a running list of all the noteworthy books I read this year

When I say "all", I don't mean all the books I post a full review for. I mean every. single. one. Yes, even that book I read at 1am after binging booktube videos for an hour on my Kindle underneath my covers (low-key exposing myself here). If I hated the book with a passion, I'll post a review here. If I loved it, I'll also post a review. The only reason I won't put one up is if it was so boring I refuse to dignify it with a review.

Anyways, let's do this.

January

"The Ex: a mind-bending thriller" by Freida McFadden

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"A mind bending thriller" is actually part of the title. Don't ask why. This is the first book I read of the year, and it although it wasn't bad, I didn't like it. 

I love plot twists, I really do, but the ending was too random. Ideally, the conclusion should be connected to the storyline and make everything feel full circle. Not in this book. To explain what I mean, here's a paragraph pulled from Freida McFadden's website: 

You have to step out of the box of: “The suspects were A, B, C, D, and A is the killer.”  It’s not even enough to say E is the killer.  It has to be E is the killer because he is actually B, and was the victim’s mother and his daughter, and also was dead the whole time.  That is the level of twistiness that is now required.

Fun fact: McFadden's books are self-published! I did not know this, and it definitely makes her my favorite self-published author (Mel Torrefranca being a very close second). 

The Reunion by Meghan Quinn

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Aaaah "The Reunion" was amazing! I loved it so much! The plot of this new adult fiction novel is that there are 3 siblings who decided to celebrate their parent's anniversary, and they all return to their hometown in preparation for the big day. They quickly become immersed in the memories of the world they left behind. 

This book is definitely five out of five stars, because I loved the dynamic between the siblings.

Capsule

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Capsule by Mel Torrefranca is a great book of 300 pages that I remember reading at the start of Jan. However, I may have forgotten to write a review for it, and while I know it immersed me so much I read it all in one sitting, I don't exactly remember what it was about. Does anyone else get this feeling? Anyways, that's why I'm going to be pulling the following paragraph from Capsule's Goodreads page.

 The first is Peter Moon, a heartless pescatarian who bashes students from Brookwood on his blog, turning everyone against him. The second is the adored Kat Pike, an audacious girl desperate to boost her adrenaline. Three days pass. No leads. Indifferent to the disappearances, sixteen-year-old Jackie Mendoza remains immersed in her virtual world of video games and online friends. But when a menacing app by the name of Capsule downloads itself onto Jackie's phone, she enters a game interlaced with reality.

10:59

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10:59 was my first ARC of this year, and it's an amazing book that I love so much. This unique, mind-mending sci-fi/dystopian novel will change your perspective on the world. Basically, Earth gets overpopulated and 

BuzzBooks 2024 Spring-Summer

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BuzzBooks is a annual edition that features excerpts from 6o different novels, sorted into four sections: Fiction, Debut, Nonfiction, and YA. All of the books are going to be released in the spring and summer of 2024. I was so surprised by how interesting all the books were! I was planning to just read the YA section, but I ended up reading every single one- including nonfiction. Wow.

I highly recommend checking it out. You can download it for free here: buzz.publishersmarketplace.com There's a separate book for romance, which you can find on the same website. That being said, by TBR doubled after reading this book!

"A Night at the Tropicana" by Chanel Cleeton

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After "Resting Scrooge Face," I wanted to try another novella. "A Night at the Tropicana" is a historical story about Cuba, different from what I usually read, but I wanted to try something new. I enjoyed it a lot! There's honestly not much to say about this book, because it was so short, but I would certainly recommend it!

February

I haven't read any books this month yet! Wellll, just kidding, I have. I just haven't written a review.