I would be mad, too, if I had to live like this."..."If I had to live knowing my life could never have as much passion or purpose as a mortal's."
"You are the stars. Constant, fixed, and ever burning. It is by your light that I see, into your light that I am inescapably drawn. Would that I could call you down from heaven to fall on me and consume me with your light. But I am born of darkness and have no power to command the stars."
From Triumph Over Adversity by Lynn Shannon
Logan broke off the kiss, breathless, his mind muddled. He sucked in air. "I can't rescue you, woman, if you distract me with kisses that shut off my brain."
From The O'Sullivan Sisters by Sophia Quinn
"Rumor has it she's real cute." JJ wiggled his eyebrows.
Nash growled. He legit growled. The sound shocked him almost as much as it seemed to surprise JJ.
But then JJ's head fell back with a howl of laughter. "Oh man, you should have seen your face." He pointed a finger at Nash. "I've seen a grizzly protecting its cubs out in the wild up close and personal, and not even that was as terrifying as the look you just gave me."
Title: Non-Player Character
Author: Victoria Corva
Genre: Fantasy, Adult, LGBTQ+
Series: -
Publisher: Witch Key Fiction
No. of pages: 376
Publication: October 4th, 2021
Date read: September 8th, 2021
Rating: 5/5 stars
Synopsis:
Not all fantasy worlds live only in our imaginations.
32-year old Tar feels like a Non-Player Character in their own life. They’ve been utterly sidelined by their anxiety and they spend all their spare time playing video games. Then they get invited to play Kin, a tabletop role-playing game their friend swears will change their life. And it does, but not in the way Tar expects. Friendship, it turns out, is even better than escapism.
But what none of them knew was that it would change their life a second time. Because the world of Kin is real. And the whole party soon discovers that changing your setting doesn’t change you.
Non-Player Character is a cosy, queer portal fantasy for adults featuring a non-binary autistic protagonist and their found family of fantasy-loving nerds.
Review:
Where to begin with this book?! I first heard about the Kickstarter for it on Twitter and after reading what it’s about I knew I had to help make this book come to life. And it was SO worth it. This book was everything and definitely one of my Reading Highlights in 2021, I’ve only given 3 other books, that weren’t a reread, 5 stars this year so far.
The characters were all amazing, there is so much representation in this book and there really isn’t a character in this group of people I don’t love. Victoria Corva brought Tar and her friends to life and I soon felt like I was part of their crew. Seeing Tar growing and adapting to the new world, despite of their fear, made me so proud and happy.
The worldbuilding is amazing as well. I’m huge into RPGs and the book gave me the cozy feeling it promised, even with everything new and different. I don’t want to say to much, because reading this book was such a great experience that I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but from the front to the back, I was into it every second. It gave me all these emotions, happy and sometimes sad (yes, I cried…).
I can’t stress it enough how much I enjoyed this book and how I want EVERYONE to read it and fall in love with Tar, their friends and Victoria Corvas writing. It’s one of these books I want to have on my shelf so I’m already waiting for the paperback to come out.
