List of 18 Books I read in Yr.2024 & 10 that stood out for me!
Year. 2024 has come to an end. I spent quite some time with my books in the year gone by, and in this article, I have listed all the 18 novels I read, with a final list of 10 that stood out for me. These included thrillers and historical fiction, two of my favourite genres.
Although I liked almost all of them, the ones that stood out are those I can recommend to my readers; so, if you are a book lover and haven’t read these books, grab your copy now, and I’m sure you will love the experience of immersing yourself in these page-turners.
Let´s start.
List of 18 Books I read in Yr.2024:
Millie is a young woman under 30 but already an ex-con. She has spent ten years in prison for murder. Now, she is out on parole and desperately looking for a job. When Nina Winchester, a rich woman, reaches out to her, offering her a job as a live-in maid in her sprawling bungalow, Millie can hardly believe her luck. Read more here.
Housemaid Millie is back, and she is as impoverished and desperate as before. She is an ex-convict and has a prison record of 10 years for a murder that she did as a teenager. When she finds a job in a household, she grabs it with both hands, only to find out she has plunged into troubles she had never imagined. Read more here.
Sarah is an accomplished defence attorney, and her husband, Adam, is a struggling author. Adam cheats on Sarah with a girl named Kelly, but when Kelly gets brutally murdered in Adams’ bed, he has to seek his wife’s help. Read more here.
4. The Inmate
Brooke Sullivan, a young woman and mother to a 10-year-old boy, returns to the town where she grew up after staying away for ten years. Brooke secures a job as a nurse practitioner at a penitentiary where her college sweetheart and the father to her son, Shane Nelson, is incarcerated. Read more here.
5. Never Lie
Tricia and Ethan leave their home to see a house (to buy) on a snowy winter day. The house is vast, isolated and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The house belonged to Dr Adrienne Hale, a psychiatrist, who disappeared without a trace some years back. Read more here.
The Book of Lost Names is a historical fiction novel by Kristin Harmel. The story is about Eva Traube, an older woman who lives in Florida with her son. One day, a chance encounter with a magazine brings Eva face to face with the image of a book Eva hasn’t seen in sixty-five years. Read more here.
The year is 1923, and it has been just a few years since the First World War ended. After agreeing to pay massive reparations to the Allied forces, Germany is left impoverished. However, Edith lives a comfortable life, away from all the world’s worries, with her husband, Julian, who owns Falkenstein Bank. But things are going to change soon. Read more here.
The Berlin Wife’s Choice is the second book in Marion Kummerow’s Berlin Wife Series. The story covers the timeline from 1938 to the early years of the Second World War. With Hitler coming to power, although the country sees prosperity, it is certainly not a good time for the Jews and their families, and rich families feel it too. Read more here.
9. The Berlin Wife’s Resistance
The Berlin Wife’s Resistance is the third book in Marion Kummerow’s Berlin Wife Series. Edit’s struggles continue, but now she has her friend Helga on her side. The story covers a significant event during the Second World War, the Rosenstrasse protests ( Rosenstraßen-Protest), which showed the true power of resistance. Read more here.
The Berlin Wife’s Resistance is the fourth and last book in the Berlin Wife Series. The war crawls towards an end. The families face poverty, helplessness and desperation to break free as the allied bombings increase and the country is left in ruins. Edith and Helga do their best to save themselves and their families. Read more here.
Tallulah, Kim’s 19-year-old daughter, goes on a date one night and never returns. Kim starts the search with the help of the police, but it leads them nowhere. When Sophie, the girlfriend of the new principal of the local school, moves into the town and gets interested in Tallulah’s story, new secrets are revealed. Read more here.
Two women, Alix and Josie, who happen to be birthday twins. They were born on the same day, in the same place, but to different mothers. Their chance encounter leads to an unexpected turn of events and stark revelations. Read more here.
Lenora Hope is said to have killed her entire family in 1929 when she was just 17 years old. Several years have passed since then, and now the year is 1983. Kit Mc Deere, a home health aide, gets assigned to the care of Lenora Hope, who is well into her seventies now. Read more here.
14. Final Girls
Quincy Carpenter is the sole survivor of a massacre that took place ten years back when she went to celebrate her friend’s birthday in the woods. A fun day with friends turned into the most horrible and unforgettable day in her life when all her friends were murdered. Read more here.
