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Last week I shared my list of books I read in 2024 and someone asked me my favorite, which I can’t do because that’s like picking my favorite child. Except harder because I only have one child. But if you see it here on this video, I liked it. I don’t review books I don’t like.
What were your favorite books of last year?
And speaking of books…so many amazing books coming out this year and my January bookclub picks are a fun way to start. (AND WELCOME TO ALL THE NEW MEMBERS OF MY BOOK CLUBS! WHOOP!)
If you’re a member of the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club I’m sending you…
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao. It’s like a Studio Ghibli movie came to life inside my damn head.
A quick taste: A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical quest when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike fantasy novel set in Tokyo. Cozy, dark escapism and fantastic world-building. So good.
And if your tastes lie in darker territories and you have decided to join the Nightmares from Nowhere Book Club then you are getting…
Our Winter Monster by Dennis A. Mahoney. It’s a chilling (literally) horror tale about a troubled couple running from their problems straight into the maw of a terrifying beast. Strange psychological suspense that will haunt you.
And if you need more than one book to keep you busy, here are some other January releases I loved:
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix – Mix a home for pregnant wayward girls in 1970 with an occult book about witchcraft and see what happens. FABULOUS BOOK. (This is where I would promote his live event with us but the tickets sold out almost immediately because he’s amazing.)
Tartufo by Kira Jane Buxton – author of Hollow Kingdom returns with another fantastical and funny story featuring a cast of colorful characters in a dying Italian village and a giant truffle that changes their fate forever. So freaking charming.
We Do Not Part by Han Kang – Tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter of Korean history. Poignant, suspenseful, traumatic. Couldn’t put it down.
Dirtbag Queen by Andy Corren – Hilarious, heartbreaking, unhinged. This book is weird af and is everything you want in a memoir. I liked it so much I blurbed it.
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman – What happens when extreme right-wing news turns your family into literal zombies?
Old Soul by Susan Barker – The woman never goes by the same name. She never stays in the same place too long. She never ages. She never dies. But those around her do.
The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson – the chilling true story of a young woman whose scandalous life was rumored to be Nathaniel Hawthorne’s inspiration for The Scarlet Letter—and whose shocking death inspired the first true-crime book published in America. Kate will be at the store Feb 8th where I’ll be talking to her about the book. Come join us!
Happy reading!