Hello, friends! We finally close the books (literally) on 2024 with my End-of-Year Book Celebration, in which I round up notable reads of the last six months and see how I did on my reading goals. One last time, if you want the short-and-sweet best-of rundown, you can hop over to Light and Shadows to get that list — but if you want a more in-depth look, stay here and keep reading.

As a reminder, since this post wraps up 2024 for me, this will be my final official post on Dreams and Dragons. After this, I'll no longer be posting on this blog, though I will leave it up for anyone who wants to go back and look at past posts. However, we need to finish this book celebration first, so let's get going!

2024 End-of-Year Book Celebration

As always, of course, we start things off with statistics and a review of my reading goals! According to Goodreads, I read 95 books and 25,068 pages in 2024, which is about half of what I read in 2023, but not surprising given that I've been reading more slowly this year than I have in some past years. Most of what I've read has been in the range of 100–400 pages, with an average page length of 263 pages, but I have read some longer books as well. My average rating is the same as it was at my mid-year celebration: 4.3 stars. Not bad, honestly.

As for my specific goals . . . Well, I didn't exactly meet most of them, but I did work towards most of them.

• The one specific goal I did achieve was to read 12 books published (or written) before 1975 (at least nine of which were aimed at adults). I read fifteen books this year that were written or published before 1975, nine aimed at adults and six aimed at children. So, yes, I just barely squeaked past, but success is success. Most of these were rereads, but one of the notable exceptions that I read this half of the year was Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, an adventure story that was pretty exciting.
• On the other hand, my goal of reading 15 non-speculative fiction books . . . did not happen. In July, I had read six non-spec-fic books, and I only added two to that number: a reread of Furiously Happy (a memoir by a popular 2000s/2010s blogger) and Moby Dick, which I have technically been reading for a few years now but finally finished this year. Oh well.
• As for decreasing the number of physical books I own but haven't read, I have been reading a lot of ebooks, which . . . is not really helpful in this regard. Still, I did read another of Sanderson's Secret Projects, Bryan Davis's Time Echoes trilogy, and a few others, so I made progress! Just not quite as much as I intended.
• I did not catch up with the Cosmere and Sanderson's Secret Projects. I read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, and that was it. At least I stayed caught up with the SVR-verse, so . . . there's that.

As always, if you want more statistics or the full list of everything I read in 2024, check out my Goodreads Year in Books or my tracking form results. But if you'd rather just hit the highlights, let's get going with some specific book categories!

Best book you've read in the second half of 2024:

Unsurprisingly, this spot goes to a W.R. Gingell book, specifically Splintered Mind, the first book in the new Shattered Worlds series. I loved getting a fresh perspective on Behind and Between, and I quite enjoyed meeting the new characters, particularly our lead, the caring, practical, and determinedly normal Viv. And, of course, the mystery element was fun!

 

The runner-up in this category is What Comes of Attending the Commoners Ball by Elisabeth Aimee Brown. This was a delightful romantic romp with fae and fairy tale vibes; it's funny and charming and marvelously clever in the end. It also gave me the vibes of Emily Wilde crossed with Dragon Slippers, so if that sounds like your cup of tea, definitely pick up this book.

Best sequel you've read in the second half of 2024:

This is an insanely difficult decision because the last six months included so many good sequels. However, I think this spot goes to H.S.J. Williams's Collusion, the second book in the Kings of Aselvia series. This book was worth every minute of the four-year wait; I loved the characters and their arcs, the way Hannah has developed the world, the existence of so many actually-married couples, the emphasis on family and community . . . it just has all the good things, y'know? And, like Moonscript, it also touches on some not-so-good things, on trauma and the evils of the world, but it does so in a way that keeps hope in sight.

We do have some very close runners-up, though! Valley of Dragons, the final book in Christina Baehr's Secrets of Ormdale series, very nearly took the top spot! I talked about this book when it first came out, but to recap, this book wraps up the story in a way that brings everything full circle but also spotlights the growth of the various characters. I loved the way everyone had a little time in the spotlight, the fact that the story has so much compassion for the antagonists — especially those who are themselves the victims of lies and cycles of hurt — and how Baehr worked out the relationship between Edith and Simon!

Speaking of relationships working out: A Stab in the Dark is the latest (but, it seems, not the last after all) in Suzannah Rowntree's Miss Dark series! In it, we find Molly and Vasily figuring out who they want to be, both individually and together, as well as some questionable progress for Nijam and Schmidt . . . while, of course, running a con and dealing with an opera house full of ghosts, murdered ballerinas, mysteries, and secrets. You know. As one does. It's the best yet in the series, and I had such fun reading it!

Best book you've reread in the second half of 2024:

I reread Moonscript in preparation for the release of Collusion, and it was so good. In some respects, it was better on the reread, as I could better appreciate some of the character arcs (and trauma). Besides that, though, it was just a delight to reacquaint myself with this world and these characters.

New release you haven't read yet but want to:

Wind and Truth has been out for a month now, and no, I have not read it yet. As mentioned previously, I am behind on all the Cosmere stuff. I want to fix that sooner than later, but I have been more invested in other stories (no pun intended).

Most anticipated release for the first half of 2025:

Dates are weird with Kickstarter books, but Splintered Life, the second Shattered Worlds book, is expected to reach backers and become available for general purchase sometime in the next few months, and I am very excited to find out what happens next with Viv, Luca, Jasper, and the rest. Based on snippets, I think it's going to be so good.

Biggest disappointment:

I read Artemis Fowl in September for the Silmaril Awards, and . . . look, I know a lot of people enjoy this series, and it does do some things well, but I am simply not impressed by book one. The concepts are cool, but the execution is hindered by the fact that I didn't actually like any of the characters. I did have hopes of enjoying the story, but it just didn't do it for me.

Biggest surprise:

I don't know if this really counts, given that I was pretty sure I would like it, but I was impressed by how good Aeronwy's Stolen Child, a newsletter freebie from Claire Trella Hill, is. This is a lovely twist on the classic changeling tale, focusing on the parents of the lost children, and it's probably my favorite of Hill's short fiction.

A book that made you cry/A book that made you happy:

These categories are being combined because the same book fits both of them. Rescuing a Supervillain is super sweet, and I loved the dynamic between Bea and Sam and, of course, all the cats . . . but there's also one specific scene involving a kitten that made me actually tear up (if I recall correctly) because of how sweet and lovely and sad it is.

Also, shoutout to Collusion again. I don't remember if I actually cried or not, but it definitely gave me all the emotions, both the happy ones and the sad ones.

Favorite post you've done this half of the year:

Definitely I've Heard This One Before: A Study in Church Music Repetition, in which I went over what I learned from a year of recording and analyzing weekly music choices at a selection of churches! My goal was to figure out if less traditional churches repeated songs more (partially because I was grumpy about how often we sang particular songs at my home church); as to what I learned . . . well, go back, read the post, and you'll find out.

There's my wrapup — now, tell me about your second half of 2024! What are the best books you've read or reread in the last six months? What should I add to my TBR for 2025? Tell me in the comments!

Thanks for reading!