15. Verity
Bestselling author Verity Crawford lies in a coma with many unfinished novels. Her husband, Jeremy, enlists the help of Lowen, an author in dire financial straits, to complete Verity’s work. As Lowen starts her work, she discovers dark secrets about Verity. Read more here.
Laurel Mack is a middle-aged woman and mother of three children, one of whom is Elli Mack, the girl who suddenly went missing ten years ago. A decade later, when the last remains of her daughter are found, and Laurel thinks she has finally found closure and can move ahead with her life, she discovers the real cause of her daughter’s disappearance. Read more here.
17. The Locked Door
Nora Nierling, the daughter of a serial killer, carries the heavy burden of her lineage. Despite trying her best to hide her identity, a series of murders brings her face to face with what she has dreaded all her life. Read more here.
Author Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha is a fictional story about Chiyo, a young girl from a small village who goes on to become the most successful Geisha in Japan’s history. Chiyao, now known as Sayuri, narrates incidents from her life right from her childhood to her golden years, opening her fascinating world to readers all over the world. Read more here.
Here is a summary of the 18 books I read in Yr. 2024:
- The Housemaid
- The Housemaid’s Secret
- The Perfect Marriage
- The Inmate
- Never Lie
- The Book of Lost Names
- The Berlin Wife
- The Berlin Wife’s Choice
- The Berlin Wife’s Resistance
- The Berlin Wife’s Vow
- The Night She Disappeared
- None of This is True
- The Only One Left
- Final Girls
- Verity
- Then She Was Gone
- The Locked Door
- Memoirs of a Geisha
Now, coming to the Top 10 books that stood out for me, i.e. the books I would recommend to my readers. Note that these are not in any order.
My List of Top 10 Books of Yr. 2024:
The Housemaid and The Housemaid’s Secret
I started my year with these two books in the Housemaid series. Housemaid Millie and her encounters intrigued me and kept me hooked. These two books by author Freida McFadden are psychological thrillers with many unexpected twists and turns. I read them back to back. Each book was equally irresistible and unputdownable!
Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, and this book was a perfect start in this category. The Book of Lost Names encapsulates history, true love, and romance in one package. It took me back to the times when people lived simpler lives and had uncomplicated concepts about love and life.
The Berlin Wife, The Berlin Wife’s Choice, The Berlin Wife’s Resistance, The Berlin Wife’s Vow
The Book of Lost Names increased my appetite for historical fiction. I started with the first book in the Berlin Wife series and continued till I finished reading the last one. This series of books combined fiction with real events in Germany during the Second World War. By the end of this series, I felt one with all the characters, and they stayed with me long after I finished reading the series. It is a great series of books if you want to learn about German history during the war, along with a great, well-developed fictional story set during that time.
I had read great reviews about author Lisa Jewels and wanted to try out one of her books. The first book I picked, None of This Is True, matched my expectations. The author developed Josie’s dark character well and created a narrative that stayed with me for a long time. I even heard the podcast (on Spotify) between the main characters and found it intriguing.
The Only One Left was yet another interesting read. Lenora is the prime suspect in the brutal murder of her parents, which she is said to have done at the tender age of 17. Since no proof is found against her, she goes scot-free. The story spans between the early 1900s and almost the end of the century, encapsulating Lenora’s mysterious life. For decades, Lenora has been living in the same old mansion, standing precariously at the edge of a cliff, threatening to crash on the rocks below, taking all its secrets. I loved the plot, the setting and the author’s narrative style.
After loving Lisa Jewel’s first book, None of This Is True, I was quite motivated to pick one more book by the author. Then She Was Gone was yet another interesting read. The story is about Laurel, the mother of Elli, the girl who went missing a decade ago. With the loss of her favourite child, Laurel loses herself. Although physically present, she is at a loss as a good wife and a mother to her other two children. She even struggles to be a woman with wishes and desires. Laurel´s journey intrigued me, and the story and characters stayed with me long after reading the book.
So, here is the list of the Top 10 Books of 2024 for me!
- The Housemaid
- The Housemaid’s Secret
- The Book of Lost Names
- The Berlin Wife
- The Berlin Wife’s Choice
- The Berlin Wife’s Resistance
- The Berlin Wife’s Vow
- None of This is True
- The Only One Left
- Then She Was Gone
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Read about other exciting books here.
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