Good Stuff, Vol. 6
including my favorite reads of 2024!
Hi friends!
Happy New Year, and to all who celebrate (like me), Happy Reading Recap Season! I thought I would chime in on the conversation here in my newsletter with my favorite books of 2024 in the middle grade and young adult categories (and maybe I’ll slip in some bonus faves as well). This recap will be the bulk of this newsletter and then I’ll throw in our current reads as well.
You can find reviews for many of these (all the MG & YAs) in previous newsletters. Usually I link to Bookshop.org for all my book links, but if I’ve reviewed a favorite, I will link to that newsletter instead. I’ve also made a favorites list on Bookshop.org.
Middle Grade Faves
Free Throws, Friendship, & Other Things We Fouled Up
Young Adult Faves
Lunar New Year Love Story (graphic novel)
Bonus: Grown-up Faves
Why We Love Baseball by Joe Posnanski
Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
See this baker’s dozen of favorites on my Bookshop.org list, plus the picture books below.
Bonus: Favorite Picture Book Reading Experiences
(I read way too many picture books to feel like I can take the time to track them all, but as I look through my library lessons from the calendar year of 2024, here are the best reading experiences I had with students with books published in 2023-2024):
Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang
100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli by David Larochelle
The First Week of School by Drew Beckmeyer
How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich in 17 Easy Steps by Bambi Edlund
Santa’s First Christmas by Mac Barnett
🏡. At Home with the Bennetts…
📖. What We’re Reading
Gigi (17)— Currently onto a reread of book 8 of Keeper of the Lost Cities, Legacy. She just finished and adored a book called Return to Sender by Australian author Lauren Draper.
Brody (14)— All the Agatha/Hercule Poirot! He recently read and loved Cards on the Table, The Hollow, Cat Among Pigeons, and is now onto The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I like Agatha, too, but can’t keep up with him!
Hallee (13)— Just finished a reread of Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up. She got a hard copy for Christmas since she loved it as much as I did when we listened to it. She just started Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.
David— My husband is trying to read more before bed this year and he’s currently working on Arnie & Jack (which Brody already read) and The Scorpio Races (nothing says love to a book lover like picking up their favorite book!).
Me— Kid audiobook buddy reads are still going strong, so nothing new to report here (if you’re new the newsletter and curious, see the last edition of Good Stuff).
I read a lot of books at once… See all my current reads here on StoryGraph
I’d love to know what you’re reading/watching/eating/enjoying, and especially if we share any favorites.
xo,
Nicole
I always use affiliate links with Bookshop.org when I link to books. If you purchase through my links you support me a tiny bit, and more importantly, you support indie bookstores.
Love that your teen is reading Agatha Christie. How cool!