What I read in 2024

Reading is my absolute favourite thing to do. For me, reading takes priority over social media and TV. Any time I get a spare moment, I will be reading. I would love to read more than I do, but unfortunately life, work and chores tend to get in the way.

After a very slow Christmas 2023 of reading, I read five books and started a sixth in January.

Most months I read more than I have done in the past – a sure sign that my nest was emptying fast in 2024. Having fewer kids at home means less responsibilities and  a bit more spare time.

In the early part of the year, I went on a binge of reading detective/ police procedural type thrillers, rather than my usual preference for psychological thrillers. Usually I break up genres every two or three books and I don’t read books by the same author consecutively, but I just couldn’t get enough of them!

My reading slowed down a bit in March, because both Killing Moon and The Winners took me a long time to read. But then I sped up again in April and read five books. I read quickly in autumn, when there was a flurry of publications by my favourite authors. I read six books and started a seventh in November, when we went on holiday to Sorrento. But then my reading slowed down again in December, because preparing for Christmas and then Christmas itself is pretty time consuming.

This year, I read 58 books, which is five more than I read in 2023, and the most I’ve read since I started recording all of the books I’ve read.

So what did I read in 2024?

• The Skeleton Key by Erin Kelly
• The Falls by Ian Rankin
• Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza
• 1979 by Val McDermid
• 1989 by Val McDermid
• Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin
• A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin
• Still Life by Val McDermid
• The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin
• Past Lying by Val McDermid
• Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood
• In Memoriam by Alice Winn
• The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid
• Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo
• The Winners by Fredrik Backman
• Die Trying by Lee Child
• Brutally Honest by Melanie Brown
• Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
• Personal Best by Adele Roberts
• My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
• The Other Side of Mrs Wood by Lucy Barker
• A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh
• End of Story by AJ Finn
• Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley
• The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
• The Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid
• Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes
• The Distant Echo by Val McDermid
• Murder at the Monastery by The Rev Richard Coles
• A Darker Domain by Val McDermid
• A Song of Me and You by Mike Gayle
• Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid
• The Trial by Rob Rinder
• The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
• No Plan B by Lee Child and Andrew Child
• And Away… by Bob Mortimer
• The Last Temptation by Val McDermid
• What About Men? by Caitlin Moran
• In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan
• The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer
• The Examiner by Janice Hallett
• The Bee Sting by Paul Murphy
• We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
• Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
• Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
• Midnight and Blue by Ian Rankin
• Broken Ground by Val McDermid
• Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo
• By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
• Murder on Lake Garda by Tom Hindle
• The Secret by Lee Child and Andrew Child
• The Torment of Others by Val McDermid
• Beneath the Bleeding by Val McDermid
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• Holly by Stephen King
• A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle
• Murder at Holly House by Denzil Meyrick
• The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

So which were my favourite books of the year? I usually aim for around five to seven favourites. I must say I’ve loved reading Val McDermid’s books this year and I could definitely have featured more than one in the list, but decided to choose a bigger selection of favourites.

This year, my favourite books were:

• Strange Sally Diamond
• The Distant Echo (representing all of the Val McDermid books I’ve enjoyed!)
• The Bee Sting
• And Away…
• By Any Other Name
• The Examiner
• Midnight and Blue

If you want to know which books were close to making the cut for my favourite reads, check out my Pinterest board.