2024

What I Read (and Where)

1. The Familiar Dark - Amy Engel - B - Hong Kong - 1/9-1/17
2. The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware - A - Hong Kong - 1/9-1/19
3. The Maze Runner - James Dashner - B - Hong Kong - 1/20-1/31
4. In My Skin: A Memoir - Kate Holden - B - Thailand - 2/3-2/8
5. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho - A - Vietnam - 2/12-2/15
6. Bad Mormon: A Memoir - Heather Gray - A - Vietnam - 2/16-2/17
7. None of This Is True - Lisa Jewell - A - Italy - 3/11-3/12
8. All's Well - Mona Awad - B - Croatia - 3/21-3/27
9. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult - A - Croatia - 3/27-4/3
10. Big Swiss: A Novel - Jen Beagin - B - San Diego - 4/1-3/14
11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - B - San Diego - 4/4-4/23
12. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry - B - New York City - 4/23-5/4
13. A Good Happy Girl: A Novel - Marissa Higgins - A - Boston - 4/29-5/18
14. The Selection - Kiera Cass - B - Atlanta - 4/30-5/17
15. Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines - Nic Sheff - B - San Diego - 5/15-5/30
16. Schmutz: A Novel - Felicia Berliner - A - San Diego - 5/23-6/10
17. Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart - B - San Diego - 06/03-06/21
18. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell - B - San Diego - 06/22-07/02
19. Wayward Son - Rainbow Rowell - B - San Diego - 07/03-07/07
20. Anyway the Wind Blows - Rainbow Rowell - B - San Diego - 07/08-08/06
21. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry - A - San Diego - 07/13-07/28
22. I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy - A - San Diego - 07/29-07/31
23. Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart - B - San Diego - 07/30-09/20
24. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn - A - San Diego - 08/28-09/08
25. Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney - A - Germany - 09/19-10/23
26. London Bridges - James Patterson - B - Germany, Czechia - 10/13-11/13
27. Normal People - Sally Rooney - A - Czechia - 11/04-11/14
28. Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh - A - Austria - 11/30-12/23

Key:
A - Audiobook
B - Physical book

What I Thought

• The Familiar Dark - Amy Engel 
• Fine thriller, nothing special
• I didn't like the twist of the brother being the killer, it didn't make sense with his character
• The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware
• Good thriller, well-written and well characterized main character, liked the plot a lot
• The Maze Runner - James Dashner 
• Good, decent for YA, glad to have read it as it's a classic
• In My Skin: A Memoir - Kate Holden 
• Really fascinating memoir, I read it very quickly and still think about it
• Not excessive or gratuitous   
• Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho 
• Very basic
• Learned some new stats but is meant for people who have never thought of basic aspects of structural racism and black history before
• Bad Mormon: A Memoir - Heather Gray 
• Easy read
• None of This Is True - Lisa Jewell
• Decent thriller, solid
• All's Well - Mona Awad
• Really enjoyed the story and writing
• I found it gripping as it progressed but the ending was flat, I felt it needed more and I felt it ended in a weird place
• My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult 
• Actually really bad! It was genuinely so cringeworthy sometimes
• I didn't care about Julia and Campbell's relationship at all and the fact that he thought she wouldn't love him (an adult man and a lawyer) because he has epilepsy is so dumb I can't stand it
• Too many jumbled points and POVs, too long, boring at points, not that many actual ethical questions, more of a family drama, literally Jesse is an arsonist and it's like never addressed and then he becomes a cop like what!
• Ending was a cop out, so dramatic and the miracle of her kidney was so stupid, I hated it all actually
• Big Swiss: A Novel - Jen Beagin
• Funny, unique, and charming, over the top setting and characters
• Interesting blend of absurd and serious that worked most of the time but not all the time
• The ending is meant to say she isn't suicidal anymore but why exactly? 
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 
• Absolutely loved it, made me think a lot
• Haunting, intelligent, and made me think so much about everything, society and substances especially
• Number the Stars - Lois Lowry 
• Good, short, and uplifting
• A Good Happy Girl: A Novel - Marissa Higgins 
• Not good, drags, is pointless, slow, and try-hard
• I couldn't tell what was going on and it just got worse and worse and more pointless
• The Selection - Kiera Cass 
• For teens, not very good, not like other girls protagonist
• Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines - Nic Sheff 
• Hard to read but so impactful and fascinating
• Schmutz: A Novel - Felicia Berliner 
• Very interesting and good, ending was unexpected and I'm not sure if I agreed with it
• Young Mungo - Douglas Stuart 
• Beautiful, fascinating, powerful, loved his writing style so much, interesting ending
• Carry On - Rainbow Rowell 
• Such a classic, such a good book, so well plotted and paced, so amazing and incredible and makes me feel so many emotions oh my god
• The danger of idealists coming to power and how they manipulate others
• The dangers of apocalyptic thinking
• Childhood trauma and the humdrum, Baz's identity
• Baz and Simon are everything
• I got much more out of it now than when I was younger, it's so complex and thematic and sensitive and well-written and entertaining my god it's so good!
• Wayward Son - Rainbow Rowell 
• So good but also so sad!
• What is left when it's all over 
• Made me think about my own relationships
• Anyway the Wind Blows - Rainbow Rowell 
• Simon's wings and tail are like being transgender - hiding them
• Simon's desire to isolate from his trauma 
• Penny's crisis of meaning realizing that she's not always right but also that her worth doesn't come from others, like Simon, 'needing' her
• Seeing Baz and Simon's relationship blossom and their struggles with sex and sexuality, very meaningful for me
• So many feelings! This trilogy is so incredible and amazing
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry 
• Hard to accept that he has no chance to fight against his addiction and is out of control
• He's self-pitying but also has suffered so much and I don't like him at a lot of points in the book but also I don't like myself for feeling that way 
• It's so frustrating when he keeps relapsing but it's an interesting view on addiction and his life as a movie star
• Reread from 2023
• I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy 
• So impactful, inspiring, and sad
• She's just trying like all of us
• Reread from 2022
• Shuggie Bain - Douglas Stuart 
• Such a journey, very thought-provoking
• I love his writing style and he's a masterful author 
• Really heartbreaking and tragic but didn't really 'get me', like I didn't cry 
• Some scenes were hard to read
• Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn 
• Always incredible, my second favorite book of all time
• Reread from 2020
• Beautiful World, Where Are You 
• Nothing much happened but I liked the writing style
• London Bridges - James Patterson 
• Literally one of the worst books I've ever read
• Nonsensical with terrible writing and terrible plot
• Normal People - Sally Rooney 
• Marianne's boyfriend Jamie is so over-the-top terrible that it's just too easy to hate him and root for them to get together in the end
• Their communication was so bad that I don't think they'd ever actually work as a couple
• Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh 
• Not exactly thrilled by it, it was building up to what felt like something monumental but it wasn't really 
• Slow and atmospheric but too slow in pacing and the ending wasn't a good payoff 
• Rebecca as a character is not believable at all 

Stats

• Books - 28
• Physical Books - 14
• Audiobooks - 14
• Longest Read - 53 days - Shuggie Bain
• Shortest Read - 2 days - Bad Mormon
• Continents
• Asia - 6
• Europe - 7
• North America - 15