Curious to know what PSG’s interns are reading? No more wondering! Here’s Sarahi’s reading wrap up for 2024.
Another year, another reading challenge! I began 2024 the same way I always do: hopeful and with terribly unrealistic expectations for everything, including how much I can read in a year. Ever since I miraculously read 120 books during my gap year, where I was working part time, I have continued to try to replicate that reading high in years that have been way busier than that. Alas, I’ve learned my lesson. At the beginning of December I took a good hard look at the fourteen or so books I still had to read out of sixty and responsibly decided to shrink my goal to fifty. A goal that I exceeded but still didn’t hit that original sixty. But that is okay! In twelve months, I read a total of 57 books (twelve for one singular series), across a few genres (I don’t leave the fantasy realm often) and many new authors. 2024 was also the year of re-reads for me! There were quite a few books I decided to pick up and experience again. So, let’s get into the good, the meh, and the unfinished.
The absolute best title I read this year was If We Were Villains. It was one of the few I read that were neither fantasy nor romance, but a third secret thing: a Shakespearean murder mystery! I picked it up sometime in June after my cousin expressed how she “really needed to finish it” after having made it a third in and getting bored. So, I embarked on the journey rather skeptically, expecting it to be bleh, predictable or boring. I finished reading and was still flipping through the acknowledgments trying to find where the boring began because I had been completely enraptured by M.L. Rio’s writing. The characters were fun and messy, the writing lush, and the narrative clever. I guess the frequent Shakespeare passages may get old for some, but for me it was simply another fun layer to parse through.
Next up, a much more straightforward recommendation. My partner, who mostly reads indie fantasy, asked me to read his favorite series: Cradle by Will Wight. A lengthy tale about a young man who’s forevermore the butt of the joke in his village—until divine intervention, and a crazy amount of determination changes his future. I was unsure about embarking on a twelve-book series, but it is remarkable how deeply engaging the story was. The characters were all supremely charismatic and had such distinct voices from one another—they all had their things, but for the most part, were well-developed beyond their specific purpose. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I shed a tear for superfluous minor characters that appeared no more than once on a page. While some books were stronger than others, it was a delight to read about Lindon’s journey, and the eccentric but lovable people he meets along the way!!
Now there were a few titles that truly surprised me. The first were The Missing of Clairdelune and The Memory of Babel, books two and three in the Mirror Visitor Quartet by Christelle Dabos. I had no intention of reading these two titles, much less liking them after how little I enjoyed A Winter’s Promise. Obviously in a series, the first book usually does a lot of work—worldbuilding, introducing characters, and parts of the conflict— but the whimsical mess of book one was so tedious to parse through that I ended up quite grouchy after finishing it and rated it a singular star. My dear cousin however, wanted to continue on reading because of morbid curiosity and convinced me to try the next book, which ended up being a marvelous time!
Another interesting one was You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. This gender-bent When Harry Met Sally retelling blew me away! Mind you, I’ve only just watched the iconic rom-com for the first time this past November on a flight home for Thanksgiving, and I felt very “meh” about it. Meg Ryan is stunning in it and her portrayal of Sally is deeply endearing but I wasn’t quite sold on Harry. He’s so unbelievably outright mean and his philosophy is not something I agreed with. Goldbeck’s retelling however, fixed a lot of the issues I didn’t yet know I had with the movie. Honestly, this is a new favorite from the romance genre that I hope to reread soon. Speaking of rereads, I reread my all-time favorite romance book Happy Place by Emily Henry, and it was just as beautiful as the first time.
There were a few books that I decided not to finish. That is to say, I chose to not continue reading after giving them a fair chance. I must emphasize that I loathe having to DNF a book. The one I feel truly guilty about is The Witch King by Martha Wells. I don’t even understand why I couldn’t get through more than the first sixty-something pages other than I wasn’t engaged. I didn’t care about what was happening and I wasn’t yet attached to a character. While the plot was interesting, I just could not focus and read. I hope to give it a better shot in the new year.
Some short and sweet statistics now! I read a total of 57 books this year, spanning 20,000 pages, and just over 50 hours of audiobooks. On average, it took me five days to finish a book and most of the titles were within 300 and 500 pages. I am taking it easy in 2025! My number goal is easily achievable—twelve titles—and mostly, I just want to get through all the books I have really wanted to read but haven’t been able to because they’re on the heavier side(content or prose wise) or because I’ve run out of time. For example, I’ve had A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon sitting on my bookshelf since it came out two years ago and have yet to pick it up. So that is my new year’s resolution! That and to stop being scared of starting an unfinished series! So what if Winds of Winter never comes out, I still want to enjoy what’s been published.
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