My 2024 Reading Round-Up: All The Rest :)

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Earnest Cunningham #1) by Benjamin Stevenson – Audiobook

Genre: Murder Mystery

Author Earnest Cunningham finds himself snowed in at a ski resort with his dysfunctional family – and not all of them will make it through the storm. Uncovering the questionable pasts of his family members, Earnest works to unravel the truth.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: death

I absolutely loved this book. The premise is so clever – narrator talking directly to the audience, retelling a story he experienced firsthand. It’s full of humor, wit, and twists that I didn’t expect! It had me on my toes until the very end, and I had no idea where it was going or who the killer was going to be until everything was revealed in the end. Highly recommend for a unique murder mystery read!

Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder (Happy Ever Homicide #1) by Gracie Ruth Mitchell – Audiobook

Juniper Bean, a romance novelist trying to switch genres, moves back to her hometown and discovers that her new roommate is an old crush. The pair stumbles on a dead body in the woods, which brings Juniper’s crime novel “research” to a whole new level and leads them on a hunt to find the killer… and maybe something more.

Spice level: closed door

Content warnings: death

This was by far one of my favorite reads of the year. The concept of merging a romantic comedy with a murder mystery was totally new to me, and I absolutely LOVED it! The grumpy/sunshine contrast of Juniper and Aiden was so fun and I laughed out loud quite a bit.

The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien – Audiobook

Genre: Fantasy

A classic tale about a hobbit living in Middle Earth who goes on an unexpected adventure to reclaim treasure out from under a fierce dragon’s nose.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: none

This book probably doesn’t need a recommendation – anyone who reads has heard of this one. But what I will recommend is the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkus; it was absolutely FANTASTIC. I have a hard time getting through detail-heavy books like this in physical form, so I had never actually read this until I finally committed to the audiobook. But his narration style is so consumable and easy to follow, it makes the details feel normal and not like something to slog through! Loved it.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – Physical Book

Genre: Children’s Adventure

Having passed a series of odd tests after answering a peculiar newspaper ad, four children are recruited for a secret mission. Learning to work together under the care of the mysterious Mr. Benedict, they go undercover in hopes of thwarting a rising villian.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: none

Yes, this is a children’s book. But I would very seriously recommend this to any adult, too! I grew up on this series, and have reread them multiple times even as an adult. I keep expecting to outgrow them, but it has yet to happen! I reread this one specifically because my husband was reading through them for the first time and I thought it would be fun to read behind him. Spoiler alert: he loved them :)

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson – Audiobook

Genre: Murder Mystery

Attending an invite-only crime writing festival aboard a train across Australia, and looking for inspiration for his second book, Earnest finds himself once again in the middle of a murder investigation. This time, he has his fellow crime authors to consider, both as allies and suspects…

Spice level: none

Content warnings: murder

This was enjoyable just like the first one. Similarly, I loved the “breaking the fourth wall” from the author, and the interesting setting and characters. It did feel like there were a lot of people to keep track of, and they were all introduced right off the bat which I think made things harder. It also wasn’t quite as good as the first one, which is mainly why I docked it to 4 stars.

Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind by Gracie Ruth Mitchell – Audiobook

Genre: Murder Mystery / Romance

After losing her memories from a mysterious head wound, Heidi knows she has a secret but can’t remember what it is. When one of her bookstore customers dies in her shop, she and her friend Soren set out to retrace her steps and solve the mysteries at hand.

Spice level: closed door

Content warnings: death

Although I don’t remember a ton about this book, I do remember that compared to the first in the series (Juniper Bean Resorts to Murder) this one fell a little flat. It was still enjoyable and well-written, but I loved the first one so much that this was an underwhelming follow-up.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton – Audiobook

Genre: Murder Mystery

Aiden Bishop is stuck in a time loop with the goal of solving the murderer of Evelyn Hardcastle at the end of the day. The catch: every time the day restarts, he inhabits the body of a different guest – some more helpful than others.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: none that I can remember?

This book felt like it went on forever, and for about 3/4 of it I had no idea what was going on. As a change of pace from my normal reading, though, I enjoyed it – and I loved the unique storyline and how much the author keeps the reader in the dark as the story unfolds. Were it not for the book’s summary, I would not have understood what was happening until well into the story. A fun ride, but a bit of an anticlimactic ending in my opinion (which is why I docked it to 4 stars).

The Highgate Cemetery Murder (Tate and Bell Mystery #1) by Irina Shapiro – Audiobook

Genre: Historical Murder Mystery

After witnessing the scene of a gruesome murder, a journalist is later found dead in the street. His twin sister, spirited bachelorette Gemma Tate, seeks out the troubled detective on the case and the two work together to find the murderer.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: descriptions of gruesome deaths, substance abuse

By the end of the book, this story was enjoyable enough to me to want to continue the series. I did have a really hard time getting through this first one with the slow, meticulous pace of it, and it took me a while to finish because I needed frequent breaks to read something else. After having read the other books now, I can say that I’m glad I trudged through this first one to get to the others – once I got used to the pacing, I enjoyed them a lot more!

The Wife Upstairs by Freida McFadden – Audiobook

Genre: Thriller

Looking for a fresh start, Sylvia unexpectedly gets hired to be a live-in caretaker for the wife of a man she met by chance. But things are not what they seem, and after finding the wife’s old journal Sylvia realizes that Victoria may not be as impaired as it seems…

Spice level: relatively closed door (nothing crazy explicit that I can remember)

Content warnings: stories of abuse, probably language (I can’t remember specifically)

Although there was a bit of a slow start to this one, this book had me hooked and I did not see the twists and turns coming. I loved the guessing game of who is at fault for what, and seriously did not know what would happen until the very end. I wasn’t a huge fan of the questionable choices of the main character, which is probably what docked it to 4 stars.

Ghosts of Greenglass House (Greenglass House #2) by Kate Milford – Audiobook

Genre: Children’s Adventure

Milo is once again stuck at his house for the holidays with an unexpected slew of new visitors – all of them keeping secrets and acting strangely. He carefully navigates around them as he tries to unravel long buried mysteries in the house, including the past of those long dead.

Spice level: none

Content warnings: ghosts

I read this as a follow-up to reading the first book in the series a couple of years ago. When I read the original, I didn’t realize there was a sequel – and I think if I had read them back to back I would have enjoyed this one a bit better. It’s a cute story and felt very “safe” (nothing explicit and minimal danger since it’s a kid’s book), but it was just fine, nothing special.

The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill – Audiobook

Genre: Murder Mystery

After a chance meeting with her literary idol, aspiring writer Theodosia Benton develops feelings for him and finally entrusts him with reading her manuscript. When he is found murdered the next day, she and her brother work to unravel the tangled web left behind to explain his death and expose secrets that those in power would rather left untouched.

Spice level: closed door (I’m pretty sure)

Content warnings: murder, conspiracy theories

This was an interesting story but somewhat missed the mark for me. The complicated unraveling of the mystery felt a little more convoluted than necessary, with stuff coming totally out of left field. The plot also relied heavily on the consideration of several conspiracy theories, which leaned a little too cuckoo for me. It was an interesting ride, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

The Woman In The Window by A.J. Finn – Audiobook

Genre: Thriller

Anna Fox, a recluse who loves to observe her neighbors from afar, sees what she thinks is a murder taking place across the street where new neighbors have just moved in. Unable to shake the uneasy feeling that there’s more going on, she tries to investigate all while navigating her crippling agoraphobia.

Spice level: closed door

Content warnings: stalking, murder, mental health struggles, strong language

This book had me hooked until the end. I could not have predicted where it was going to go, and was genuinely surprised by the twists along the way! Obviously, selecting a thriller comes with an expected amount of dark-mood-ness (a phrase I’m coining), but I found myself a little eeked out by the end and felt like I needed a significant palette cleanser to move on. If you like thrillers, you’ll probably enjoy this one!

A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1) by Sarah J. Maas – Audiobook

Genre: Fantasy

Nineteen year old Feyre is captured by an immortal faerie and brought to the land of the Fae as retribution for killing one of their kind. She soon begins to fall for her captor, who is different from the legends she’d always heard. But a dark force is looming in the land – something that threatens the peace of her new home.

Spice level: graphic sex scenes (at least one)

Content warnings:

I can see the appeal for this series, but it was not for me. I did finish the whole book because I was sucked into the plot, but I didn’t feel good about it in the end. There were a couple of graphic intimacy scenes that I wasn’t surprised by, but what really got me was the significant mood shift mid-book that got really dark, really fast. If my personal mood wasn’t so impacted by what I read, it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal… but as it stands, I did not enjoy the storm cloud lingering over my head at the end of reading this, so I decided against continuing the series.